Straw bale Gardening 2.0: No Dirt, No Problem

The dog days of summer have set in and it's time to update the status of my straw bale garden. You can read about my first attempt here. I've successfully killed half of what I planted and learned some really good lessons along the way. Here's a quick break down of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Ugly of the Straw Bale Garden

Although my bales were old, not all of them were fully conditioned. This means the straw wasn't broken down enough. When I started to add water to them, they got really hot. Why did they get hot? Decomposition. In a nutshell your straw bale is carbon, the goal is to break that carbon by "conditioning" it.

Conditioning is adding nutrients and water to kick start the decomposition process (microbes eating the straw and changing it's cellular structure) that essentially turns the straw into soil over time.

Some of my plants last year got fried, and some of them bolted. What is "bolting?" Bolting, in vegetable gardening, happens when a plant has rapid growth. This term is typically used in reference to veggies and herbs that grow rapidly from being leaf based to, in turn, being flower and seed based.

The Bad (Planning) of the Straw Bale Garden 

All of the seeds that I planted without a drip system died. I thought I could keep up on watering them, but alas I was wrong. Unless you're only using a couple bales, or they are getting watered by your automatic lawn sprinklers, I recommend having a drip system for your entire straw bale plot. No Kohlrabi for me :(

You can DIY your drip system by following these steps. 

My pumpkins germinated well, but seemed to bolt and not develop correctly. A few hills are doing alright, but I don't think they'll produce this year. The hill is just a mound of soil that warms faster than lower soil, helping your pumpkins germinate quicker. Perhaps next year will be better, since the bales have had a good season of decomposing.

Finally... The Good of Straw Bale Gardening 

Cabbage! Of the 24 plants I put in the bales, roughly 20 of them are doing really well. I killed a few by getting a little over zealous with my fertilizer. I'm looking forward to a bountiful patch of cabbage at the end of this season. These were on a drip system-

Looking for gardening tools? We've got them online here.

Another good thing to mention is what I did in-between my bales. Last year, the rabbits destroyed all of my tender plants like peas, lettuce, and broccoli. This year, I used the bales as a barrier and a growing medium. I'm on track to have four crops of spinach and over two dozen heads of broccoli and cauliflower because of the straw bales. (Just add a roll of painters plastic to turn this into a pseudo green house).

This will extend your season on both ends by keeping the frost off of your plants in the early and late days of the growing season. Success!

Conclusion on Straw Bale Gardening

Have a good plan for irrigating and prepare well in advance with your straw bale's condition. If you want to try this next season, I recommend getting bales now and putting them where you want your garden to be next year.

Sitting out all fall and winter will have those bales primed for planting next spring! Also, check out our North 40 eMag: Lawn and Garden edition for more tips.