A good time to start a new chapter.
General Discussions - 2010 - Chapter 29
LOL, and guess who's first!! HAPPY NEW YEAR KENT!!
Jeanette
O, I'll take second place.
I'm still checking my left over seeds and listing them.
With all the snow on my garden area, I find it hard to stay focused on the garden.
Russ
I was wondering if Jeanette would be 1st!!! LOL
And now you know. chuckle :>)
I'm on a borrowed puter , so I'll be third . digger
Hey Digger, when are you heading North? Have you been out fishing? Has the cold weather made it down to you? Nice to hear from you during the winter.
Jeanette
Cold winter this year , 25 degrees last week for two nights . Lost most of the tropical plants that I've been carrying back and forth to Ga . Had put them in the ground this trip and didn't have enough coverfor them . BUMMER.
Will go home in April , after my first great grandbaby is born and I get to hold him.
Love to all and will keep in touch , digger
First, what do I get for being fourth?
Second, Kent, when do you put your bales out? I'm trying to get an idea of when to start the bales in relation to starting my seeds.
Hi, I'm not Ken but let me throw in my 1/2 cent.
In NC I would put my bales out by the end of January. That way you won't have to hose soak them. The rain will take care of your water, all you need to do is put some urea or other nitrogen fertilizer on to begin the decomposition process.
I am going to try last years straw in boxes this year, because of some reports of great results.
I am also going to grow some potatoes in some 30 gallon trash cans, starting with some packed straw in the bottom to get the plants started, then begin filling the can as the plants grow.
If I am lucky, and don't get slug eggs in the old straw, I won't have slugs chewing my potatoes.
Have camera, will travel.
Folks, we need to plant a lot of extra stuff this year. We have too many unemployed and any extra produce can be donated to the local food bank.
I know, you will say we need to teach them to grow their own but if you are homeless, where can you grow and store your food.
Ok, I'll get off of the soap box!! Hey, yesterday was my 69th birthday!! I want to tell all how grateful I am to be here!!
Paul.
Hi Everyone!!! Happy new year!!! Sorry I havent been in touch for so long. I no longer have internet at home, or a garden. So much has changed. I moved up to the Bay of Islands in late November to live near my family. We quickly built some planter boxes to plant my many seedlings in, they are doing well. But I only get to visit once a week so its not quite the same as having my own garden. My parents are taking care of it, as much as they can.
We are in the middle of a drought in the far north of NZ, there hasnt been rain since October. Water is a major problem, there just isnt any to spare. Dad has started collecting the grey water from showers and dish washer and washing machine, but it means lugging buckets of stinky water around in the hot sun. There is no town water supply and everybodys tanks are drying up. The water truck has been making a killing, it takes about 3 weeks of being on a waiting list and its very expensive. What else can you do though. We are getting temps around 30c most days, but it cools off pretty quickly at night. Climate is notably different to where I used to live, very high humidity and next to no breeze.
I only stayed in Russell with my parents the first two weeks, then I moved across the bay to Paihia where I also found a job. Its a fairly easy job, retailing gifts and souvenirs, but Im glad to have it and live here in this beautiful place over summer. Paihia is very touristy, half the people I meet or work with are travellers, makes things interesting. The favourite conversation topic seems to be the relentless snow storms back home in Scottland or or Canada or France or the US or wherever they come from. Sounds like you are having a bit of a tough winter in the NH?? I hope you are all OK and keeping warm.
Ill try to check in a bit more regularly, and take a pic of my new little garden for you. Im at mums today, to use the internet, do some gardening, and take my bike back home to Paihia with me. A 50 min cycle over 3 big hills then across the bay on a boat. Nice way to spend my day off. Its soooo hot and sunny again today, and its not even mid day yet. Might have to hide out here at mums untill later when it cools.
A summer picture, the view from my parents house in Russell, across the bay to Paihia.
Lena
Well finally we are hearing from you Lena. Have been wondering where you were. Big change for you. No more school? The warm weather sounds wonderful. Hope your plants do well. That is a tough way to water them.
Keep cool and get with us more often.
Jeanette
Mike: I'm with Paul, get your bales out as soon as you can. Water them down for the first couple of days and keep them moist until you're ready to plant. The softer/more decomposed the bales, the better and the more time you have to soften them up, the better.
Lena: IT WAS SO GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU!!! :-)
Hope the drought gets better. Post a pic of a few tomatoes to get us through the winter!!!
hi all reading up on how to do this new gardeng i have clay . i would like to ask betty the tortoise keeper if she ever ate at the bean pot. i am puting my straw bales in now . have one row 48ft long . i am working the 2nd. keep up the good work ineed all the help i can get jimcv45.
Sl jlmcv how many bales are you going to get in that 48 ft? Do you have any now? How much are they going to cost in your area?
