For those of you that are new to straw bale gardening, you may have noticed that once you have completed the BaleGrow™ treatment system, small grass-like blades could start to appear. The good news is, this is all normal. Wheat grass is a by-product to the baling process which has created the straw you are now growing in.
The process of straw production is achieved in 3 stages.
- Producers of grains such as wheat, oats and barley first sow their crop in the paddocks. The crop of grain is then grown over several months.
- The second stage is harvesting: the grain is then harvested and the stem of the wheat / barley / oats is cut to the ground. At the time of harvesting the grain, some of the grain will fall to the ground instead of being caught by the harvester.
- Thirdly, the stem of the plant is cut and baled up – this stem becomes your straw bale. Some of the grain that has settled on the ground during the harvesting process may also be bundled up at this time. You may find that some bales have more grain than others. This is due to the nature of grain production, and unfortunately cannot be avoided.
Once you begin BaleGrow’s™ treatment system, you not only activate the healthy bacteria inside the straw, you also activate the leftover wheat grain inside your bale and the wheat grass will start sprouting. This is harmless and can be removed once the blade of wheat has gained a little length. Alternatively, you can leave it alone and eventually the majority of it will die off.
So don’t panic that you are going to have a bale full of weeds, this is not the case. The small blades of grass are simply a by-product of the production process of your straw bale and won’t stop you growing strong, happy plants in your BaleGrow™ garden.
Happy planting
