Maryna, your cucumbers certainly do seem to like the straw mulch! The straw bale gardening, is actually when straw is kept wet for a period of time, causing it to heat up and kind of compost inside. Then you plant your seeds directly in the bale of straw instead of in the ground. The composted straw is great fertilizer and is warmer than the soil that the bale sits on. From what I've read, results are great! There's actually a book about it.. I bought one 4-5 years ago. Wish I had some straw, and the room in my yard, to give it a try! I put a link to a web site below, that explains it. Here is a link that might be useful: Straw Bale Gardening

Hi all, I'm new here to this forum and to gardening in general but we did try a straw bale garden this year and we live in Gautier, MS here on the Gulf Coast. So far our straw bale garden has worked out fabulously. We haven't had any issues so far with overwatering. We use a soaker hose underneath a layer of potting mix to water the plants. Due to the nature of the straw bale itself, I don't think you can over-water it. The excess just runs out the bottom. I have noticed a slight algee growth on the topsoil but it has not seemed to affect the veggies yet. There is almost no weeding required for the garden and there are fewer bugs to deal with as well. These are some pics from about a week ago and everything is more than twice this size today. I'll try to keep you updated on the progress as we go along and share our lessons learned.

I was sad to find that the PNW Gardening forum disappeared with the new changes, it would be great if one could be created. Also, I am trying gardening in straw bales this year, and it seems a popular enough method of gardening I would love to see it have a forum as well. In addition to all of the props straw bale gardening is getting I would add this; I garden from a wheelchair, and the straw bales are the perfect heighth for me to work on.

PNW Gardening Forum/Straw Bale Gardening - I was sad to find that the PNW Gardening forum disappeared with the new changes, it would be great if one could be created. Anyone else doing Straw Bale Gardening, the organic way? - Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - Straw Bale Gardening Straw Bale Gardening | Gardening Forums - Straw Bale Gardening I'm gonna try a straw bale garden (hugelkultur forum at permies) - straw bale garden Alternative Gardening Discussion Forum - strawbale gardens