EZ-Straw® Just Straw Clean Processed Straw – Multi Purpose - Small Bale (1 Cubic Foot)

The straw was just right for around my lettuce and strawberries. The pack is condensed and pulling out handfuls was pretty easy so I could place it around my plants. It makes my plants look so lovely in the ground. I would recommend it.

Excellent quality and for a small package it is compressed and fills many cat shelters.

Very good for the garden especially for winter protection.

I wanted straw to cover/grow lawn grass seeds for a relatively small area, 5 feet by 5 feet (converting part of a flower bed to grass). If you want to do this, be sure to get STRAW, not hay because straw is much less likely to have seeds and hay will have seeds. If you're planting grass you don't want other kinds of seeds that will be in hay.The stores in my area did not have straw at all, or they had really big bales which I don't want.This straw product from Amazon worked very well for me for growing lawn grass. I was dubious at first b/c when I opened the package, the pieces of straw were small and fine. But when I used it I found it worked extremely well.Here's why I like straw to grow lawn grass seed: Straw covers the seed, allows sprinkled water applied from above to go through the straw to the seed/ground, and straw helps keep the ground/seed moist. I think it keeps birds from eating the grass seed. (I also put some pinwheels in the ground to keep birds away from the seeds.) Straw allows the grass to grow right through the straw. You can rake the straw up when the grass is sufficiently high, 3 or more inches, when it's time to begin mowing the grass. You can use the straw again. This straw did all these things well.There are very few weeds in my new grass, so I conclude that there were no seeds in this straw.If you're trying to grow grass from seed, cooler weather is best - spring or fall. WATER your grass a lot. I use a sprinkler and let it go for 15-20 minutes 2x per day until the grass gets 3 inches high or more and is ready to mow. You can still water it occasionally after that.A note on Burlap: Burlap is good for uses other than growing grass seed, like shading new plants or protecting plants over the winter. I feel it's not good to cover grass seed you're trying to sprout. As soon as the seeds sprout, the wet burlap squishes the new seed sprouts and you should take the burlap up, but how to keep in moisture then and how to protect the seeds that haven't sprouted? The seeds sprout over a range of several days.If you want straw for growing lawn grass from seed, I think you'll like this product. If you're growing a really big area you might want to consider a bale of straw. Good luck & enjoy!P.S. I have no relationship with the company that makes this straw. Also, I purchased this straw from Amazon.

I was excited for this when I saw it said it can be used for garden mulch. However, I won’t recommend this for garden mulch as it has seeds that grow…and can take over your garden if you don’t spot them and pull them out.

I house a feral cat and need to keep her warm. I read that straw is a great way to do that. I ordered this and it's been perfect for her feral house. She stays warm and I stay happy for her. It's a lot of straw in a nice compact package. I've actually been able to share some with other cat lovers trying to keep their ferals warm. Price was great compared to the stores near me.

I used this to insulate the cat shelters for the winter. The hay was well shredded and was easy to spread within the two layers of plastic. The shelters came out quite warm and well insulated. The price was satisfactory for the amount.

Being disabled, the seed free part of this purchase was the biggest selling point. Unfortunately, I have grass popping up all over. From nice fat, healthy seeds that I've never before seen. Such a waste of money and more work now. Not worth it.