Journal July 21, 2015 - Straw for mulch

About half way through the season I visited an agricultural college site and noticed that they had mulched their onion crop with straw.   As I had almost a full bale of straw in the back of the truck I decided that I would do that also.

That day I added straw mulch to the garlic, onions and cucumbers in the raised beds.  The straw did a good job of keeping the weeds at bay and keeping the soil moist.  Also, I suspect it allows a fair amount of air to reach the soil, so it is a win win in my opinion.

The onions in the photo are Walla Walla onions that I started in the spring from plants I purchased at Lowe's.  As I recall, I paid $2.83 for a bundle, which contained 80 small plants.  At this point it certainly looks like we will have at least $2.83 worth of onions in the fall.

As the composition of the soil where the real Walla Walla onions are grown is an important factor in their taste, I doubt that the taste of my onions will compare with the real thing.  Still, I am looking forward to a nice crop of sweet salad onions.

As for mulching with straw: next season I intend to use straw mulch for the garden tomatoes, as well as everything in the raised beds.  Yeah, it  really works that well.