When I had stick-in-ground weaves, I just had a length of rope I knotted every 22" (weave spacing was 22" back then, now it's 24") so I'd pin down both ends and set my poles, them move the rope out of the way since I didn't want them snagging a toe on anything.
I got real bases because the ground where I was is mostly clay and would get incredibly hard over the summer...and freeze in the winter...dry part of the fall too...so 8 months out of the year, moving poles was really really difficult, if not impossible.
If you are connected to local clubs at all, they may do group buys from a local maker or similar. That's how I got my set...$150 isn't cheap but for a really solid metal full set of bases, it's not bad. They are also compatible with weaveomatic knuckles if I ever go that way. If they are 2x2 type, you can just slightly rotate all of them and have effective channel weaves too.