The house is safe from the dangling limbs, but one hangs over the garden. I'm careful not to work there when the wind is blowing! Straw bale gardens have become popular here for the last few years for growing veggies. The bale is used as growing media and as a raised bed, crops are grown directly in the straw. Nitrogen must be provided a few weeks before planting so that it reaches a state of decomposition where it is no longer usurping nitrogen from the plants.
Mika, sounds like you deal with opposite extremes in soils! I think clay is my preference to deal with, as long as it drains. At least clay holds nutrients, with sand it takes a lot of compost to get there! What minerals are in mineralised straw?
