I’m pretty sure this is the best type of gardening I’ve ever come across. Seriously. There is no way that I could have a garden this size this year without having a straw bale garden.
It’s been perfect for me this summer. Well, the days one could consider summer-like. In May we had snow and a couple of hard frosts so I waited a while to plant – usually I plant Mother’s Day weekend.
But with the higher temperatures of the “soil” in the straw bales (it’s not really soil but straw that is breaking down) everything is coming along rather quickly even though I got a late start.
I put these plants in the straw bales the weekend of May 23 as tiny little seedlings from my local garden center.
In this short amount of time I have blooms on my tomatoes and they have grown at least a foot in height. I am already able to harvest greens for salads. Yay!
We’ve had TONS of rain. Even though I set up the drip irrigation system on a timer I’ve hardly had to use it so far.
The nice thing about the straw bale garden is that the excess water runs off. My plants never sit in a puddle.
Do you see that teeny tiny little tomato beginning to grow?
Today I noticed my first squash blossom.
I feel really bad for my neighbor. He planted in the ground and didn’t get everything in until last week because of the crazy weather we’ve been having. Of course, he plants a lot more than I do.
I just love walking out and looking at all of my plants. The fencing and the wood across the tops of the rows have kept the deer out which is a major accomplishment around here.
This is a perfect gardening set up for people with health issues like I have this year or for older folks. Even when I’m back to being strong as an ox next spring I’m going to do a straw bale garden again. So far it’s fool proof!
What a lovely garden you have. I started my straw bale garden about a month ago. I thought that my compost was ready to sprinkle on my garden and it wasn’t and as a result, I experienced salt burn and many of my plants burned up. I am hoping to recover some of the plants and start over if I can. Boy what a lesson I learned.
That’s one of the things about gardening Augustine; there is always plenty to learn.
I hope you and your plants bounce back and try again.
xoxo V
Your hay bale garden looks beautiful. I would like to try this in my yard. I live in sunny hot So. Cal. I’m wondering if the hay bales hold in the water so that I could water a little less. We are in a bad drought situation and have to be careful of our water usage. This year I planted tomatoes, cucumbers (didn’t do anything) green beans, trumpet squash (can be used green for summer or left on the vine for winter) bell peppers, summer squash, pie pumpkins. I have a pretty small yard and put the summer squash in large planters. I love the idea of hay bales.
Thank you, Irene. Yes, the straw bales (Make sure you get straw and not hay. It does make a difference!) hold in water.
On the other hand, if you over water them it runs right out the bottom so you can’t drown your plants either.
I’ve never had much luck with cucumbers.
Good luck and let me know how your garden grows.
Vicki
I planted a straw bale garden this year too! It did quite well, although the cool wet spring here delayed it for a while. I had lettuce, way too many cucumbers, plenty of squash, a few cantaloupes, decent tomato crop and a few carrots. I had envisioned it as my salad garden, but for the most part, the crops weren’t staged right for salads. They tended to come one after another instead of together. I learned a lot this year and will do straw bale gardening again next year!
Hi Vickie,
I’m glad your experience with the straw bale garden was as good as mine.
I’m definitely going to straw bale garden next year. Only, I think I’ll be adding more straw bales!
xoxo V
Thank you for sharing the progress of your straw bale garden. It looks great and I definitely plan on trying this instead of large planters when I finally get the outdoor space for a garden!
The cool thing Jess2Bead is that you only need a couple of bales to grow 8+ plants.
Your garden looks wonderful! So much food in suchba small area. And I’m jeolous of your deer deterent system! Ours is doing well too. We are using raised beds and are experimenting with growing potatoes vertically. They are doing well – bloming and coming on a bit early.
Oh, now I have to hear more about the vertical potatoes, Carol.