How to create a straw bale garden with a step by step guide on conditioning straw bales before planting.
Straw Bale Gardening
Straw bale gardening is a great option if you you live in an area with poor soil quality or have a limited amount of gardening space. It can also be cheaper than adding raised beds. You will need to prepare the straw bales before planting into them so that they provide nutrients to your plants like soil does. This process is called conditioning. Conditioning the straw bales will take anywhere from 2-3 weeks.
The first thing you will want to do is calculate the costs and decide how big you want your garden. We conditioned 10 bales last year and lined them along our patio. The straw bales are meant to last 2 years, but keep in mind the conditioning process breaks down and composts the straw bale. It’s recommend that you place your straw bales against a fence or somewhere with extra support to keep them from leaning or falling over.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What you’ll need:
Straw Bale(s). We bought ours for $9 each at our local feed store and had them delivered. Make sure to buy straw bales and not hay bales. Hay contains seeds and you may get grass or other weeds coming up.
A fertilizer high in nitrogen. Like Burpee Organic Blood Meal Fertilizer, 3 lb
A vegetable fertilizer. I recommend Jobe’s Organics Vegetable & Tomato Granular Fertilizer, 16 lb
Conditioning Your Straw Bale:
Step 1: Place your straw bales with the cut side up. This is important because you want the nitrogen and fertilizer to soak down into the straw bales. To find the cut side stand your straw bale up and look for the side that looks like tiny straws throughout. One side of the straw bale will be folded over and the other side you should be able to see the straw holes, that’s the cut side.
Step 2: Soak the bales. I recommend soaking the bales 3 days prior to starting the conditioning process. During conditioning the straw bales can reach over 100-125 degrees and to prevent them from getting too hot and possibly burning, they need to be soaked regularly. Soaking a few days before conditioning helps them build up moisture. Tip: Check your straw bales daily with a kitchen or meat thermometer to watch the temperatures during conditioning.
Step 3: Conditioning the bales. Sprinkle anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup of Jobes Organics Blood Meal or whatever high nitrogen fertilizer your using on top of your straw bale. Do this every other day for 10 days. Tip: For the first 3 days of conditioning you can use 1 cup of nitrogen and for the remaining 7 days cut back to 1/2 cup of nitrogen every other day.
Step 4: Water! You’ll want to soak your straw bales 2-3 times daily. This not only helps cool your straw bales during conditioning but also helps the nitrogen and fertilizer move down into the straw bale.
Step 5: After day 10 you can stop with the nitrogen, Jobes Organics Blood Meal and start fertilizing with Jobes Organics Vegetable and Tomato Fertilizer. You’ll want to add a full cup of fertilizer to each straw bale for the next 4 days. Remember to continue watering 2-3 times daily. Tip: Mushrooms are a sign of healthy compost
Your straw bales are ready!
Whether you are direct sowing or transplanting, your straw bales are conditioned and ready. Happy planting friends!
PIN IT FOR LATER!
