Straw Bale Gardening - Part 2 - Planting & Maintenance

Ruth: looking good; we're all slowly but surely getting our bales planted; I only have 4 bales left; folks up in the northern latitudes aren't too far behind.

Finally got all my hay bales from my buddy back in the hills of WV (42 total), and poured concentrated compost tea over them. I'm expanding my garden this year so only about a third of them are behind the fence, will fence the rest before the plants go in. Last frost here is May 15, so I have a couple of weeks to let the bales hot up. Here they are! (The little boy on the front bale is my son. :) )

pam

All: I came across this little prayer that I want to share with the group. We're all getting very busy with our gardens and I thought this was a good time to ask God's blessing on our endeavors.

O God, Source and Giver of all things, Who manifests Your infinite majesty, power and goodness in the earth about us, we give You honor and glory.

For the sun and rain, for the manifold fruits of our fields, for the increase of our herds and flocks we thank You. For the enrichment of our souls with divine grace, we are grateful.

Supreme Lord of the harvest, graciously accept us and the fruits of our toil, in union with Christ Your Son, as atonement for our sins, for the growth of Your Church, for peace and charity in our homes, for salvation to all. Amen.

Have a blessed Sunday and rest of the week,

Kent

Thanks Kent! You have a great week too my friend, and be safe out there :)

Bales are coming along nicely and will try to post photos later this week.

Question....the bales at our in-laws: MIL would also like some flowers amongst the tomatoes. I'm not a huge annuals person so does anyone have some ideas on annual flowers that we could pop in for her?

Thanks :)

Dea

Dea,
While marigolds are traditional among the tomatoes for keeping away cutworms and nasties, in bales you could put in just about anything that attracts pollinators (happy bees make a happy garden).
I have a hopeless time deciding that sort of thing, though, especially for someone else's viewing, growing, smelling, and cutting for table flowers pleasure(s), is there any way to take her along somewhere shopping to pick? Then you could nab things that grow well where you are, perhaps take advantage of a local nursery sale, get her what makes her eyes light up, that sort of thing.
Me, I'm seriously tempted to toss a couple of California poppy seeds into a bale for quick bright color before the tomatoes get Big.

Flowers to decorate the bales, hey that's a cool idea! I actually have a big packet of CA poppy seed sitting around and I've been wondering where to sow them, since my soil is clay and I don't think they like being soggy.

Kent, Have you thought about just putting the ammonium nitrate where you plan on putting the plants? That way the whole bale would not deterioriate so fast. Would it?

Well, Here are the tomatoes and yes they are the same ones I started with will post a couple more here and then you can check out the diary page for more.

I planted some nasturshims and allysum from seed in some of the bales. with the tomatoes there are the marigolds, St. john's wart, and some kind of fuschia from plants. I go to the nursery or farmers market and if I like it I buy it to put in the bales.

The new bales I got for the flowers will be ready probably next week. Here is the temp at appro. 110 degrees. These do work and if I had planted in this bale the plants would have died.

Jnette: that's an interesting question, but I wonder if trying to "micro-manage" the bales would work? I don't know if just a little bit of nitrate would be enough to prep a small section or if the bales work best when working as a whole unit, so to speak.

Also, I'd be somewhat hesitant using more nitrate so close to a young plant. Concerned the nitrate may burn the newbies.

Based on last year's results, the bales will definitely last you at least 1 growing season. And, after this season, I'm sure there are some that will see if they can use a bale for a 2nd season. Since I have synthetic twine holding my bales together this year, I may save 1 or 2 back to try. But you know, I kind of enjoy the process of getting new bales and preparing them for planting.

Melinda: your tomatoes are looking very good. And I really got a kick out of using my turkey cooker thermometer this year. I didn't take any temps last year other than using my hand to spot check a time or two. Watching those bales heat up and simmer along was fun and it was cool to see how they "cook" and just settle right back down right around the 10th day or so. They still are about 75* and I think that just makes those little plants snuggle right down on cool nights.

This message was edited May 1, 2006 9:05 AM

Melinda - your plants look fabulous. Mine are having a slow start. They keep telling us it is going to rain today, so I don't water the bales, and then we get a very light sprinkle is all. I guess I need to start watering everyday regardless of the forecast. The maters and cantelope look wimpy, but the bell peppers and the squash are doing great.

Yesterday I was out mowing the grass around the bales, and I left the gate open, and I turned around to find 6 guineas in the garden behind me!! I ran around in circles chasing them out the gate. They don't think they can fly into the garden - they think they can only walk in the gate. They fly over it from time to time, but I have never seen them fly over the little 3 foot fence to go into my garden. It is wierd, and I like it when they eat bugs, but they will also eat all the young sprouts they find so I can't let them in.