Jeanette
hi jenette i have 15.5 bales in . i have two others 48ft 8 in hi .doing this when not raining. got lots of room. jim cv45 the 2 has dirt. jim.
Did you all see this?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1070861/
There was some miscommunication and Dave will still be a part of DG. It did get sold again.Everyone let the new owners know if Dave left they would to but the owner said it was a mistake.
Yup I believe it would be a big mistake to let Dave go. It takes a lot of dedication to build a site like this and keep it clean. I would think the new owner would do well to do his utmost to keep Dave in an exec position, rather than chance loosing out then turn DG into a tax write off.-
One of the last companies I worked for had that happen, an then they were trying to grasp any straws to stay afloat. They didn't, nuff said.
There's a lot of that going round Russ.
Hey Jeanette; Were in the middle of still another blizzard. Not going to get a lot of snow out of it but it is really blowing and piling the snow up. Just very carefully went out to get the mail, the cold wind was really burning my face on the way back to the house. That is my only outing for the day. On the brighter side I have 2 loaves of bread in the oven, plenty of butter and lots of wild plum jelly on hand.
I know fresh baked bread isn't good for me but it sure tastes good and for that I'm willing to suffer a little. If the wind wasn't from the NW you might even be able to catch a whiff of it. LOL
Russ
Aren't you funny Russ. Sure does sound good alright. We had oysters for dinner last night and boy were they good. I cooked a quart and Bob and my daughter, who is visiting from Seattle, went thru almost the whole thing. I eat some, but don't have the appetite that I used to have. I do love them. Used to eat them raw on the beach. Boy, that is the best way. Take a 6 pack of beer down and eat raw oysters and drink a beer. My idea of heaven.
A beer might go good about now but I sure won't be going out for any. It's been a while since I had one, that might be all I could hack. heh heh heeee
hi all i am from owensville mo zone 5 about 30miles north of mestygardener. if i forgot any thing let me know i do this late at nite asleep. thanks . jim cv45
i have 15.5 bales in . i have two others 48ft 8 in hi .doing this when not raining. got lots of room. jim cv45 the 2 has dirt. jim.
Hi Jim; sounds like a good amount of bales. although I'm having a little trouble with the48ft 8in hi. I'm just trying to figure this out. Did you mean a 48ft row 8in high??
Russ
HI RANDBPONDER 48FT 8IN HI I HAVE A HI $$$ water bill here. it is $100 a month for the two of us not worried in the spring have water off my shed i have 6 barrles so it is the hot time i need to know about thanks jlmcv45 jim i for got to put long 48ft hunt...and peck jim
Hunt and peck will do it every time jlmcv. Russ, think jim is saying 48 ft long and 8 inches high. Is that right jim? That is an awful water bill jim. Curious as to where you are. You don't have an area, zone, or????
Jeanette
hi jnette i live in a sub div on the south side of owensville mo 65066 we get water and sewer fron town . we had to pay double . they had to put in a new water tower and up date the sewer so 52.50 went to 100 . i am going to farm as long as my wifes money lasts. ha ha.jimcv45 . zone 5 . jim.
I'm so sorry jim. I know that doesn't help, but they must have discovered there was a little bit left of your wife's money. Ok, zone 5. Why don't you put that in your preferences? The reason I care is that whenever someone says they are having problems, or something with their plants, I automatically look up to see where they live, or what zone they are in.
Just to see why you are talking about your gardening the way you are.
hi jnette today is my wifes birthday . we went out tonite had steak. 50 miles to the best steak. now about preferences i don"t know how. i bot a new computer today . i will try to get it on the new one. i hope the new one can spell better than this one. jlmcv45 . jim
Jim; I used to be able to type 35 words a minute, maybe 10 or 15 were spelled correctly. lol We won't condemn your computer for misspelling words if you don't condemn ours~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am very thankful, that I was able to to have a new well dug about twenty years ago. There have been three attempts to put our little community on rural water in the last thirty years. I think everyone fought it because of the high cost that was associated with it. The last one I remember, they wanted $60. per month to start with and no opt out. They would then later determine if that was enough. I still use my well ( thank you Lord )!!!
I am planning to lay a watering system this spring so I can water the entire garden at the same time without moving a hose and sprinkler around. I don't always need to water, but when I do I don't want to drag the hose around and break off any plants that just happen to be in the way, to getting water way over into the far reaches. lol I think I am slowly going toward a smaller garden with more fruit trees, and they will also need water from time to time.
Good luck on your bale garden and post a picture now and then.
Russ
Jim, to change your preferences just go into "my info" and follow your nose. Don't worry about it for a while. A new computer will keep you busy enough for a while.
My daughter just put Windows 7 on my laptop. So far I like it much better than vista. Also she put Windows Live Mail in place of the mail program that the laptop came with. Love it too.
