Way Easy, Way Cool
Straw Bale Planting
A super quick and super easy way to start a garden is straw bale planting. In many areas, straw bales are readily available and quite inexpensive. "Waste" bales are perfect for gardening, that is those that have spoiled due to exposure to the elements. Not only that, but once they are no longer suitable for planting, they can be used as mulch or in the compost pile.
Straw Bale Planting - Preparing the Bale
- First, the bales will need to be soaked to start decomposition
- Position the bales where you want them. Once they are soaked, they will be nearly impossible to move
- Position the bales on end, that is with the straw up and down
- Give the bale a good soaking, enough so water runs out the bottom
- Cover with plastic if you are in a particularly arid climate
- Soak the bales every day for 5 days or more
- After 5 days of soaking with water, add 2 lbs of blood meal or other organic fertilizer and soak again
- Soak for another 5 days or more with fertilizer and water
How To Plant in a Straw Bale
Your bale is ready for planting as long as it is not hot. In the initial few days, the bale will heat up as bacteria start to decompose the straw.Setting up the bales in the fall is a great way to use winter weather to help break down the bales for you. If you do this, just start watering with fertilizer a week before you are ready to plant. Just make sure to place them where you want them. If you plant seed: - Place a 1/2 inch layer of compost on top of the bale
- Spread seed as desired
- Cover with a light layer of compost
That's it! Thin seedlings as usual.If you use starts: - Keep to the smaller starts - 6 packs or 4 inch pots
- Dig a hole big enough to plant the start plus a little more
- Place a little compost in the hole
- Plant the start
- Cover all starts with a little bit of compost
You're done!You will need to fertilize more frequently when bale planting, since the bale is devoid of nutrients. Continuing to add compost helps too.
Which Plants Are Best for Straw Bale Planting?
I've had great success with lettuce planted in a straw bale. It's a small plant and can be started from seed. I'm sure herbs would do equally well.I have heard that squash and cucumbers and even corn can be used in bale planting. The only plants that cannot be grown in a straw bale are root crops such as potatoes and carrots, since the bale will impede development of tubers.
Straw Bale Garden Design
Straw bale gardens can be arranged as individual bale units or they can be combined. Three bales placed together can yield about 10 square feet of gardening space. Bales can be bound together with twine tied around the outside, if necessary.As well, bales can be used as the building blocks of a raised bed. Arrange the bales around the perimeter of the garden and fill with a great
soil mix
. The bales provide extra planting space. At the end of the season or two, the bales can be worked into the soil and used to fill another raised bed.
Related topics:
How to create an organic soil mix
Container gardening
return from bale planting to raised beds
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