Straw test

I built a hugelkultur a few years ago.  I  had nothing but trouble with my chickens kicking all the soil off.  I finally fenced it off. That solved the problem until I forgot the gate open last year. It sadly sat unused all year. I'm determined to get it back in a useful state.  
I have removed all the weeds. It's maybe half the size it was. A lot of the soil is around the base.  I plan to cover it with a bunch of branches. Dump a bunch of soil on. Then I would like to cover that layer with straw. Then a bunch of soil, and compost.
I can't get organic straw in my area. I have waisted a great deal of time looking.  I read somewhere, probably on permies that you can start bean seeds in straw, and if they look healthy, and not deformed, the straw is safe to use.  It's to cold to start beans, and I want to Finnish my hugel rebuild now so I can plant soon.  
So I'm going to buy straw, wet some and put it in a little pot, and put the pot on a seed starting heat mat and put the beans in the straw. Then see what happens.  If the bean comes up normal looking, I will use the straw on my hugel. If it comes up deformed, I guess I will fill holes in the driveway.
I'm posting this because I haven't done this before, and no clue if it works, or if it's a waist or time and money. I don't know if the seed will sprout in only straw or if I need to mix with soil.  I'm hoping for someone has knowledge of this process and will share there thoughts. Thanks.

Hi Jen,
I would hesitate putting the straw under a soil layer with the worry that it would not break down properly. I would suggest adding it as the top layer, or composting it first, and then adding the compost.

I have not tried the test with straw (I got some "unsprayed" and just took a chance), but one method I heard was to soak the straw in some water. Then only use that water to water some seedlings. In theory any nasty stuff would leech into the water, and then affect the seedling if it was going to. If the seedlings look fine, it's probably fine.

Good luck.

Jen, while I have never heard of the process that you are describing, I have sprouted a lot of beans. You can sprout beans without straw by soaking and rinsing for a few days. Therefore, I assume that if you are trying to soak the beans and straw together then rinse them both until the beans sprout, you are determining whether there are toxins in the straw that would prevent the natural sprouting. Makes sense to me and that sounds like a helpful idea to try before using mystery straw.
Perhaps having a bunch of seeds sprouting using water without straw and a bunch with the straw in the water would ensure that your seeds are viable, your water is good, and allow you to compare results. I'm interested in learning from you!

I've never done anything like that, but with moisture and warmth the beans should sprout just fine. I think I would mix a little compost or soil with the straw and let it sit on the heat for a few days before putting the seeds in. Straw by itself might not have many nutrients so poor growth of the sprouts might be mistaken for contamination in the straw. I imagine just a little bit of soil or compost should suffice, say 80% straw, 20% soil.

I hear you on the struggle of finding organic straw. I haven't done a bioassay with straw, only compost, so I'm not sure the best solution. Maybe you could mulch the tops of the pots with the straw and water from the top? I would imagine having some seedlings that were planted in the same type of soil (but no straw) and watered with normal water to serve as a control would be helpful. You'd need to be sure the pots were in separate trays, to avoid water draining from one pot affecting another. I think you might also need to let the seedlings grow for two to three weeks to confirm all is well with the straw. There's some more info about how to do a bioassay and pictures of plants affected by aminopyralids here: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/crop-production/soil/herbicide-carryover-hay-manure-compost-grass-clippings

I can't help with a test to see if the straw is organic though I wonder if you could grow your own straw?

Straw is the stalk of cereal plants, such as barley, oats, rice, rye, and wheat.

I found some threads in the grain that might be of interest:

https://permies.com/t/172350/grain-easy-grow-easy-process

https://permies.com/t/164216/Growing-Wild-Rice-Zizania-Palustris

Thank you all very much.  Since I'm kinda in a hurry, I think I will soak some straw in water, and use that to water test, along with planting in it. Probably will throw a bit of soil with it. Most seed starting mix doesn't have any nutrients, that's why you have to repot as soon as you see the first 2 true leaves. So I don't think that is the problem.  Will also plant a control at the same time using what I always use, with normal water   thanks again.

Test #1 is a total bust. I put the cups I planted in a plastic bag, and it must have been to wet because the seeds rotted.  Test #2 will eliminate the plastic bag. I used the bag to eliminate contamination. This time I will put a cup without holes. I don't know why I didn't think of it the first time. Oh well. Take two.

I did the same test with some fresh stable bedding so straw with a bit of horse crap. I just scooped up a plant pot of the stuff got it wet and put in 4 pea seeds and a couple of broad beans. They germinated fine they are not fussy, they don't need extra heat just put them on a windowledge.