Grow Your Garden in a Bale

For People With Bad Backs, Tough Soil, or for Anyone Who Wants to Rise Above It All

By Sara Welsh
For The Chronicle

Are you renting or can't imagine digging in the rocks that you call the soil in your yard?

"Straw-bale gardening uses the sun and water to create compost inside the bales which continue to absorb the heat and the water to grow the garden of your choice," said Brown, 57, of Toledo. "It's easy to be as creative as you want to be."

Debbie Burris / Courtesy photo
Hay bale gardens are a quick and easy method of gardening, especially for those short on space. Decomposing hay bales provide all the nutrients plants need to grow. Just add some potting soil and regular watering. Here, Lewis County Master Gardeners at the Southwest Washington Fair demonstrate the outcome of hay bale gardening.