Straw Bale Gardening (Part 2 Southwest Style)

Dang brussel sprouts look like they are doing ok. Blaaaach

That looks yummy! What all do you still have in the bales, Ray? The birds have picked mine clean, dadgum little buggers.

Remember that clover I was telling you about that does pretty good in Tucson?
Its trying to take over the lettuce/spinach section of this bale.

Awesome Ray,

If you need some of it removed, I can come take care of that for you! ☺

Lookin' good, Ray! That clover really is, um vigorous... shame it's not a crop you're after!

And that is one splendid cauliflower! That's on my "to try" list for next fall/winter.

I have a section of the red cabbage. The section being taken over by the clover and the rest of it is the cauliflower and broccoli plants that have been harvested.
Looks like the end of these bales are nearing an end.

Yikes with the clover! And I thought MGs were dangerous and to be feared!

Nice crop, Ray.

Wow, looks really good! And, well, the clover is pretty anyway...

I agree with you Brenda... Especially about the clover.

And my younger one keeps finding 4 leafed ones. I ask her to show me where and I can never find any.

Nice crops, Ray.

I think finding 4-leaf clovers is an art...I could look all day and not find any...but DH could spot one right away...as could my DD when she was a child. Jo

Silly peeps - i'ts not an art - you have to have some fairy dust in your DNA to find 'em. Ray, check with the milkman. ;~}

ps: I never see them either.

has anyone ever used straw bales as edging for a raised bed? i lack the masonry skills (and finances) to do it the eloquent way. just curious...

Funny you should ask this. Not less than an hour ago I asked a similiar question in a D-mail.
I'm going to do this with my tomatoes this year.
Not really edging but more for wind/sun protection.
But.......
If I were to orient them a little differently then what I'm thinking of doing I could have a duel purpose for them. Hmmmmmm.

i think i am going to try it. i will wait for the wind to die down before i start spraying the bermuda grass to KILL IT.

I will caution you that when I broke down the bales I had been using there seemed to be lots of spiders nesting in them. They had been watered logged, then dried, then when I moved them they fell apart and I piled the straw up in a corner. It was a few weeks, not more than 2 months, later that I was pitch-forking the straw to use as mulch that I found lots of spiders. One (at least) was a brown recluse.

Bottom line: I don't know if the spiders showed up after the bales were loosened and piled or if they came in while they were in use as a growing medium. Just an observation, ymmv.

When you took yours apart did you have a large number of roaches under them?

they probably came afterwards but thanks for the warning anyways. i'm seeing lots of black widows around the garden.

Ray, I took six bales apart earlier this year and found no spiders or roaches. Surprising re the roaches; I would have expected them to set up housekeeping under the bales. Now - if I moved my compost bin, I am sure I would be standing in a sea of running roaches. ;0)

Anybody ever see a grown man scream like a 5 year old school girl on the playground when a roach runs up their pant leg?

No, but I know someone who shed their pants when a lizard ran up!

I know somebody that did when a roach ran up theirs. LOL
I also came close to yanking the pants off if that big freaken hairy nasty mother of all evil sun spider hadnt fallen out when I almost dislocated my hip kicking my leg out so hard when I saw him crawl under the pant leg.

You should ask Zonaken about the attack lizard I put in his desk drawer at work one of these days.

OMG, what mental images I have running around my brain!

Funny stories you guys - but Ray, no roaches, thankfully. Come to think of it, I have never seen even one roach at this house and we've been in it 4 years now.

Ray, your stories always come with such ...interesting... mental images! ^_^

LOL!

My little brother came into my room early one morning lifted back the covers and tossed a frog into my bed.

I didn't take it well. He suffered big time.

But, you GUYS! Boys will be boys!!!!!! So true and very funny Mssrs Laurel and Hardy!

I gave zonaken a call right after lunch one day several years ago and as soon as he answered I thought somebody was stabbing him, he was screaming and yelling and cursing like the sailor he is. Then with every other word being a cuss word and breathing real hard he wanted to know how in the "add cuss word here" did I train that lizard to jump on him as soon as his phone rang.

My dad got me pretty good one time.
He brought this long flat box home one day and told me he got me something. A started to open the wide flat part and he told me thats not a good idea that I might want to set it up on end and open the skinny part. OK.
No sooner did I have the two flaps open and this tarantula with bionic springs in its legs hopped out of the box and onto my arm.
Another moment in my life I screamed like a 5 year old girl.

This message was edited Apr 18, 2008 7:52 AM

hmmm...yeah...what about the straw bales...haha!

ray you are too crezy!

Ummmmm, didnt you have an experience like this with ants one time Detrick?

good memory!

OK, since we're telling tales - how about the time my dad slipped a live lobster, pincers released, into the tub when my little sister - then 15 or so - was in the shower? Talk about a screaming teenage girl. Gads that was funny.

Am I the only one giving a run at the strawbale thing this Spring?

I'm undecided at this point. Right now, I'm trying to evaluate all my 'experiments' - and take a good look at my yard - to see if there's anything I want to repeat. No more potatoes in tires, maybe no more tomatoes in containers. Strawbales? They were in the wrong place, didn't get enough sun and the little booger birds ate what did come up. So, I'm on the fence.