General Discussions - 2010 - Chapter 32

catmad: here ya go, Sister!! :-)

It's been a while since I've visited this forum.

Kent, what type and size lumber are you using for your straw bale bins?

Here are a few pics of some of my bales.

Jerry

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I am so jealous! My poor veggies are not doing well. With the rain daily and the heat, my fertilizer is being washed off. I usually use slug magic to get rid of the buggers but I haven't been able to get it so far this year.

Daughter is now amongst the graduates. New boyfriend (eek!) and she is looking for a job. Family has come and gone. School is still in session and I have two more weeks (one with students and one without). It is quiet right now and I am enjoying every minute of it!

I may let the bugs have the garden and allow the straw bales to settle in - there is always next year!

Texas R G , it looks so nice

Have to crow a little... todays take from the garden and dinner tonight. Roasted carrots and beets with two stuffed peppers. Peppers came from my straw bales! This is only the second year for the fruit, but it is exciting to have fresh raspberries for tomorrow's cereal. Forgot, the three small cherry tomatoes (Black Pearl) are also from the straw bales. Sorry, but the sun sugar and matt's wild cherry did not make it to the house.... consumed in route... have to feed the gardeners to keep up our strength!

This message was edited Jun 6, 2010 6:47 PM

I'm drooling all over the keyboard. My carrots won't be ready for a couple more weeks, my tomatoes haven't grown enough to even think about tying up. Squash leaves are just now recognizable.
Part of the waiting game this far north. On the bright side my sweet corn is nearly knee high. my potatoes are looking good.
My turn cometh, :>)

Thanks, Kent! Much better:)
Congrats, nini. Isn;t First Harvest fun? I always take a picture of what makes it inside, too. I've gotten one serving (a hefty one) of combined sugar snap and snow peas, but I'm afraid they're on the way out. At least I got one meal :).
I have two patty pan type hopeful to be ready in a couple of days.
And the tomatoes are waiting int he wings, and some are beginning to color.
What a happy difference from last year!!

TexasRG - your garden looks so lush! Do you trimm the bottoms of your tomato plants? I guess I should thin mine for more sunlight to get in, however not too much as the high temps might burn them. So, it looks like you enclosed your bales, but what is that apparatus you rigged that bridges the sides? Surely the wire cages do not just sit on them, right? How are they fastened? I can see being able to make the strawbales more complicated, but more functional each year! We have a lot of wind here in the afternoon, so any veggie structure for them to climb on would need to be well secured. I like the squash (melon?) given fencing to climb the tree!

Nini - How great is that? Exciting to get those first fruits of our labor. I have not had enough to bring in yet (except to hold up to show DH before eating). The other morning I had one green bean, one cuke and 2 radishes while watering. My carrots are few, as I planted the little fingerlings in a window box! Pulled one yesterday and it was yummy though.

Jerry: I'm using some recycled boards from a 20+ yr old fishing pier. Mostly 2 x 6's with some 2 x 10's. Worked like a charm for me and they were free!

Great pics of your garden!

nini: Mmmmm!

Kent

I trim about 12" of leaves at the bottom of each tomato plant so there will be room to apply a gallon of liquid plant food to each plant every week. I usually leave the suckers as they produce pretty heavy considering my feeding regimen.

My R/R ties were not level from side to side so the apparatus is a leveling device as well as a support for the rewire cages. The cages are zip tied to the slats. All is very well secured to the R/R ties with large screws. Some of the slats will have to be removed to insert new straw bales in the fall. The cages are 5 feet tall concrete reinforcing wire ( the small gage) cut every 10th square along the run. That gives 9 squares for the cage. This size seems to work well for me.

The cukes are growing up a scrap piece of concrete rewire left over at the end of a roll. It's stapled to the tree so it provides solid support for the cukes.

nini1953 - Looking good!

Hi All,
Here is a picture of my Garden Scare Crow. Come look before I tear it apart. I was going to put some maters in buckets at his feet when I noticed that the denim jacket had rotted completely away where the arms rested against the body. Tomorrow I go on a quest to find another jacket. This time I am going to find something with nylon or rayon. It won't rot.
I'm tearing the thing apart to save the plants. I hope to be able to transplant them into the new body this week. We have had such cold weather that I might get away with it.
I have planted seeds 3 times this spring and they rotted in the ground, frustrating.
This is the fun of gardening, I get to try something and if it doesn't work, I try something else. I sure slowed traffic down with this guy. It is out side the fence in front of my house.
Paul.

This message was edited Jun 14, 2010 12:41 AM

lonejack: love it!

LOL, how clever and cute!! I love the scarecrow planter, too!

That is beyond cute! Looks like a challenge to fill him up though - how did you do that? The planter above his head is a unique idea, how do you garden in it at that height?

I am fighting pests on my bales! I mentioned about the rabbits jumping up a couple months ago (turns out they jumped up onto the bale with new cukes only to be able to access the broccoli and brussels sprouts plants in containers next to the bales). Jnette suggested bird netting on the bales, which I did (needing to cut holes in it to put in the plants) and one piece 'pooled' at the base (unfortunately several horny toads and lizards got trapped and died). The other piece was more form fitting. My cantaloupe vines, in particular the Sweet 'n Early one are being chewed on relentlessly! I took some chicken wire pieces and put them on that corner, but they were still attacked. Next, we added some rabbit fencing (2.5 ft tall) around the area where melons, in particular, were growing. Woke up yesterday and looked out to see a bunny have breakfast up there!!! Well, now I have closed off the area with chicken wire , I left the tomato and pepper plants free, since they don't eat their poisonous leaves - so I'm told. I hope that one plant can come back.

