The Advantages ofStraw Bale Gardening
by Ruth Gonzalez
Gardener and Founder of the Tailgate Market Fan Club
One of the main advantages of the straw bale approach to gardening is that you can set a garden up almost anywhere and quickly ~ even on a concrete driveway, a patio, or a balcony that can support the weight of a wet straw bale. The straw bale will provide a relatively weed-free and disease-free garden area, and makes a great alternative when you have uncooperative hard-to-work soil, an awkward/steep location, or limited space. It will also be easier to work for those who are disabled or have trouble bending. Most garden plants can be successfully grown in a straw bale garden.
The Straw Bales:
Straw bales are available for purchase at most garden centers and feed-type stores. Buy wheat (or grain) straw, not pine straw or hay. These bales typically measure about 18” x 14” x 36” and weigh about 50 pounds. Choose bales that are in good condition and are mold-free. Avoid bales that are starting to fall apart, and keep in mind that straw is pretty messy (if you plan to haul the bales in your car, bring along a tarp or old blanket to contain the mess).
Siting your Garden:
Like any garden, your straw bale garden will need 6-8 hours of sun, and access to water. Proximity to your house is always helpful. Make sure you are happy with the location of the bales before wetting them. Once the bales are wet they will be very heavy and prone to breakage should you try to move them to a different location. Theoretically, the size of your straw bale garden is limited only by the number of bales you obtain. I would not make the garden any wider than 2-3 bales so that you can comfortably reach your veggies for harvest. Most straw bale gardeners recommend setting the bale on its side (the cut edge) so that the strings are not in contact with the ground. Others (only if the strings were wire or synthetic) laid the bales down horizontally. The bales that were laid down horizontally retained more water. Regardless of orientation, if you are using more than one bale, push them tightly together to achieve better water retention. I might try banding the group of bales together with string or wire.
Getting Started:
Once you have the bales in place, wet them thoroughly. Water once or twice a day, and don’t let the bales dry out for a week or two. It takes a lot of water. The bales will heat up and begin to decompose. It’s optional, but you can jump-start the decomposition process by adding fertilizer. This will get things “cooking”, however the addition of fertilizer will mean you should delay planting until the bale “cools down” enough. For instance, spread about 3 ˝ cups of organic fertilizer (like 5-4-3) across the top of the bale, or create a layer of 1/3 Blood Meal (12-0-0), 2/3 Bone Meal (0-12-0), and a Potassium source, and water thoroughly. Once the bales are a little decomposed, they hold water a little better. Ideally, you would start this process in the fall and your bales would be ready to plant in spring. If you wait until spring to get started, it will take at least a couple of weeks of attention before the bales are cool enough for planting.
Planting:
Transplants can be planted directly in the bale. Fellow straw bale gardener Andrew suggested using a digging bar or heavy rebar to force a hole in the straw bale where you want to plant. Both Chuck and Jeff, also straw bale gardeners, recommended excavating a hole in the straw bale and adding some garden soil, compost, and fertilizer. Laid on their cut sides, each bale will accommodate about two large plants or three medium plants. If laying the bales horizontally, you could probably grow about six smallish plants (like lettuce or cucumbers) per bale. Trailing plants like cucumbers, beans, or winter squash could be planted more thickly. If you are planting seeds, add a 2” layer of compost to the top of the straw bale before planting the seeds. Transplants are more successful than seeds using the straw bale method. Tall plants like corn and okra are not well-suited to straw bale gardening.
Ongoing:
Your straw bale garden must be watered and fertilized on a regular basis. It takes a lot of water to keep the bale moist; particularly at first ~ once the bales are a little decomposed they become better at retaining water. Jeff watered his straw bale garden heavily before leaving for a four-day weekend…his garden was tottering on the edge of a grim fate when he returned. If you added fertilizer initially, remember that was simply to start the decomposition process. Now you will need to fertilize on a regular basis to provide the plants with nutrients so they can grow and fruit. Liquid fish fertilizer (or a fish/seaweed blend) once a week is a good choice. Chuck pointed out that the raw bale has no natural fertility, so you will have to be generous with fertilizer. If your plants look off-color, be ready to add supplemental fertilizer. Wheat may sprout up from seeds in the bale. Just trim it off with scissors (rather than pulling it out).
Harvest and enjoy your vegetables!
Ruth Gonzalez is a former market farmer, avid gardener, local food advocate, and founder of the Tailgate Market Fan Club where she blogs at http://tailgatemarketfanclub.wordpress.com. In her job at Reems Creek Nursery near Asheville NC, Ruth offers advice on all sorts of gardening questions, and benefits daily from the wisdom of local gardeners. Ruth writes a monthly gardener’s advice column sponsored by the Organic Growers School, a 501c3 non-profit organization supporting sustainable agriculture in the southern Appalachians. In addition to monthly newsletters, the Organic Growers School sponsors farmer and gardeners education initiatives year-round in the mountain region, including the Annual Spring Conference, attracting 2000 growers for a weekend of workshops and hands-on demonstrations. For more information on the 2012 Conference, scheduled for March 3-4 in Asheville, NC, or to sign up for the gardening and farming newsletters where Ask Ruth columns appear, visit organicgrowersschool.org. You can also find OGS on Facebook.
*Special thanks to Jeff Ashton, Andrew Goodheart Brown, and Chuck Marsh for their advice on this article.