Straw Basel gardening is chop-chop turning into a style , but it did not snaffle my attention until I learned that a much - admire vegetable nurseryman in my neighborhood had taken it up . Not only had she taken it up , she ’d had great success with it . Then it came to my attention that a couple other gardeners I know had been straw - bale gardening . Why had these gardeners made the switch ? As you ’ll see from the consultation summarized below , there were some reasonably compelling reasons .
Polly Hawkes
Cathy Caldwell ( “ GiB ” ): Why did you decide to try out straw bale gardening ?
Polly Hawkes ( “ PH ” ): I was interested in it because of massive garden loser I have had in old age past related to viruses and pestilence . I hear about husk bale gardening on a podcast from “ Joe Gardener ” ( Joe Gardener.com ) . The assumption is thatyou create basically “ infertile ” grease in the straw Basle when you “ condition ” them — without the virus and fungi that linger in regular garden soil for year . Also supposedly , the hemipteran are n’t as potential to go up up the straw bale and get to the plant .
GS : How did you get started ?
PH : After listening to that podcast , I bought the suggested book by Joel Karsten who apparently pioneered the practice . I followed the procedure outlined in the podcast and by Mr. Karsten in his book , Straw Bale Gardens : Breakthrough Method for grow Vegetables Anywhere , Earlier and with No Weeding .
GS : In a nutshell , what is the procedure and how did it work out ?
PH : There is a fair amount of body of work at the front ending — “ condition ” the bales on a daily basis by adding granular fertiliser — I use organic fertilizer — on top of each bale and thoroughly watering it in . But since that process produces warmth , I was capable to found sooner and cut across the works if there was a frost warning . The care after planting is minimum but frequent . The bale must be watered every 24-hour interval but with only about a congius of water per bale .
When we are away , I put up a sprinkler . Although it is not ideal to water from the top because the leaves get blotto and may invite fungus kingdom and viruses , I had lilliputian problem with that . Using the sprinkler on a timer position to go off for about 30 minute every morning did just hunky-dory .
Last class was my first endeavour and I had groovy success with tomatoes , especially the heirloom ones , but not so much with squash rackets . Those squelch beetle found their style very quickly and I only stupefy ONE squash that was n’t damaged by “ critter . ” This class , I have already harvested my first tomatoes !
I did a routine of enquiry on the “ conditioning ” processand study that watering basically turns the stalk Basle into a compost peck . But the bales involve a nutritional hike from nitrogen , which is another reason for the fertilizer . As one expert explain it :
Like any compost procedure , the proportion of carbon to N will speed up up the natural composting process , appropriate beneficial bacterium and fungi to do the oeuvre . A straw Basle has a orotund amount of carbon already in it , so atomic number 7 will necessitate to be added to get the composting started . speedy composting is preferable so that the bale is still intact and acts as a natural container . This usually can be accomplish in just a few week .
— Alabama Ext / www.aces.edu / drinking straw - bale - gardening
My researchindicated thatthe conditioning processtakes about two to three weeks . All that tearing can lead to the growth of mushrooms , which could be poisonous , so they should NOT be eaten . Another word of caution : the heat create by conditioning can be somewhat acute , so unless you require to fry your transplant or come , you have to allow a few day of cooling before plant . Newbies shouldfollow one of the detailed twenty-four hour period - by - mean solar day schedules found in the Sources discussion section below .
Rebecca Trexler
Rebecca has had excellent tomato harvests with her straw bales , and is trying pepper and bush beans this year . For the conditioning process , Rebecca practice constitutional fertilizer , and plant seeds or transplant into a bit of her own homemade compost . When I see this , I did a bit of research and found that while it ’s possible to place the plants into the conditioned straw bale , most gardeners fence the plant with a bit of pot filth or compost . A fix metier is recommended by one expert , but most do not make this stipulation . Use of a potting culture medium is also recommend for gardeners who wish to start seeds in the top of the Basle .
GS : How are your straw Basel garden doing ?
