I recieved an email back in April from a lady who unfortunately had to downsize the famiy home due to spiralling costs in many areas. Her new home was great, all be it a lot smaller. She is a keen gardener and wanted to continue supplying the family with some vegetables. Her new garden had some grass and a lot of concrete, and was south facing. Could she use the strawbale gardening method she asked?
Yes, was the answer. You can site strawbales on concrete or grass. After looking at some photos of her garden, I advised her that she could easily have a strawbale system of ten bales. She told me that she disliked growing in plastic pots and growbags. A strawbale garden does look great. When deciding what to grow, write down what you like to eat. And also include vegetables that you maybe have not tried. She decided upon Three types of tomato, two varieties of runner beans, ( these would grow up a south facing wall ). As well as peas, onions, marrow and potatoes. If you grow potatoes in strawbales, then pick an unusual variety. My favourite has got to be Pink Fur Apple. It is a small knoblly salad potato and is delicious. When the straw is harvested, it is bound together by two lengths of bailing twine. When growing potatoes in straw I always remove the top bailing twine. This losens the straw somewhat and aids planting the seed potatoes. You should aim at planting at least 6-8 seed potatoes per bale. Chit the potatoes as normal. This means placing them “eyes” upwards in an egg carton, in a light frost free environment. When the sprouts have grown to around 2cm in length, then they are ready to plant.
“Chitting Potatoes Ready For Planting In Strawbales
Use a trowel to take about 6-8 inches of straw out of the bale. Put about an inch of good quality compost in the hole. Place seed potato in and cover with a mixture of compost and straw. When the shoots start to come through mound up as usual. Now here is the fun bit. When the potatoes are ready to harvest, cut the last baling twine away and simply pull the strawbale apart. It should come apart in “slices” revealing the treasure. When soucing strawbales try local farms first, then farm shops, pet stores. And of course Google. When transporting your bales by car, lay a cover out. They malt! Decide where you will site your garden and move them by laying the bales on plastic sheets and dragging them to the site. Before you can plant or sow in the strawbales you must first “mature” them. This means adding water and a nitrogen rich feed to get the bales composting. I have, over the years developed a “maturing schedule” that lasts around seventeen days. During that time I will add water and a nitrogen based feed in varying amounts. At the end of that time, the strawbales should be ready to plant and or sow in.
When the strawbales becomes “tired” take off the bailing twine. The bale will pull apart in slices simmilar to a giant Weetabix. This is gold dust. It makes first rate compost. Do not put it on the regular compost heap, keep it seperate. I use it for growing marrows and pumpkins the following year. Simply lay a few slices out. Make a few mounds and plant your seeds. The best marrow variety by far that I have come across is Bush Baby. It is a small variety that never dissapoints.
Strawbales love tomatoes. I use the smaller bush types for endless supplies of tasty toms. Plant five or six plants per bale for a good regular supply.
Growing tomatoes in Strawbales is so easy. This bale could easily hold another two plants.
I have listed below some points that I hope will guide you should you wish to give strawbale gardening a go.
Use good quality organic compost.
Use something like organic lawn feed in your maturing process. But make sure it does not have weed killer in it.
Think space. Use the whole of the strawbale.
When maturing the bales, if it talks of heavy rain, I cover mine with plastic sheeting.
Use good quality seeds or plants. It pays to spend a little more.
I hope that this blog has inspired you to try strawbale gardening. Please share with friends. I have a great ebook on the subject. Take a look here. You are welcome to join our Strawbale Gardening Facebook group. It is called Strawbaleveguk. If you have any questions at all just drop me a line here.
Good gardening.
Simon Gibbins.