Russ, the state was trying to put meters on all the private wells in the state a couple of years ago. So far it hasn't flown. Wonder if the state would like to help pay for the well we had to drill etc. Can you imagine what the cost of drilling would be now? Mine is 250 ft.
If I remember right when I had mine drilled, it averaged out @ $30. per ft. but that included the submersible pump, pressure tank, all the switches and check valves and such. somewhere around 25 years ago. Most prices have doubled since then. Then too if drilling through rock, it would be more. My well is 110ft. deep with an 80ft. stand pipe. No rock involved other than some sandstone. But no I really don't know what it would cost now. Just thankful It's already done. My neighbor across the street was the well driller. The well that was here his dad had dug. That had an old pump jack that was badly worn and was pumping sand and muck with the water and didn't pull water with every stroke.
So far private wells aren't taxed or regulated but agg. irrigation systems for farms are. If they go to metering my well, I would probably have to collect rain water and pump it into a large tank. Our government bodies sure try grabbing at straws, so they can keep on spending. Don't they?
Yup. I think they have a group of people (I can see them) sitting around a table brainstorming trying to think up ways to get more money out of us.
My well, besides going down 250 feet, was thru granite. My house is built on a granite mountain. It has a basement too. It surely seems to me they could have found a better place than this to put a house. Oh well. I bought it.
How are you and Barb doing? Is she still waving her hand??? LOL, I want to see it!! Gotta make sure that darned snow shoveler didn't do her in.
How are Connie and Sandy doing? Are they snowed in? When are you having that Christmas dinner?
How are those kids out there? Is the path still clear so you can get food and water to them?
hi all i ask two well drilers and they both said $8500----9500. they came to owensville about two years ago trying the same thing. that takes a lot of guts. if i had heard of bale gardens i bot the 1.25 acres i would have a well now. it was in my back yard. no restrictions so to be sure what went on it i bot it. oh yes they said 200 250 deep. i have a large mallberry tree the best shade you could hope for on one end. that is worth what i paid for the lot. i got my computer working . it will take some geting used to. jlmcv45 jim. lots of luck reading this. jim
Have fun with the new computer jim.
OK, I have been reading this and am ready to try this strawbale gardening. Straw bales are 4.95 each at the local dairy. Cheapest hay is 9.95.
1. Can you refer me to the basic directions to do this.
2. I have seen reference to using amonia nitrate and/or urea and watering.
3. See some contain their bales.
4. Have seen pictures with fence posts at beginning and end of a row of bales - to keep them from falling apart? When the 4x4 posts are at the beginning and end of rows to hold the wire, are those in concrete and are they treated? Maybe I will start with 4 to 5 bales.
5. Saw a photo of bales with dirt or compost on top - is that to hold seed?
6. We have horses, so I can use manure like someone did. We have boards used to form concrete, can I use those if the manure is between the board and the bale?
Any help would be appreciated, since you all seem so experienced.
qg
Sorry, I am going to have to leave this for someone else to answer. I just got a new laptop and new programs on here and not familiar enough to find the "basic directions". As for the ammonia nitrate, (think Kent used nitrite) or urea, it needs to be high nitrogen. Some use blood meal, some use just a high nitrogen fertilizer. You are looking to start your bales decomposing. Some "contain" their bales to contain water so they don't use so much. As far as fence posts go, they are using them as, more than anything, to run wires between to hold the plants up. Tomatoes, beans, or whatever. The manure should be rotted, old, aged, or anything but fresh I would say. It might work the way you are talking about, but you will find that people try different things.
What works for one may not work for others. If you read very much of the posting, you probably saw that there were a lot of different ways people did things. Everyone has a different imagination. That is what is fun about this. All that is required is that you post pictures. LOL We love those.
Good luck, and let us know what you are doing and how it is working out.
Jeanette
hirandbponder. =jenette. a newbe posted today==irn39 =i can,t find it now. hope he comes back he was from the hills in so west mo..i am looking for milk jugs. i am going to try ws. jlmcv45 jim.
Jim (and all),
I had posted on the Giving it a Go in 2010 area...but I'll check in here, too. I'm planning to do some strawbale gardening next spring, but I will use hay bales since I have them already. They are bales of Teff hay, which is a grass from Ethiopia, I think, and is supposed to be very good for horses...but I evidently baled it a little too damp and it molded.
I'd appreciate some advice and opinions. I thought I would put out six bales, two bales side by side and three bales end to end, then move maybe eight feet to one side and do that again...and then bend a couple of used 16 foot cattle panels (which I have on hand) into an arch between the bales. Hopefully beans, peas, cucumber, and/or tomatoes would climb the arch. Other non-climbing vegetables would go in the outside bales, farther away from the trellis. My wife thinks this might be an awkward arrangement and hard to pick from the outside of the arch. Any thoughts or suggestions?
I've enjoyed reading many posts on this strawbale system and am looking forward to trying it.
Lee