By Kent Rogers| March 2007
- Intro
- Preparing for Planting
- How Many Plants Per Bale?
- Final Tips
- About Kent Rogers
- Download
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Intro
You can start your garden with seeds if you use some potting mix on top of the bales, but I transplanted all of my vegetables from flats and trays purchased from local nurseries.
My first year I used 20 bales of wheat straw and 10 bales of oat straw. Last year I used 55 bales of wheat straw. (Pine straw won’t work.)
I recommend getting bales that have been tightly baled. The oat straw bales I bought were lighter and baled looser than the wheat straw, and I learned that they don’t hold as much water. I paid $3 for each bale.
Use bales that have synthetic twine if you can find them. The twine won’t rot and it will hold the bales together longer. If the bales use regular twine, that’s no problem. You may have to put a stake at the end of the bales. The bales I used had regular twine, and they started to rot and break, but I arranged 10 in each row, so the bales tend to hold each other together.
I oriented my bales with the strings off the ground, straw facing up. You can do it either way, but I like the twine off the ground. The transplanting seemed easier with the bales oriented with the strings off the ground.
If you make more than one row of bales, put them wide enough apart so your lawnmower can get between them. And because you’ll be watering them, I recommend placing the bales where the water will drain away from your house or away from where you’ll be walking.
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