Thinking of Doing Staw Bale Raised Garden Beds

During the wheat combining process, it would be possible for the grain dust to get on the wheat straw. That alone may irritate you, depending on how sensitive you are.

However, I don't think it would be taken up by the tomatoes.

You might be able to get hay bales, but those will be full of grass seeds, and will probably sprout, leaving you with bunches of weeds you need to pull.

Good luck with your gardening endeavor! I put 49 pints of tomatoes in the freezer last summer.... it is great using the harvest year round like that!

I have a large raised garden bed and use straw bales. It doesn't mold and works wonderfully. Ive had mine for about 5 years now. My MIL is the best gardener and this is what she does. The straw is just regular straw. She also has a very gluten free diet and the straw bale has no bearing on her diet. My MIL does not put the straw down for 2 weeks prior to planting, she throws it on top after planting and everything grows abundantly.

I'm confused. Your post sounds like you're saying you grow using the bales instead of earth. I've seen raised beds using straw as ground cover. If the latter is what you're asking about I suggest that the straw will not affect your produce. The vegetables get their nutrients from the soil.

composting transforms the straw into a different product by breaking it down into a more complex product to enrich the soil. When you consider that most vegetables never have gluten, I suggest that the ones that you plant will have the same nutrients no matter how they are grown.

That means that the nutrients within naturally gluten free or low in gluten will remain gluten free or low in gluten. Plants grow by a plan embedded within the seed. Straw.is a natural plant.

Perhaps you are relating the process in which plants grown using pesticides are believed by some to include pesticides. Pesticides are not natural. Straw, unless of course grown with the use of pesticides, is natural.
The science of how to grow food pesticide free is new. We are still learning.

Straw contains few nutrients.It doesn't contain gluten. It is fed to animals to provide roughage. It is used in gardening as mulch. I doubt one can successfully grow vegetables.

I've never heard of this. I do square foot gardening and love it! If you decide not to go with the straw bale garden beds you might look into square foot gardening. It's nice if you don't have a lot of room. We live on a small farm, so space isn't an issue, but I still love gardening this way. The soil is so good! Everything grows really well.

When I first started, I read this book. http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Answer-Book/d...

Now I grow tons of fruits,vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Have fun gardening!

the straw bales DO break down (they're supposed to) and if you do it correctly, won't mold.
i tried this in hay bales. bad idea.
no clue about the gluten, though.
khairete
S.

This is something I also have thought about trying but heard that it has to be straw bales and not hay. Also would like to know if someone knows where you can buy them. I live in Sterling Heights