I recently discovered a new way to vegetable garden using raised beds - the straw bale garden method. A straw bale garden is such a simple concept that it almost seems too good to be true. Not only is it easy to set up, but it is also super easy to work with, especially for seniors, people with limited mobility or people who just don’t want to have to bend to garden.

This is how the straw bale garden method works:

Purchase a few bales (or 20 bales if you are ambitious) of wheat straw and set them in a spot that gets at least 6 hours of light a day. You can use hay bales if you prefer. However, hay has more seeds than straw and could cause problems later in the season. Arrange the bales in rows, squares, circles, or zig zags. The sky is the limit. If you want a higher raised bed, stack them two high.

Ten days before you sow your seeds and plant your seedlings in your straw bale garden, thoroughly soak the bales with water. If the weather is warm or dry, repeat this as often as necessary to keep the bales wet. The water will make the bales heat up. Heat harms, and even kills, seeds and plants. You do not want to plant anything in the straw bales until after they cool down, which should take 5-7 days. After they cool down, your bales will be ready to plant a couple of days later.

Sow your vegetable seeds directly in the straw bale. Transplants, such as tomatoes or peppers require a hole. Dig a hole using a trowel. Set the plant in the hole and backfill it with potting soil.

Fertilize the plants with a well-balanced vegetable fertilizer. Water the seeds and plants and continue to water on a regular basis throughout the season. Before you know it, you will have a lush, nearly carefree vegetable garden.

If you’d like to add a little color to your garden, plant annuals such as nasturtiums and marigolds around your vegetables.

Not only is the straw bale garden method great for vegetables and herbs, but it is ideal for growing lettuce as well. After the vegetable garden has seen better days, replace the exhausted plants with lettuce and other cool season crops. After a couple of years, the bales will rot and will no longer be useful. Not a problem. Toss the old bales in the compost pile and let nature take its course. The straw bale garden is a gardening method that keeps on giving!