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My raised bed vs. my neighbor's straw bale garden experiment
I spent last spring building two 4x8 raised beds out of cedar, which cost me about $120 in lumber and soil. My neighbor across the street decided to try straw bale gardening instead, just conditioning a few bales with fertilizer and water for a couple weeks. I was pretty smug about my nice wooden boxes until July rolled around, and guess whose tomatoes were absolutely massive and whose cucumbers were spindly and sad? The straw bales held moisture way better during that hot stretch we had, and I didn't even factor in how much my back hurt from bending over the raised beds. I had to water my beds twice a day while she barely touched a hose. So now I'm wondering, has anyone else tried both methods and found one way easier for a specific crop?
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jenny_carr5212d ago
Tried straw bales last year after my raised beds started rotting out on me after just two seasons... really wish I had done it sooner for my squash and zucchini. The bales kept the roots cool and moist while my neighbor's wooden beds had everything drying out by noon. I did notice my carrots were all twisted and stunted in the straw though, so I'd stick with loose soil for anything that grows underground. Just make sure you condition the bales long enough or the nitrogen drawdown will mess with your plants something awful.
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