Kent , I guess you may be in service with the storms south of you .Hopefully you and yours , friends and family came through all the storms in good health .Please give us a report and God bless .
General Discussions - 2011 - Chapter 34
Yes- am thinking about you and other friends I have done your way, Kent. Hope all is well . .
I got a little $ from selling some LPS, and I went out today and got myself a pair of shiny polka-dotted garden boots (to help me deal with the ankle deep mud), a wonderful broad brimmed fine weave straw hat and a smallish lawn/garden cart, so I can schlep tools, pick up the endless fallen branches, move compost, etc. I'll post photos of my "babies" in the basement: (Here are the peas-gone-wild)
Squash, beans, tomatoes-to-be . . .
and more . . gonna have to transplant them to larger starter pots by the weekend- would love to know more about pinching back these babies . . which/when/if . . any advice?
Wow Suz, they look great! When do you put them outside safely, without Mr. Jack Frost painting a little on them? Bet you are anxious. How are your bales looking? Are they decomposed good yet?
digger and Suzan: all is well at my house. Two tornado paths went just north and just south of me. I was on duty that day. 10 hr shift turned into a 15 hr shift.
Kent
Thank all you men and women for being there for the masses
Great that you and your family were spared any damage.
My S I L in Sanford has debris in her yard, metal roofing and such from about a quarter mile away she didn't think her house suffered any real damage. but behind her house is a fair sized bunch of trees that were destroyed. She didn't have power Sunday evening yet, so was staying at a motel that did have electricity as she needed her breathing machine. Her son is able to help her so I don't really need to be overly concerned but she said she sure heard that proverbial freight train and saw some of the trees go down before she hid in a hall closet.
That is really scary. Can't even imagine what you guys go thru. Amazing.
Thank God, Kent. So glad you and yours (family and garden) are AOK.
Jeanette, the weather's fine, but my bales won't be ready for another 2 weeks. Can't WAIT!!!
I came out real lucky . Only a light rain all night and no wind .
Gosh, 2 more weeks on those babies and you are going to be eating peas, beans, and squash!!
While in Tex , I planted spinach and got a good bit for one big serving plus for sandwiches . I fixed it wilted with bacon and topped with parmesan cheese .
Glad to hear Kent and others weathered the tornado safely. Have been offline because all here in Gloucester have been busy doing cleanup from the storm. We one of our two middle schools destroyed by the tornado (kids are now double shifting at the remaining middle school) and nearly 100 homes damaged beyond repair and rendered unlivable and two individuals were killed in their Mobile homes. I found myself counting my blessings as the tornado passed behind my neighbors home and only clipped our property. (and yes, it does sound like a train and yes, we were -with three dogs - hiding under the stairs in a bathroom. Have spent several days picking up all the debris dropped by the tornado on all the pastures and having uprooted trees removed and fences rebuilt. Having never been even close to a tornado, I was stunned to have metal roofing, wood, books and materials from the middle school (located about 3 miles away) deposited in our fields.. The power of nature never ceases to amaze me. The strangest of all was the uprooting of trees behind the house and nothing disturbed in the garden only 50 ft away. I will never understand how this happens. Hopefully the remainder of the spring will be a bit calmer for us all.
Transplanted the babies today (all but the peas - maybe I'll be brave enough to tackle them tomorrow). Many of the plants were so large that they overshadowed some of the others, and they developed strong roots but no tops. I swear, I think every single seed I sowed gerinated. It was hard to thin the tomato plants, but I did it.
nini, that is so scary. I don't know how you all go thru that. I could not do it. One time and I would be out of there like a shot.
So glad you and yours are ok.
Suz, they sure looked like they could not wait another week or 2. Hope they make it ok. Keep the pictures coming. We had ice this morning so it is going to be some time before we plant anything out. I am going to start the nitrogen on my bales this next week so hope they start to decompose.
They already look far beyond what the straw would have been. Thanks for your help in getting these alfalfa bales going.
Jeanette
Nini, I had a mobile home destroyed years ago Thank God I wasn't home that night . It was a small one and only dipped down to pick up two homes and flatten in the woods . This system you had was so much more powerful , I'm thankful for the ones spared and so deeply sorry for the families and friends of those lost .
Nini, I'm sorry you went thru that, but glad your damage was not worse. It is so sad to see the lives that have been destroyed in an instant, and my heart goes out to you and yours.
