Mimi's Straw Bale Garden July 21, 2011

I want to grow in straw bales next spring. You need to prepare the bales in the fall. You add soil to the tops of the bales, and some sort of fertilizer. The fertilizer can be animal manure, or even human urine. It needs to sit in the rain over winter. This causes the bales to begin to compost. Then in the spring you can dig holes in the bales, add a little soil and plant your plants. I think productivity would be very high. So I am looking for straw bales to prep for next springs garden.
The straw bales will eventually break down after one or 2 seasons. At that point you can use the straw as a mulch for the rest of your garden. I love the straw mulch I have been using on my vegetable garden. It controls the moisture in the soil. When it’s wet, the mulch soaks up he rain so the soil does not flood. When it’s dry the straw will release that moisture back into the soil. My plants don’t dry out or get too much water. And I only had to water my garden 2 times this last summer. That not only saved me money, it saved me time. I'm a lazy gardener.