My wife and I wish to cultivate vegetables in peastraw. Our intention is
to use some spare vegetable transport bins to grow the vegetables in. We
are going to plant the seeds/seedlings in a strip of potting mix laid
into the peastraw. We hope the vegetables will then grow down into the
peastraw with their leaves exposed on the top. This should provide clean
(dirt free) veges at harvest. We are also trying to avoid weeds. Do
you have any suggestions about what we must do to prepare the peastraw
before planting or any suggestions that could improve our idea. We await
your reply. With thanks,
Mark and Tania Gibson
The following is based on the Esther Deans raised bed method - keep well watered. You need a good layer of soil:
Lay 1cm of newspaper on the bottom.
Follow with a 10-15cm layer of alfalfa or peastraw.
Apply an 0.5-1cm layer of blood and bone.
Follow with a 10-15cm layer of peastraw or hay.
Another layer of blood and bone.
Top with 10cm of compost.
You can also grow potatoes using a layer of compost topped by a layer of peastraw. This method enables you to harvest the potatoes from under the peastraw without digging for them. See this article at the Henry Doubleday Research Association website Make adjustments for our southern growing season.
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