dirt / By Amy Stewart

The Straw Bale Affair

A status report on the next new thing in fog-bound gardening

(Sept. 25, 2008)  As the Summer That Never Quite Was draws to a close, I submit to you my final report on the state of my straw bale garden. Thanks to all of you who keep inquiring about it — actually, I’m surprised that the idea has sparked so much interest. In the last few weeks several people have e-mailed me to say that they might like to try something like this next year. It is a very simple and ecologically friendly idea, and it solves a lot of the peculiar problems that Humboldt gardeners face. So here’s what I’ve learned:

Location, Location, Location. The real advantage of the straw bale garden is that you can put it in the best possible spot in your yard. For me, that spot was a wooden fence that gets blasted (well, blasted is too strong a word. Exposed to?) south-facing sun all day. The fence also serves as a windbreak.

GALLERY >

I did not, however, choose a spot that would make it easy to harvest vegetables. Between the fence behind the straw bales and the chicken run on one side, it was not always easy to get access to this little vegetable plot. Usually I would step right into the middle of the bales, which is a risky move that compacts the root systems. So think about access when you’re picking a location for your garden.

Bad Soil? Weeds? No Problem. The beauty of the straw bale garden is that you do no digging at all. You just set the bales on the ground, top with a layer of compost, water, fertilize and plant. I did my best to clear the area of leaves and level the ground before I situated the bales, but that only took a few minutes. And it worked. With the exception of a little bindweed that found its way into the bales, I’ve had no weeds at all.

Resist the temptation to put down a layer of plastic or landscape fabric under your straw bales. What makes this system work is that the bales become an extension of the soil. Some roots will work their way through the bales into the ground, and beneficial earthworms and soil microbes may migrate from the ground to the bales. So don’t disrupt that ecosystem by putting down plastic barrier. If you’re very concerned about weeds, you could put down several layers of cardboard or newspaper and set the bales on top, which would smother weeds and gradually decompose. But really, the bales should be weed-proof all by themselves.

Pests? I had pests, all right. My biggest mistake was in failing to realize that gophers, who had never invaded my garden before, were just lurking in the alley waiting for me to plant this garden. They tunneled their way through the little spaces between the bales and wrecked the place. So next year, I will be putting down one layer, or possibly two layers, of chicken wire to keep the critters out.

Oh, and speaking of chickens. I wrapped a little decorative wire fence around the straw bales, figuring that it would be high enough to discourage the chickens from flying over. How wrong I was. You may not have a flock of free range birds in your backyard hell-bent on eating your lettuce, but if you do, you’re going to need to fence it off. And the higher the fence, the harder it is to get access to your little garden so you can harvest the veggies yourself. Good luck with that. I’m still figuring it out myself.

On the bright side? Very few snails or other critters. And no signs of soil-borne disease, since the plants are mostly growing in bales, not in the ground.

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