RT : Everything is looking great so far — tomatoes are bushy and have flowers , and the peppers and beans are looking inviolable and sizeable . The bad affair this year is that the Basle are full of volunteer tomato seeds so I wo n’t know until by and by if these are seeds I planted or just random sprout from my compost ! Next year I ’ll put a potting mix stratum on top of the Basel to start my seeds and then add compost once thing are growing .
The cucumbers I put in from seeds are still really small so we ’ll see how they knead . As you may see , all the bales await like a crew of chia pets ! In the past , they ’ve stock a few fleeceable stubble shoot but never this regretful . Oh well , I pull as much as I can and put it around the edge for a kind of mulch !
New this year : I steal an thought from the podcasterJoe Gardener , who makes tomato coop out of cattle panels . Instead of cages , I have two venire on either side of my line of bales with posts to keep them up . They are really sturdy and I can well get my hand through them . I ’m also hoping they will keep the deer from eating the tomato plant since I do n’t have any fencing to keep them out .
GS : You seem to have learned a lot from your experience so far . What recommendation would you give a nurseryman just starting out with straw bale gardening ?
RT : I ’d say just give it a try . I had succeeder the first class and learned from that , specially about what work in my yard to keep them on mostly floor ground and with gentle admission for watering .
Dabney Farmer
Dabney has been growing a wide variety of vegetables in straw bales for several class . I had been note the ontogenesis of her enchanting “ fairy garden ” in the front yard , but only late learned that she was a vegetable gardener , too .
GS : What are you produce in your Basel ?
DF : tomato , peppers , attic , and pumpkins .
I noticed that the pumpkins — and some other plants , too — were get out of the sides of some of Dabney ’s bales , and Dabney explained that this turn on the vines to “ prevail ” along the footing . My inquiry indicated that some gardener set the sides of Basle with prime or herbs , but this was a first !
GS : Do you get young bales each spring ?
DF : Yes , but it ’s important to get straw , not hay .
Straw Bales , NOT Hay Bales . Dabney ’s comment led to some research explain this important distinction . There are a couple significant differences between hay and straw bales . First , hay is produce from pasture pasturage and may have practicable seeds that sprout into grass green goddess in your Basle ; that ’s not nearly as probable with straw , which is the byproduct of grain product . secondly , a hay bale is more likely to hold in herbicide residues , which can damage your crop . Hay farmers are more likely to spray their field of view with a herbicide ; it ’s against agricultural regulations for food grain farmers to apply relentless chemicals , though that ’s not a guaranty . However , nurseries and garden nerve center often impart straw bale , and they have normally made certain their provider ’s Basle are pesticide - barren .
GS : What advice would you give to gardener who are just trying stubble bale gardening for the first prison term ?
DF : Do n’t place your bales on a deck because the pee will damage it . Be trusted they get a lot of sun .
These three stalk Basel gardener infected me with their enthusiasm , and I expect you ’ll have the same response . A wheat bale can function as a type of raised bed as well as a growing mass medium . And it makes vegetable horticulture possible — and more successful — in trouble filth .
SOURCES :
Straw Bale Gardens Complete : Breakthrough Method for Growing Vegetables Anywhere , before and with No Weeding(Joel Karsten , Cool Springs Press ; 2nd edition , 2019 )
“ Using Cereal Straw Bales in Home Gardens,”Washington State Ext , ( downloadable free online ) ( Linda Chalker - Scott , Associate Professor in Horticulture , Washington State University )
“ Gardening in Straw Basel : An Easy & Inexpensive Solution to Make Growing Food More Accessible for All , ” Joe Gardener Podcast No . 148,joegardener.com / podcast ( Joe L’amp’l )
“ Straw Bale Gardening,”York / Poquoson Master Gardeners / VA Tech.edu
“ Straw Bale Gardening,”Washington State University / Benton County Extension(2013 )
“ Straw Bale Gardening,”Clemson.edu / Home & Garden Information Center
