Hay bail garden beds

[Saltwater60]

Came up in my google feed and thought this was an interesting and cheap method to start a garden. Also relatively cheap and easy to do rather than building a raised bed.

Skip the wooden raised bed garden and try one of these alternatives

You don’t need fresh lumber to create a good, useful garden space.

bangordailynews.com

 

[thegatman]

Here is what I did last year. Prepping it for this year.

 

[Saltwater60]

Here is what I did last year. Prepping it for this year.

Beautiful.

 

[Loworange88]

I did the bale garden twice so far. First year I did tomatoes in a straw bale. I conditioned the bale for 10 days, before planting the tomato plants, and it worked great. The following year, I planted cucumbers in a straw bale, but skipped the 10 day conditioning in lieu of adding a fat layer of soil to the top of the bale, and planting into that....that didnt work so well. I'll try the first method again this year. Also you'll still need some fencing of some sort, rabbits were still hopping up onto the bale and getting at the veggies in the galvanized containers I normally use. Also the bale will degrade over the summer, mine sank down and got a bit moldy as time went on. I ended up putting 2X6 boards around the perimeter of the bale to hold it together after the twine let loose.

 

[Saltwater60]

I did the bale garden twice so far. First year I did tomatoes in a straw bale. I conditioned the bale for 10 days, before planting the tomato plants, and it worked great. The following year, I planted cucumbers in a straw bale, but skipped the 10 day conditioning in lieu of adding a fat layer of soil to the top of the bale, and planting into that....that didnt work so well. I'll try the first method again this year. Also you'll still need some fencing of some sort, rabbits were still hopping up onto the bale and getting at the veggies in the galvanized containers I normally use. Also the bale will degrade over the summer, mine sank down and got a bit moldy as time went on. I ended up putting 2X6 boards around the perimeter of the bale to hold it together after the twine let loose.

Thanks for posting your experiences. I’m guessing the second year planting didn’t go so well because all nutrients were sucked out of the hay.