[boddy]

Barley straw as mulch/weed suppressant.

There is an article about this in March's edition of kitchen garden. You can also read about it here http://www.gcplants.co.uk/barley-straw-the-miracle-mulch.html

I'm intrigued and have 10 bales arriving at my allotment next week.  I really struggle to keep the weeds down and I won't use weedkiller - though I have to wonder if some of the benefits from the barley straw are from what it may have been sprayed with! I did experiment with straw on my potatoes last year (though I'm not sure if it was barley straw of not) and the area is still weed free so far.

Has anyone heard of this before, there seems to be very little about it on the internet. Anyone tried it?

[mumofstig]

Deep mulching does work, if you can get hold of enough mulch.

Ruth Stout started it in the 1920s, she used hay, not barley though

[moose]

I've often used straw as a thick mulch. It does keep weeds down although you can get some weed seeds especially grasses in the straw. Found them easy to pull out and keep clean. Worms love it and I found that it lasted 2 years and could then be dug in if you are a digger otherwise put it in the compost bin. Some people say that slugs are a problem but I have not found that and even though I am on a windy site the straw does not blow around everywhere as long as you lay it carefully.