I used four hay bales this spring, each one having two tomato plants. Two were put up against our wooden back fence, in the back area of one of my veggie beds. While two were located in the center of one of my veggie beds, self standing.
After about 4 – 6 weeks, the self-standing bales started losing their center point of gravity. We staked the back part of each bale, but this was only a temporary measure as they continued to “fall apart.” Needless to say, you can see the two I speak of as we strapped one of the bales together to finish out the season. Seems the roots of the tomato plants held them somewhat together.
The two against the wooden fence are still standing and each have one tomato plant that has lasted through to fall.
Overall, I thought hay bales were easier to retain moisture so the plants didn’t wilt as fast. They also produced faster growing tomatoes than the ground ones.
The third good reason is that my garden area needed plant rotation, but I have limited sunshine. That makes it hard to rotate crops. Growing in bales left the soil underneath ready for next year’s tomato crop. I’ll move some hay bales up against the pool railing and then I can plant tomatoes in the soil where this year’s hay bales were located. How clever!!
Straw bale gardening
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