HAND MADE RICE STRAW BALES: The locals do not have mechanical balers, so they must make the bales by hand using a homemade wooden baler. The straw bale garden will allow the farmer to grow crops even during the flood period, especially since the straw bales provide excellent drainage capacity and easily drain away excess moisture, so daily rainfall isn’t a problem. Once rain subsides, within a short time air is able to once again enter the draining bales and keep the roots of vegetable plants viable, unlike the soggy soil at this time of year, which rots the roots of most things planted in the muck.
Crops thrive, including dietary necessities that until now they have not been able to grow, and instead they have relied upon outside government and other charitable organizations for food. Starches such as potatoes, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and other legumes like green beans and peas, and many other crops are now grown year around in the tropical climate of Cambodia.
Very inspiring! I just wish that straw bales weren’t so darn expensive in California!
Thanks, Carole. Give some thought to alternatives that might be available in your area. People get GREAT results from the DIY “leaf and lawn” homemade bales using yard waste and compostable materials compressed with large plastic bins or chicken-wire. We just got a photo submitted today from somebody who realized they had 5 bales to use, which were originally set up as archery targets! There are lots of possibilities, so we wish you lots of luck being as creative and resourceful as you can in California. 🙂
I hear you Carole, I have some relatives near LA and they are straw bale gardeners, and they also said $12 for a bale was pretty much the going rate. I did notice when I visited them, that the bales were very large, so at least take solace in that fact. Your bales are about 30% bigger in California than they are in the mid-west.
Trust me, it will be worth every penny when you don’t have to be out there weeding the garden in the hot sun!
Best,
Joel