How to Use Hay Bales to Line a Raised Garden
A raised bed garden that is lined with hay bales has all the advantages of a raised bed while being the ultimate organic garden. By lining your raised garden with hay bales, you can produce a garden that is totally organic, easy to work in and that requires no cultivation. With this method of raised bed gardening, you basically garden in vermicompost to grow vegetables that are completely organic. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hay bales (Number will depend on the desired size of bed)
- Cardboard
- Kitchen scraps
- Shredded paper
- Garden and yard refuse
- Red worms
- Mushroom compost
- Peat moss
- Manure
- Sand
Instructions
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Line hay bales to form the edges of a rectangle so that the tie-off knots are on the outside edge, with the end bales lined on the inside. When the bales begin to rot, the twine can easily be undone and the hay bales released.
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Cover the inside surface of the bed completely with a layer of cardboard, sliding the cardboard under the edges of the hay. Wet the cardboard thoroughly.
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Cover the cardboard with a layer of kitchen scraps: old food from the fridge; melon rinds; egg shells; used tea bags; used coffee grounds and filters; leftover oatmeal; old bread; vegetable scraps and other similar items. Almost any type of kitchen scraps will do, except dairy and meat or meat by-products.
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Add a layer of shredded paper. Shredded office paper is good, but shredded newspapers will work, too. Do not use colored papers or those with glossy coatings. Wet the paper until it is the consistency of a damp sponge, but not soggy.
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Throw in a layer of garden and yard refuse next: leaves; prunings from your plants; grass clippings, and other similar items except for weeds with seed heads. Larger pieces should be shredded or broken down.
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Add worms, which will automatically disappear into the heap and away from the light. Red wiggler worms are best, but night crawlers can be used, too. Add one pound of worms per foot of bedding area.
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Mix equal parts of mushroom compost, manure, peat moss and sand. Turn with a spade to mix them together well. Break up any large clumps to obtain as smooth a mixture as possible.
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Add this mixture to your bed. The compost mixture can be level with or just above the level of the hay bales, as some settling will occur over time. Rake the compost mixture and break up any clumps that you missed earlier.
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Plant your seedlings in the compost mixture according to planting recommendations. Water your seedlings well.
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Mulch the entire bed with more hay, leaving spaces so that mulch does not come into direct contact with seedlings. Moisten the mulch with a good soaking and keep it consistently wet through regular watering. The use of soaker hoses or drip irrigation is recommended by Christopher J. Starbuck of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Missouri.
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