I went thru 3 hurricanes so can relate. The strange things that happen still make me wonder. We lost the house, but it was to a small tornado, instead of hurricane, apparently. You could look at aerial photos and see where it went. My neighbor's on each side had little damage, but our roof just seemed to vaporize. Still, the strangest was the big trees out front. They were down, but out from a center point. They looked like the lines on a sliced pizza. The trees adjacent (no more than 20' away) lost some leaves, but no other damage. Before anyone feels sorry for me, it was actually a good thing, and blasted me out of FL and into SC, to the kind of place where I always wanted to be....
digger, the next year I was in a FEMA mobile home, and stubbornly stayed in it during Hurricane Wilma. The stronger than predicted wind picked it up and dropped it half on and half off it's mountings. I will never forget trying to keep the refrigerator from falling, and keep the dogs and cats calm. They were fine, it was me who was a wreck *G*.
Thanks for all your comments. The whole community is working together to help get everyone back on their feet. Not much can be done to replace the homes, (only time will take care of that issue) but everyone is trying to donate items to help keep these families going.. One never thinks about it, but when things like this happen you never realize just how much folks need the basics, paper towels, TP, toothpaste, shampoo and basic clothing for those who lost everything. Sorry to take the topic offline again, but if folks would like to help those in Gloucester or the other communities hardest hit by that line of storms, the Red Cross is excepting donations that are being used to help these folks recover. http://articles.dailypress.com/2011-04-21/news/dp-nws-storm-howtohelp-0422-20110421_1_county-officials-response-team-volunteers
Am looking forward to seeing how everyones garden is going to do this year. Needless to say, although I have some bales out and working, they need a bit more time before I begin planting this year. Hopefully I will get some of the items in by the first week of May.
Hi everyone! I'm new to SBG and having no luck finding ammonium nitrate. I did find blood meal at Lowes today. How much should I apply to each bale? Can't wait to start planting, I have 12 bales all set!
DoxeeMom,
The amounts are listed way back in previous threads on this subject so to save you time here is my list gleaned from all the info given since the beginning. I give my complete synopsis on straw bale gardening to any interested friends. I do not use ammonium nitrate, only blood meal or urea. If you set the bales out in the fall you can by-pass a lot of this prepping but since you are starting now here is my "prepping" order:
Day 1: Add 1 cup of Blood Meal or ½ cup Urea plus 5 gallons of water. Water slowly so the Blood Meal
doesn’t all run off.
Days 2 and 3: Add up to 5 gallons of Water each day as needed.
Day 4: Add 1 cup of Blood Meal or ½ cup Urea, plus water as needed.
Day 5: Add just Water as needed
Day 6: Use thermometer to check temperatures; record them. Temps can go to 140+º but usually low 100’s.
Add 1/2 cup Blood Meal or ½ cup Urea and Water as needed.
Day 7: Check temps. Add Water as needed.
Day 8: Check temps. Add 1/2 cup Blood Meal or ½ cup Urea plus Water as needed.
Day 9: Check Temps Add Water as needed.
Day 10: Check Temps Add 1 Cup Organic granular fertilizer like Espoma for Vegetables and Flowers (I also add rock phosphate, bone meal, and gypsum) and Water them in.
Then check the temps for the next couple of days before planting. You don't want to burn the roots of your seedlings. I find that when it gets hot and sunny the bales may reheat up so always wait a few days before planting.
Good luck. If you would like my complete synopsis on this method just d-mail me. I just kept following all the threads and put together a synopsis of what Kent and others described as their way of doing this. Then I adapted it to my gardening style. This will be my fifth year and I think I've got it pretty well together now.
ALL: A blessed Easter to everyone!
nini: glad you made it safely through those tornadoes, too.
gardadore: as good a "recipe" as any other
DoxeeMom: welcome Aboard!!
Kent
LOL. Well I sent you a D-mail Kent about my urea 46-0-0. You are busy today with other things and I can understand that.
But, now you see, I am chicken. I am afraid I will blow the place up so I guess I will use bloodmeal instead. Oh well.
Have a good Easter everyone.
Jnette,
I am confused! Are you afraid of blowing up the place with the urea? Or were you considering using the ammonium nitrate? I used urea for the first time last summer because it was so much cheaper than the bloodmeal. The Agway dealer suggested using less than the bloodmeal because it was so strong so I used 1/2 a cup rather than a full cup. It worked well. Since all my bales this year except one were placed out in the fall I will use the bloodmeal to prep just that one. I still prefer the bloodmeal overall but I had too many bales to use it exclusively last year. If you put out your bales for next year this fall you will avoid the whole issue of what to use. I even put out 4 alfalfa bales and they lasted just fine through this snowy winter with no more break down than the straw bales.
Good luck!
The urea is 46-0-0 and it would be enclosed in the hoophouse that gets pretty hot when the sun hits it. Then to add the water also, not sure. I have never blown up stumps before and this sounds like a good recipe for that. What do you think?
