Straw bales in raised garden? Please advise.

by T.
(Central Florida)

I want to create a raised garden with sides made of wood, but the prospect of hauling dirt to fill it is daunting. I wonder would happen if I filled the cavity with straw bales instead of dirt, then after the required amount of "aging" covered the hay with top soil (as you say, "Ice the cake") and then plant my garden. In theory, it would save water, but allow air-flow and drainage so as not to become "hay soup" as would the plastic suggestion above. But I have not tried this. Has anyone tried something similar and could give advice?

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Straw bales in raised garden? Please advise.

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Strawbales in raised garden OK
by: JoAnn

Yes, what you are asking has been done before. In fact, build the boxes large enough to put the whole bales of straw in them. No need to separate. The boxes help to keep the bales from drying out too quickly.

raised garden contents
by: Chick, PA

We live on a ridge In PA with nothing but clay and stone beneath us..gardening is a challenge. Both my wife's and I backs are not what they used to be...bending over...for a few minutes, does both of us in. So I made 3 raised beds...4' x 8' by 2' deep...so 3 boxes of this size takes a serious amount of top soil...so this is what I did...fill up the lower 1 foot with heavy branches, 1-4 " in diameter..I've got 11 wooded acres, I have plenty...added another couple of inches of soft cuttings, grass clippings, leaves...ect...then I put a very thick layer of newspaper on top of that 8-10 sheets...then I put about 6-8 inches of topsoil/mushroom compost mixture on top of that...sure..it will settle some each year...but adding an inch here and inch there is a lot easier than 24 inches at one time

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