Blooming Bales ~ Harvest Time

Jim has two conclusions regarding his experiment in raised bed gardening by using straw bales as the base. First, he says, the bed has to be watered more frequently than a regular raised bed. Second, he's glad that he tried it because too much rain has ruined parts of the traditional garden. 

As you can see, the plants in the bales are thriving and ready to begin harvesting. I've already pulled up baby beets and baby carrots.

I like it because it was easy to put a wire fence around the bed to keep animals out and also because the bed does not require much bending to harvest. And virtually no weeding. 

So, I guess the question is this: would a person rather water or pull weeds? 

My answer is water, of course!

Marcheta *takin' the easy way out

Blooming Bales Update

On April 4th, I wrote about Jim making a raised bed in the garden by stacking up straw bales (You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks). The picture below shows the straw bales lined up and ready for the next step, topping off with compost or topsoil.

April 4

These new pics show  that Jim made a wooden frame to hold the compost/top soil. As you can see, the plants are doing very well. 

June 10

June 10

I like raised beds like this and wish that Jim would do more of them in the garden. Raised beds are a more efficient use of space and are easier to maintain and harvest. A LOT less back-breaking, believe me! But, old habits die hard, and for the most part Jim has the garden in old-fashioned rows that will eventually be taken over by weeds. :(

Who knows? Maybe Jim will like the raised beds so much that next year he'll make more of them. There's always hope eh?

Marcheta *hopeful