Hay! Is That a Garden?

Mr. Greenthumb I am not, but I would like to be. Have you ever heard of creating an above ground garden using bales of straw? 

Gardening in general is still pretty new to me, I have done it before, long ago in a life far, far away... but it has been a long time. I had no idea what I was doing back then, and I know just enough to be a big dork with a pitchfork now.

So here's my situation, I don't have much land, don't have a tractor and I have a bit of a drainage issue in my backyard. So to me the situation calls for a raised garden in the sunniest part of my backyard, the question now is, how to raise it.

Traditional Raised Bed - Two 4x8 foot pads raise by 2x10 inch boards filled with God only knows how many bags of top soil and mulch. Cost, approximately $100 per pad or $200 total not including seeds.

Straw Bales - Two 3x6 foot pads raised up by 15", some top soil and a little mulch and few other ingredients so the crops get all the nutrients they need. Cost, about a $100 total.

You can see which way I'm leaning can't you?

Watch the video below about straw bale gardening and share your thoughts. Have you ever tried anything like this before? What's the downside? What am I missing?

By the way, the Mimi mentioned in the video below is not our Mimi, I don't think.