Straw Bale Gardening - Part 5

OOOhhh, Strawbaleman, you were in my stompin' grounds! Hope you loved it!

Hey, alyrics yelled my way, and here's the recipe:

In each pint jar place:
-one grape leaf
-one whole clove
-three peppercorns
-one large or two small cloves garlic
-one head dill

Fill jars with cucumbers

Meanwhile, lids should be simmering 10 min in a saucepan. Have also simmering brine made of 2 quarts pickling vinegar (5%), one quart water and 1 C salt.

Pour the boiling brine over the cucumbers. Process however you process pickles. Folks around here tend to just turn the jars upside down until sealed, but I lost a couple to spoilage this way.

Zeppy, do you leave the cukes whole, or chunk them? Jeanette

However. I sliced them lengthwise last year b/c I had big cukes, and peeled them as well.

A good way to find dill heads is to ask someone with a great garden, or go to a local herb place where they'll have tons of dill growing.

I was at the Farmer's Market in Asheville on Friday, getting Roma's to make sauce. I asked if anyone had garlic and the lady said everyone this year was looking for garlic and dill... no one had any. Maybe I should grow dill! (I do grow garlic, just not any ready yet.)

Yeah, this is kind of the end of the season for the cukes I think. Why is that Kent? Why don't they keep producing? I do have little ones. I think I'll give them a shot of bloom fertilizer and see what happens. It is getting cooler at night now, in the mid 40s. Maybe that has something to do with it? Or are we just getting tired of fresh cucumbers? NO

Mid 40s will definitely stop cukes in their tracks.

Jnette: I'm no expert but I've never seen anyone in my area have success with cucumbers in the heat of late summer. I've tried in the past to start some but they always died. Now, that was with a "dirt" garden and not bales. I don't know if the daily watering and bale culture would work better or not.

Since I don't eat raw cukes, I've never pushed this issue of growing a 2nd crop.

Kent

You don't eat raw cukes??? she asks incredulously. Why not? Thats the best. Cucumber sandwiches - a little mayo on a good bread and pile on the chilled sliced cucurbits and eat them open faced. Same for tomatoes. We've gone whole days here where thats all anybody ate from the garden.

alyrics: I know, my wife and mother say the same thing; they LOVE cucumbers, especially in vinegar and black pepper.

One of the deputies on my platoon eats them like apples. He peels them a tad and they disappear almost as quickly.

It's not the taste so much, but they just don't agree with me. I re-taste them all day.

Now tomatoes are an entirely different story. Fresh sour dough bread, Dukes or Lowes Southern Style mayo, lots of black pepper, and a Diet Coke. That's the ticket.

KR

Watch out, you'll ruin the tough guy image of the southern deputy. Somehow it don't sound as tough to peel your cucurbits as to chomp a ceegar. Hee Hee - no offense. I am a d Yankee now but I used to live down there. Does that count?

Our night time temps have fallen into the 50's and all of a sudden nothing is ripening. Even my dahlias are taking an excruciatingly long time to open. Hope we have an Indian summer

alyrics: You in a heep ah trouble, boy, er, I mean girl! :-)

Hey, that's the 21st century LEO: healthy eating, staying-in-good-shape, etc.

BULLETIN: near disaster averted when arch trellis collapses from heavy rain this afternoon.

I was going to prop up/reinforce the arch trellis today, but decided to put it off until Monday. TOO late, now.

I was able to get it back standing with the help of my bride, some 2 x 4's and a whole lot of arm-strong power.

Tomatoes are HEAVY, especially ones loaded down and wet. I'll retro-fit it all tomorrow for the long haul. Cattle panels are looking better all the time.

KR

What's a cattle panel? It looks like extra heavy duty wire
All I know is if I do this next year I'm doing it right from the very beginning. I have a nice crop of green tomatoes also but they are sliding off the sides of the bales.

alyrics: jnette is the cattle panel expert; we discussed these way back in the 1st thread.

Here's a link to some info on them that jnette sent me in D-mail.

Short answer: cattle panels are alot sturdier than the concrete wire I am using

http://www.middlecity.com/backyard/hoophouse.shtml

Kent

Look at the link Alyrics. Go down to your local feed store and see what they are. They are easy to work with and the strongest outside of a cemented in steel pipe.

Used with rebar they are wonderful.

Jeanette

Oh my goodness, you guys have fascinated me with this thread! I have never even heard of straw bale gardening....all these years growing veggies & I haven't even tried this!!! I can't wait to read more about it.....but one starter question...do you plant right IN the bale?? Any dirt?? Does it need to rot first?? Wow...I have like a zillion questions....steer me toward some good reading on the subject please.
(by the way, I'm Kim...)
Thanks!

Hi Kim, welcome. Too bad you didn't come along for the ride this summer. But, being in AZ you probably have a lot longer season than I do.

Back to your starter question, which I don't remember it being addressed, some of us used the soil the seeds were started in and piled it on the bale, and others, like myself planted directly in the straw with no additional soil. Yes we prepped the straw. Read Kent's instructions in the first part of the thread.

Go back to the very first part of this thread. Kent has the links in the first post. Good luck, and let us know how you do. Jeanette

Hi Jeanette...thanks for the reply...since posting, (in the frenzy of excitement, lol), I have been scouring the internet on this topic. I read the starter part of the thread & now I am soooo excited about trying this. I'm thinking I may be able to extend some of the warmer season crops here with this method...so now my husband is also excited for this experiment!! I'll keep you all posted on how we do.

