- Joined
- May 4, 2015
- Messages
- 2,441
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Mid Michigan
- Hardiness Zone
- 5b
- Country
Straw bale gardening.
No digging and no soil required. Once composted for a little while (speed up the process by keeping bales damp and fertilized for about two weeks), the straw is the medium. The attached photo was taken ten days after starting to condition the bales. I'll try to find some other photos from last year.
This will be my third year. I've experimented with "controls" - putting some plants in soil, others in the bales. Based on two years so far, tomato production in the bales was vastly superior. This year I'll be doing tomatoes, potatoes, kale, chard and green beans in the bales.
Pluses:
No digging!
No soil required.
Better production in general.
Weeding is much easier.
Feral/stray cats won't use your veggie beds as toilets.
Can have a successful garden even if your native soil is poor.
Portable and works in small spaces. I saw a blog where someone just had a small patio, and had two bales in little red wagons. She could easily move them around to get enough sun.
Cons:
Alas, slugs seem to love the bales. I'm still experimenting with "natural" ways to deter them.
Because it's such a good growing medium, weeds love them too. Although as noted above, they're much easier to pull.
By the end of summer the bales get slumped, gray and sort of sloppy-looking. Not that big of a deal though,and can be rectified with fencing or some sort of border.
So, anyone else done this, or thought about it? I'm a relative newbie so I'll take any tips you might have. Also happy to answer questions if I can!
No digging and no soil required. Once composted for a little while (speed up the process by keeping bales damp and fertilized for about two weeks), the straw is the medium. The attached photo was taken ten days after starting to condition the bales. I'll try to find some other photos from last year.
This will be my third year. I've experimented with "controls" - putting some plants in soil, others in the bales. Based on two years so far, tomato production in the bales was vastly superior. This year I'll be doing tomatoes, potatoes, kale, chard and green beans in the bales.
Pluses:
No digging!
No soil required.
Better production in general.
Weeding is much easier.
Feral/stray cats won't use your veggie beds as toilets.
Can have a successful garden even if your native soil is poor.
Portable and works in small spaces. I saw a blog where someone just had a small patio, and had two bales in little red wagons. She could easily move them around to get enough sun.
Cons:
Alas, slugs seem to love the bales. I'm still experimenting with "natural" ways to deter them.
Because it's such a good growing medium, weeds love them too. Although as noted above, they're much easier to pull.
By the end of summer the bales get slumped, gray and sort of sloppy-looking. Not that big of a deal though,and can be rectified with fencing or some sort of border.
So, anyone else done this, or thought about it? I'm a relative newbie so I'll take any tips you might have. Also happy to answer questions if I can!