[Strawbale] Bale Shopping

[Tim Martens]

We just got our building permit!  
The first straw bale structure in North Bay Ontario.
Now We're trying to get some bales (2 string).  I looked at some today that had been drying in a barn since August (great).  They were also very tight bales (great).  The problems I saw with them were that the straw was quite short in length (5-10 inches) and there was also a hole going lengthwise down the middle of each bale (about 4 inches in diameter).  Because the straw was short I could easily pull off straw from the corners of the bale.  When I picked them up by the strings there was not a large gap between the string and the bale and the bale maintained it's integrity.  I felt very lucky to find dry bales, is the length of the straw and the hole something I need to be concerned about?
Gwen