Straw Bale Gardening (Part 11)

Past discussions:

Part 1: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/584625/
Part 2: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/590925/
Part 3: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/598673/
Part 4: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/614124/
Part 5: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/631772/
Part 6: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/680745/
Part 7: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/694756/
Part 8: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/703545/
Part 9: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/708629/
Part 10: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/714882/

We invite you to put your bale garden on our map at www.frappr.com/strawbalegardeners

OK, Jeanette, let's see if you are the 1st one to post!!!

Kent

Jeanette, Hey how did I get ahead of you.

I just wanted to say that at long last we are getting some rain. Smells wonderful. Hope it rains all day but don't expect it to. Got my tomatoes all planted out in the garden under plastic hot kaps. Haven't planted anything in the bales yet. Hope it warms up enough so I can plant my bean seeds.

Donna

LOL, got busy this morning before I got on here. That's ok. Keeps me on my toes.

Gosh Donna, you really got your tomatoes in? How warm are your daytime temps? We are still running in the high 30s to low 40s at night so would be taking a chance. I'm looking at another week at least.

Jeanette

What happened to everybody? Kent made it easier and nobody followed. Come on!!

Jeanette

Hi All:

Is there anyway to speed condition the bales? I just filled up my few remaining ones yesterday.

Is 2 weeks the minimum window?

BB

BB: not sure if there's a faster way than the process we already have by adding nitrogen to the bales. Time, heat, moisture, etc, all appear to be a function of the "prep time" equation.

I had someone call me yesterday who transplanted her plants into the bales after about 7 days and all the plants died. She said it was really "hot" down in the bales. The bales weren't finished "cooking" yet.

I've always wondered who came up with the "original" 11 day process I came across.

Can you do it in 10, 9, 8...days? Got me.

It may also depend on the type of bale, whether wheat, oat, rye, rice, hay, grass, etc.

I do believe now that the sooner you put the plants in, the more beneficial it seems to add some potting mix in with the plants to help retain some moisture and allow the roots to absorb any nutrients retained in the potting mix.

Anyway, I could be way off with my analogy.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

Kent

Updated pics, loaded with mushrooms in the rain here.

I added 4 more bales for watermelons.

I was so excited yesterday, Rained !!!!! Then in late afternoon cleared off, got down to 38 degrees. The sun is shining right now but I see clouds to the west, maybe more rain. I think I can plant my bean seeds in the bale soon.

Donna

Mary, you can start throwing compostables in those automatic compost bins too!

I way ahead of you, lol

Sorry for butting in, your thread looked interesting. Why are you planting in bales of hay?

rustyswoman: short answer: "No weeding, No hoeing, No tilling!!"

Right, Jeanette? :-)

Long answer: see Parts 1 through 10 above.

Come join us.

Kent



This message was edited May 3, 2007 11:23 AM

Oh good idea! I will look at the posts.

Right Kent!! LOL

Summerkid, what do you mean by Mary's automatic compost bins? I didn't see them.

Also, Summerkid, I took your advice and could save 2 of my last years bales by tightening the twine. However, they shrink more and more every day. May not have any left to plant.

Rustys, not hay. Straw.

Took another look at Mary;s setup and see what you mean.

Jeanette

Jnette,

Straw, O.K. I started reading the first thread and it is long! But I am going to keep reading in my spare time and try it. It sounds wonderful.

Jnette, the two sections on the end are completely enclosed by bales (a rectangle of bales) , so I just throw my compost stuff in those enclosed sections, coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable waste, etc.

My bales are Hay. They work just as good as straw. I had the same mushrooms, and I didn't have to give them any haircuts, because they didn't grow anything that I didn't plant. I guess I Hay bale garden. : )

~Lucy

Lucy: you like hay, Shoe likes hay. I think I'm going to try it next year.

Kent

Let me tell you guys, hay would be a lot easier to find, and probably about the same price. Maybe I will too. LOL

Mary, I like your setup. That way the egg shells etc. don't show. I quit putting coffee filters in mine, even tho they are biodegradeable, 'cause they looked so bad. And, I started putting egg shells in a ziplock bag and crush them to put in the compost but before I get very many they are really stinking.

Jeanette

Even tho I've just started this year, I'll put in a vote for hay:). Mine worked just fine. I stole the bales from my cows (they didn't miss it), so it was easy to find. No haircuts, lot's of mushrooms, and I bet the hay is easier on the hands when planting. I'll try straw if I can find it, but in addition, not "instead of" hay. I do think it may degrade faster than straw, which could go either way. I may find that both have advantages, which will allow me to sit firmly on the fence, where I am most comfortable...
Margo

Jnette, I wash out all my egg shells when I break out the eggs, then crush and save them to use around my hostas or anything else that gets slugs. They never stink.

Here in my immediate area, hay bales are quite a bit more expensive than straw. But i think hay would be better as it has the plus of the alfalfa nitrogen . So I think I will try to find some leftover bales of hay to try next year. Since the temp. was again down to 32 degrees this morning i guess i will wait a couple of days to plant my bean seeds.

