Sept. 28 column: Straw bale garden

Diane and Bruce Moriarty in their productive straw bale garden.

I think you are going to love today’s column from The Spokesman-Review! Remember how I wrote a feature story in May about a Spokane Valley couple who were trying straw-bale gardening?

Well, that was Bruce and Diane Moriarty. They had 40 straw bales and grew all sorts of veggies in them. And boy were they successful! Here’s a link to the column: Straw bale experiment a bountiful success. (or you can read my column lower in this post)

It’s a follow-up since I figured you’d be interested to hear how their garden did. I wanted to know what they learned along the way. It is chock-full of tips and ideas.

In the May article, I mentioned that the Spokane County Master Gardeners had set up a demonstration straw bale garden. And I was going to do my own test of the method with two straw bales.

Diane standing outside the tomato area of the garden.

Well, those 2 gardens had mixed results. The problems we each encountered centered around the bales not getting quite enough water during the heat of the summer.

The Master Gardeners ran into a few problems with the automatic drip watering system. So their plants in the bales did rather poorly. In my garden, we had a little mix-up with our own drip system. Once my husband Bill realized the problem and solved it, the plants suddenly sprang into action.

Look at the beautiful ‘Zebra’ tomatoes they grew!

As Bill told me, “the issue with straw bales is that you have five surfaces that water can evaporate from.” So you really have to do a good job of making sure the bales are getting enough water. I just wanted to point that out in case you are considering straw bale gardening.

There’s a photo of our straw bale garden at the bottom of this post.

Also, there’s one really important point that Bruce brought up for my follow-up column. You need to get — or at least reserve — your straw bales this fall. Don’t wait until next spring or you will likely be out of luck.

Either contact some local farmers or your local farm stores (such as Country Store or Del’s Farm Supply, if you live in the Spokane area) and get things lined up now.

Susan’s straw bale garden with tomatillos, cukes and peppers.

Straw Bale Garden follow-up column:

by Susan Mulvihill

Bruce and Diane Moriarty are sold on straw-bale gardening. Back in May, I wrote about their foray into this unusual method in which plants are grown within straw bales. It turns out their garden was a roaring success.

After reading Joel Karsten’s book, “Straw Bale Gardens” (Cool Springs Press, 144 pp., $19.99) last winter, they purchased 40 straw bales with dreams of creating their own bountiful garden.

I checked back with them recently to find out how their grand experiment went.

As Bruce told me, “I would consider it a very large success. I would never have expected to need a machete to get through the tomato rows.”

In addition to robust tomato plants, the zucchini, snow peas, winter squash and pumpkins thrived within the bales. They had more produce than they could keep up with but were more than happy to share it with a local senior home, new neighbors and their church.

When I interviewed them in the spring, the Moriartys admitted they were novice gardeners with little experience. What happened with the straw bale garden was impressive: Diane started many plants from seed and both of them did a lot of canning of their produce, which is something they hadn’t done before.

“Everything Joel Karsten said in his book was true,” Bruce said. “We didn’t have to do any weeding at all, which was great.”

Both reported the garden was insect-free for the most part. Diane enjoyed being able to just walk outside to pick a handful of lettuce or other veggies while preparing meals.

Next year, Bruce intends to add another row to their garden and purchase 50 bales of straw.

After I wrote about their garden plans in the spring, I received some emails from readers telling me they were having trouble locating straw bales. I asked Bruce about this.

“I recommend they talk to their local farmers or local feed store folks this fall,” Bruce suggested. “Consider prepaying for the bales now to ensure you’ll get them in the spring. Don’t wait until March or April.”

In addition to the straw bales, the Moriartys’ other expenses included lumber and wire for the trellis system demonstrated in Karsten’s book, as well as soaker hoses, fittings and a timer for watering the garden.

“All of the materials we used are available at local stores,” Bruce said. “It’s not cheap to start from scratch but we’ll only need to buy straw bales from here on out.”

What did they learn as the garden season progressed?

Diane listed some key points: “When Karsten said to plant one tomato per bale, he meant it,” she said. “Plant as close to the drip line as possible, rather than next to the edges of the bale because some plants fell over. Also, I would put more soil over any seeds you plant. I felt we didn’t have enough soil covering some of our seeds.”

Bruce learned important things as well: “Don’t choose crops that might take up a lot of room, like corn,” he advised. “I figure I can buy that locally. I spaced the rows of bales 36 inches apart but recommend increasing it to as much as 48 inches for best results. And definitely use warm water to condition the bales (part of the preparation for planting) because it makes a big difference.”

What advice do they have for readers considering straw bale gardening in 2015?

“Be brave and try it,” Diane said. “Be prepared because you’re going to have produce like never before and it’d be a shame to waste it,” Bruce added.