By Kristin Latty

CENTRE — Looking for a simple way to do some country gardening? Why not grab up a wheat straw bale and go to town. Er ... you know what we mean. Although, the popular method of hay bale gardening is getting more popular in town, as well.

"Bale gardening is no trouble at all," said Bobby Baker of Centre. "Plus I've had real good luck with my crops."

Baker has been gardening in hay for four years. A friend told him how to get prosperous crops using nothing but wheat straw, potting soil, a little fertilizer and some tomato plants.

"Every fall I get some bales and let them sit out all winter to get good and soggy," said Baker. "I plant a few every year and I've had real good luck. Of course, I do prune and stick them."

Like Baker, Jim Wright of Cedar Bluff started out his first wheat straw crop using only tomato plants.

"I started last year and did three bales with two plants each," said Wright. "I ended up with over 486 tomatoes."

Right now, Wright has winter cabbage in the bales and has 10 more soaking for future planting.

"It's easy because you don't have to have a tiller and tear the yard up," said Wright. Plus, he said, there's no back-breaking row-hoeing or weed-pulling.

"Some people don't have real good soil for planting crops," said Baker. "My neighbor's land has a tendency to stay real wet. He started hay gardening after he saw how well it worked for me."

Wright said a long-time friend who was in the landscaping business showed him how to use wheat straw to garden.

"He had all kinds of crops including cucumber, squash and green beans," said Wright. "You can raise almost anything except corn, because it's too tall and the bale will fall over."

Both Baker and Wright agree that there is one thing that must be done when using wheat straw gardening: the bales must be kept wet.

"If the bales aren't kept a little soggy, the crops don't do so well," said Wright. "I also use a little fertilizer about once a week."

"We haven't really gone through a summer drought that would effect the bales badly, but it is better to water them regularly," said Baker.

Straw wheat bales are available at several locations in Cherokee County, including the Cherokee Farmers Co-Op in Centre and J&M Hardware in Cedar Bluff.

"We do have a few people come in to buy the bales specifically for bale gardening," said Calvin Grimes of the Cherokee Farmers Co-Op. "We still have 100 wheat straw bales left."

According to Jonathan Mobbs of J&M Hardware, they have sold 30 to 40 bales already.

"Planting the crops is really no trouble," said Baker. "I go down about six-and-a-half inches from the top of the bale to make a hole in it. Then, I add potting soil and my tomato plant."

To plant your own wheat straw garden follow these simple directions. Purchase the wheat straws bales and leave the twine or wire on them. (Wheat straw will be less likely to contain weeds than hay.)

If you haven't had the chance to let your bales sit out through winter, give your bale or bales a thorough soaking, and let them begin to rot before your plant your vegetables. If the weather is warm, soak them more than once a day for three days. Make sure they are placed where they will be in the sun all summer. They shouldn't be moved once you've started treating them.

On the fourth day, apply your choice of fertilizer to the top of each bale. Repeat this for three or four more days. Allow one day for the bales to cool off. Then you are ready to plant your crop. Put commercial potting soil or a 50-50 mix of topsoil and manure on the top of each bail and moisten with a fine water spray. Pull apart the bale by hand to make a hole to put your plant. Each bale should hold two tomato plants or four pepper plants.

When using seeds, mix seeds into the soil mixture on top of the bale. Six to eight cucumbers, three yellow squash or 12-15 bean seeds per bale is the recommended limit.

Root crops such as carrots, parsnips and onions aren't good for bale gardening because the roots would be too crowded. Annual herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley will thrive. Even watermelon and cantaloupe can be planted in wheat straw.

The wheat straws bales may require more fertilizer applied weekly or monthly, depending the crop. If you are worried about the appearance of the bales, you may grow annual and perennial flowers, too. Bales may be used again one or two seasons.

"I may try a few other crops this season," said Wright. "It's too easy not to try."