I’m out searching for some bales of organic straw so that I can patch up some muddy parts in my future backyard. The reason I want to use organic is just personal and I don’t want all the hormones and other gunk with the other stuff. I really only need about 2-3, but I can’t seem to find any websites that offer just a few bales like that. If anybody knows of anywhere I could get some, it would be greatly appreciated. 
Thank You.
You know, I never thought hay was anything but “organic” considering my guinea pigs eat lots of it and I don’t wash it.
If there is any pesticide used in hay, I’m sure it would have been noticed by now. Lots of animals eat it “raw” and unwashed.
Well, Carbondale is, as far as I know, farm country, so you can try looking up organic farms in the phone book. But you should consider that unless the previous owner of your house was of like mind to yourself, that the yard has regularly been drenched in fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides. So knocking yourself out to get a couple bales of organic straw just may not be worth the effort.
That’s a good point badmana. I was told that in some instances a person can get a bale of hay that has been sprayed with certain chemicals that may not be bad, but may lack certain “good” bacteria that help to promote strong and vigerous growth. I’m not saying the other stuff wouldn’t work just fine, but I’m just trying to use more organic stuff in my everyday life. In fact, I just yesterday went to a local grocery store and bought all organic fruits and vegetables. I guess basically what I’m trying to say is that I’d be willing to pay a little more for something organic, whether it was all that much better or not.
Find an organic farm near you, call them and find out where they get their straw. Straw is often used as a mulch or insulator for many crops. By law, whatever they use on their organic crops must be organic. If they won’t sell you a couple of bales (which they probably will) they can get you the name of their supplier.
Well, IANAF (city boy all my life), but I do believe that hay and straw are very different things.
I believe the use of hormones on straw crops is rather limited.
Yeah? Well, well,…what about Vegetable Growth Hormones in straw milk! Think of the children!
This isn’t IMHO or The Pit, so I won’t interject my personal opinion on this whole “organic foods” craze, but be aware that just because the label says “organic” doesn’t, in and of itself, mean anything. Some states have placed restrictions on the type or amount of pesticides and artificial fertilizers that can be used on produce labeled organic, but even that doesn’t necessarily make them healither or better for you. You are probably injesting as much pesticide residue from groundwater (even “bottled spring water” :rolleyes: ) as you are from food unless you know you are getting it from a pristine source.
I have to admit, I go to the Whole Paych^H^H^H^H^HFoods and Wild Oats markets to shop a lot; not so much because the produce and meat is “organic” but because it is generally fresher and better handled than what I can get at Von’s or (ugh) Ralphs. (Plus, I didn’t have to cross a picket line last year when the major chains were being struck.) The fact that they have some cute hipster girls with interesting tattoos at the organic places has positively, absolutely, definitely nothing to do with it, especially the cute girl with flawless dark chocolate skin that works at the deli counter.
I’m not saying it’s all bunk–the [over]use of steroids and antibiotics in meat animals is disturbing–but I wouldn’t get carried away with insisting that everything bear the label “organic”. Organic farming isn’t sustainable for the world population; it is the luxury privilidge of developed, high per capita income nations.
Okay, I’ll shut up now.
Stranger
I am not a farmer, but I grew up on a farm and still help out from time to time. There are no hormones used on cereal grains. None. Fertilizer, yes, but that won’t have any impact on the makeup of the straw. Fertilizer just provides more food for the plants. The only farm input that one could reasonably be concerned about in straw would be traces of herbicides. For myself, I wouldn’t make the effort. Your yard is going to get far more exposure to herbicides when your neighbour hits that little patch of crabgrass with RoundUp than you will from straw from plants that were sprayed months prior to harvest.