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Paresthesia
Stranger



Registered: 07/02/08
Posts: 1,090
Loc: Texas
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Straw? Hay? I'm a city person!
#9108509 - 10/21/08 05:07 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I don't know the difference! I mean, I know how they're different, but I don't know how to differentiate straw from hay just by looking at it.
Why do I ask? Because I can't find straw! Smack dab in the middle of rice country, and I can't find straw!
I was at a Whole Foods the other day and they had a huge pumpkin display. Many of the pumpkins were sitting on bales, but I'm not sure if they're hay or straw. I didn't see any leaves or seeds in it just looking over the surface, so I think it's straw. I was going to ask the store manager if I could have a couple of them when they stop selling pumpkins, but I'm pretty sure he or she wouldn't know if they were hay or straw or what.
Anyone have close up pics of hay and straw?
-------------------- "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
- T. S. Eliot
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JaComet
Old Hand

Registered: 11/12/02
Posts: 347
Loc: Out Yonder
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: Paresthesia]
#9108553 - 10/21/08 05:52 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Straw is the hollow shafted stalks from various grains, usually yellow, without much leaf apparent. Hay is any number of field grasses, usually greenish and browns, with leaves and flowers and seeds and such.
Your pumpkin display is probably straw as hay will smell funny to some folks and cause allergic reactions in others. Pollen and all that.
If you’re in rice country aren’t you close to horse country also? There ought to be a farm / feed supply or horse tack shop somewhere around.
In my neck of the woods this is the second year for poor straw availability. Sheep are having to make do with limited bedding.
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Paresthesia
Stranger



Registered: 07/02/08
Posts: 1,090
Loc: Texas
Last seen: 5 years, 11 months
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: JaComet]
#9108856 - 10/21/08 09:18 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Actually, I've checked with a few feed stores. They sell alfalfa, timothy and coastal hay, generally. I'm just going to ask a store manager there. They're generally pretty cool about giving away stuff like cardboard boxes and burlap sacks I use for growing wood lovers.
There are a few rice mills around. Maybe rice hulls are an option! I haven't seen much info here on that.
-------------------- "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
- T. S. Eliot
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Roadkill
Retired Shroomery Mod



Registered: 12/11/01
Posts: 22,674
Loc: Montana
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: Paresthesia]
#9108903 - 10/21/08 09:38 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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When you go back to the Feed Store, ask them if they have Wheat Straw.
tc
-------------------- Laterz, Road
Who the hell you callin crazy?
You wouldn't know what crazy was if Charles Manson was eating froot loops on your front porch!
Brainiac said:
PM the names with on there names, that means they have mushrooms for sale.
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djmako7
Antitransubstantiationalist



Registered: 06/13/06
Posts: 2,362
Loc: A shady spot under a tree
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: Roadkill]
#9108939 - 10/21/08 10:00 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Michaels may have small straw bales because its holloween time. I found someone generous enough to ship me a huge box of wheat straw for free
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CycleThoughts
Researcher


Registered: 08/03/09
Posts: 1,866
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: djmako7]
#10933130 - 08/25/09 09:40 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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So I picked up a bale of hay/straw at the local farm. Then I read hay won't work, straw is what you need. Needless to say I was bummed because I assumed I got hay. So I looked at my bale and I think I have straw. I figured I'd ask the experts here. The stuff is hollow, with strong trunks, for lack of a better term. Here's a tip of some of my hay/straw.

Is this some sort of wheat straw of something, or did I end up with useless hay. If I had to guess I would assume this is some sort of wheat or something.
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sparkplug
Stranger

Registered: 09/19/08
Posts: 75
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
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What you want is straw. Straw is the stems from wheat. Hay is comprised of any number of differnet items usually involving alfalfa, oats, etc.
To put it simply, straw is what animals sleep in, hay is what animals eat. Except old goats, they will eat straw, and anything else that is laying around.
I'm just an old country boy that grew up on a farm.
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BrandNewbie
Captain



Registered: 05/21/08
Posts: 2,932
Loc: U.S.A.
Last seen: 5 years, 7 months
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That looks like a grass.
Hay is a grass.
Straw is the dried stalks of harvested cereals, such as wheat, barley and oats.
But note: it's the stalks only.
Easy way to remember is think of a drinking straw, it's a hollow tube, (without leaves, seeds, etc.)
-------------------- Question: Why do women wear make-up and perfume?
Answer: Because they're ugly and they stink.
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sparkplug
Stranger

Registered: 09/19/08
Posts: 75
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: BrandNewbie]
#10934541 - 08/25/09 01:51 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Looks to me like some funky wheat tops. Means that you have straw, not hay.
Did you buy it as feed, or bedding? Just go to any of the stores that sell the stuff and tell them you need a bale of straw for your outdoor dog to insulate his house. They will get you the right thing.
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CycleThoughts
Researcher


Registered: 08/03/09
Posts: 1,866
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: sparkplug]
#10935391 - 08/25/09 03:53 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Well the stalks are definitely hollow. I'll put up some more shots soon. See if you guys can say for sure. I got a bale for $5, so it's not like I'm out a lot of money. It was more of a hassle carrying the thing to be honest.
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sparkplug
Stranger

Registered: 09/19/08
Posts: 75
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
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put up a picture of the rest of it, but I am sure thats wheat, I spent a lot of time around it, thats for sure.
For example http://www.bakersjournal.com/images/stories/NewsletterImages/wheat.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/5/5980866_f6b7a8936c.jpg
Unless my monitor is that crappy, and it is.
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CycleThoughts
Researcher


Registered: 08/03/09
Posts: 1,866
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: Paresthesia]
#11024328 - 09/08/09 09:34 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think I ended up getting Hay, but today I went to Michaels Crafts store and bought a bale of straw for $7.99. I'm hoping to stock up after halloween when they should have a clearence sale on it.
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RonPaulVerm
Piss Christ


Registered: 07/21/08
Posts: 1,072
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if people can grow mushrooms on corn husks, coconuts, hats, and bibles, you can use hay. It's just not preferred... i'm not just talking magic ones
-------------------- Spawn I Have: Blewitt, Reishi, Maitake, Chicken of the Woods, Parasol, Shaggy Mane, King, Blue and Gold Oyster, Shiitake, King Stropharia, Lions Mane, Almond Portabello, Elm Oyster, Phoenix Oyster, Nameko, Enoki, White Beech,
Spawn I Want: Corcyceps Sp., Cauliflower Mushrooms, Agaricus species (Portobello), Pink Oyster, Piopinno, ...anything else you might have
Primitive Skills
Any information I've posted is only related to fictional purposes. I do not advocate growing any illegal mushrooms
...I DO advocate learning about
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
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Kukukatcho



Registered: 03/15/08
Posts: 246
Last seen: 6 months, 16 days
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Re: Straw? Hay? I'm a city person! [Re: RonPaulVerm]
#11026705 - 09/09/09 11:12 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Check out Hobby Lobby or Micheals or any craft store in your area between the months of August to November. They should have wrapped bales on display.
-------------------- While there are some aspects written in stone, much of mushroom growing is very opinionated.
Take your time, do your research, and be patient.
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