General Discussions - 2011 - Chapter 34

Well Jnette, I thought spring had sprung last week... but true to form, the weather is suddenly changing yet again. Cold 40 degree rain tomorrow and maybe snow on Sunday.... the only good news is the bales are out and starting to decompose, so I guess snow will wet them down as well as rain. Who knew we would still be getting snow this late in March in Virginia. One day it will get warm :)

OK OK, even though winter is still having a last blast and I have a hard time getting into the gardening mode, it's been in the 30s for a high for around a week now. I did send in an order for a couple fruit trees. and a couple other flowers I really thought I needed.
But against better judgment, my garden will be small this year as I plan to take a trip this summer. I will have my tomatoes some cucumbers and potatoes. A mix of salad greens. Have to keep it simple so I can keep up and still be away from the garden for a few weeks. Might have to have Gary come in and mow once and keep an eye on the garden.
I know he would keep any maters from getting over ripe. lol

Susan S. I'm so glad to know you're still around .Video was great . Russ , your garden is going to be bigger than mine . Digger

nini I haven't even gotten any bales yet. I haven't even started any tomatoes yet. We still have about a foot of snow in the yard and about 4 feet high where it has come off the roof in places. Somehow that just about turns me off of gardening.

Can't imagine why. If our spring, like June of last year, is another cold wet one I might just give up.

What a great way to start this gorgeous (albeit COLD) day- my young friend Johnny came over and moved all my (30) bales down and in place in my garden, worked a lot of the old dried matter into my compost pile and bagged up all of my old 'dead' garden hose. Going in to the dining room table now to start all the rest of my seeds in their lovely little peat pellets. (My peas are already up 2-3" under the grow lights! Have to try to keep them under control until my bales are ready!!) I also met a new friend last night who wants to help me, and is going to come and till the front area of my garden so I can grow BEETS this summer! YUMMMMM!

Another shot of my garden-to-be

oops!

Lookin' good Suz. How are you going to prep your bales? With time, or nitrogen?

Water, time, urea and pee I know, that's redundant; one is more personal and one more AGWAYable. The old formula of soaking for a couple of weeks, and then 1 cup urea per bale every other day for a week, has worked so well for me that I see no need to change it. (There's only so much one woman can PEE!)

Here's a picture of what I have started to date, under the lights. Starting 5 of each variety this year.

BIG giggle , Susan .

Kent somebody else is making money off this and it's NOT us!!!!


Doug


This message was edited Apr 2, 2011 9:22 AM

Susan, glad to see you are set for another great growing season!

Thanks for posting that link, Doug. They are even saying you can grow root crops in them. Looks like a lot of Miracle Grow or some kind of potting mix on top of the bales.

Connie

Doug: yeah, the less I say about this the better.

I'll Dmail you.

Kent

Looked at the link Doug... personally I think I have learned a great deal more about gardening here (the advice is a lot better) and the price is certainly right! I prefer being able to float questions to the folks who frequent this blog to solve any issues I might have with my straw bale garden. Unfortunately people are always looking to make a buck on everything. Too bad those folks who found that site have not realized they can get the same information and a great deal more for the small fee that Dave charges. All I can say is thank you Kent for starting this blog, I've certainly enjoyed visiting and learning from all my fellow participants.

nini: thanks, it's been a joy being a part of DG and sharing all our knowledge.

Kent

nini, I couldn't agree with you more!! This group is awesome and I claim everyone here as family :) Don't know who this guy is or what he is about but I am so sorry if I upset you, Kent. You are our "straw bale man" and always will be. Can't thank you enough for your knowledge!!

Connie

Kent , don't say it's been a joy , say it is a joy . In the meantime , write a book and get some of that cash . You have certainly worked for it . Maybe you and Doug could consult with each other on it .
I've been taught everything I know from your guidance , and still learning .I appreciate all the posters and the different methods they've contributed

If I wrote a book the 1st 50 pages would have to be all the acknowledgements to everyone here, past and present, DG'ers, who have taught me much.

I may have started the ball rolling, but everyone else has helped push.

I'd have to have a special page for the "little old lady from Alabama" whose newspaper article years ago 1st sparked my interest in straw bale gardening!