Donna

lonejack posted this in the 1st thread so I copied it here so we can respond:

Hi Straw and all the rest of you.
I loved the time I spent reading all of your posts on this subject. I didn't see an obvious place to grow your bale garden, that is anywhere you want to. You don't need any grass or soil under the bales. You could grow them on you drive way if you wanted. How about
up the driveway, a row on each side. Plant flowers along with the veggies and have plenty of color.
I am a part time missionary to Haiti and have been interested in forms of gardening without soil. Every house that isn't a thatched or tin roof is flat; usually built so a 2nd story can be built later. A wooden or metal box filled with tamped grass and straw would make a fine place to grow veggies. You add about 2 or 3 inches of soil on top to start seeds.
How about a natural source of nitrogen, here in this country we won't do this because it is too gross, save your urine and dilute it to a 10% solution and pour it on your garden once every 2 weeks. Our urine is 99% germ free strait from our body. It costs us nothing. I have had my Haitian brothers and sisters using it for years with great results.

Kent

hmstyl,

You will not believe what I thought when I saw the photo of your truck filled with straw bales! http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=2180004

That's right...I thought you had planted your garden IN your truck!!! After my initial shock (and then feeling stupid because I thought that), it gave me an idea.

The Master Gardener's association in my area is planning to have a booth at the Farmer's Market in a nearby town. If I can come up with a way to transport a one bale garden and a couple of container gardens, I think it would be a great way to promote small space gardening.

What do you all think?

Jody

Jody, I think they have done that for the past few years at the Seattle Home and Garden shows in the trade center. You might try to find out who it was (google) and maybe get a few pointers from them.

Jeanette

Jeanette, you are too funny. You try to keep your compost pile looking PRETTY?!

LOL, no, not PRETTY, but not GROSS either.

Jeanette

I pee on my plants whenever they are bad. After a good soaking they grow like the dickens. Tough love I guess. Glad to see my method has gained world acceptance. If it's good enough for Haitians...I'm on board. If you really want to show those tomato plants whose boss, eat a big bunch of asparagus first. Asparagus pee pee is like napalm to aphids.

Well, I am at day 10 and my hoop house smells like fertilizer. So I didn't give them anything but water today. Tomorrow I will give them maybe some Bloodmeal. OR

Perry, I might find someone who has 40 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer and mix up my poor man's Miracle Grow. LOL I am not sure I can find that. Maybe at a feed store? Think the nutrients would be good for them.

Lana, how are you coming with your mix? Did you use the Watersorb?

Jeanette

Oh my goodness, the peeing on plants is kind of funny! But I believe you. I have 4 boys, and with the DH what a great garden I am going to have.
Actually though, I know that urine is good. My dad told me (this is kind of gross) to have one of my boys pee on his foot. (He had some kind of blisters that wouldn't go away) well, I told him to try it (and never tell anyone!) He did and they went away within a week. Wild!
Thanks for the tip

I have a friend who was told to pour his own urine over his hemmoroids....they healed and he has never had them since.....Jo

ow ow ow ow!

jeanette, you would freak at the sight of my compost pile. or better yet, at my kitchen. i keep a big slop bucket by the sink & everything goes in there: dead birds, cat horkings, coffee filters, cardboard, slimy lettuce that always freezes in the bottom bin, all sorts of disgusting stuff.

and the b'friend has strict orders to pee outside, generally on the secluded straw bales under the apple tree, the sweetest of outdoor bathrooms!

Planted out ten of my thiry bales today with tomatos and zuc. I also came up with a watering device that will get water into the center of the bale where the roots are. I took a two foot long section of 3/4 inch pvc pipe and put an end cap on one end. Then, I drilled eight holes in the pipe. I also purchased a "female" adapter that had thread on one side and a smooth junction at the other. The last piece was a 3/4 male adapter on one side and a 1 inch union on the other. The male and female ends screw together. Cut the bottom of a 2 liter soda bottle and turn it upside down on the 1 inch union. Tape with duct tape to keep in place. Now, drive the pipe into the center of the bale and put the soda watering contraption on the top. Now, pour water into the bottle and watch it disappear into the center of the bale!

- Tim

Tim: sounds good and also like a kodak moment; shoot a pic

Kent

Just curious 'cause I have never done anything with the soda bottles but couldn't you get a female end to put it on rather than using duct tape to put them together?

Maybe that is asking too much of the plastic industry.

Jeanette

That was my first thought, Jeanette, but the threads are of different sizes, even though the diameters of the holes are the same. In the end I had to go up a size and use the duct tape. It does a great job of directing the water where I want it, though.

- Tim

What about those spike root feeders that they use to dispense fertilizer around trees, hook up to a water hose.

I bought some plastic spikes that screw onto a 2 liter soda bottle, and they are adjustable for flow rate. I think I got them from a garden center, not a big box store.

Donna, the Bark Nuggets I got, and that is what they are called, are Whitney Farms Doug Fir. Some are a little big but you can always pull them out for top dressing. Actually they really look nice in the clay pots.

To all of you, I bought a compost stirer at a garage sale yesterday for a buck. The guy didn't know what it was for. BUT, it makes really great holes in the strawbales for planting. Goes as deep as you want too.

BTW, I always say "If you don't know what it is, you don't need it."

Jeanette