Last evening, while watering the newly encased bales, I found a rash of beetles on the biggest zucchini plant. ARGHH! In spite of being grossed out, I started grabbing those guys and cracking them in half with my thumbnail! I also sprayed with insecticidal soap. Now I will not eat directly from the plants. The bales with zucchini, butternut, watermelon, and cantaloupe are all successively planted, so I need to nip this in the bud! I read where it says to keep the area around the plant clean of any decaying material so they do not have a place to hide. Duh, that describes the whole bale.

Here are eaten melon plants:

I filled the scare crow in pieces. First I fastened the pants and jacket to the frame and each other. Then I filled the pants, then the jacket, buttoning the front as I went. Then the arms. After it was full I cut the holes and inserted the plants.
The planter above his head is cared by using a ladder. I wanted to do something in a fence so I placed half whiskey barrels you get at Home Depot. The fence is recycled oak shipping pallets.
Paul.

Paul just out of curiosity, how much do the half whiskey barrels cost there? Coming from the Bourbon Capital of the World where I can get whole barrels for free from some of the distillery workers!!!

Doug

Lonejack,

I learned several years ago that bird netting was a mess and tangled everything. Someone suggested using bridal veil material to cover berries. I am now using it on my bales to deter some sadistic creature which keep gnawing and snipping off the tomato stalks. I have had to experiment with the best way to surround each plant. Yesterday the critter went under the veil because I just draped it over - bad idea. Must completely wrap the lower half of the tomato. There must be something in the air this year that the critters have found the bales and are attacking them!! LOL
For the squash I cover the Earthboxes in mosquito netting and that seems to help. But I can only use it until they flower!

Good luck.

I saw a neighbor that had tulle (bridal netting) covering her fence, then saw there were berries under it. Had thought to go buy some in anticipation of bird problems, I then realized I had a half bolt of it from when DD was young and wanted to use it like mosquito netting around her bed. Not sure how I will use it when the time comes, as the bales are in a windy area.

qg, get a box of those long staples at the garden supply. Lowes or HD probably carry them. They work real good in the bales.

Our WalMart has the garden staples 40 to a box. I also use wooden clothes pins (plastic deteriorate in our climate and then break the next season if you want to move them) to attach any kind of veil or cloth materials to fencing or bamboo stakes.

Good idea about clothes pins, I can clip them to the fencing support and more easily access the tomato plants for picking. I have some of those pins and have gone through a ton of them draping the bales in bird netting BEFORE planting a d the chicken wire fencing later against the bunnies.

Hi Doug,
The half whiskey barrels cost about $25 or $30 at Home Depot. These are actually wine barrels as Oregon is in the middle of the California, Oregon and Washington wine industry. I know that sounds like a lot but these barrels last about 10 or 12 years if kept off the ground, even though they have water in them most of the time. I have had to replace 2 of them in the last 2 years, only because I needed to repair the fence. Once I tipped them off to the ground, they disintegrated.
I have a watering system in each that captures and holds about 5" of water to insure the plants have enough moisture all of the time. That way I water only about once a week in the dry season. I don't water when it rains. I fertilize them a couple of times a year.
Paul.

Just had to share my first adorable little crookneck squash . . so cute!

I think that, of all the plants, the squash loves the haybales the best!

And this is the 'Moon & Stars' watermelon plant - see all the stars on the leaves? Each watermelon will have a moon and stars on it!

My helper has punked out on me and I never even got the gate up on y garden, but I guess I have enough other yummy vegetation that the critters are happy. I keep a piece of rope down there, to tie my doggie to when I'm in the garden, and I just kinda loop it across the entrance to deter the deer . . . seems to be working so far. (And I have about a zillion bunnies in my yard! Ssshhh! Don't tell them about the garden plants!)

Suzan,
Wow, the squash and watermelon look great! I am trying a few hay bales this year with the straw. They heated up much faster than the straw and I have had to be careful that they not burn the tomato plants when I put them in. They heated up more after planting in a couple of bales so I had to quickly add cool water to bring the temps down. I did lose a couple of tomato plants to them wilting from the heat. Will wait longer before planting next time. I am interested that you find the squash like the hay bales best. I will try that next year. How many squash plants are you putting in each bale? It looks like one in the photo but I can't be sure.

There lookin good Suzan.

Lookin' good and soooo yuuuummmmy!!!

I put 2-3 squash plants per bale. I'd say 2 is perfect. The same with tomatoes, plus I put a basil plant in front of each tomato plant.

That sounds like a good idea Suz. I was wondering what to do with all that basil. Thanks

Worst year EVER for tomatoes! :-(

Blight and wilt taking a big toll.

Had high hopes this year, but it's not to be.

Kent

Oh Kent, that's just awful! I really hate it for you!! We're still very worried we will get it here, too.