Why Every Gardening Enthusiast Should Try Straw Bale Gardening

  • The podcast below covers anything and everything you want to know about this “trendy” gardening technique. It'll answer questions such as where to purchase the straw bales, which vegetables grow best using this method as well as how to actually plant the seeds.

    On this week’s edition of Off The Grid Radio, we talk to Craig LeHoullier, the author of “Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales.

    Have you tried straw bale gardening? What tips do you have for beginners?

    Podcast Source: Off The Grid News



    5 Comments

    1. Jim Bodah said:

      I’m calling bullshit!! My neighbors tried this and it was a complete waste of time and money. The plants are root bound because the bales a so tight. Tomato plants in the ground are 6′ tall now loaded with fruit and the ones in the bales are barely 18″ tall with three or four tomatoes

    2. Thomas Cook said:

      We did this as a lesson plan at my college and I will say it produces pitiful results for FRUITING plants. They are good for some root crops but mostly perfect for leaf crops. The trick to these bale gardens is to stand them with the straw perpendicular to the ground (as if the straw was standing upright on the ground). Then you have to fertilize the bale every other day with a 15-10-10 fertilizer and water it into thoroughly to begin the decomposition. After 6 weeks (sometimes 10) the bale should be decomposed enough to where the center of the bale doesn’t go above 100f (wait for straw mushrooms to form). Finally you layer a 2 inch thick topping of dirt over the bale and plant your seeds into it (for direct seeding), or cut a hole out to transplant your crops into.

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