Drinking the Kool-Aid

Abby Cat cares not one whit that gardens are a
cat-free zone. She claims that she is a barn cat
and therefor has a divine right to straw.

WARNING: Straw bale gardening is highly addictive and should be approached with all due caution.

There is very little back breaking labor involved in Straw Bale Gardening (SBG). Straw bale gardening is perfect for those among us who want to take time to stop and smell the zucchini without having to have to stoop to tilling the soil. After the bales are in place there is no heavy lifting involved. In fact, the first 12 days of SBG are very relaxing, all you do is stand there with a garden hose, sprinkling the straw. Of course, if you have ever spent your summers bucking tons of hay bales into the barn ahead of the coming rain (and I have) intentionally wetting the straw does seem counter intuitive. Trust me though, what may be detrimental to hay bales is beneficial to SBG. The straw bales give off the lovely aroma of summer as you condition them with water and it is easy to get lost in the daydreams of summers past.

In between bouts with the garden hose you add fertilizer to the bale to speed the decomposition process. Any old nitrogen rich lawn fertilizer will do, just make sure to use the kind that is not a weed killer as well---you do NOT want to use a weed ‘n feed variety of lawn fertilizer.

After 12 days of this your straw bales will be ready for planting. Adding a soaker hose across the tops of the bales will make future watering of your garden a lot easier to do from the comfort of your hammock. If you are planting only bedding plants that are already up and growing all you need do is dig a hole in the bale and tuck your tomato plant right into the bale—no additional soil needed, the bale is your “soil.” If planting seeds you will need to add a layer of potting mix to the tops of the bales to help the seeds get a good grip on the bales. Adding a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) is beneficial.

Now all you need to do is hang out in your hammock and wait for the harvest. Or so I’ve been told. I’ll let you know how it goes...