Hay isn't just for horses, you know

(Special thanks to Dare Society member Brett Charlton for alerting us to this piece.)

Wake County Deputy Sheriff Kent Rogers has posted on the site davesgarden.com about his interesting way to grow tomatoes: on a bale of hay.

"I've been a traditional gardener all my life, but tried straw bale gardening last year as well," he wrote on the site. "I tried several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cukes, squash, and zucchini in the bales and they all did outstanding."

Rogers goes on to give some in-depth directions to being successful with this type of gardening.

"One thing I’ve noticed—and this could be just a fluke—is I have not had to spray my plants with any pesticides such as Liquid Sevin. I haven’t had any worms, bugs or other pest bother my straw bale garden. Maybe it has something to do with the plants being off the ground."

And if a lack of bugs and worms weren't a good enough reason to try this, Rogers says this: "For those of you who may have physical problems doing tradtional gardening, you may want to try this method. Even wheel chair-bound folks could garden with this method."

Read more here.