Once we were past the threat of overnight freeze, it was time to plant our garden! I have no idea if one is supposed to start with the tops or the sides, but we started with the sides. Remember? We have really no idea what we are doing.
Seeds for pumpkins, squash and watermelon can go in the sides of the bales. So can herbs and annuals. In the sides of our bales, we planted lots of marigolds, some other annual flowers whose name I don’t recall, cilantro, basil and mint.
To plant seeds, you just shove the seed about an inch into the straw and cover with about an inch of soil. To plant annuals and herbs that are already growing, you don’t need to add dirt at all. I found it much easier to get my plants into the sides of our bales when the bales were very wet and so was the soil of the plants.
I eventually was able to do the whole process with just my hands parting the straw, but for a long while I used two wooden (Thanks, NicswifeSarah, for the correction! Of course you are right!) bamboo spoons to help me.
Small Fry helped. We just inserted the spoons and opened up a space in the straw. Using my hands, I made the area a little bigger and deeper.
Then, I stuck the spoons back in, pulled them apart, shoved the plant in as deep as I could…
…pulled out the spoons…
…shoved the dirt and the plant snugly into the straw and called it good. Make sure to water your garden again very well the day you plant.
I ended up getting about 24 plants into all four sides of each of our bales. They look super nice and I had lovely snacks of basil, mint and cilantro along the way.
In my next straw bale post? Planting in the tops of the bales. And pictures of the completey planted garden coming soon, too!
This looks so cool!! We have some straw bales left over from decorating last fall…wonder if we can use those?? Won’t hurt to try I guess…only the cost of a few plants and seeds and our time. My kids would LOVE this!!!
I had a thought after reading through this post. Mind you: I have never planted anything in a hay bale. I only buy them in fall to decorate with. So my 2 cents may be just that. 2 cents worth. lol
But………….. I was thinking, since you did the sides first……….. maybe it would have been a bit easier if you tipped the bale so the side was {at the time of planting} facing upwards. That way…….the laws of gravity weren’t being defied trying to stuff the plant in there.
IDEA? Maybe for next time. I don’t know.
you know we are all watching you to see how it goes. this sounds like a wonderful idea. i can not wait to see how it continues this summer
I love that color of Marigolds…and I just love Marigolds! They are so useful out by our veggie and herb gardens, I just have the orange and yellow ones, though. The veriegated ones you chose are beautiful! Happy growing!
love the spoons, just another use for Pampered Chef products, I’ll have to mention that next time I present a show!!!!lol
Oh do I love gardening post…great job guys! Kim
I’m excited to see the finished look!
this is so interesting! thanks for posting pics ( i knew you would!) b/c in my head i was trying to figure this out! our pastor mentioned straw bale gardening last sunday and i was like oh my goodess, that’s what mckmama does! i had not heard of it before reading your posts! good luck with everything!
southern love and prayers from alabama!
We have started our staw bales here too. The plants will go in sometime this weekend and we are sooo excited to see if it actually works. Happy Planting :0)
This is so intriguing! I’m excited to see how everything turns out! I love fresh veggies, and herbs! I bought a Topsy Turvy this year for tomatoes/zucchini/cucumbers, but I don’t have a great spot to hang it… this might be a better solution for me! (Though it might be better to put the tomatoes in the ground so I can get the supports in?) Either way, I can’t wait to see how this works out for you?
Can I ask where you put your bales? Are they in a back yard, or are you using them as outdoor decorations in the front?
I love love this gardening project , its fun, learning and family time all in one. I enjoy reading these straw bale gardening posts and perhaps one day with a backyard or farm property my family can give this a try. In meantime I will be satisfied by your experiences.
This is so neat…I have never heard of it before. I live in Vegas so I don’t do much, er, any gardening. I have been reading your blog for about a year and I don’t even have kids…though I am a social worker in child welfare.
I love the new blog layout. It is beautiful. I have not had any issues uploading at all. Maybe it is because I have a Mac?I don’t mind the extra second to click “continue reading”. I like to read the comments anyway. I think it look great and I love the colors.
I’m curious to see how this works out? I started my first vegetable garden in a flowerbox while I was in college. Since then my (traditional in the ground) garden has grown beyond what my family needs so we always share our bounty(whether it be fresh or canned favorites) with our friends. I HATE weeding so that is why I’m curious how this will work for you.
I have followed your blog for about two years. I really liked reading it because we share a lot in common: eating organic, big family, and recently homeschooling and living in the country. I am sorry to say I am so frustrated with the slowness of loading your new blog and the read more feature that I am going to stop reading.
Grr. I agree. Sorry MckMama, but this is super frustrating… we don’t have fast internet service here, and it’s holy-cow-GRR irritating to click “read more” only to find that you’ve read it all on the first page. You can paint it purple and write upside down, it’s your blog. Just letting you know my thoughts. Have a great week!
Sorry:) I’ve posted a number of times about the way you can tell if there is “more to read” or not. That way you don’t need to click at all! Sorry you missed those posts. But if you’re going to leave a comment anyway, that requires one more click. I do understand slow internet, though. Bummer! I guess you just have to decide what makes the cut when you surf and what doesn’t. If my blog doesn’t make the cut, I guess that’s that!
