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If you’re looking for a method of growing your own organic food, and you want to grow more, in less space, with a lot less work, and no more weeding, you just can’t go past growing in straw bales. And I know, whilst the idea might seem a little wacky to begin with (I thought my father was mad when he first introduced me to it), the benefits over a traditional garden bed are many.
Here are 7 smart reasons why you’ll definitely want to get started with your own straw bale garden. Just a warning however, once you’ve tried it, you might never want to muck about with a traditional garden bed again (but hey, why work harder when you can just grow smarter instead)…
When you grow in straw bales you immediately eliminate the need for soil. The only thing required is a straw bale, some (optional) potting mix, compost and a specific method.
And because you’ve taken soil out of the equation, it also eliminates all soil borne diseases and pests that can bring your crops to their knees when they get out of control. Just check out how healthy these tomatoes look…
…also keep in mind – the less pests & diseases that are around, means less need to use pesticides (organic or otherwise) which can also harm beneficial insects that we actually want to attract to our gardens. It also means that our plants are just much healthier overall, we really don’t need or want that kind of stuff on the food we eat.
Not having to deal with soil means there’s no digging, no tilling, hoeing, or raking. We don’t need to break our backs doing any of that stuff, or use expensive machines to do it either.
Nor do we have to worry about crop rotation cycles or conditioning and improving our soils. You can simply plant right into the bales themselves (which you can put literally anywhere)…
Growing in straw bales pretty much eliminates the need for weeding.
Weeds just don’t take well to the straw throughout the growing season, and any initial weeds that might sprout early on, can easily be pinched out of the bales roots and all. From then on in you’re not likely to spend more than a few minutes per bale for the ENTIRE growing season.
Check it out, healthy vegetables and no weeds…
…I don’t know about you, but I’ve yet to meet a gardener that actually enjoys weeding. Why would you want to do that when you could spend that time sitting by your straw bales having a cold beer instead ;-0
When you grow in straw, the bales themselves are your actual growing containers…
They are also “self composting” growing containers that are slowly decomposing internally throughout the growing season. This produces a certain amount of heat which regulates the internal temperature, keeping it ideal for the roots of your plants.
It also helps to mitigate the impacts of any frosts or sudden cold snaps too and can extend your growing season. This also means, if you’re growing cold weather crops in your bales over winter, you’re going to give your plants a much more favorable growing environment.
Yes, you can grow in straw bales over winter too ;-0
Straw is cheap & it is usually pretty easy to get (even if you’re living in a city or suburbia).
Plus at the end of a growing season, you can just bang it in the compost bin or use it as a mulch on your traditional garden beds. So you’re going to end up saving money because you’re essentially investing in next seasons compost (and you’ll know exactly what’s in it)…
…last seasons straw bales used as a mulch to help condition the soil.
You can design a straw bale garden however you like. It can be as small as you like…
…or it can be as big as you like…
You can place your bales directly on the lawn, on concrete, pavers, your patio or even on space you don’t use for anything else on your driveway. With a straw bale garden, you really are only limited by your imagination and your available space…
Because straw bales are roughly 400mm high, you’re going to be gardening at a much more comfortable height. It also means you’ll be able to harvest many of your crops simply standing up as you stroll through your garden. For anyone with a bad back – or anyone that just doesn’t really enjoy crawling around on their knees, this is great news.
Yes, you too can be eye to eye with your own home grown organic squash and melons too…
Pretty cool right?
And that really only just scratches the surface as far as the benefits of growing in straw goes.
I bet it doesn’t sound as wacky as it might have in the beginning. I certainly was sold after just one season of growing in straw, so much so that I don’t even bother with traditional garden beds anymore. Why work harder when you can just grow smarter instead ;-0
If you thought this was cool, share it and inspire someone you know to get growing…
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