Straw Bale Gardening: 101

hardworkinghippy via Flickr

Straw Bale Gardening is simply a different type of container gardening. The main difference is that the container is the straw bale! Once the straw inside the bale begins to decay the straw becomes “conditioned” compost! You can place your bales right on top of any poor soil you may have or – even better – on top of some grass you’re aiming to kill off (Not on wood! It will rot!). Some things to know:

• You only want to use straw bales as a growing medium, not hay. Rice, wheat and barley straw is ideal for drainage, but fescue and rye are ok, too.
• Be sure that the straw has not been treated with anything you wouldn’t want your food growing in and that will not deter the growth of vegetation (herbicides).
• Straw bales should come bound with rope or twine – this is a good thing. Do not cut off the binding on your bales, it will (as they say) keep it together.
• Straw bales are heavy especially when wet. If you’re not very strong or have an injury, get some help setting up your garden.