Carolina Country MARCH 2006 19

C A R O L I N A C O U N T R Y G A R D E N S

H O W T O G R O W A S T R A W B A L E G A R D E N

By Kent Rogers

You can start your garden withseeds if you use some topsoil on

top of the bales, but I transplanted allof my vegetables from flats and trayspurchased from local nurseries.

I initially used 20 bales of wheatstraw. The plants in the wheat strawwere doing so well that I got 10 morebales of oat straw to see how thatwould do. (Pine straw won’t work.)

I recommend getting bales that havebeen tightly baled. The oat straw balesI bought were lighter and baled looserthan the wheat straw, and I learnedthat they don’t hold as much water. Ipaid about $2.50 for each bale.

Use bales that have synthetic twineif you can find them. The twine won’trot and it will hold the bales togetherlonger. If the bales use regular twine,that’s no problem. You may have toput a stake at the end of the bales. Thebales I used had regular twine, andthey started to rot and break, but Iarranged 10 in each row, so the balestend to hold each other together.

I oriented my bales with the stringsoff the ground. You can do it eitherway, but I like the twine off theground. The transplanting seemed eas-ier with the bales oriented with thestrings off the ground. You can decidewhich way to orient yours.

If you make more than one row ofbales, put them wide enough apart soyour lawnmower can get betweenthem. And because you’ll be wateringthem, I recommend placing the baleswhere the water will drain away fromyour house or away from where you’llbe walking.

How many plants per bale? Try twotomato plants per bale, three peppers,two squash, two sets of cucumbers.

Be prepared to stake the tomatoes andpeppers. I recommend 6-foot stakes forthe tomatoes. I used tobacco sticks lastyear, but they are too short. My toma-toes grew way over the tobacco sticks.

I didn’t plant any okra last year, butthey will probably do well. You’ll defi-nitely have to stake them.

I don’t think corn will work too well.The plants will be too top-heavy.

I water the bales in the morning andafter sunset. You can’t over-waterbecause any excess will just run out ofthe bales. Soaker hoses will work. Themain thing is not to let the bales getdried out between watering.

I started out using some MiracleGrow once a week for a couple ofweeks. Then I sprinkled in some 10-10-10. You don’t want to over fertilize.

The bales will start to sprout wheator oat straw, but that is no problem. Ifthe grass gets too much for you, justwhack it off with a knife. I give mybales a “haircut” every so often with asteak knife. It takes no time at all.

One thing I’ve noticed—and thiscould be just a fluke—is I have not hadto spray my plants with any pesticidessuch as Liquid Sevin. I haven’t had anyworms, bugs or other pest bother mystraw bale garden. Maybe it has some-thing to do with the plants being offthe ground.c

Kent Rogers is a member of Wake Electric, aTouchstone Energy cooperative. You cancontact him by mail at 13028 Powell Rd,Wake Forest, NC 27587, and by e-mail atkent.rogers@earthlink.net

Kent Rogers of Wake Forest has successfully cultivated a vegetable garden in balesof straw. Carolina Country’s report on his idea last year drew attention from gar-deners and others across the state. Kent points out that the method producesgood-looking, healthy plants without weeds, and is especially convenient for peo-ple who don’t have a large plot of ground to till, or who are physically unable todo a lot of kneeling, bending, raking and hoeing. Here is some of his advice forpeople interested in straw bale gardening.

It takes 10 days to prepare your bales.

Days 1–3: Water the bales thor-oughly and keep them wet.

Days 4–6: Sprinkle the bales with 1⁄2cup of ammonium nitrate (32-0-0)per bale per day, and water it wellinto the bales. I didn’t have anytrouble finding ammonium nitratefrom my local ag-supply store. Theysold it in 40-pound bags. I haveheard, however, that some peoplehave had difficulty finding it inmore urban settings. Ask around.

Days 7–9: Cut back to 1⁄4 cup ofammonium nitrate per bale per dayand continue to water it in well.

Day 10: No more ammoniumnitrate, but do add 1 cup of 10-10-10fertilizer per bale and water it in well.

Day 11: Transplant your plants intothe bales. I used a spatula to make acrack in the bale for each plant.Place the plant down to its first leafand close the crack back together asbest you can.

Web links to articles on straw bale gardening:www.nicholsgardennursery.com/strawbales.htmwww.county.ces.uga.edu/chatham/hay_bales.htmwww.co.clay.mn.us/Depts/Extensio/ExAPHydr.htm