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

Rose, Fresh chicken manure is closest to Ammonium nitrate.

Thanks Dil, I used to have a nice flock of hens but no more. There are eggs houses around here but they use a lot of powerful chemicals and fumigants so I'll have to pass on that. Maybe I'll find someone local who wants their chicken house cleaned out.

Maybe I missed this info but what will happen if I prepare my bales now but don't plant in them till late May?

I'm starting much smaller than most of you since this is my first veggie garden. I'm only doing 6 or 8 bales and a garden center gave a few bales to me that had gotten wet over the winter. So they are already partially starting the process. I already set them up in the new bed, but was going to wait to start 'feeding' them with ammonium N process till closer to planting time - our sort of accepted date is the end of May. I was thinking the fertilizer would leach out of the bale if I did it now and then let them stand for another 2 months. What's your thought on this?

Good night, really? Fresh chicken manure? And I was shooing the hens off of the bales? Good to know. Thanks, FarmerDill.

The high nitrogen is not used primarily for plant nutrients, but to initiate the decomposition process. Ammonium nitrate has 34 % nitrogen, way to hot to use as a fertilizer on most plants. It will burn burn corn and other grasses if the applicator is careless. Chicken manure (fresh) is not as hot, but will still burn plants so it aught to heat up those bales.

I use to make a manure tea by just putting the manure either in a gunny sack or directly in a garbage can and filling it with water. The corn absolutely loved it. Is it not strong enough?

i am so going to try this!


Thanks


anna

Well, it turns out that I cannot buy ammonium nitrate here. I guess that guy on the phone was mistaken.

I had to buy some organic compost starter. They said it should do the job.

Most lawn fertilizers run about 29 % N so they should sub nicely for Ammonium nitrate, as should Urea. While ammonium nitrate is one of the components of fresh manure, it may not have a high enough concentration to kick off the bales in cool weather. Nitrogen in aged or composted manure will be in the form of metallic nitrates, highly soluble and subject to leaching. Usually will have a low N number by the completion of the process. When the ammonia odor is gone, so is the Ammonium ion. Great for fertilizer, but the concentration may be too low for jump starting the decomposition process.

Well, we're intrigued and no doubt! We've just put in an order from our local hay and straw farm supply (http://www.pastorinohay.com/) and we'll try out this method this year; here on the SF bayfront mud, the straw composting as the season turns will be a glad thing to the ground.
While nitrogen sulfite (urea) works fine for me, we'll be amending later with organic fertilizers, and will post feedback on how this season goes. We're excited with these ideas, and look forward to some gardening with a little less bending this season, and what looks to be an easy way to rehabilitate the ignored-for-many-years adobe heath we have to play with as a yard.

Need or Have Hay? Check here:

USDA Farm Service Agency Hay Net website: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/haynet/

~* Robin

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Farm Service Agency
Public Affairs Staff
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
STOP 0506
Washington, DC 20250-0506
Telephone: (202) 720-7807

Good morning, All: This is the day the Lord has made!!! Rejoice!

I recently found the 2 articles from The Decatur Daily News of Decatur, Alabama, that introduced me to, and ignited my fascination, to bale gardening in the winter of 2004.

The articles are no longer part of the paper's archives, but I just wanted to share them with you. The two subjects in the stories are both elderly.

7/12/2003 - Tomatoes flourishing in hay - Hartselle woman expanding garden after surprising success, by Jim Lawley, Daily Staff Writer

"Dean Rainey of Hartselle tried it last year with three bales of hay. It worked so well that this vegetable-growing season, she’s using five.

Now 10 tomato plants and one zucchini plant stand tall and bountiful in square bales of hay in Rainey’s back yard near her patio.

The simplicity and uniqueness of bedding hand-size plants in the hay bales and watching them flourish “is amazing to me,” Rainey said.

When told about her feat, Morgan County Cooperative Extension System agent Ronald Britnell said, “I’ve never heard of people doing it. But it doesn’t surprise me. The plants are growing in organic matter that’s decaying.”

Britnell said he’s seen some people use buckets to grow tomatoes, plant them in cattle manure piles and plant them upside down so that “the tomatoes are hanging down off the vine.”

“People grow tomatoes all sorts of ways,” he said.

Rainey said her tomato plants last year yielded about two bushels of tomatoes. The ones that the family didn’t eat were given away to friends and neighbors or canned for the winter, she said.

She learned of the technique from a friend, Billy Chenault of Hartselle, who walks with her for exercise.

