Straw bale gardening: no weeding, no hoeing, no tilling

Zeppy, looking good, very good indeed. If you don't mind, might I ask more about your fertilizer? Where did you get it and approximately how much did it cost? I'm wondering if it's a Garden's Alive product? I'd like to place a large order there but thought the IRS would rather be paid. :-)

Roseone, I'm extremely lucky to have Countryside Natural Products (www.countrysidenatural.com) down the road from me. They carry everything I need (for organic gardens and livestock) and are really helpful. I get my fertilizer there, but didn't end up using any last year as the soil was plenty rich. A 50 lb bag (which I won't use in three years) runs about 20 bucks. They beat my local farm bureau's prices for things like sulfur, greensand, rock phosphate, etc.

Zeppy, you are extremely lucky. I can't even get greensand unless I mail order it. Well, I will check out their website and maybe I will drive up Rt 81 through the Shenandoah Valley and find the place. Just joking, but it sounds like a great place.

Well, see what shipping they charge, anyway. :) I know they ship everywhere. A 50 lb bag of greensand costs me $12.50 there, so who knows how cost effective it might end up. Plus, they price in tiers and you can combine different products to get the next tier's price.

Thanks, Dea. The shepherd was my engagement gift from my fiance. Now, four kids later, he's a busy and important dog: lots of people to keep an eye on. :)

And Kent, thanks for the push!

**chuckling** Yea, I think Kent for sure has "baled" a bunch of us out....or into? :)

What's your shep's name Zeppy? Bet he's a good watchdog for all the family!!

This thread and all the knowledge attached is sure a winner - great stuff folks !

Dea

Dea: watch out there!!!! LOL

I had one guy ask if I had stock in wheat straw bales! Yeah, that's it, I'm trying to drive up the bale market and I'm gonna be Wheat/Oat/Hay/Alfalfa...straw Baron!!!

Dea, he's called Zeppy, but his official name is Thaddeus von Steffen Haus. *snort* He lives for the family (or for those kid bubbles you blow with a wand).

Straw Baron... good, but I like Straw Bandit better.

We are doing the strawbales here are the pics.

here is another pic.

here is the last pic for now. We are just starting the process. There are 42 bales total.

Melinda, I counted 20 so that must mean that you have them 2 high? Yeah, and I missed 2. So, if I want to encase them in cement blocks, what are the measurements? Do you mind? That would give me an idea how many cement blocks and bales to order. We are pretty rural and I will have to have the local feed store order them for me.

Thank you. Jeanette

So far I have 14 bales, seven each lined up on either side of the garden. I need to drag out a very old soaker hose and see if it's still viable. Then I'm going to start soaking them and applying bloodmeal as my nitrogen source. I keep reminding myself it's just an experiment!

That's exactly what I'm doing, roseone. I'm a bit afraid I won't water as well as I should, since they require so much water.

I wonder how alfalfa tea would work on the bales?

Richard

That's why I was thinking of placing the bales onto black plastic and wrapping the edge of the plastic up about 1 or 2 inches and pinning it into the bale to form a shallow catch basin underneath for the water. I'm going to have mine at a location not at my house and I know I'm not going to be able to water 2 x a day. The question is whether the water will wick back up into the bale or just lay at the bottom and rot it out. Guess I'll find out. If I drive a tomato stake down into the bale and into the ground to train the tomatos that will hold the bale from sliding around on the plastic. The only thing I don't like about my idea is that I kind of am giving up the benefits of soil development during the summer.

My sister was completely taken with the idea but felt like her neighbors wouldn't like to see bales of straw lining her suburban yard so I told her to get that short white picket fence for borders and fence each bale and plant marigolds around the top edges. Nobody would ever know.....

Jeanette, Our bales are 2x3ft, but the ones in your area may be different than here in the south. Our patch is done with rows of 2 wide and they vary in length. I did not worry about enclosing them, we tied them to each other with orange bailing twine.

The reason I want to enclose mine is that I am going to use them to raise the bed up to a height I can manage and then use soil on top so I am not limited to growing just in the bales. I thought I could do it with 3 blocks high.

