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Author Topic: Uses for old hay  (Read 9751 times)

Coeur de Chene

  • Joined Mar 2014
Uses for old hay
« on: April 07, 2014, 06:37:59 pm »
Our hayloft was full of hay (about 50 cubic metres) when we moved in here, neighbours estimate that its been there for between 5-30 years. There is no sense of time here!
So far we have used it in composting, mulching, lighting fires, insulating and filtering. It is too old and dusty to use as animal bedding but there's still most of it left...Any more ideas?  We'd really like to clear it all out and start again.

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2014, 06:00:34 am »
I've seen a lot of hay baled and just left to rot in the fields from Dordogne to the South. Seems there is far more hay than can be used as few people here keep livestock any more. I would say the only thing to do with it is spread it and let it rot down, which will take quite a while, or spread it and plough it in. We have some that we've put under the trees to trap moisture, but as it is getting mouldy it is a bit of a risk for chickens and resulting respiratory infections. I don't know how well it will burn, but perhaps that's the quickest way to get rid of it?

Coeur de Chene

  • Joined Mar 2014
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2014, 01:34:06 pm »
I've seen the bales rotting here too. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a magic answer apart from to continue using it as we have. I guess it will just have to sit there until the autumn when we will have cut and baled the fresh lot, and I can spread it all out as a mulch on my next planting area.
I've also considered advertising it on Anglo(mis)info with a bottle of wine coming free with every trailer load taken!
Thanks for the reply!

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2014, 12:33:48 pm »
Use it as a 200 mm thick mulch and plough it in in Autumn .....that way you get your storage clear for a new crop .

Don't forget old dusty hay means usually farmers lung from the mould spores so wear decent respirators when handling it ,shower afterwards & wash your clothing each day Don't bring the clothes into the home especially if you have young children around ..
« Last Edit: April 09, 2014, 11:16:00 pm by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2014, 02:36:39 pm »
30 yr old hay, wow. I bet it would burn but from our experience with the village bonfire night it odes give off a lot of smoke. do you have many close neighbours and a safe place to burn it?
what about fire bricks for the stove in winter?

darkbrowneggs

  • Joined Aug 2010
    • The World is My Lobster
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2014, 05:53:48 pm »
If you are going to be gardening you can use it as a really thick mulch layer and plant things through it, or cover potato beds, round raspberry canes and fruit trees etc.  Did it for years with the lawn mowing but pinched the idea from an American woman who used hay and called it hay gardening.  If you are into hugel bed that would be good as well
To follow my travel journal see http://www.theworldismylobster.org.uk

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shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2014, 06:14:41 pm »
I suppose if you were planting new hedging then you could use it for mulch instead of weed matting.

Coeur de Chene

  • Joined Mar 2014
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2014, 08:42:41 pm »
Yes my mulches are getting thicker! I've been reading about Charles Dowding's no dig method, which I have been doing for a few years and finding it works well. The hugel bed- I think I read an article about that somewhere, they were using the method in a polytunnel. Was that one of Seth Hoffsomething's, the Austrian bloke?
Fire bricks- it burns well, its very dry and we use it to start our woodburner up. How do you make firebricks?
Yes it is dusty, not too bad if we don't disturb it but we have to avoid working in the barn.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I see another evening snuggled up with Google!

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2014, 09:35:23 pm »
iv seen firebricks made with wet newspaper squeezed hard into a brick-shaped mould then left to dry.
it could possibly work with the hay, worth a try at least. maybe need to chop it first. just a thought.

The Eco Paper Log Maker

briquette machine for sawdust, sugarcane powder, straw powder, hay powder, rice husk, olive cake

Coeur de Chene

  • Joined Mar 2014
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2014, 08:51:52 pm »
Thanks for that Shygirl, saved me a trip out to Google. Definately looks like an interesting Sunday afternoon activity. Youngest son is keen to have a go, he thinks there maybe money in it if he could make it work!

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2014, 01:41:47 am »
The first clip is interesting.
 
Fine chopped hay ( got an old hay or chaff  cutter any one ? ) or an electric shredder for the cutting up when it is wet .

Perhaps  mixed up with newspaper in a cement mixer for half an hour with a brick or bit of steel  in the mixer to mash things up .
The resultant gunge then pressed in a device similar to his  but made up in a metal or strong wooden frame so you can use a long lever to compress the material in the "  shoe " by  pressing down on the two cross over levers instead of busting your gut trying to press them down like he did .
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2014, 09:51:23 pm »
Stack it outside and grow pumpkins in it/use as mulch. 

If it is dusty/mouldy, not a good idea to work inside with it :-\

Hevxxx99

  • Joined Sep 2012
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2014, 12:41:24 am »
I've see strawberries and tomato plants plated directly into rotting bales as a kind of growbag.  Seemed to work well!

Or... damp it down, pack it tight in something akin to a coldframe and build a nice compost bed on top to make a Victorian style hotbed and grow pineapples! :idea:

Coeur de Chene

  • Joined Mar 2014
Re: Uses for old hay
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2014, 08:38:16 pm »
Tried the firebricks but the water increased the decomposition and we appear to have created mud...
Last autumn we built a massive compost bin with them which I am raiding now, its cooked an excellent compost. I think I will make another like it for the summer stuff. We have 10 kilo of spuds to plant and I'm going to try putting them under the hay. I have another 10 kilo in traditional ridges so its a real trial!
Pineapples I like the sound of! Always fancied making a hotbed, maybe building another structure like my compost bins and filling with that pile of horse manure my neighbour gifted me could work....

 

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