On Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:24:42 GMT, "
wrote:

picked up some 25 year old bales of hay for free today....they are from an
old barn set to be demolished they stink of animal urine and
feces....apparently raccoons have have been living there for long
time....will this be ok for mulch in vegetable garden?

Hay no matter what age makes terrible mulch, you'll end up with a
garden weedier than you can ever imagine... even 25 years old most of
the seeds contained therein will germinate... and once hay becomes
established it is the most awful thing to remove. And hay grows fast,
on a hot day it will grow more than six inches. I have a four acre
field that was once hayed but I mow it trying to get it to contain
more lawn grass than hay... I can actually see it grow while I mow.
And plowing it under will only make it grow better. Hay is strong,
its roots are like manila rope. If you take that hay put it to
compost but do NOT use it for mulch.