Then I'd have 1 paragraph that said, "If you want to learn about Straw Bale Gardening, meet me at DavesGarden.com!!!

End of book!! :-)

Kent

How sweet , I think that's one of the things we all like about you , selfless .

We've spent a few years together Kent. Seems like a LOT of years. LOL,

This year I am trying alfalfa. Suz convinced me to try it. I am actually buying one of those small expanded metal trailers tomorrow and have alfalfa bales lined up to pick up on the way home.

However, since we have such a short season here, I am going to stick with your original recipe. I planted 30 tomato plants the other day that are not up yet. And several peppers including the Scotch Bonnet and Habaneroes that Connie sent me.

Did you plant some of the Ghost Peppers Kent? What are you going to use them in? Should make some dynamite salsa. LOL

The tomatoes in my straw bales are getting a cattle panel cage.

Jeanette: I planted 10 Ghost Pepper seeds and have 8 plants up so far. Growing them for the fun and to see if they live up to their reputation.

TRG: I love the cattle panels for tomatoes. Works like a charm.

Kent

LOL, what in the world are you going to do with all of those Kent? How do your seedlings look? Can we see a picture? Don't you enjoy them?

I finally got some bales. Went to Big R and got a trailer, an expanded metal, and went to a farm and bought 10 bales of alfalfa at $3.50 each. It was all barn stored from last year's crop.

Now if my tomatoes start growing the bales should be ready when they are.

No, I didn't get the trailer only to get the bales. We have been wanting one of those trailers for some time. Always seem to have a need for one. The truck just uses too much gas. It, the gas is running $4 per gallon here in this little rural town, but almost that anywhere around here.

I love to smell alfalfa.If I can get out trailer unloaded at the dump , I found plain mulch quality for two fifty . Just hope it isn't full of Johnson grass seed . Congrats , Jnette .

Thanks Sally, When are you and Russ & Barb going to Colorado? For how long? Will you have someone to take care of your plants while you are gone? Or are you planting a lot this year? You know you do have to plant enough to can for the winter.

I won't be planting anything but a few tomatoes and the neighbors can keep them picked .They will be in the front yard and easy to get to . I have too much in the freezer to plant a bunch of stuff this year ,and fresh tom are all I care for .
I plan on leaving here July first-ish and being there by the fifth. R & B can come anytime and stay as long as they like, even after we leave , if they want . The land isn't private ,and camping all along the river for miles . Most of it is BLM , open to the public for the most part .We all are just going to be heathens, work , lay around and enjoy the outdoors .Most of the campers have a "welcome to our campfire and bring your own coffee " attitude .Someone will have a community campfire going and all are welcome. Usually some (idiot) will get up before daylite and start the fire up and then it's cozy when others join .

Sounds like a good time will be had by all. Very relaxing time.

I have a few Bhut Jolokia I seeded that just came and I bought 4 plants for insurance. These may be similar to your Ghost peppers but I'm not sure. I like pepper sauce made by pouring boiling straight vinegar over hot peppers and using this with olive oil as a salad dressing. I'm looking forward to some pepper sauce made with the Bhuts.

I've always really liked the cattle panels but as I get older they have become a bit of a chore to lift by myself two feet or so and then attach to T-post. The picture below shows what I came up with for my straw bales. It's a chain link cut open using my chop saw and a pair of needle-nose vise grips and then welded to a T-post. The link will hold the bottom wire of the panel and will serve as a hinge for the panel. Now I can plop the bottom of the panel into the links and simply lift the panel into place and fasten at the top. I've been think about this method for my old cattle panel system since last season. Now that I know how well it works on the new system i need to get busy and get it implemented on the old system.

Here is what the tops look like tied off.

And now we are ready to go....

What are the rods? It looks real good but a lot of work to put together. If it is easier for you that is what counts.

TRG: you've seen my pics, but I use 4 x 4 posts on each end of the 16' cattle panels. They just hang on bent nails.

Everyone's got their own system.

I just love the cattle panels so much more over the concrete re-inforcing wire. No rust and much heavier duty.

