Straw Bale Garden

Way back in 2012 we grew a few plants in a small "straw bale garden". Then we went to India in 2013 and never pursued the method further. Now we're trying again -- on a larger (but still modest) scale.

We set up 16 bales of straw (that's what fit into the 6 1/2 ft bed of our truck) along the edge of the fill that makes up an access route to the back part of our house. It's mostly sunny, but will have shade in the very late afternoon/evening.

Then we collected the compost we've been "aging" for the last year. We discard all of our plant-based food scraps along with some fall leaves and other garden debris into a compost heap. Each year we start a new pile and let the old one mature into compost. At the right edge of the photo you can see yesterday's project -- a replacement "fence" that holds our recycle and trash bins. The old one was pretty flimsy to begin with and had one too many an encounter with black bears. (The bears ignore the compost and go straight for the garbage, which is in bear-proof trash cans. They've never gotten into the trash cans, but they have bitten through the 1/4 inch thick plastic.)

We spread the compost on top of the bales, worked it into the top inch or two of the straw, then planted seeds. Lon then soaked the bales with the rainwater we collect off our shed.

These gnats are my summer nemesis. They may be tiny, but they bite and are way too easy to breathe in. This is the "sky" or "up" picture from my "Picture Post" -- a way of taking photos from the same vantage point over time.