Limited garden space or poor soil? Want a quick easy way to grow your own fresh vegetables? If you think that planting vegetables is too much work then you might consider growing vegetables in hay bales. Hay bales provide a well aerated, disease-free growing medium that is perfect for growing vegetables. Plus, hay bales are elevated off the ground which makes them perfect for the disabled or gardeners who have trouble bending down.
Bale selection is important. Straw, mixed grass or alfalfa hay bales will work just fine for growing vegetables. However, older square bales that have begun to rot tend to work best for this type of gardening. Make sure the fields the bales came from were not treated with picloram (Tordon, Surmount, Grazon P+D) herbicides, since these may stay in the hay and influence plant growth. Place bales where the sunlight strikes the area for as much of the day as possible. Select the area carefully, since it is hard to move the bales once crop production starts. Place bales so the wire runs parallel to the surface of the soil. Do not cut the wire or twine; the bale needs to hold its shape as much as possible. In order for hay bales to be productive they will need special treatment beginning about ten days before planting time. First, keep the bales very wet for 3 days. Then apply 5 ounces (10 tablespoons) of urea fertilizer followed by two more days of intense watering. On the seventh day, apply 2 1⁄2 ounces (5 tablespoons) of urea, followed by watering for another 2 days.
On the tenth day, apply 12 ounces of 13-13-13 fertilizer and lightly water the fertilizer into the bale. On the eleventh day, apply a two to three inch layer of topsoil or potting mix to serve as a bed for the plants or seeds. Then, simply plant your vegetables, keep them watered and watch them grow. Vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and melons will all grow well using this technique.
Source: David Cantrell
OSU Extension