Growing Veg on a Bale of Straw

[armadillo]

Just spotted this - what an interesting idea!Cheaper than the same volume of compost, too. I suppose you might need to watch out for mice nesting in it when the weather cools down though.

[rainbow1]

bales

Hi S
How did the straw bales turn out? I'm keen to give it a go next year.
Rainbow1

[SlugLobber]

Hope Skotch hasn't gone walk-about. This looks like a very interesting experiment!

[BrideXIII]

I am certainly considering trying it in one or two of my raised beds, with be cheaper than buying in all the compost for them.and I can get them delivered from my pet shop!

[Skotch]

I'm still around. The experiment wasn't hugely successful - I put it down to starting too late. If I had begun late April early May, I think it would have been better. As it is, I did get three very small pumkins from the bale - all ripening away at home at the moment and the innards of the bale have composted down quite well - I plan on incorporating the remains with the rest of my compost.

Things learned:

1. Start early and wrap the bale in plastic to help retain moisture and heat.

2. Don't rely on human 'starter' to get the nitrogen intake into the bale. Next time I will use appropriate fertiliser.

3. Next year I will only try this with 2 pumpkins - 3 was a bit ambitious I feel

Overall, a good experiement, and at least I have got something to show for it. It also contains the growing area nicely and acts as its own raised bed - good for people who cant bend over easily. It also uses up all the material, either to provide for the plant or as mulch/compost material for next year. As a no-dig system, I can see its merits and all in all a worthwhile project.

Thanks for reading

Skotch