I have had success using the straw bale garden method for summer veggies and wanted to try for fall / winter veggies. Has anyone here tried it? I am thinking some greens might be good. Not sure about the root veggies. Would love to know if anyone else here has tried it.

Hi all, I'm new here to this forum and to gardening in general but we did try a straw bale garden this year and we live in Gautier, MS here on the Gulf Coast. So far our straw bale garden has worked out fabulously. We haven't had any issues so far with overwatering. We use a soaker hose underneath a layer of potting mix to water the plants. Due to the nature of the straw bale itself, I don't think you can over-water it. The excess just runs out the bottom. I have noticed a slight algee growth on the topsoil but it has not seemed to affect the veggies yet. There is almost no weeding required for the garden and there are fewer bugs to deal with as well. These are some pics from about a week ago and everything is more than twice this size today. I'll try to keep you updated on the progress as we go along and share our lessons learned.

straw bales aren't getting hot

I've thought about it also since I have a long strip of paved area on the south side of the house. I also am doing strawberries, green beans, etc in pots and have recently cannibalized my trailer from my riding mower. It wasn't needed here and holds a lot of soil where my squashes will be planted this next month...not pretty, but think "urban recycle"...and on an area where I would not be able to grow anything. I saw an article recently in Fine Gardening in which 4 bales were used leaving a center 'hole' which was then filled with soil....the bales were given a good soaking and hit with fertilizer, nitrogen which also helps them to start disintegrating a bit to be more receptive to planting...the bales cost @$7 and the additional stuff that was added brought the total cost up to $98. Unless you can get the bales for free and use manure, etc instead of the items that were purchased for the setup, I did not think it cost effective...great idea, but unless you can do it on the cheap, I won't be doing it. If someone gives me bales of straw tomorrow, then I will do it....I do like the idea....let us know how it goes for you...