By: Cia Huston-Dreves
In a little more than four weeks, I went from the idea of a Hay Bale Garden to actually having one that thrived. It’s the most space-conserving and easiest gardening I’ve ever done, and the handful of necessary steps are not at all time consuming.
Step 1: Select your site. Bearing in mind that bales are roughly two feet wide and high and four feet long, determine the number of bales you want and the configuration that suits you—straight line or formed in a “U” or a “T”. You might want to apply weed-barrier cloth to the garden area you’ve chosen.
Step 2: Purchase and position your bales. “Straw” is a better purchase than “hay” because it has fewer seeds, but “hay” will do and it was my only option. I chose three bales and set them in a “T” because it suited my space and other limitations. I also found that bales have “strand orientation.” When the bales are turned so that the top strands are horizontal they are MUCH easier to penetrate when planting, but the bale will collapse more quickly, looking a bit ragged along its sides. With the strands standing upright, the bales are a challenge to penetrate when planting, but a knife does the trick and the bales stand neatly. (Photo shows two bales with standing strands and one with horizontal strands.)
Step 3: Water the bales thoroughly and often for two days.
Step 4: Fertilize the tops of the bales with a high-nitrogen fertilizer and continue watering daily for another week to 10 days. (I fertilized a second time on day five.)
Step 5: Mound a few inches of good garden soil on top of the bales and water well.
Step 6: Plant. Using fingers (and a knife when necessary to get through the heavy strands), fashion holes for the plants. (TIP: When planting tomatoes, remove all but the top cluster of leaves and plant the roots and the stem below the surface. The plant will send out additional roots along the planted stem resulting in a sturdier plant.)
Step 7: Enjoy. Remember to water regularly and keep an eye out for pests and watch your garden grow.(TIP: Planting marigolds and garlic among your veggies will help repel the tomato horn worm, slugs, snails and other garden pests.)
I planted heavily in my three bales as follows: 12 cabbages,12 green beans, 12 yellow summer squash, six jalapeños, three tomatoes, two bell peppers, two eggplants, 18 lettuce plants (three varieties in an entire half bale).
TIP: After planting lettuce, remove lower leaves and add mulch so that new growth does not come in contact with soil.
Cia Dreves is the author of the How-To book Find Cash in Your Kitchen and maintains the blog, StillFindingCash.blogspot.com