straw bail garden!

**Trabitha** · 04-26-2010, 04:47 PM

I'm a gonna do it! I've got ONE location on my entire piece of property that has enough sun to grow a veggie garden...and the soil is...well...not soil. It's sand. The people before me dropped loads and loads of SAND up there because they had a pool in that location years ago. Needless to say...I've spent the past few years trying to find dirt in all that sand...and have had no luck. I read about straw bail growing, and it looks like it just may be my saving grace! Have any of y'all done it?

**Winnie** · 04-26-2010, 05:56 PM

I haven't done it myself T but i've heard about it. here's a EHow.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5606014_gr...raw-bales.html

Let me know how it goes!

**Trabitha** · 04-26-2010, 06:09 PM

Will do!!
I'm going to do it a bit easier than that though. The directions I got was to lay them out, keep them soggy for a while, break up the middle with your fork a bit, add some good garden soil, chop it into the bail a bit, and direct plant. I'm going to add some coffee to a few bails to add a bit more nitrogen...but plant beans in the others to add nitrogen naturally.
I think my BIGGEST issue will be the darn deer. I know for a fact that I can't afford a BIG fence...so I'm going to have to get creative...

**randyt** · 04-26-2010, 08:30 PM

a few years back i had some old hay piled up in the woods. i tilled up a spot and mulched it with all this hay. planting time came and all i did was pull the hay apart and plant my seeds. from then on out every year i just add to the hay layer. no more weeding or tilling. in all fairness though i did have dirt to plant in.

**COWBOYSURVIVAL** · 04-26-2010, 08:36 PM

I put hay in the middle of my rows....I also heard you could use square bales. The way I heard it you cut circular holes with a saws alll and add potting soil and plants.

**Rick** · 04-26-2010, 08:41 PM

That sand will make some dandy watermellons!!!! That's hands down the best for melons. You can use the sand for a garden. The two issues you'll have to contend with are nutrients and water. You'll have to keep the plants fertilized and keep them well watered (unless there is clay or something like that below the sand that will hold water). Heavily silted bottom land makes some great farm land and it's mostly sand.

**hunter63** · 04-26-2010, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by randyt

a few years back i had some old hay piled up in the woods. i tilled up a spot and mulched it with all this hay. planting time came and all i did was pull the hay apart and plant my seeds. from then on out every year i just add to the hay layer. no more weeding or tilling. in all fairness though i did have dirt to plant in.

A lot like Ruth Stout's no till hay garden;

http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Stout-No-.../dp/0878570004

**Chris** · 04-26-2010, 10:16 PM

Are you talking about building a lasagna bed with alternating layers of compostable material (ie straw) which you would plant directly into?

Or using bales (tight) to form a border of a raised bed that you'd then fill with standard dirt/finished compost?

The latter is what I think you're talking about... but some others have mentioned tossing the hay around, which sounds more like the former.

**Trabitha** · 04-27-2010, 09:18 AM

Yep, I've used hay bales before. The "books" of hay work wonderfully as a mulch to keep weeds down. Sadly this property is too finicky for a normal garden though.

I hear ya, Rick! There are a FEW things I can grow up there, but the good veggies just can't hold on. I love sandy soil for tomatoes too...but even THIS soil is overkill. I think I just need to amend it up for a season and it will be perfect for anything. This technique will allow me to do that will less back breaking work, and still have a decent garden.

Chris, Yes I would plant in tight bales of straw. It's a great option for people with VERY little space or no soil at all. I've even heard it being used on cement with wonderful results!