We have been trying straw bale gardening these last few years, along one edge of our traditional, in-the-soil vegetable garden.  We had a considerable amount of oat straw left over from the bales we used last year.  Normally I just sprinkle the decomposed straw across our garden and rototill it into the soil, but the amount and length of the straw fibers this year seemed too much for that. We don’t maintain a compost pile so I just piled up the extra straw for now. Do you think the loose straw could be used as a “mulch” to provide weed suppression amongst the vegetables in our garden? (We have had a serious problem with purslane in the garden these last few years.) Or is the use of uncomposted straw remnants too much of a weed risk?  (Well, it didn’t sprout weeds when used as straw bale garden last summer.) The old straw is somewhat moldy (not unexpected for bales that served as our straw bale garden last summer), will this be a fungus/disease hazard if used as mulch underneath the garden plants this summer? Our in-the-soil plants include tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, potatoes, onions, bush green beans, beets, carrots, radish, lettuce, and miniature pumpkins.

Thank you.