Are straw bale composters a good idea?

14 years ago

Hi All - I have been lurking and reading for a while now and have learned a lot - thanks everyone for all the accumulated wisdom shared here! I'm hoping for some suggestions about how to quickly establish composting in a big way, as we tackle our garden.

We're on the remnant of an farm on two sunny acres, one of which has lawn and flower beds. The other will be turned into a wildflower meadow next year. Also planning veggie beds, both raised and fenced in Ruth Stout style low labour beds (this year).

So lots of room/need for compost. I have one donated Enviro-cycle bin, which seems to keep animals out, but is, as others have noted, very hard to turn... I can't see buying a whole row of any kind of individual containers... they're designed for a suburban back yard and I need more compost anyway.

I'm wondering about doing straw bale progressive bins with plastic or old MDF boards for some rain protection on top. I haven't seen much about straw bale bins here.

The biggest concerns I can think of are critters and the risk of quack grass seeding the bales. But I like the idea of an organic container that becomes part of the compost as it breaks down... and the appearance appeals to me.

Also, do critters like UCGs? I've been getting 5 gallons a couple of times a week from my local Starbucks. If I use lots of non-food waste as my greens, putting the food scraps in the middle, would that likely take care of the critter concern?

Sorry if this is too many questions at once. I am becoming obsessed. My husband now cringes when I say, guess what? any time I'm on the computer... he knows it's going to be a stunning revelation about toilet paper rolls or urine.

Any thoughts very appreciated.

Gatineauhills

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Comments (4)

Kimmsr
14 years ago
If you can get enough straw to compost at very little cost that could be a way to go, but around here straw is about $6.00 per bale, quite expensive. There are lots of other kinds of vegetative waste readily available for much less cost than the straw which is why there is little discussion about straw bale composting.
annpat
14 years ago
Yes, a straw bale compost bin works great. You can plant in the bales, too. I'll get back to you on what I read about that. I can't remember if author Peter Tonge planted in fresh bales with a soil core or broken down year-old bales. He grew tomatoes. I grew potatoes. The best bales for building have plastic string around them instead of twine, which rots faster than the bales do. You may not have a choice, though.

I have contained raised beds with hay/straw bales (use rotting twine), and I have built a cold frame with hay bales. I built the hay cold frame in the fall one year, and that spring, one night around midnight, I heard barking dogs in my yard. I turned on the light and saw two frenzied dogs excitedly ripping my cold frame apart. It dawned on me almost instantly that that couldn't be good---and not just for the cold frame. The minute it registered that disaster was looming, the dogs excited yelps turned to screams. One of the dogs came flying to my door and shook his newly quilled head, spraying blood all over my door and the snow bank next to my steps. Then both dogs were gone. I got in my car and tried to find them, and I knocked on the two houses on my road that had lights, but no one would answer the door for a woman in pajamas.

The next morning, I found my cold frame's glass door lying on the soil I'd prepared for March lettuce, thirteen dollars of hay spread out around it. The porcupine had moved on.
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paully1
14 years ago
I am really having a good go so far with my first attempt at a straw-bale compost pile. The straw is an excellent insulator, so it helps the pile to hold the heat. Eventually the bales will break down, and I will score some more coffee grounds and bunny poop, so I can compost the broken-down bales too!

Here is a link that might be useful: My straw bale compost
gatineauhills
Original Author
14 years ago
Wow, thank you, everyone. Loved the story of the porcupine mishap, Annpat - I would be interested in learning more about planting in straw. Thanks for posting the pics, Paully1. Now a couple more questions... what kind of straw do you recommend? And what do you think about the quack/couch grass risk?

Elsewhere, I've read that oatstraw may be the best option (not sure why... ?low seed content). Today, I found a local source which sells oatstraw bales at $2 each, so it doesn't seem too pricy.

The place I plan to put my progressive bins is on the edge of our meadow, near the freshly ploughed section. In this area, there is lots of long-established quackgrass. I have read that placing bales on top of quackgrass is a recipe for disaster. I was thinking that if I laid biodegradable corn-based landscape fabric down first over the entire area, that might be enough to choke off the grass rhizomes under the bales (maybe two layers thick?). In addition, I could put wooden pallets down in the opening for each compost bin, to enhance airflow and to slow the breakdown of the landscape fabric during the grass-killing phase.

Does this sound reasonable?

A final question: I see some pics of compost piles that are open to the elements and others covered with plastic tarps or other lids. What do you recommend? I have a few 4x8 sheets of warped MDF and I thought of covering them with black plastic as a source of radiant heat as well as some rain protection.

Thanks again... I am really excited about this approach... I am already anticipating piles of beautiful black compost by fall!

Are straw bale composters a good idea?

Comments (4)

Kimmsr

annpat

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Are straw bale composters a good idea?

Comments (4)

Kimmsr

annpat

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