Gardening

Straw Bale Gardening

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Have you heard of straw bale gardening? I came across the method several years ago and it piqued my interest. It is a method that can easily utilized by urban gardeners with minimal soil depth, people with less than ideal soil conditions and people that don’t want to be bothered by tilling or weeding.

Wait, no tilling or weeding?

You heard that correct. Straw has no grass seed and once you start the composting process to condition the bales for planting; you are left with an ideal medium for planting vegetables without the weed seeds found in most other gardening methods.

First things first though, this is straw bale gardening, not hay bale gardening. Some people do not know the difference between hay and straw; so here are the basics.

Hay is a food source for animals that is cut from the plant that holds the grain, seeds, and the nutrients for the animal. It can quickly decompose into a pile of black slimy mess if not handled and stored properly.

Straw on the other hand is the stalk of the plant that is left standing after the grain has been cut. Once it has dried out; it is harvested and used for bedding, erosion control, grass seeding, construction and gardens. It decomposes very slowly, which makes a ideal medium for gardening in. I have a section of a straw bale that has been sitting on top of my chicken coop for two years now that besides some mildew still holds it shape and form well.

Basically straw bale gardens are container gardens without the need or use of raised beds. This saves on the cost and labor of construction, hauling soil, topping off the beds, and weeding the beds.

Now some people will point out that if they are using the correct recipe for Mel’s Mix; that weeding will not be a concern. I agree with this, but for me personally the cost of the ingredients to properly make Mel’s Mix I found very cost prohibitive. Vermiculite is very expensive for us here locally.

So for those looking for a a less labor intensive, and what can be a somewhat cheaper method of container gardening, here are the basics from Author, Joel Karsten

Enjoy.