Straw Bale Gardening and Rainwater Harvesting: A Construction Handbook ~ Arizona

1. 2012
Bisbee Presentation at Ecoasis
Cado Daily, UA Cooperative Extension Water Wise Program
waterwise.arizona.edu
cdaily@email.arizona.edu

2. The garden goes IN the bales,
not AROUND them
What?

4. Why?
Poor soil
Bermuda grass infestation
Higher beds
Creaky bones and squeaky joints!

5. Where?
Accessible
East-west axis
Visual
Integrated into yard
Rainwater use

6. Who?
Who will be doing the gardening?
Any special considerations?

7. Make sure to get the right materials
Bales of straw
Edging
(corrugated metal or other similar material)
Posts
Misc.

8. Bales – the most important part
hay is
green
Do not get
Bermuda
grass hay!!!
OH NO!!! Bermuda grass hay!!!

9. Straw Bales
(about $7.50/bale, weight about 80#)
Oat
Wheat
NOT BARLEY

10. Hay Bales
Alfalfa (about $25/bale)
Is it worth it for the nitrogen?
Nope!

11. Building the straw bale garden

12. Choose a site with 6 hours of sun

13. Place on East- West axis if possible
(not as hot on east and west ends)
GARDEN

14. Size the garden
 “Three string” straw bales are approximately 4 feet
long, 2 feet high and 18” wide
 The gardener wants the garden 12 feet long, 4 feet wide
and 38” tall = 48 sqft
 Therefore the garden will be made of 2 layers of 6
bales.

15. Ideally, the cut part of the bale is
facing up (this one is not)

16. Measure and mark the area

17. Prepare and level the site

18. Done! And there is the straw!

19. Plastic if Bermuda grass

20. Lay down the bales

22. Done!

23. Put on the sides (recycled roof metal)

24. A note about using metal roofing
 Use unrusted metal
 If must use metal with rust spots, paint with
Rust-Oleum and then paint over with
rubberized roof paint (Elastomeric is one
trade name)
 Can paint inside of metal with the
rubberized paint, rust or not, to help it last
longer

25. Cutting metal
 Metal roofing can be cut with a power saw
with a blade for cutting metal.
 Don’t forget tool and person safety when
working with any kind of tools! (Glasses,
gloves,keep tools out of working area, etc)

28. Stakes

29. Staking
 Use stakes that will penetrate ground deep
enough to hold sides of garden (approx. 1
foot)
 Weight will push garden sides out as bales
disintegrate
 4 foot utility posts (just like short fence
posts) with a metal plate at the bottom are
good (approximately $3.50 Home Depot)

30. Lay out stakes and sides

31. Place stakes equidistant

32. Pound in stakes with a sledgehammer getting
them as close to the sides as possible

33. Level sides
A line level
Dig out
under the
sides if need
to lower
them

34. Wire corner edges and stakes together

35. Use galvanized wire – not tie wire

37. Wire sides and stakes across bales

38. Close to done, the gardener is happy!

39. Add metal edging

40. Presto!

41. One year after building a straw bale garden

42. First year tomatoes!

43. Complete garden
 Fill in spaces with loose straw
 If needed, get soil mix (3 – way is nice: 62% “topsoil”,
30% compost and 8% manure. This mix is from
Cochise Stone for $36/180 sqft)
 Bales can be planted in directly, or in soil placed on
top.
 Leave 2-3 inches from the top of the garden to the top
of the sides for mulch
 As the bales disintegrate, more soil should be added

44. Planting
Follow instructions on handout
Wet bales for a few days
Sprinkle with ammonium phosphate
to stimulate root growth
Cut a hole in the straw with a knife
and plant, or plant in soil covering
top of bales

45. Other options

46. Rubber watering trough

47. Cold frame
with left-over
windows

52. http://www.savewater.com.au/library/Bluescope_Water/ColoVale6.JPG

53. MULCH

54. Rainwater for the garden
½ gallon (or .60 gal)/sqft
is needed to soak 1 foot deep
so,
60 gallons is needed for each 100 sqft
of planted area each watering

55. How much water at each watering?
Example:
250 sqft garden, with approximately 50%
of the area needing to be watered
=
62.5 gallons/watering

56. How often do you water?
 Cool months (Nov – Feb), no rain, approximately
weekly = 4 months x 4 weeks x 1ce/week = 16 waterings
(1000 gals)
 Hot months (May, June), no rain, approximately
3x/week = 2 months x 4 weeks x 3 = 24 waterings (1500
gals)
 Warm months (March, April, July, August, Sept,
October), rain, approximately 1ce/week = 5 months x
4 weeks x 1ce/week = 20 waterings (1246 gals)
Total water use = 62.5 gal/watering x 60 waterings =
3750 gallons of water annually
for the 500 sqft garden

57. Gravity feed or pumped?
 For gravity feed, level of water must be above discharge
 Bubblers are the easiest
 Drip irrigation needs 20 psi, t-tape can use 2-10 psi
 2 feet in elevation = 1 psi
 Need to elevate tank 45 feet for 20 psi
 For pumping need:
 Electricity
 Solar

58. Gravity fed garden

60. Watering
trough (165 gal)

62. 550 gallon tank

63. Corrugated Metal Pipe

65. Pumped for drip irrigation

67. Rain-fed straw bale
vegetable garden - “Bisbee Grown”!

68. 2012
Bisbee Presentation at Ecoasis
Cado Daily, UA Cooperative Extension Water Wise Program
waterwise.arizona.edu
cdaily@email.arizona.edu
The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Cooperative Extension is implied.
Any products, services, or organizations that are mentioned, shown, or indirectly implied in this publication do not imply endorsement by the University of Arizona.