So the straw bale grow is working...

[MiHale]

20. We've been switching over to raised beds...

as much as we can instead of in ground. As we age it’s nice not to have to bend over as much. I’ve always wanted to cascade zucchini in some way, this seems to be the best way. Squash bugs are a thing of the past.
But all in all I think the bales next year will be for lettuce, you can’t see it in the pictures but the lettuce bale was awesome. The lettuce really didn’t get dirty, once the thin layer of soil settled down and the seeds germinated there was very little “splash” dirt from rain or watering.

I’m impressed with bales, they’ll make doing raised beds a lot less expensive and very much easier. I have a good source for the straw, he grows his own organically. Gotta put up with some wheat seeds that were left in sprouting up but no big deal. Inky Cap mushrooms were the only other “foreign” invaders but they are a benign species.