Why do this?
Simple Strawbale Gardening question, Why?
Plenty of reasons, bad soil and unable to work it. Physical limitations that make it hard to bend. I am trying it for the fun of it.
oh, I hadn't thought of the bending issue.. I will have to keep that in mind... both me and my wife don't bend as easy as we used too.. lol. I take soil have good soil for granted these days.. I am blessed with 85 inches of very good soil. Actualy just had an idea.. how high can you stack the bales and this work.. I have a 16 (EDITED FOR CLEARITY year old son) in a wheel chair.. Hadn't thought about the fact I could bring the garden up to his level.
This message was edited Apr 23, 2008 9:49 PM
I honestly don't know since I am new here to this but I am sure someone could answer that question. Even people with bad knees seem to like it. It is easier than tilling and digging, and the bales look nice and neat and other than a bale haircut no weeding either.
I think Mr. Colquhoun missed the reason for the bale gardening in the first place. That is no weeding, no tilling, and no hoeing. He has a wheel chair, I would imagine he uses it. There are people in this forum with disabilities who place their bales far enough apart for wheel chairs to get through the rows. Yes, it is much easier to pick tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, squash, you name it, when they are waist high rather than crawling around the ground.
Maybe he could put some of that good soil in raised beds and accomplish the same thing.
For now he and his wife obviously are able to get down on hands and knees and enjoy the feel of that nice soil with their hands. It may not always be that way. Then he may remember this forum and be pleased to have found a way to enjoy a nice home grown ripe tomato again.
Jeanette
Thank you all for your input. Thats why I was asking.. I did miss the reason in the first place :) Right now my wife and me are very much into multistory permaculture.. but I would never pass up a chance to learn about new techinques of gardening. One of the things I love about Dave's is the ability to learn about things outside my normal experience. Me and my wife discussed it over dinner.. and I think we might possibly plant a small strawbale garden at the end of our drive this summer for our son.
Colquhoun try it you'll like it. Jeanette
Colquhoun, this is a wonderfully environmentally sound gardening concept. Great for anyone who is challlenged physically (as I am), and has a hard time tilling, weeding, etc. Also, as was mentioned, a God send if you do NOT have wonderful soil (as you and I are blessed to have). But I also see this as practical as far as only needing to water the actual growing medium (as opposed to soaking a whole garden) and utilizing the nutrients in the straw or hay (just so you know, you CAN use hay bales (I've done 20 each, straw and hay, bales). The strawbales seem to hold their shape better, take longer to 'condition'; the hay bales have more innate nitrogen and seem to start the composting more quickly and are MUCH easier to reach down into them to plant. In my case, the hay was mulch grade and half the price of the straw!
I planted my first 4 bales today- so exciting! Here's a photo (below)- 3 plants in each, got cukes and squash out there today.
I hope you do decide to do this for your son- it's so wonderful to be able to garden again!
Namaste- Suz
This is my second year and I found it wonderful for reasons of bending. As far as stacking goes, I probably wouldn't stack more then two and if you were to hammer a stake or peice of barb steal through the two bales that would stablelize it and prevent it from tumbling over. You could also build a mock frame around to stabilize it. What ever works. This would be perfect for your son and it would give him an opportunity to get outside and be a part of the whole gardening scene. He could even have his own garden. I found that adding a bit of good top soil to the top of the bales gives the plants extra nutrients too. Especially my strawberries and sugar snap peas. The bales are great for herb gardens too.
The whole concept is to make life easier for some of us not that aren't so limber or agile any more, to be able to do what we love, getting our hands dirty.
I'm not only doing it for the usual reasons, no digging, tilling, weeding, convenience, etc., but also because of where I want to put the garden. We have a septic tank and the lateral bed runs right through the area I want to place my vegetable garden...so absolutely no digging or tilling there.
Good point Frausnow. I have tried for years to dig, till, etc. the sand, turned cement, and anything I add to it, compost, peat, etc. just disappears before the plants get to use it. And yet, the moles can drill right thru it. Why is that?
But that is the only place where I have enough sun.
Jeanette
Another good reason, our initial tipover into Yes, is poor soil - the stuff you make cob adobe out of. Now that we've moved, the soil here is better, but we pile some on top of the bales and are happy to have so much less bending to do. Slugs have alas found their way to the top of the bales last year, so we're no longer gloating about being pest-free, quite! (they're easily moved/discouraged with Sluggo).
Hi Ru, haven't heard from your for so long. How are you doing? Fighting the slugs huh? When I lived in Seattle, slug heaven because of the rain, my best defense was a duck named Pete. When I was working in the yard and came across one of those really gross things, I would call Pete and you would think I had just invited him to Sunday dinner. He would come squawking and flapping his wings across the yard to chow down.
That duck would dig down into the roots of the grass frorm grubs, go around all the rocks etc. in the yard. When he finished with my yard he went to the neighbors where they welcomed him with open arms. Had the whole neighborhood cleaned up until a mail truck ran over him.
Ru, have you ever tried Mycorrhizae? There is a co-op going on now and I think I am going to try it. It really sounds good. But, I think I will try it on a couple of my hay bales with the tomatoes. Just a thought. The people putting on the co-op of course have never gotten into the bale gardening so had no opinion.
Just thought you might have some experience with it. Thanks,
Jeanette
Ru: yeah, good to hear from you again. It's been awhile.
Poor Pete! Glad to hear he enjoyed life to the fullest while it lasted.
Hay Gourd Beader,
I am looking at growing strawberries in the strawbales. Do you keep them over the winter? How do you move them from bale to bale? Did you get a crop the 1st year?
Hi, Gang,
I like all of the above reasons to do haybales as well as a great teaching technique for my grandkids. The bales are high enough for them to reach without crawling on the ground, especially for grandpa.
Paul.
Paul you old devil you. lol,
Jeanette
I planted them last year and got strawberries up until about november. I haven't touched or moved them and they still look good, green and getting ready to start growing again. I didn't do a thing for them over the winter because I just figured I would need to replant come summer. They still look great. I am going to add some soil and fertilizer to the tops of the bales because the strawberries seem to like that. They didn't talk to me but from ones that I didn't add soil vs the ones that I did, that gave me a positive for the soil addition.