Fertilizer question about strawbale prep

I posted this on the Strawbale Gardening forum, but still have an unanswered question someone here might be able to help with.

It occurred to me Friday while putting in a new raised bed that some old bales of hay at the horse pen would finish the bed nicely. So I got four bales (110 lb alfalfa/grass mix) and "installed" them. I started the 11 day program Sunday, today is the third day of watering them, tomorrow the day to start adding fertilizer.

I have mucho 5-3-0 organic fertilizer. 7 cups of it would provide equivalent N to 1 cup of 34-0-0, but would all that phosphate in the 5-3-0 have a lingering adverse effect?

Thanks,

Frank

This year's strawbale garden, next year's compost?

Well, phosphate helps build roots systems, so I don't see how it could hurt.

Frank, I hope your experiment with the strawbales works out better than mine did. I think you are going to have bumper crops of grass and weeds, though, because of using hay instead of straw. I'm shoring my bales up, adding soil and turning them into raised beds. I think it will be dang nigh impossible to keep veggies watered in that straw come summertime. Good luck. I hope you keep posting so we can all learn from you.

tomatofreak, I recall reading about your experience. But it's what we have, so . . . .

I'm uncertain how strawbales will work here, but like to try differrent ideas. Black plastic mulch might control the grass. Some seeds will be killed by the heat of the decomposing process.

Ah, well, some of the garden for us, some for Mother Nature

Frank

LOL, Frank, almost all the veggies that grew in my strawbales went to Mother Nature - in the form of birds. They just LOVED the tender little plants, especially the spinach (I never got one leaf of that), carrots, lettuce, turnips, mustard and collards. They didn't like mizuna, arugula or brussel sprouts, picky little devils. I didn't want to put up bird netting because the birds usually get tangled in it and then become dog food. I can't take that. So, a little for me, a lot for them. Good luck.

TF, have you had the same level of problems with veggies in other places? I've got a couple kinds of lettuces, carrots, onions, leeks, cilantro and parsleythat haven't had so much as a glimmer of interest from the birds, but they're all in raised beds. The peas were only an issue until they sprouted, but since then nothing's bothered them. Wonder if the bed vs. bale has any effect, or if your birds are just gluttons? (Or maybe you grow better veggies than I do, which is far more likely!)

tomatofreak wrote;"I think you are going to have bumper crops of grass and weeds, though, because of using hay instead of straw."

My straw produced much more "grass" than the hay did.

"I think it will be dang nigh impossible to keep veggies watered in that straw come summertime."

My area is much more humid that AZ, but during last summer's drought (severe) I still had little trouble keeping things watered. Did use soaker hoses, which let the water be absorbed completely.

tarheel2AZ wrote;"I'm uncertain how strawbales will work here, but like to try differrent ideas. Black plastic mulch might control the grass."

Scissors will control it just fine, and the mushrooms. Black plastic has been discussed on the Strawbale forum, and generally we figure it'll cook the roots."

Some seeds will be killed by the heat of the decomposing process."

Which would be why nothing should be planted until the bales cool back down....:)

You might find answers here, but it will take some looking, the original threads cover much of this;

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/strawbale/all/


This message was edited Feb 14, 2008 8:49 AM

Jill, last year I grew almost everything in containers and the birds didn't bother anything! I don't know what the difference was. They never ate the lettuce and greens in containers but they stripped the bales clean. And peas? Well first of all, I can't get one to come up even after an overnight soaking. I've checked to see if the ground was disturbed, thinking the hungry little buggers might have dug them up, but no, the ground looks undisturbed.

Catmad, I think you'd have to be here to understand just how difficult it is to keep plants from drying out in soil, much less a bale of straw! I must say, I didn't have *any* weeds come up in my strawbales. Must be different straw.

"Catmad, I think you'd have to be here to understand just how difficult it is to keep plants from drying out in soil, much less a bale of straw!"

My point was that they stayed more hydrated in the bales than in the ground. You're right, every region has it's challenges.

"I must say, I didn't have *any* weeds come up in my strawbales. Must be different straw."

Yes, I'm sure it is. The straw I have now is full of seedheads, which is great for the cows, not so great for the garden:)

Catmad, are you sure that's straw and not hay? Normally straw doesn't have weed seeds, hay does.

It's straw, according to HD. How does one determine the difference? It's very coarse, and looks like what I think of as straw, until you realize it's full of grain. Well, not all of it, but some. It looks like wheat. I put a bale in for my dogs, and they now have a lovely crop of something started.

Feel free to chew you HD manager a new one or he may not know either. But he needs to have a little chat with his supplier. It's difficult to distinguish between the 2 when their baled. Let me ask DH is there's anything special you should look for. He's the farm boy....LOL

In truth, it looks nothing like the coastal hay I have. I don't really care, I bought it to plant in, but with all the seeds, we gave the cows a shot at it, since hay is so scarce. They like it:) So, I probably won't have any to plant in :(.

DH says that's probably "contractor's" straw. Which is basically junk straw made with whatever is handy. He suggested you check your local paper or with local farmers in your area to get the real deal. If the cows are eating it it's got weed seed. Hay is a grass, straw is a reed. But it's very difficult to tell the difference when they are baled. I doubt the HD people know or understand that. Feed the cows and look around for something that will work for you without all the weed seed.

There is basically nothing available around here, starw or hay, with the drought conditions. At least, nothing I can afford. We haunt the ads for hay, but haven't seen straw listed at all. Question for DH...In the past I've gotten "wheat straw" and "rye straw". I thought these were , i guess, leftovers after the higher grade stuff was baled and sold for feed. Not so?
Okay, just googled "wheat seed head", and it sure looks like what I have in the bales. I don't know. I also looked at the pictures of baby wheat (?), and it looks like what I have growing, but of vourse, it looks like every other baby grass I have, except what I know is rye.....
Sigh. A farmer I'm not.

You are exactly right. The straw is the stalk left after the grain head has been harvested. DH says there is some seed but it's mostly whatever that crop was, if they are practicing good clean farming methods. It's possible you have baby wheat, rye or barley growing. Not a bad thing, since those are not plentiful and easy to pull up. This is the wrong time of year for straw. Later in the summer after the grain is harvested is the best time for that.

Actually, they're very welcome, making everything look nice and green, at least in spots.
Thanks, I'm glad it's the good stuff, the cows like it.......:)

You should be able to find straw - the real stuff - about any time of year at a feed store. People with horses (and other animals) use it in stalls so it's always in store. I have to go a few miles to a store that caters to livestock owners but I get really clean straw for just under $6 a bale.