When her daughter, Judy Williams, a nurse at Decatur General West, told co-workers about the plants, they didn’t believe her until she brought pictures and gave them some of the tomatoes, she said.

“Now, they say they’re going to try it,” Williams said. “People are talking about it, and the word is spreading.”

Rainey said, “Even our pastor at First Assembly of God in Hartselle, Jess White, had to come by and see it for himself.”

She suggests planting two tomato plants per bale and keeping the bales moist, watering them every other day. Adding Miracle-Gro helps, but isn’t necessary. As the plants grow taller, place stakes in the bales, just as you would when growing tomatoes in soil.

The bales slowly deteriorate, and there’s little left of them by the end of growing season, she said.

“Next year, we might try squash or something else, too,” Rainey said.


7/20/04 – Gardening by the Bale – Templeton gets bumper crop in straw, by Patrice Stewart, Daily Staff Writer.

Jim Templeton planted his garden in bales of wheat straw this year, and then sat back and watched it grow like crazy.

He followed the plan in an old newspaper clipping a friend gave him, using ammonium nitrate and a mixture of topsoil and manure, and has had a bumper crop of squash, tomatoes, onions and crowder peas. (The plan he mentions is the recipe I posted in the beginning. – KR)

At this point in the summer, he’s watching the watermelons ripen on and around the bales in his garden along the alley behind his house on Eighth Street Southeast. His bale garden attracted interest during the Albany district garden tour in May, when he distributed copies of the directions, but it’s matured and produced a lot since then.

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had,” Templeton said. “I’ve virtually abandoned it now, except to walk out and gather what has ripened.”

He planted several varieties of tomatoes, including Mr. Stripey and German Pinks. “I could eat tomatoes 24 hours a day – I like the low-acid pink type, the big beefsteak tomatoes, on my breakfast plate.” He quit staking his tomatoes when they got too high, but they continued to produce.

“That fertilizer really turned on the tomatoes; I’ve never had a tomato crop like this,” said Templeton, who plans to garden this way again next year.

He and his wife, Margaret Ann, ate all of their small white onions and wanted to plant more but couldn’t find any in town.

“We finally pulled up the squash because it was bearing so heavy and running all over the bales. And then we planted crowder peas, and they’re taking over any space the watermelon left.”

He’s also growing peppers, okra, cucumbers and several herbs, but not all of them are planted in the wheat straw.

Templeton figured he’d fancy his garden up a bit, too. “I stuck a few petunias in the cracks between the 20 or so bales, and the bales looked real pretty when I first set them out in three rows,” he said.

“I did everything like the directions said, except I added a small can of fishing worms per bale.”

He found bales of wheat straw (recommended over hay for the best results) at a local garden and landscape supply and bought a commercial 50-50 mix of topsoil and compost.

(I don’t know what they’re basing the straw –vs- hay comment on. – KR)

His wife said they might have planted too much, not realizing how well it would grow. “But I was so hungry for something fresh when I started this, and I’ve really been flabbergasted at how it’s taken off,” Templeton said. He said he wouldn’t have dared any extra fertilizer, or the plants would really have gotten out of control.

This is more good news. I never dreamed you could grow anything like crowder peas in them. Now I can add an extra row of bales along my drive and plant some old favorites, lady peas, crowders, purple hulls, and NO bending to pick! Hooray! Nothing to lose by trying something new.

I wonder if all the farm and fertilizer suppliers are being blind-sided by all this sudden demand across the country, LOL. Just a thought after seeing 132 replies and all the DG'rs who are jumping on this 'straw wagon'. 8-) Janet

Well, it's one of the most interesting and intriguing threads about gardening on this site in a long time, LOL.

Kent, you seem to have started something huge. Maybe someday we will even have a straw bale gardening forum...

I can't wait to see all the pictures this summer!

Our bales are purchased but we won't start them for a bit.

Yes Kent, this is the best gardening threads I've read for awhile and am amazed at what we're learning. Thanks again and it will be fun to see everyone's bale gardens this summer.

Dea

This is very interesting - it could be a way to keep dogs off plants without fencing! Thanks for sharing.
Laura

WOW, Kent, Thank you. Of course I have to try it now. The thought of not weeding is REALLY inticing. LOL We normally mulch with staw, never even considered just growing them in it.

We have a really bad deer problem here, and I was planning on mostly planting pole beans this year, I might try this method and plant some regular bush beans too.

