This is a super easy and cheap way to make raised garden beds.
Edible Acres is a farm where the owner’s mother is having difficulty gardening due to her age. To help her out, the owner and his friend Liam are installing hay bale gardens. They plan to convert an area of the lawn into raised beds using hay bales, burlap sacks inoculated with wine cap mushrooms, and compost on top. The process should take only an hour or two to complete.
The hay bales will be placed next to each other with the middles laying flat. This will allow them to be filled with more compost, making the beds richer in nutrients. The beds will be soaked thoroughly with rainwater after being covered with compost. The hay bale gardens are expected to be 100% organic matter for at least a foot and a half. In this article, we will explore the process of building hay bale gardens and the benefits of using hay over straw for gardening.
Key Takeaways
- Hay bale gardens can be an easy and cost-effective way to create raised beds for gardening.
- Hay is a preferable option over straw due to its lower cost, higher compostability, and lower toxicity.
- Hay bale gardens can be a great solution for those who have difficulty gardening due to age or physical limitations.
Preparation and Materials
At Edible Acres, the speaker and his friend Liam are converting an area of lawn into raised beds for the speaker’s mother, who is having difficulty gardening due to her age. The speaker and Liam plan to install hay bale gardens using hay bales, burlap sacks inoculated with wine cap mushroom, and compost. The process involves laying burlap thickly where the walkway will be, covering it with flake hay, and placing the hay bales in the center of the beds. The baling wire goes around the top, and the ends stand up on the end, allowing for more compost to be added. The beds are then filled with finished compost and soaked thoroughly with rainwater.
The speaker prefers hay over straw bale gardens due to its lower cost, lower toxicity, and higher compost ability. Straw bales are often sprayed with glyphosate to dry down the wheat or rye crop, making them toxic unless bought from a certified organic farmer. In contrast, hay is meant to feed animals and breaks down into finished compost, making it a great texture for gardening. Additionally, hay is almost always half the price of straw and mulch hay is often free or only a few dollars per bale.
The total cost of two beds, each measuring three feet by ten feet, was $12 for the hay bales and compost made from rotting wood chips, old manure, and biochar. The speaker plans to update the progress of the hay bale gardens in future videos.
Building the Garden Beds
At Edible Acres, the goal is to make gardening easier for everyone, including those who may have difficulty with traditional gardening methods. The team decided to install hay bale gardens for one member’s elderly mother who was struggling with the physical demands of gardening. Hay bales were chosen over straw bales due to their lower cost, higher compostability, and lower toxicity.
To begin building the garden beds, the team laid burlap sacks that were inoculated with wine cap mushroom to suppress the grass. They then placed the hay bales on top of the burlap, arranging them in a way that allowed for more compost to be added. The beds were filled with finished compost and soaked thoroughly with rainwater. Six-foot Locus staves were hammered in on the North, South, and middle of each bed to provide support for vertical crops such as cucumbers, peas, or tomatoes.
The team was able to build two beds that were three feet by ten feet in just under an hour, with a total cost of $12 for the hay bales and compost. The hay bale gardens are expected to provide at least a foot and a half of 100% organic matter.
Overall, the process of building hay bale gardens was simple and cost-effective, making it a great option for those who may have difficulty with traditional gardening methods.
Applying Compost
At Edible Acres, the process of installing hay bale gardens is documented. The garden beds are made using hay bales, burlap sacks, and compost. The burlap sacks are inoculated with wine cap mushroom to suppress the grass. The hay bales are preferred over straw bales because they are half the price of straw and are meant to feed animals. Moreover, hay breaks down into actual finished compost, making it a great texture and increasing its compost ability.
To create the raised beds, the hay bales are laid flat next to each other, with the middles laying flat so the bailing wire goes around the top and the end standing up on the end. This allows for more compost to be filled in the beds. Finished compost is put on top of the hay bales, and then soaked thoroughly with rainwater.
The garden beds are built in just under an hour, costing only $12 for two beds that are three feet by ten feet. The compost used is made from rotting wood chips, old manure, and biochar. The use of hay bales instead of straw bales is preferred due to their lower cost, lower toxicity, and higher compost ability.
Comparing Hay and Straw
When it comes to creating a garden bed, there are two popular options: straw bale gardens and hay bale gardens. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but in this article, we will be focusing on the benefits of hay bale gardens.
Hay bales are typically cheaper than straw bales and are made from green dried grass and other weeds, making them a great source of nutrients for plants. In contrast, straw bales are almost pure carbon and take a long time to break down into rich soil unless a lot of compost is added.
Another advantage of hay bale gardens is that they are less likely to contain toxic chemicals. Unless you buy straw from a certified organic farmer, it is likely that the straw has been sprayed with glyphosate to dry down the wheat or rye crop. This can make straw bales toxic for plants and for people who come into contact with them.
While hay bales may have some weed seeds, straw bales are just as likely to have wheat and rye seeds, which can also sprout and cause problems. Overall, hay bale gardens are a cost-effective, nutrient-rich, and less toxic option for creating garden beds.
In the video, the speaker and his friend Liam install hay bale gardens for the speaker’s mother, who is having a hard time gardening due to her age. They lay down burlap sacks inoculated with wine cap mushrooms to suppress grass, cover them with hay bales, and top them with compost. The beds are raised and can be used for a variety of crops, including vertical crops like cucumbers and peas. The process takes just under an hour and costs $12 for two beds.
Cost Breakdown
The installation of hay bale gardens can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional raised beds. The cost breakdown for the two hay bale beds installed in the video is as follows:
- $12 for 12 hay bales at $1 per bale
- Compost made from rotting wood chips, old manure, and biochar
The compost was made in-house and not purchased, therefore, there was no additional cost for this material. The hay bales used were of high quality and were half the price of straw bales in the area.
Overall, the installation of two hay bale beds cost $12 and with the use of homemade compost, was an affordable and sustainable option for the gardeners.