Hay Bail Mulch

To protect our growing berries and to add more growing area for our potatoes I added hay today. Hay can add a biodegradable layer of mulch that protects the plants from drying out in harsh summer temperatures. I've read that the blueberries need to stay well watered so the hay will assist in keeping the moisture in the soil. As for the potatoes they add a layer of additional growing mass. Potatoes will shoot out new tubers into the loosely stacked hay. Most of the hay was stacked up around the potatoes adding about an additional six to eight inches of depth. The strawberries we added a thin layer just to keep the berries off the soil. Since we've had quite a bit of rain recently I wanted to keep them dryer. It seems like when some of the berries sit on the wet soil they tend to rot quickly. As with the blueberries it will keep the soil moist longer during the higher temperatures we'll get in July and August. Happy Gardening!