Jnette- I find it very interesting the differences in gardening in the southeast and the northwest. This thread is not just for the south - so ya'll come back now, ya hear???

Goodness, WV is not South, as any of the natives will adamantly tell you. (I made the mistake once of referring to WV as "south" and got a whole lecture about fighting and dying for the Union, etc. I finally had to tell the person, Look I'm from Massachusetts, anything south of Hartford is unexplored territory for us. :) ) I don't see why the straw bale technique wouldn't work just about anywhere.

pam

I worked in NYC for a while and my assistant had never been west of the NJ state line or north of Westchester County. I moved there from NC and they just loooovvvved to call me over and listen to me talk. I did a lot of business in the western states and one time she asked me if there were real cowboys out west and did they really wear guns all the time. I swear to God that is a true statement. I about collapsed trying not to guffaw in her face. Too many John Wayne movies.

If they can wintersow in northern Ontario I don't see why anyone anywhere can't straw bale garden.

HA. Even though I've lost most of my original Bawston accent (moved too many times, I guess), my students still occasionally ask me to say certain words so they can laugh at me. Ah, well. :)

pam

I think wave petunias would look nice, and drape down over the bales. It would only take a couple per bale, I'd think.

I didn't mean that I was going to try to save the bales for another year's use. Just that they would hold together better if the whole bale didn't decompose. For the one season. Or, do they not fall apart in one year by decomposing the whole bale?

I think if the bales are tied by synthetic twine they hold together even if the entire inside of the bale decomposes--apparently enough of the outside remains to cover the composted stuff inside. (The same thing happens with my compost pile if I don't stir it often enough.)

pam

I see what you are saying. That's interesting.

Hey, on the watering situation, with my garden I used the drip irrigation (Mister landscape) sold by lowe's to water my entire garden and all seems to be going fine. The timer is set for an hour and each emitter is adjustable so it can set to 0 to 6 gal per hour. Hope all of your gardens produce in great abundance.

Cooking at last!!! I was able to get my hand, my fingers actually, into a bale and they are heating up. My hay is not of good quality. Lots of sticks and they are extremely tight. I put the short probed thermometer in and it is registering 110 degrees. I have tried a bit of an experiment with two bales. Between the plants I made a slit just like I planted in but I put in about 3/4 cup of rabbit dung mush. I watered it well and I guess we shall see. I'll keep you posted.

This is the latest picture right after I planted the peppers. I need to get another picture as I have added an eggplant. I bought 6 cucumber plants yesterday. I was actually looking for yellow squash and still have not been able to find them. I am going to sow some seeds today in case I don't find them anywhere else. I really had no plans for cucumbers but the money was being raised to send the 4H kids to camp. How could I resist? And my 5 year old grandson LOVES cukes so they won't go to waste.

I am thinking of talking to some of the gardeners in our church and setting up a Jacob's table on Sunday mornings after the harvest begins. The goal of the Jacob's table is for those who have excess to bring some of it to share with the elderly who cannot garden or who live in housing where they have no space to garden and live on a fixed income. It gives them a chance to have fresh produce they may not otherwise be able to afford and I know it will boost the overall healthiness of their diets. I am praying God will bless my bales with a huge harvest so I can share a lot.

Ok, I went ahead and decided to put 2 tomato plants in my other bale. Here's a Brandywine OTV.

Here's a new update pic of my peppers bale. The pepper on the right doesn't seem to be doing too well. I'll reinforce that these guys really need to be watered well. With that in mind, I've been trying to water them twice a day until they start doing better. I'm not sure if the one on the right is because of not enough water or not.

Wargamer: you ought to get some lookers with your bales right on the highway!

That's actually CajuninKy on the highway there, not me. ;-)

Unfortunately we are right on the highway and I HATE it. It is so noisy all night and day. Never a moment's peace. But we are looking for another house. I hope it is on top of a mountain with no near neighbors and no noise. A place where my dog can run around and we can get a pony and some other animals. I could really put some bales out in a setting like that. While I'm ordering I think I will add a spring of pure, cold water to my list. LOL

I have added an eggplant to my last bale. I have 6 cucumbers to plant but I think I will put them on a trellis. At any rate, I need to add a few bales. Still haven't been able to get up with the lady down the street about those two bales in her yard.

Cajun: mea culpa, my friend.

Wargamer: I was looking over your tomato pic; you will probably have to use a stake or something to secure the cage after the tomatoes really get loaded and the bales start sagging some; a nice summer thunderstorm can blow them over and break them

Even if they are not damaged in the storm, it's a pain to try and restand the tomates and cause more potential damage. Believe me, I know from experience.