You'd have to ask a scientist but I don't think that would happen. Possible odor? Maybe put the urea on in the late afternoon, water it in and then it wouldn't be as strong the next day? Pick a cloudy day? How hot are the temps in the hoophouse? If you do it before the weather gets too warm I can't see a problem with it. We are supposed to have some temps in the 70's this week. Will it get that warm in your area? Just remember not to use more that 1/2 cup instead of the 1 cup of blood meal. Good luck - hold on to your hat!
Jeanette; for a short time I worked for a company that used ammonium nitrate for blasting rock for burrying power lines, they mixed diesel fuel with it but still had to use blasting caps to set it off. you wouldn't even get near that close with urea. But I do agree with staying on the side of caution. lol I'd hate to see you blow those little tomatoes right out through the roof.
russ
There's nothing to worry about with urea- it's basically just dehydrated pee! (or, as I've said before) save your urine and use it on your bales!) Blood meal is good, but SOO expensive and you need to use so much more of it . . . what's the point? I, personally, wouldn't use ammonium nitrate - there's no need.
Well, yesterday I had 1 1/2 boxes of bloodmeal so I put a cup on each bale. Now, maybe I will use 1/2 cup urea the rest of the week. Didn't you say 3 times Suz?
Thanks everyone. I will try not to blow the place up. LOL
Oh, in answer to the temp. question: It was 89 in there yesterday.
I use at least 1 cup of urea per bale and do it 4 times, or until the temp get up there (every other day, though) And be sure to water it INTO the bales, and not OUT of them.
Suzan,
You said you need to use so much more bloodmeal - just curious how much you mean since I find 1 cup 3 times plus the general fertilizer the 4th time usually does the trick! My Agway man suggested I use less urea so that's why I said half a cup which seemed to work last year. But I can see how 1 cup would get things nice and hot faster!
Jeanette: I just sent response on Dmail, but basically agree that you're not going to have any trouble with the urea.
If it's like the ammonium nitrate, it should readily dissolves when you water it in the bales.
Kent
I am almost ready to plant but have by bales with strings running around the sides. Should I tip them the other way before I plant?
Also is the size of the plant important? I saw some beautiful tomatoes in 1 gallon pots. Is that too big?
We're getting a wonderful soaking rain today! Thanks everyone, Happy Gardening!
DoxeeMom: orient the bales either way, but I found that if the strings are ON the ground water doesn't run through the bales as fast.
For the 1st two years of bale gardening, I went with strings OFF the ground, but switched over, and stayed that way.
A large tomato plant will do just fine. Remember that tomatoes will grow roots out of any portion of the stalk that is in the ground/bale, so don't worry about planting it too deep.
Kent
Hi there Doxee Mom,
There all ways of thinking about how to turn the bales, but I like the strings on the ground. I think they take less water that way. Some seem to think the strings rot that way, but so what, they last a season and that is what you are concerned about. Plus, the synthetic do not rot that fast. I end up having to pull them out the next season.
Gallon plants are ok if you can get a hole big enough in the bales to get the roots in. I find I don't want to fight with them, 'cause I don't seem to get them decomposed enough at that point. I don't get my bales started early enough to get there. LOL So, it is entirely up to you, maybe try some, and it also depends on the length of your season I think. My season is short. If I could get them in the bales I probably would get the larger plants.
This gardening with bales is all trial and error I think. Everyone's issues are different so no one thing is right for everyone.
The main thing is just to have fun and enjoy your garden.
LOL, I see Kent and I crossposted.
Kent gets his bales started earlier than I do, besides his season being longer. He thinks you might get them in too deep a hole and I worry about getting a hole big enough.
That is what I meant about everyone's issues being different.
I look for tall (not realy leggy) tomato plants with small "bottoms". That way I can get them in the bales without totally trashing either plant or bale. I do strip all the leaves that I can (leaving just the top set sometimes), so they go as deep as possible. I try to cup the rootball in my hand and stick my whole arm down inside (kinda slimy) then backfill with a potting mix/compost/watersorb conglomeration.
Works so far :)
Cat , that's the way Daddy taught me to plant them and always had good strong roots . He didn't have bales , just dirt , but always had good crops . I never had good toms in Ga . until Kent came along with the bales . I have had different bug problems but always good crops , strong plants .
Bales have saved me here, as well, and we're pretty close. I had someone I bought plants from tell me it would never work, that he'd tried and it was a dismal failure. I just smiled and told him it had worked for me for 4 years:)
Phew! I finally got to planting my bales today - got ALL of the peas (some had over 3' of growth!!) in : Little Marvels, Sugar Snap and several varieties of Sweet Peas (Flowering). I'm POOPED!! Tomorrow I'll see how far I get on the squash(es), beans and pumpkins. I'm going to let the tomato plants get just a little bigger/sturdier before I plant them outside. Bales were LOVELY!! Nicely composted and easy to plant.