Growing veg on a straw bale
When I first moved to the UK from the US I discovered the RHS The Garden magazine and was captivated by an article on growing vegetables and flowers in a straw bale. I had never heard of this technique and thought it was worth a try.
The perfect opportunity arose last year after taking over the Hyde Hall veg plots. It was a great success and The Garden followed up with another look at straw bale planting. In short, by watering and feeding a straw bale it begins to decompose, making it perfect for growing vegetables in. It holds loads of water and has lots of space for the plants roots to spread, all with no additional soil.
This year the straw bale planter is made out of 13 bales stacked in a pyramid. The process began in April, watering and feeding the bales with high nitrogen fertilisers, ready for planting by the end of May. We have planted up the bales with tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and some annual flowers. This year we are also trying runner beans and strawberries.
These were all started off in the greenhouse and planted directly into pockets scooped out of straw. After the initial preparation the bale planter is treated like any other 
large container; watered once a week and given a liquid feed as needed. It won’t be long until the straw is completely hidden under all the crops.
Jo harvested our first potatoes this year, a salad variety called 'Mimi'. This is a perfect potato for containers as it only has a small leaf growth but produces loads of tubers. These salad potatoes are best harvested when they are the size of cherries and served whole with some mayo, mustard and shallot greens. Mmmm delicious.