Straw bale garden

[Dentoro]

Has anyone here tried the straw bale garden? What where your results? I'm going to make a raised bed garden but really don't have time to condition the soil right so I thought about loading it down in straw bales and letting them sit wet for about week and planting directly in them. I was thinking about tomatoes, potatoes, beans and peppers. I figured buy next season after it's broken down it will make some great compost for that years crop. And maybe roating bales in every other year.

 

[hvacrguy]

Garden

The best thing you can do for your garden is horse poo. I dont know where you live but if you can get your hands on hosre poop of turkey litter from a turkey barn and mix it in you will be g2g. If you are worried about smell they both have a very minimal smell. You won't really gain any nutritional value from the straw its just mainly gonna be a filler. Withe the poo you will get both a filler and exceptional nutrients.

 

[Keith_Indy]

You have to be careful with horse & cow poo. If the grass they are eating has been treated with anything, it will be in there poo. Poultry should be ok, but we are letting our chickens litter compost before using it in the garden.

Composting should kill any harmful bacteria, right?

Straw just acts as a mulch, preventing weeds.

 

[irishhunter]

I beleive some grow potatoes in straw bails or under large mounds of straw. If you google straw bail gardens you will find good info. I was reading on a another forum of guys getting ready to do it. I have several bails that have been sitting outside for a year and was thinking of trying it myself. From what I understand if you take a seed potato and plant it barely under the ground put the bail on top of it. The vines will grow into the bail. When ready to harvest break the bail open and collect the potaotes. I have no first hand experience so it will be a first to me as well

 

[Icarry2]

Interesting, I was wondering what I was going to do with the bales I had leftover from a kids bond fire that sat out in the weather all winter and that are now water logged.

As far as animal fertilizer, Keith makes a good point.

Personally having grown up rasing all sorts of animals the one which makes the best natural fertilizer in my hummble opinion is rabbit poo..

It is very, very low odor, worms love it and you can raise your own worms in a mound of it and mixing it in your garden will make maters grow like softball size.

It can also be dried and stored in 5 gallon buckets for future use..

I might try this male gardening, doing some readin gon it first. Anyone want a play by play?

 

[Dentoro]

I'm game. I'm going to try it too.