Strawbale Gardening: General Discussions - 2013 - Chapter 40

Don't know then. I have tons of Cedars if you want me to send you a seedling I will.

Don't know then. I have tons of Cedars if you want me to send you a seedling I will.

They use Cedars for telephone poles, but they have to be perfect. When they were logging in my property the guy came out from the PUD and checked for poles but there was always something wrong with them. If they get them, they pay $800 for them. But, that was several years ago. Might be more now.

I'm not sure about your area, but they do best where they have a fairly moist area. Like ours are in a valley, close to a very large river, mountains etc.

We're in the foothills of the Appalachian Mts . Red clay . Stays moist a foot down even when the surface is baked hard . Lots of pine ,white pine and two other kinds red oak ,white oak ,sweet gum , black gum ,hemlock ,blackberries , black bear (on my porch last year ) Most anything grows here , we're about 300' off the river , on up the hill .
I had some 80' or more, pines cut this week . They were straight as an arrow , but in my yard . They had to be climbed and taken down from the top . Couldn't get them out without tearing down my chain link fence . A truck would have torn up the yard to get them out . They were here when we bought the place 20 years ago . Had a lot of them cut then , before we moved in and the ones left just kept getting bigger and we kept building around them till something had to be done . On the land across the road , pine beetles have killed 80% of them , making a heck of a mess .Rather have gotten the money for them instead of paying to have them cut , and only here one month in the early spring until the statewide burn ban goes into effect . Can't give away pine for campfires ,plenty of hardwood available.
Did I mention that D G member is sending me some climbing spinach seeds ? They taste almost the same and like full sun . They reseed each year too . I hope to have seeds to share next year .I have straw compost to plant them in .

I wanted to try that spinach a few years ago. Malibar I think it was. Let me know how you like it. I didn't get around to it.

We have a mess of pines dying about a quarter mile down the road, across the highway from us and I can't get anybody to do anything about it. I have called the DNR, Forest Service, and anyone else I can think of but nobody wants to do anything about it. Don't want to tangle with a private landowner I guess.

I worry that it could start on mine. I think it is the pine borer. Really makes me sick that they, the owner doesn't do something.

One of mine was dead too . Not much you can do except cut ALL of them and burn .The borers are killing trees all over in this area .
That's the spinach , Malabar .
Have you ever gone to a D G roundup ? Maybe someone has seeds you can try . They tell me it isn't really spinach but the taste is almost the same .

Just Googled it and I don't know if all the Malabar has the red stems or not . The ones I'm getting does . Says the leaves have no problem but the stems can have a slimy texture . Lots of vitamins , healthy . Can't wait to get mine .Lots of seed companys have seeds . Four vines should give all you want for your own kitchen .

There is a red stemmed Malabar (basella rubra) and a white (basella alba). I grew the red two years ago and found the leaves also had a slightly slimy texture. To me it is an acquired taste more for the texture than the flavor. I cooked them and also added them raw to salads. Here they did not reseed but I might not have given them a chance. I would grow them again just to learn to eat this healthy food. I added them to other salad leaves to get used to them. If you like okra then the texture probably won't bother you. The leaf is tougher than a regular spinach but at least it grows all summer long so is available.

We had heavy rains yesterday to the point that the veggie garden looked like Venice. Many of the bales had just sunk into the water under them. I hope this won't affect them with molds and stuff. I won't be planting them up for another week so hope that will be enough time for them to dry out a bit. Does anyone have an opinion on whether the bales are OK to plant in when they have been so badly soaked? I'm afraid all the good bacteria may have drowned!! We had a similar rain 10 days ago (over 3") so they have certainly broken down this year!! I guess adding the potting soil I always use when planting in them should help.

I think as long as the've gone through a heat you can plant them . It pays to keep them wet as the excess water drains pretty fast and you want the hay /straw to have soaked up the water .
Any other opinions ?

OOps , posted before I was through talking
If I find the leaves unplesant , I'll grow them for the beauty and shade . It's a win win for me ,thanks

You are right about the pine borers Digger. When they logged mine they took out all pockets of them and got rid of them. So, I don't have any now and sure don't want any more. Don't know who to talk to about those folks that aren't taking care of theirs. They don't live in the area.

How long do you think before you have dry enough weather to dry your bales? I don't think you would want the plants sitting in soggy bales for a length of time. But if your weather normally turns warm this time of year, it might be a good time to plant them.

Hard to say. Don't want to suggest things outside my area.

Well at least the "canals" have subsided so I'll just have to wait and see. I won't be planting anything in them for another week so that should help. They just looked so soggy (and were!) yesterday that I had a real concern about what might grow in the center if they couldn't get some air and dry better. Anaerobic activity would not be good. Looks like we will be rain free until Wed. so that is good. It is quite cool here for May. Temps are in the 60's just barely flirting with the low 70's. Sunday night it is supposed to go down to 39. Hope I can get the tomatoes planted by Labor Day weekend and on their way

Might be another one of those years. Ya think?

You know you guys, thinking of that spinach made me think about that kale seed I have and haven't planted yet. Wonder if that would maybe take the place of the spinach? Have any of you tried it? I asked my niece and sister and they said the kale chips were wonderful. Just baked in the oven. I might try it.

Aren't you all the ones that have the crawdads coming up in your yards? Good grief, I can't believe that happens. But a lot of you say so.

I n the deep south , you can rake out the crawdads from the water standing in ditches beside the road . Tougher shells than shrimp , but just as good .

I have heard the crawdads were really good. Hard to believe you don't have to go out fishing or netting, or whatever in the ocean for them. 'course, we have fresh water crawdads around here in some of the lakes. Can't imagine they are as good as the ones with the salt water.

These aren't salt water . I don't think there are salt water crawdads . When they breed , they can be found in ditches . You could probably find them there . Don't know if you don't try . I think spring is best . Anyone out there know when they crawl out to breed ? They are in shallow water 4-5 inches deep .

They are in lakes here. People put traps set with bait here at night and get them. Bob said he has seen the same thing down there that you are talking about. Seems so weird to me. Oh well. I would love it. I love fish if it is fresh, and cooked right. Wish we had some good fish houses like you guys do. We are too far from the coast to have it fresh unless of course, it is flash frozen.

Well, time to hit the sack, ttyl, jeanette