I just read an article from the New York Times (given to me by a friend) about straw-bale gardening. I've never heard of doing this, but evidently it is something that used to be done fairly widely in rural America, and seems ludicrously simple. Basically, you get a bale of straw, infuse it with almost any kind of fertilizer, let it ferment for a couple of weeks, then just stick in seedlings. The insides of the bale compost very quickly, reducing to black, organic-rich soil. The external part of the bale composts much more slowly and provides an aerated containment vessel.
You need to let the bale compost for a few days, because it will actually get pretty hot (up to 130 degrees F). This makes lots of sense to me, because I grew up in the Midwest, where one of the hazards of farming was barn fires caused by spontaneous combustion of decomposing wet hay or straw. After a few days, the internal temperature of the bale will cool to around 100F, which is very nice for me, because I live in a place with cool summers. A warm hay bale would aid in growing warmer weather plants like tomatoes and peppers. I already have some tomatillos sprouting in pots, just as a pipe dream.
One of the best lines in the article was the point that straw bales cost about 5-6 dollars each, "literally cheaper than dirt".
I'm going to give this an experimental goal this summer, provided, of course, that summer ever comes to Alaska. Today, the day before Easter, we are having a standard winter snowstorm.
Has anyone else here ever tried straw-bale gardening?
caw
You need to let the bale compost for a few days, because it will actually get pretty hot (up to 130 degrees F). This makes lots of sense to me, because I grew up in the Midwest, where one of the hazards of farming was barn fires caused by spontaneous combustion of decomposing wet hay or straw. After a few days, the internal temperature of the bale will cool to around 100F, which is very nice for me, because I live in a place with cool summers. A warm hay bale would aid in growing warmer weather plants like tomatoes and peppers. I already have some tomatillos sprouting in pots, just as a pipe dream.
One of the best lines in the article was the point that straw bales cost about 5-6 dollars each, "literally cheaper than dirt".
I'm going to give this an experimental goal this summer, provided, of course, that summer ever comes to Alaska. Today, the day before Easter, we are having a standard winter snowstorm.
Has anyone else here ever tried straw-bale gardening?
caw
). And yes, it is cheap. Around here $6 will get a large bale (about 2x2x4 feet).