2 to cover the bales and one to hold the soil for the plants to grow in. What do you think? I know what is going to happen. I am making this at a convenient height for the deer. Kind of like a feeding trough.

Jeanette

Kent, do you usually grow big indeterminate tomatoes in these?

Zeppy: I grew 2 indeterminate varieties (Better Boy and German Johnson) and 1 determinate (Celebrity) last year and they all three did well.

All: here's what I'm doing in addition to regular, individual staking of my tomatoes.

It's like the trellis Melody and Robin described back on 3/22.

I using some concrete reinforcing wire 5 ft wide and 150 ft long. (Smallest roll I could get at the 5 ft width). Cost is about $70 but it'll last a long time.

There's no "hog wire" available close by. Closest thing to that are about 2 ft wide "silt fences" landscapers use for erosion control. I prefer the 5 ft width for my project because I don't have to install 2 layers and it also works best for the arch I'm doing.

I set the 8 ft tall 4x4 posts about 13 ft apart so I can get 4 or 5 bales under the wire that's about 3 feet off the ground. Sink the posts at least 18 inches in the ground.

Now all I have to do is wait for my bales to be delivered and start prepping around 4/20.

SAFETY NOTE: get some bolt cutters (small one will do) to cut this type of wire. It'll really work on your hands trying to cut with regular old wire cutters. And be sure to WEAR SOME EYE PROTECTION. The tension in the rolled up wire will cause it to jump around. Be sure to bend back the ends of the wires.

I did this and the arch by myself, but having a helper will be alot better. Impatient me couldn't wait.

Here's the arch I did.

I plan to put the bales on the outside and let the tomatoes work up and over the trellis as far as they want.

I used two, 20 ft lengths of the concrete wire and cut the ends so that each point could be stuck into the ground for stability. As you can see I used tobacco sticks and cable ties. I would have preferred metal fence posts, but I didn't have any.

The arch is about 8 ft wide, 7 ft. tall, and 10 ft. deep.

It really is sturdy and if I have to, I can use a 1 inch PVC pipe or conduit to stand up in the middle for support but I don't think I'll need it.

SAFETY NOTE: In making the arch I bent the wire in reverse from it's natural, rolled up tension in order to increase the stability. Be very careful of those points. WEAR EYE PROTECTION because if the wire slips out of your hand it has a lightning fast spring effect.

Jeanette,

If you want to have the raised bed permanant then the block should work. I don't have deer coming into my yard there are neighbors all around. So, I do not know about the deer in your area. Wish you great success in your garden.

Melinda

Yes, Melinda, I think if I like it well enough, I will possibly redo it next year and use some cement to make it permanent. Thanks for measuring them for me and you are right, they come in different sizes. I have noticed that right here in this area.

I do not have trouble with the deer right now, but if I make this enticing enough I just might. LOL I have 2 dogs and I think the smell of the dogs keep the deer out. I don't know. That doesn't work for other people around here, but I don't know of any other reason the deer stay away. They come to within about 200 feet off of my livingroom deck and it just happens to be that my dogs know their boundaries and that is it.

Well this just seems like a fantastic idea, and I want to thank you for all of this great information.

I began reading this thread yesterday morning, and by 5 pm or so, I had picked up 10 bales of wheat straw, and placed them in the backyard.

I did place them with the twine up and under, because that seemed to work best in the particular area I placed them, against my backyard fence. Do you think this will work as well?
I had begun to build a raised bed with some landscaping blocks, and was wondering how I was going to afford and haul all of that soil to fill the bed. These bales seemed to fit perfectly and I am hoping that they will turn into wonderful compost by next year and I will just maybe lay some top soil over the top.

I found a place that sells ammonium nitrate, a nursery/garden center on the outskirts of town. They guy there did seem to hesitate when I asked about it, so I am hoping I don't get put on some DHS lists for buying it.

I should be picking that up tomorrow.

I am so totally excited. Woohoo!

Thanks again.
~ SS

Well, good evening SS!! Welcome aboard.