The tomatoes.... I'll try some, but there is no way I could afford to buy enough straw for all my tomato plants... LOL Hay is really scarce here right now, so I wouldn't even attempt to use what precious little hay we have left for this, the cows will thank me, I'm sure. :-) Hopefully Staw isn't as scarce or as expensive right now as the hay is!

Kent, now we just need to get you growing heirloom tomatoes! You'll abandon your Celebrities once you try them. When it's close to your time for planting out, I'll send you some heirloom plants to sample this year.

Thank you again, I too think this is one of the most exciting gardening topics we've had here in a long time.... add my welcome to everyone else's. :-) We're REALLY glad you found this site. :-)

Well, I gotta tell you; all of this excitement is catching and with the warm weather we're getting in Wake Co, NC, I'm about ready to get things going, but I know I've got to wait.

I can see now it's going to be a great, great summer with ya'll.

The learning curve is going to go geometric with everyone trying different methods to prepare and maintain the bales along with the variety of items we're going to plant, both with seeds and transplants.

Some things will probably not work as well and some will do great. We'll see.

But, I'm afraid I have some really BAD NEWS!! :-(

I recently received an email from a gardener who wants to try bale gardening with wheat straw, so they went to a local garden center for some straw and a rep there said that it COULDN'T BE DONE, that the bales would just GROW WHEAT.

So I guess ya'll are just going to have to try and get a refund on any straw you've purchased and just get this crazy notion about bale gardening out of your heads.

OR, you can take that leap of faith and GO FOR IT!!!!!! :-)

I laughed so hard when I read that email. I'm going to have to hang on to that one.

Send some photos to the rep.

I'm getting more bales of wheat straw tomorrow and throwing in a couple bales of alfalfa-timothy mix to try that too. I am having a blast planning this - more fun than inspecting dahlia tubers - ha.
I haven't found a place to get the ammonium nitrate tho - I think I'm just going with a high N lawn fertilizer for a couple days, and then start the blood meal.

"But, I'm afraid I have some really BAD NEWS!! :-("

Hah! *grinnin' here! The 'bad news' brought me a smile, Kent!

Love the thread, will be experimenting w/this system this year as well. (When I was young my Dad used to grow plants/tomatoes in bushel baskets filled w/sawdust or straw. He had great results and loved what he was doing. This seems much easier than filling the bushel baskets for him!)

Shoe.

Kent, just how much decomposition or break down of the straw is necessary before you can put in a plant or seeds? And do you dig in a bit of a depression and add spoil or just plant right in the straw. It'll be awhile yet but I'm gather information.

Rose, you won't really notice any dramatic decomposition during the prep stage, i.e., the bales won't start sagging or disintegrating, but you can feel a subtle difference in the texture of the straw if you place your hand down in the bale.

Use the 11 day recipe I posted at the beginning if you're using ammonium nitrate or maybe a tad longer if using the organic sources for your nitrogen in preparing the bales.

Here's your gauge: Put your hand down in the middle of the bale and see if you notice the bales heating up. They're "cooking" then and when they "cool" down, and you don't notice any more heat build up, then they're ready to accept your transplants.

If transplanting, take a spatula or something flat and pull back a small crack in the bale to drop your transplant down to the 1st leaf and gently press the crack back together. Keep all the soil on the small root ball as possible.

I didn't add any top soil or compost to "fill in the crack" so to speak, but I've read where others did. Your choice.

Of course, if you're planting from seeds, you're going to have top dress the bales with some sort of material. No need to make a crack in the bales then because the seeds will naturally grow roots into the bales.

Hope this helps.

This message was edited Apr 2, 2006 8:05 AM

Yes, this helps, and I will also re-read the first posts to refesh my memory. Thanks.

Straw, wheat, I can't see any difference....I'm an organic girl myself and I think this would work even with grass or leaves if you could just get them to hold the shape. It's holding the shape that makes straw or wheat bales preferable in my opinion.

Weeds are just gonna happen anyway...the tenacious "nutgrass" we got down here comes up for me (although much less of it) through 18 inches of mixed hardwood mulch, grass, pine needles, and leaves.

I spend 90% of my gardening time weeding and mulching (weeds take on a supernatural life of their own in our heat) anyway.
Debbie

Whats the reason for needing the bale to be bound tightly ? To keep it from completely disintegrating by the end of the season?

Thanks a lot you guys - for garden project #486. I avoided reading this thread and then the sheer number of posts made me check it out. I think I will put summer squash in the two bales that are now in the back of my car!

