Straw Bale Gardening

oh my...now that does sound like fun! How nice of you to invite me! I can usually get a few of our fellow midsouth DGers to join me in a road trip. In fact we may be headed down to Huntsville to visit with Elaine (outsideplaying) before too long. We'll keep you posted about that date and perhaps you can join us.

Next up for most of us though is the Tupelo Round Up May 5th. Do check out those posts and perhaps we can convince you to come. I promise you'll leave loaded down with goodies!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/region_mids/
carol

Carol, I love Mobile. I've been there a few times. They have a knock-dead killer flea market near the Trent Jones golf course. I spent a whole day there once. Plants, plants, plants, flowers, flowers, flowers, veggies, food, stuff, junk... and there are a lot of tropicals because it's a coastal area.

And if you get to Mobile, you might as well go down the east side of the bay to Foley. It's probably an hour or so (?) from Mobile. There are jillions of nurseries, antique stores, and interesting places along the way. When you get there, I believe there's a mall there. AND, they've got a Lambert's Throwed Rolls Restaurant there. And just south of Foley is the Gulf.... AAaahhhhh I've had wonderful trips to the Mobile area :) (Can you tell?)

Well the invite is for whoever would like to come. The flea market is just up the road from me. It is large all right-has about everything. The plants are nice. I got a hummingbird plant and a butterfly bush a couple weekends ago. I live in the back door of lots of nurseries. I am as close to the country as I can get and I love it. As the old saying goes you can take me out of the country but you cant take the country out of me. lol
If you haven't been to Foley in a while- it has really grown. I don't get over very often. They have a huge discount shopping center there.
Barbara

Barbara, okay. The next time I might get to go there, I'll look you up. I LOVE the back doors of nurseries!!!

Any idea where I can find some straw bales around Tupelo MS? Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Phillips, and Mid-South Nursery don't have any. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also, about how big (sq ft on top) are they? If I ever find any, I need to estimate how many to get. I want to put a garden about 3 bales deep all along the back of my house.

Shasta, check with some of the farmers, or go to your co-op. If it doesn't have any, they will probably know where to send you.



This message was edited Apr 7, 2007 9:55 AM

Hi Michelle! Fancy seeing you here! Where ever have you been keeping yourself? I got my bales at the co-op. ALso check the feed stores. You have to ask, as they frequently are stashed out of sight.

Good Luck!
carol

Are y'all going to try the bale gardening this season (hay or straw)? I'm from PA and have been emailing and reading all the blogs on the subject and am so psyched about gardening again. Read your posts from last year and thought I'd see if I could find out what YOU ALL found out!

Also, with potential water shortages, we should all keep rain barrells around (with BHT discs to keep the skeeters down!) I'm going to try some hay and some straw, to see what works best (and also because straw's scarce here this spring).

Happy spring! Suzan

Suzan, good luck. Keep us posted on how it's going, okay?

Last year was my first time with the bales.You can use any straw just not pine straw.If you get any grass sprouting on your bales just cut it off with a knife or scissors.The watering is not that bad just don't let them dry out but don't over water.(This pertains to after they are cooked(ready)to use.I grew tomatoes,squash,zucchini and green peppers and eggplant.This year I plan to have 30 to 50. $3.00 is a pretty good price. Most places they are about 4.00.Lowes has wheat straw, here it is $4.25 I believe. I don't know alot but from what I saw last year I Iiked it, still learning.I have some cool weather things growing now. Broccoli and brussel sprouts. For the cool weather I put mine on boards that I put on cinder blocks so I would not kill all the grass. Last summer I had them on the ground.I follow Beg Veges,Tomatoes, etc forums to figure out the fertilizers to use. deanna