You'll be fine with the strings either way. I went back last night and found the original story that got me started on bale gardening and the elderly lady in the story had her whole garden oriented with the strings down. This is entirely your choice.

Keep us posted; we're all excited about getting into our gardens this year.

Here's my first attemp at strawbale gardening. I bought 10 bales of wheat-straw @ $2.50 a bale. I used a 5' metal fencepost at each end of the bales. Later I'll screw on some 1x1x8' posts to each metal post to tie my plants to.

I placed the bales cut-ends up, used 1 cup of blood meal per bale, and watered them in. It took 5 gallons of water per bale, pour it on slow so that the bales can absorb it better. Now I wait until it gets "cooking". ☺

I plan on 1 tomato plant per bale with 1 broccoli or 1 cabbage. I'll probably stick in a Crackerjack marigold plant here and there also. Maybe try some cukes? Hmmm.....maybe I better get more bales!

Great idea, Big Red! Love the posts idea, too. Maybe I should put a few bales in my "no work" garden, then when they deteriorate I can just spread them around as I would be doing with straw/hay/leaves/etc anyway.

Love this thread. Thanks for starting it, Kent. My Dad used to grow things in bushel baskets loaded with either straw or sawdust and had great luck w/that. The straw bales seem like an nice alternative (and so easy!)

And by the way, a hearty WELCOME TO DG" from me!

Shoe.

I'm curious - why the blood meal? Is there something else that I can use besides ammonium nitrate or blood meal to get the bales cooking?

SalemSunshine, blood meal is nearly all nitrogen and will speed up the decomposing process and get them cooking. High nitrogen content is the key.

Ah..how about steer manure?

I have some of that onhand

Should be o.k. as long as it's composted completely before you plant, otherwise it may burn your maters!

I think this method really lends itself to organic gardening. Although I'm not a 'dyed in the wool' organic gardener, I try to build up my soil with organic methods, using chemical insecticides only when absolutely necessary.

I plan to water my plants with manure tea after they've started, give them a shot of fish emulsion now and then, experiment and just see how it all works out.

Sounds like a great plan to me, too, Big Red. I'll be doing it along those lines as well. (I'm too cheap to buy chem fertilizers, especially when I have the "raw" materials right here on the farm.)

Yeah, I think this can really work, Shoe. Wish I had some old composted chicken poop, I bet that'd get 'em heated up! ☺

Hehehe... I have plenty! Wish I could send you a big bag of it! It would definitely make a good poop leach for adding to the bales, if used carefully. (Maybe ya'll just need to start raising a few chickens now, eh?)

.

Thought of it Shoe, but too many coon, fox and coyotes around here, don't think they'd survive long!

Let us know how you make out with your gardening with straw. Don't think I've seen a thread in some time that's created this much interest!

This is kind of a different topic, but thought some of you might be interested. In our little local freebie newspaper the garden writer told about making a hoop house out of cattle panels. By just using two (normally 12 or 16 foot) panels 8 feet or so apart, and some rebar or fence posts, and then laying clear visquene (plastic) over the top and down the sides. Then if it got too hot during the day you could roll the sides up a bit. Guess you would have to figure a way to "tape" the edges together, probably over-lap them.

But, you get the idea. And with all the creativity on this thread I know you could come up with some wonderful ideas. Anyway, it sounded like a very simple way to me.

Jeanette

Right after I wrote the above post I went to the greenhouse thread and there it was. That is so neat. I am going to make one next year. I might even sell plants.

Sorry I got off track. Just wanted you all to know.

Thanks jnette. You could get double-duty out of it by draping it with shade cloth in the summer months, too. Protect some of your plants from the summers' heat/sun!

You could also use it for a lot of things like storage in the winter. FarmTek sells all kinds of coverings by the roll. Very cheap way to go. Now all I need to do is find out where to get the panels. LOL

Bought 7 more bales of wheat straw today and a new soaker hose. Wish I had a free or cheap organic source of nitrogen but I'll come up with something. The soaker hose is on all 21 bales and we're expecting rain tonight! Can't wait to try this!