I love veg gardening! I do have one question… Why plant in bales when you could just plant in the ground. It seems like it’s a lot more work to plant in bales. Lots of watering, fertilizing, etc.. Just wondering because we do a rather large vegetable garden in our front yard and I love it! I am always looking for new ways to do stuff, new plants, etc..
Thanks!
There are a few reasons why some people like straw bale gardening:
a) virtually no weeding!
b) not as much bending!
c) easy for kids to see the plants and get involved
d) kids and pets can’t trample the garden as easily
e) no need to till the ground
f) can garden even if you have terrible soil…or no soil at all!
g) you can plant a lot more while not taking up as much ground space (since you can plant in the sides, too)
h) it’s fun and unique!
At least, that’s what I think!
Haha.. Good point about the plants not being trampled!! We have 2 huge dogs that will trample and eat anything so that’s why we plant in the front yard. We fence it in to keep the rabbits out so it doubles as a good playpen for a toddler–hah only kidding..kind of. I only put him in there once so I could mow the grass (non-power mower so it was safe to have him nearby)
Thanks for the reply.
I was wondering why also. But those are great reasons. It may be easier for me to buy a few bales to plant in. My soil is not the best and I think it will be winter before my husband readies it for planting. I like the no weeding. ( this brings back memories of my childhood that I would rather forget).
Thanks for the PROS to planting in hay bales.
Newspaper works wonders for weeds…at least for a little while. I put newspaper down and covered it w/dirt and then planted my veggies. My section w/spring crops (peas, kale, spinach, lettuce, etc) has hardly any weeds! We’ll see how it works for the rest of it
I was wondering the same thing- I’ve never heard of planting in bales, but the reasons make good sense!
Very neat! We planted our garden last night but maybe next we’ll try this.
Hey! We planted our bales this weekend too. We have 10 of them and a whole bunch of stuff in them. We let our kids pick out some things they really wanted and my oldest son found a peanut plant that he is SOOOO excited about trying. Have you heard how the pumpkins do in the sides and how many to do per bale? That’s the stuff I’ve been trying to figure out.
I purchased the online book by Joel Karsten and I am a fan of his, Learn to Grow a Straw Bale Garden on Facebook. His info. is so very helpful and so are the others who are posting on Facebook.
Pumpkin plants are supposed to be about 32 inches apart, so only one or two per bale. Hope that helps! Good luck with yours!!
Thanks! I just wasn’t sure how the sides were going to work with pumpkins. We have 3 plants we’re going to try. Its fun isn’t it? Its also a little addicting. I keep wanting to figure out what else we can add or do with what we have.
umm from a pumpkin planter here (I have had 2 pumpkin gardens in the past from seeds my son planted in pre-k) I dont know if 32″ apart is enough…from 1 seed I had a pumpkin patch that was over 30 ft long and 15 ft wide!!! I ended up getting over 100 pumpkins from it! Enough for the whole block on Halloween! It was also a lot of pumpkin soup, honey covered pumpkin on BBQ, and pumpkin pies. If you are doing it in straw I would definately say do it on the side, that way it can “travel” along the ground as well. From experience, it can travel on concrete, soil, grass, anything. I guess if you just keep it trimmed it wont travel as much, but it really cuts down on your pumpkins…but maybe you dont want 100!!
This is a neat idea. I would be curious to see melons growing! So, I just had to share my totally inappropriate thought I had when reading this post. The thought of inserting the wooden spoons and parting the straw made me think of a visit to the OBGYN, if you get my drift. What can I say, this pregnant girl has been to the doctor a lot lately
Hahahahaa!!!!
I like the way you think. That is HILARIOUS.
OMG!!! I was thinking the same EXACT thing! Great minds think alike!!
You guys are TOO funny. Now I can’t look at the picture the same way EVER again!
You’re becoming a regular country girl. What a great idea. Can’t wait to see how they turn out!
I had no idea you could grow stuff in straw bales.. whoda thunk it!?!
It looks wonderful! Have you ever had any problems with the plants falling out of the bale?
wow ~ i’ve never heard of this technique until w/ you! i love this concept and can’t wait to try it.
you didn’t use wooded spoons, dearest Mckmama! you used BAMBOO!!! i love my Pampered Chef! Bamboo is a renewable resource ya know, its in the grass family!
Indeed!!! I’ve edited my post in honor of your correction:) Thanks!!
haha! i sell Pampered Chef, and LOVE the bamboo utensils, otherwise i would have let it slide =)
I have been hearing so much about this – so cool! I can’t wait for your next post!
McMama,
I have enjoyed reading your blog. However I do not care for the current format. Too much clicking to finish reading, too many ads. It’s your blog, do what you want. Just my 2 cents from a reader.
I actually agree with you. I find it very ad intensive and this takes away from the actual blog.
Awesome….You’ve given me an idea for my decorative Straw Bales in the Fall. I’m going to plant the mums inside, instead of sitting them around the bales! That will leave more room for the kids Scarecrows!
Great idea!!!!
guess we have to stay tuned!
Hi how many bales do you have?
Five:)
thanks can’t wait to see how it comes out 4 u. I’m going to give it a try too.
very cool! can’t wait to see more pictures!
Looks great!
Can’t wait to see the finished product!