Straw bale gardening in our yard is still going well.

Well, truth be told, it’s not exactly going…

We’re watering our straw bales again today (After church, it was baptism Sunday, and after an ice cream social and then lunch at a tiny, corner cafe, and before small group tonight where tacos are on the menu! Busy day, but we’re squeezing in watering.).

All told, it will take about 10-12 days for the bales to be ready for planting. Yes, with straw bale gardening, you don’t need dirt or even a yard of any kind. There is virtually no weeding or bending over. You plant seeds and/or seedlings right in the decomposing straw instead of in dirt! But first you have to prepare the bales. We’re getting closer!

To prepare for straw bale gardening, first you water the bales a ton for a few days straight. Each bale weighs about 50 pounds dry, and when we are done soaking each one, they should weigh about 150 pounds. Then, for about a week and half, you are supposed to alternate watering the bales with fertilizing them. One day fertilizing, one day watering. I’m sure there are a gazillion ways to get the bales ready, but this is how we’re doing it. You know they sell organic fertilizer, too, don’t you? The key is to get nutrients built up in the bales, nitrogen is very important, so they will be able to be the basis for a healthy garden!

Have any of you started straw bale gardening? Go get a bale this afternoon (A nearby farmer, a gardening store, off Craig’s List…) and we can garden together this summer!

Can you tell I’m all excited about it?

UPDATED: Straw bale gardening!!! Well, right now we’re just prepping (watering and fertilizing) our straw bales, in preparation for planting a garden in them this season! The person who owns this profile (And whose Facebook link didn’t work!) was the first person to correctly guess this new endeavor that our family is on, after looking [...]