Straw Bale Gardening

[Mnfisher]

Went to a community Ed class last night on Straw Bale gardening. It was very interesting and I think worth a try. Some people have had great success and it seems to save some work, though, initially there is some expense and especially if you have to buy expensive straw bales. Has anyone had experience with this type of gardening and any comments?

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm assuming you're talking aboot planting the garden and shredding a staw bale over the top of everything?

I have a friend who uses shredded up newspapers. Very little weeding and it retains moisture well.

[davidbigreelz]

I think he is talking about this.

You just put a straw bale on the ground(make sure it's a cured one, not fresh cut) with the straw standing on end. water it good so it starts to decompose for a couple of weeks. then place a bit of soil on top, and plant. The decomposing straw bale warms up and accelerates root growth and acts as a built in compost heap.

PS: the pic is not of my garden.

[Mnfisher]

Yes, this is sit. The instructor had a formula for "seasoning" the bales using some cheap garden fertilizer every other day and water every day for 10 days. Speeds up the decomposing process.

[BartmanMN]

My mom grew some tomato plants on the straw bails a couple years ago and I think it went well, however she's not doing it any longer, so it may have just been a fun test.

[flipper]

One of my pals did it last year. Honestly, I think if you have decent soil you are better off the normal way but it is good for those in urban areas maybe.

[Tom7227]

FYI the fertilizer is put on to add nitrogen to the bales. It promotes decomposition. You can get urea at a feed mill or a good garden store and it has a formula of 45-0-0. Cheap and no extra chemicals. I add it to my compost pile and leaves to get things fired up.

[Mnfisher]

yes, the instructor did say to use high nitrogen, but I didn't know it came that high. I'll check with the local feed mill and see if I can get some. Thanks!

[Dotch]

I could see this being a little messy but if you have lots of free time and love to putz, why not? We had a couple haystacks when I was a kid and Dad had run out of space in the garden one year. He planted some squash into the weathered leftover broken bales the following spring. It worked well. Keep in mind buying straw bales from a farmer will likely run you $2 - $4 apiece depending on where you are. Small grain acreage this year is relatively low so straw may command a premium price in places. Also keep in mind you may be bringing in new/more weed seed if the weeds in the small grain were not well controlled.

[flipper]

From what I was told when you add the urea and water to the straw bale it will get hot enough that it is suppose to kill the weed seeds. You are right about the scarcity of straw these days.

[Mnfisher]

I was lucky enough to get 9 bales for nothing, so I am going to experiment with these. I know that it wouldn't be very cost effective if you had to pay too much. Sounds like somethng fun to try though.

[Tom7227]

Last post got me thinking. I bet a lot of places have straw left over that is moldy and can't be used for bedding. I bet you could get some for free or next to free if you looked around. Mold wouldn't be a problem for the gardening thing.

When you do this do you put the bales with the cut side up or the long stems side of the bale?

[Dotch]

From the photo it appears the bales were placed string side down. You may find some moldy straw bales at some horse operations around the TC perhaps but in outstate, most moldy straw gets used up one way or the other. The primary function of straw in most operations is bedding not feed. It's baled very dry and mold is seldom a problem. As long as it's kept under a roof or cover of some type the bales will keep a long time. Or at least until the mice chew the strings off and make one heck of a mess out of it.

[Mnfisher]

You put the cut side up. I was gone for a few days so just got mine started today ( a 10 day composting process). Got a late start but I think not too late!

[Mnfisher]

I'm trying to post a couple of pics of my straw bale garden. I'm pretty pleased with it and think it is doing well considering I didn't plant until mid may. It was fun and really a lot less work than a regular garden, though, like i said before, probably not cost effective if you have to pay a high price for the straw.

[Mnfisher]

having trouble posting. I'll try again another time.