We’re gonna show you how to build a raised garden bed CHEAP from straw bales. It’s an easy do-it-yourself garden bed that can also be built in under 10 minutes, so let’s get started.
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What is a Straw Bale BedStraw Bale Bed This is a type of raised garden bed that is made from bales of straw. The straw is typically wheat straw, oat straw, or alfalfa straw. These types of beds are not expected to last more than a season due to being plant material. They can be a very quick and cheap way to get a raised garden bed started and have it ready for decomposition and removal within a year or two. If you were making a temporary in a space you intended to use later for something else, then a straw bale bed might be appropriate. Other names: Straw Raised Bed?
Straw bale beds are comprised of straw bales all placed around in order to form a box border, and then it is filled with soil. There is another method that you can use for a mini straw bale bed. You let a straw bale compost for a while. Then using a mini rake, break through the hay, creating a small hole big enough to plant vegetables in.
Average Life of a Straw Bale Bed
A straw bale can’t last forever. We all know everything that was alive breaks down at some point. So how long can it last? On average, a straw bale bed can last up to 2 years. Some people have said that they were able to use a straw bale in its 3rd year. However, I’d stick to two years for planning. Straw bale beds are an eco-friendly option which can be reused at the end of its lifespan. Just cut the string and peel the straw away. You can place the partially decomposing straw in your garden as mulch for plants or use as a campfire starter.
Why Straw Bale Beds Are Better
A straw bale bed can be constructed in under an hour once your supplies are gathered. As time passes along, the straw will break down, adding nutrition to your plants to make them grow big and healthy. If you’re late into the growing season, you won’t have to take days planning and constructing a raised bed and get your plants going. This will give you a better head start than what you would have been at. Straw bale beds are eco-friendly with no chemicals which is also better for the environment and for you.
Which Bales are Better, Hay or Straw?
Hay bales are made up of cut grass from a field. Using hay bales to build a garden bed will introduce weeds from the field into your garden giving yourself more work doing weeding. On the other hand, straw bales have fewer weeds seeds because they are the leftover after a grain has been harvested from the field such as wheat, oat, and many other grains.
Getting Straw Bales
Living in the rural countryside makes it an easy find to get straw bales. The farmers around and even the country store will have straw bales in stock for sale. Some farmers may not be selling their bales as they use it as bedding for their livestock while others will be glad to sell you some. The common price range of 2’ x 3’ straw bales in Ontario, Canada is roughly between $3 to $12 per bale as of June 2022. Your local farmers may have straw bales that are cheaper than what you would get at your local country store.
What You Should Know About Growing With Straw Bale Beds
Because you are growing plants in little to no soil, the beds will require frequent watering, especially during the hot summer months. Straw bale beds can grow mushrooms which should never be eaten because they might be poisonous, unless you’ve done proper research.
Choosing the Proper Location
When a straw bale is soaked with water, it will become very heavy. It is so heavy that it would be almost impossible to move by an average person’s hand strength. So don’t plan to be moving your straw bale beds around the place. Choose a location for your bed where it gets a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight per day. This will ensure that your plants will have enough sunlight.
METHOD #1 | Straw Border Beds
Supplies to build a Straw Bale Bed
- Sheets of newspaper or cardboard. You can get free cardboard at some shops if you ask them. (This is optional)
- 6 Straw bales at $5 per bale it will cost you $30
- Soil and compost to fill the bed
- Rotting bark or organic material to place at the bottom of the bed
- Shovel and pitch fork
- * A wheelbarrow may be useful for transporting soil or compost if you’re not working with soil in bags.
Step 1 * optional
Place cardboard or newspaper sheet in the area where you are setting the bed. Placing cardboard or newspaper will help prevent weeds from coming up from the ground up into the bed.
Step 2
When placing a bale, place it so that the cut ends are facing upward which allow the bale to get water in and produce a better rot, adding more nutrients for the plants. One at a time, place the bales in a square or rectangle to form a border in which will be filled with soil. If you have a wheelbarrow, you can also place the straw bales in them and use them to help transport the bales to the worksite.
Step 3
Next gather organic material, or if you have them in buckets prepared, pour them into the bottom of the raised bed. This step will allow extra nutrients as the plant grows, plus your bales are giving extra nutrients. It will also reduce the amount of soil required to fill your straw bale raised bed.
Step 4
Fill the bed with a mix of 50/50 half potting soil, and the other half with compost. This is an easy and fun step. After, your newly constructed bed will be ready to plant.
METHOD #2 | Straw Bale Planter Bed
A straw plant bed needs to be conditioned. Well, what exactly is conditioning a straw bed? What it means is that the straw needs to compost first before you can plant in it. The partly composted bale will provide nutrients for the plants to grow.
Supplies to build this Straw Planter Bed
- Sheets of newspaper or cardboard. You can get free cardboard at some shops if you ask them.
- 1 straw bale per bed
- A high nitrogen fertilizer
- Potting soil to sow direct seed
- Compost
- A garden hose
- A hand trowel or mini gardening fork
Step 1
Place enough cardboard down in your bed location, covering enough ground surface slightly larger than a straw bale. This step will help prevent weeds from growing up and through the bales.
Step 2
Place a bale on the sheet of cardboard or newspaper.
Step 3
Pour a cup of high nitrogen lawn fertilizer on the bales. Then take a hose and water it down. This will begin a fast composting process. That’s it for day 1.
Day 2/ Step4
Water the bale heavily
Day 3
Repeat Step 3
Day 4
Repeat Step 4
Keep on going with this pattern for 2 weeks and by the end of the second week you will have what is called a straw planter bed, which then you could plant in. There are limits to what you can and can’t plant in a straw planter bed.
What to Plant in a Straw Planter Bed
You can plant short crops that don’t grow tall such as lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, peppers, squash, cucumbers, other plants that trellis along the ground and short veggies. You get the point.
What Not to Plant in a Straw Planter Bed
Tall plants that trellis upward can’t be planted in a straw planter bed unless you build an additional trellis along with the straw planter bed to allow them to trellis on. The straw planter beds alone will not provide enough support for these tall plants. Corn is another that you shouldn’t grow in a straw bale planter bed. Root vegetables don’t also preform well in a straw bale planter bed.
Planting in a Straw Bed
Unlike other beds that you would just sow in the soil within the bed, use a hand trowel and dig out a large enough hole which you can then plant you plants that are in pots to transplant.
If you are growing direct from seed, spread an inch of soil over the straw plant bed, then make rows which you can then plant your seeds in.
Let us know what you think below! Until next time, continue to learn and grow!