Enablers, all of you.
-Kim

bluekat76 you are only on #486? What's keeping you? How come you are so slow? LOL

Debbie: I had NO weeds in my wheat straw bales; some wheat grass but I just trimmed them back with a steak knife because I like a neat looking garden. And mowing between the bales instead of plowing was great because I had to do my garden with just a tiller. No hoeing between hills either. It's a whole new, wonderful world.

alyrics: a "normal" bound bale, whatever that is, won't sag so much when you pick it up by the strings. The oat straw bales I tried were so loosely baled that I had to be careful loading them in my truck so they wouldn't fall out of the strings. Less compact also means less straw to hold water.

Growing up, my uncle baled his own straw and he could set the tension on the baler to make as tight or heavy a bale as he desired.

Also, the more straw in a bale means they'll last longer. My oat bales were noticeably more deteriorated at the end of the season.

Interesting you tell that about oat vs wheat. I wonder if its got to do with threshing the grain out? The local garden center gave me 3 bales of oat straw that had gotten wet during the winter and they are so loose there must be an extra 6" of twine on them. I am going to use them, but will re-wrap some more twine on them and prob use them for watermelons or zucchini.

I bought 9 more bales today - I was going to take it easy but now I'm up to 12 bales. I'm figuring 2 cucumbers to a bale or 1 big tomato. I stared at the sun till I almost became Hindu and finally concluded the bales needed to be laid out parallel with the suns path. I would have thought you should lay out vegetables perpendicular to the sun but in the space I've got this might work better. Do I sound as new at this as I am?

Strawbaleman I'm already asking my husband to keep an eye open for a farm that still makes the square bales. Wheat bales aren't hard to find here but the square ones are getting pretty rare.

This opens up so many exciting possibilities. Thank you! :)

Kent:
Are you going to keep on planting your "traditional" garden or give it up?

Lilypon: Looking forward to hearing about your progress. Now, you got me wondering...

I wonder how many tomatoes you can plant in one of those huge, round bales? I bet you could drive a stake in that bale that would hold tight.

It would look good with a bunch of cucumber, watermelon, cantelope, etc. vines cascading off one! Just walk around and pick. Some flowering vines would look good, too.

Anyone want to try a little experiment?

Perry: Good afternoon, fella; I have no plans this year for a traditional garden; I never did repair my tiller, so it's bale garden or bust this year!

Of course, ever since Big Red posted his photo with his tractor in the background, I keep stumbling on the Kubota/Kioti/New Holland/Massey Ferguson websites. I don't understand how this is happening.

Well, this is interesting. At least 5 years ago someone with one of those huge bales of hay lost it off his truck as he passed by my driveway, which is on a hilly curve. The bale rolled right down past my mailbox and came to rest a few feet from my well house. He never came back for it and I've left it there. It has diminished in size by half and is practically compost. It's under very large oak but I may be able to think of something to plant in it that likes shade. I'd like to put in a veg but I guess it might have to be flowers.

This message was edited Apr 3, 2006 4:19 PM

Kent,

You got another 'guinea pig' ready to try this!

I picked up 2 bales over the weekend and started the 10 step process on them. I couldn't get any ammonium nitrate, so I grabbed a bag of grass fertilizer at 29-2-5 strength. I suppose that should do the trick nicely.

I was planning on getting a few more bales, but the local feed and seed was charging $4.75 a bale!! I'll have to shop around and find a cheaper source.

I'm planning on 2 tomatoes in one bale, and maybe some watermelon in the other one.

Rose: Well, I'll be; the Lord hand delivered your bale and He's been preparing it for you all this time and you didn't even know it!! He does indeed work in mysterious ways.

Wargamer: sounds like a plan to me.

Kent,

You should have seen the expression on the man's face at the local feed and seed when I asked for ammonium nitrate. He said, "WHAT do you need ammonium nitrate for!!? They quit selling that because people are making BOMBS out of it", as he eyed me suspiciously.

I told him what I was up to, and even showed him the print out with the instructions. Old fellow probably thought I was crazy.... LOL!

Wargamer: that fella you spoke to probably trained the same guy I mentioned earlier who told a customer that bale gardening is impossible!!! A LITTLE knowledge is dangerous for some folks.

Pardon this vent: (Deleted so I can stay focused on Gardening.)


This message was edited Apr 3, 2006 6:17 PM

This message was edited Apr 3, 2006 8:38 PM