Cajun and Wargamer--did you put your bales on some sort of paper or plastic? (Mine are just sitting on the ground).

Finally stuck a thermometer in randomly selected bales yesterday and the temps range between 92 and 96F. Some of them are getting nice and fungusy inside, so even though they're not that hot at least they are starting to rot a bit.

pam

Kent: I'll be sure to drive a post or stake in to help support it later on.

Pam: No plastic underneath mine. I just had a bag of compost sitting beside the bales when I took that picture. I can see how it sorta looks like it might be some plastic underneath the bale, however.

Oh, OK, gotcha, thanks! :)

pam

Pam,
My bales are inside a flower bed I have not filled yet. I laid down landscape cloth to hold the grass down. The bed is on the front corner of my yard which is right on the road. Also, we live in the church parsonage which is right next to the church so we have to keep everything clean and tidy. Oh, to have my own home.

OK, just got worried there for a sec that I had missed some crucial bale information! :)

Yes I saw that you lived right on the road...ugh...and in a "rental" (sort of)...we bought our first house three years ago after 15+ years of renting and it has been WONDERFUL. Whoo hoo! And no annoying HOA to deal with, either (I'm not sure they exist in WV, actually).

pam

We actually still own a home back in La. My inlaws live in it. We sold a house down the bayou in south La when we moved here. We want to buy a home here but the right one has not come about yet. All in God's time but it is hard to be patient while living right on the road like this. We are making the best of it and know God will reward all the sacrifices we make. What makes it even worse is that we not only live on the main street but we also live on the corner of a busy street that goes to a school and a ball park and pool. The buses go in and out for an hour morning and evening and the traffic is awful. There are wrecks in front of our house on a regular basis. Then during the summer we have all the traffic and noise from the pool and ball field. I really want to get away from here.

On a happier note, I finally got in touch with the lady down the street and she gave me those two bales of hay. I brought them home on a dolly and my DH helped me get them into place. They weigh a ton and are very rotten but they held together nicely. I planted 3 cucumber plants in each one and now I have to string the string on the trellis I want them to climb on.

One more tidbit of good news. The forestry department will be at the Agriculture Extension building in our town this Saturday. They will be giving away seedlings and heirloom tomato plants. I don't know how many of each we will get but any amount will be nice. There was a list of about 15 different varieties of tomatoes as possibilities. I had not heard of most of them. I will try to list them today and I would appreciate everyone's input on which ones I should try to procure.

Heirloom tomatoes, excellent!!! Have you checked out the Tomato forum? Lots of tomato fans there...very friendly group...if I remember correctly I think there is a "favorite heirloom" thread there...lemme look...

BTW my favorite so far is Brandywine (Sudduth's strain), but I have not sampled them extensively (yet!) (I have 8 heirloom varieties growing this year :) ).

pam

Here you go...not all tomatoes discussed here are heirlooms, but a lot are...

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/592912/

Also check out http://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/Heirloom_tomatoes-ah.htm

Yum!
pam

Here is the full view of the garden as of a couple of days ago.

Melinda

Melinda, I have wanted to ask you why you have those pvc arches over your walkways? What are you going to have on them? Do you have anything hooking them together?

Sorry if I sound critical, because I surely do not mean to. I am just curious. Or do I have it wrong? Are you going to have something climbing on them?

I would love to know because it might be something I want to do.

Jeanette

All: do ya'll want to start Part 3 or keep going?

Deer got 8 of my tomato plants last night for the 1st time ever. Ate the tops right off the plants. I've got acres of grass but they wanted my tomatoes.

I bought a product called Liquid Fence for $12 to try it out and see if the smell works.

New thread, please. This one is getting long to load.

I need to keep the deer in mind, also. They are thick here but usually stay on the ball field behind our house. They do come back and forth across the road to go home, The traffic stops for them. LOL They only come into our yard during snow but I'll have to make sure my tomatoes are not too much of a temptation for them. I can tie my dog out there at night if I need to.

This thread is fine with me. I have DSL and I haven't noticed it taking long to load. But if a new thread is easier for others I'm all for it. I'll just click the thread watcher and I can go back to this one when I need to reference something. I'm easy to get along with. Life is too short. *g*

My mom is trying a bale of tomato plants. She lives in La. I think I have piqued my Alabama cousin's interest as well. Wait til they see my harvest. I'll have to be copying and sending directions for them all. LOL
Thank you all for sharing this great adventure and special thanks to strawbaleman for all the info, help and encouragement.

I nearly forgot. I got the 2 bales from the lady down the street and planted my 6 cucumbers. Here is the lastest photo. Today I have to string my trellis for the cukes to grow on. Wish me luck.