Straw Bale Gardening Experiment

Over the past few years, our crops have been producing less and less. The soil is worn out so we decided to give it a rest and do something different. We are trying straw bale gardening in a small section of our yard this year.

In this first photo, we have treated the bales with a fertilizer containing a high amount of nitrogen and water them well. Since we are so late in the year getting started, we have covered the bales to keep the heat in. This speeds up the composting process. This is day 4.

In the second photo, I have punched holes in the bales and added some top soil and watered it in. This is day 5.

I'll try to add new photos, about every 3 or 4 weeks, to show the progress of my experiment. In the meanwhile, see https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/strawbales.php for info about straw bale gardening.