Kent

4 X 4 posts are great but the T-post are what I had from an old fence I took up. I still use the round re- wire cages in less permanent situations for tomatoes and cukes. Also, re-wire make excellent hoops to support frost blankets to cover plants in winter.

I don't understand why more folks are not going with the straw bale gardening method. To me it gardening that gives the most bang for the buck. It's clean, nearly insect and disease free and the yields are fantastic.

Most people laugh when you talk about planting in bales. When I went to get the alfalfa yesterday the farmer said we must be going to use it to feed horses. When I told him what I was going to do with it he just shrugged and said he didn't care what I did with it. year before last we got some nasty grass hay from a farmer close by and he said his hay was too good to be used that way.

It was really gross stuff. When it spoiled it just got slick and slimy. Didn't even decompose good until the next year. I mixed it with soil and used it that way so it did ok but the year was so bad nothing ripened anyway.

I put the cattle panels on my hoophouse and they are good until I decide to take them down. I don't have to do anything with them every year. I plant along the inside walls and just tie the tomatoes to the wires. In a couple of weeks I am going to cover it with visquine and warm everything up. I planted garlic in a raised bed in there last October so hopefully that will do good this year.

Oh Jeannette- you'll love gardening in hay! Just be sure to cook them until the seeds are done for.

Thanks for the reminder Suz. Oh, BTW, I looked at your video of your class. It was good. But, let me ask you, do you still put the bales with the strings off the ground? Don't you find that like the straw, the hay acts as a straw and the water runs right thru it?

If the hay only lasts the one season, the strings aren't going to rot by then anyway. I thought the straw took a lot more water that way.

Also, what was the bit about the pallets? I vaguely remember you using them, but I didn't hear what you were saying in your class other than getting air under the produce. Do you put your bales on the pallets?

Jeanette, I generally put the bales where I'll be planting melons, squash, cucumbers and the like in a 'U' around wooden pallets, to keep the vines and the produce off of the ground, and to promote air flow around the veggies. My garden tends to be very damp, and this keeps them out of the wet, but I think it's beneficial anyway for viny, trailing plants if they don't have a place to climb.

As for the 'strings off the ground' issue, I pretty much followed Kent's directions with my bales and it seemed to make good sense to keep the strings off the ground. This year, I have wired bales, so it probably wouldn't make much difference. This year, I've had a friend till my whole garden space for me, so I'll be able to grow beets (my favorites) and turnips and carrots! I'm thrilled!

The only thing I questioned about the strings off the ground is that if you turn the bales the other way don't they act like straws and the water run thru them like they are pipes? HOWEVER, there may not be that problem with alfalfa since they are stems instead of straws. LOL, wonder if that is where they got the name STRAW.

Thanks Suz, all makes sense. Have a great day!

Last year I followed Kent's instructions pretty closely and had wonderful luck. With the bale set strings parallel to the ground and the cut ends up folded ends down, they held moisture just fine once they had been conditioned. As a matter of fact we had a beautiful summer last year with a nice amount of rain, so I did not do much watering at all by the end of summer and I had tomatoes and melons splitting from too much moisture. That said, I got 16 pints of salsa, two solid weeks of blt's, and shared with neighbors off of just six tomato plants, the bulk coming off of four of them. The thing to realize is that the bales are made of straw folded in half and cut on one side only, so if they are hollow straws they would just kind of fill up with water because the straw is folded in half at the bottom end.

After reading your post I went out and looked at my bales, and they were a couple of inches each way. Back and forth. These are alfalfa.

However, I don't think you can dispute the use of water that people have said the difference is in how the bales are turned. I have a well so don't pay for my water and do not have a meter on it so I don't know if there is that much difference. I just know that it seems like I was watering more with the stems up.

Others. including Kent, have said there is a difference. Maybe they have seen a difference in their water usage thru their meters. Or bills? Or just in how much more often they have to water.

One more thing, just a suggestion, but if you only got 2 weeks of BLTs then maybe you could grow a variety of tomatoes. Some that take longer, or less time, etc. so they are staggered and you get a longer time with them than so many in what seems to me a short time. For instance if you are growing all determinates then they will all ripen at the same time. Just a thought.

Hope I made sense in that last paragraph.