That is super. I will enjoy watching your progress since it is always fun to see how people and their gardens in other parts of the country are doing. It will especially be fun since your husband is interested too. That makes it better. Let us know how you do.

GothicGarden: here's a link to a one-page article you can print out for reference on bale gardening:

http://www.carolinacountry.com/cgardens/thismonth/march06guide/straw.html

This comment will make more sense after reading the article and the threads, but you don't have to use ammonium nitrate to prep your bales. Others have used BLOOD MEAL, for example, as their nitrogen starter source. You actually don't have to use ANY prep source, but it will help speed things along in getting your bales prepared to be a good host for your vegetables.)

Take advantage of the links at the top of this thread to ALL the conversation we have had so far on this topic. There's alot to read, but there's alot of good info.

My diary is also available for reference, along with the diaries of other bale gardeners.

Welcome aboard,

Kent

Well, I transplanted 30 Morris Heading collards this evening in the bales that formerly had the cucumbers.

I've never planted collards before, so we'll see what develops

I had been relying on my father-in-law's garden down in Wilmington, NC, but his health is failing and there's nothing like having what you want in your own back yard.

Kent

.

Sorry his health is failing, Kent. Happens to most of us sooner or later unfortunately.

After my arch trellis collapsed after a hard rain, I've had to shore it up. The 2 x 4's, etc. are over kill, but they were the only pieces I had long enough.



This message was edited Sep 1, 2006 6:35 PM

Collards seem to be enjoying the bales.

All of the garden was well watered in the past 2 days with 5+ inches of rain from Ernesto.

Kent

I just received a copy of an article about Mike Blum and strawbale gardening that was published in the 8/3/06 issue of the Genesee Country Express (western NY). The reporter was Peter Vogt.

Mike is a retired landscaper/lawn caretaker, from Dansville, NY, and he sent me a nice, personal note along with the article.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

"In early March of this year, as he was returning to Dansville following a vacation in SC," he "stopped at a NC visitor center where he eyed a magazine (my Carolina Country March '06 story) with information about an unusual form of gardening."

"I thought to myself, 'If they can do that in NC, why can't I do it in NY,' " Blum said last Thursday at his Quay Street home. So he brought the material home."

(The middle of the article goes on to describe the process.)

"Blum planted green peppers, rainbow Swiss chard, tomatoes, dill and garlic to ward off bugs, cucumbers, sweet peas, basil, onions, marjoram and nasturtium on two bales. The peppers were delicious."

(I'm not sure how he got it all on 2 bales. It's hard to see in the photos.)

"While he said he probably will not expand his straw bale garden beyond what he now has, "I'm very satisfied and I'd do it again."

"In his particular case, the straw bale garden is a welcoming feature at the Blum residence as it is situated at the end of his driveway and is decorated with an American flag, a rustic plow, a greeting sign, a pair of old work shoes with chick and hens growing out of them, and a wood or ceramic butterfly."

"The local gardener has convinced a couple of others to give it a try"


Kent

Pretty cute Kent. Good PR. Jeanette

Here here, fame and notoriety come to those who garden. People pretty much look at me like I'm nuts when I describe this. They really have to see it or be the adventurous type. I'm so far behind most of you - I just picked a bushel of tomatoes 2 days ago and that was the first big harvest. It looks like my globe tomatoes are not going to continue producing but the Sweet 100's and the little yellow pear have many blossoms yet.

Alyrics are you canning your tomtoes? You did good to get a bushel. Good for you. Jeanette

I was just looking up a recipe for salsa.

Now here's a weird one. I went out on my deck this morning and I had a beautful cilantro plant growing on my deck - it would have been enough for at least one big jar of salsa. Something came during the night and nipped it right off. I cannot imagine what would come up 3 steps onto a deck (deer?) and eat cilantro.

A Little Off Topic -

Stonyfield Farms is contributing between $20,000 and $60,000 to the National Gardening Association to support their Adopt a School Garden program. Maybe they'll use straw? We should write the NGA a letter - it would be a good option for some places.

http://assoc.garden.org/login/index.php?q=stonyfield

Bid with Your Lid and Help Boost Stonyfield Farm's Donation to NGA
Through their 2006 Bid with Your Lid program, Stonyfield Farm is distributing $100,000 among three nonprofit environmental groups, and NGA's Adopt a School Garden program is one of them! Each nonprofit will receive a minumum of $20,000; the remaining $40,000 will be divided based on public voting.

Please support our kids' gardening programs by voting for NGA! Cast one vote online now; cast more by mailing in Stonyfield Farm yogurt lids. Whichever nonprofit you choose, you’ll receive a gift from Stonyfield. There are 4 ways to vote: - see website link above.

Arylics, the schools in our county have had gardening classes and raised beds for several years. I think it is super.

Here are a couple of shots of my tomatoes AFTER I picked them. Didn't think of it before. LOL

Jeanette

Another.

Jnette - as usual, I marvel at the beautiful set up you did. It looks so much better than my huge tomato vines sliding off the bales. There's always next year.

Thanks Alyrics. But you know, this was a first for all of us this year so next year we will come up with something better I am sure. A real educational year. LOL.

Maybe your vines wouldn't look so huge if you took the leaves off and tied them up?

Well, another first today. The first formal, scheduled tour from an outside group.

The Wake Forest Garden Club came by the house to see what bale gardening was all about.

Let's see, it took 48 yrs for this to happen; next tour is now scheduled for the year 2054.

I'll either be 96 years old here on earth or ageless in my celestial garden in Heaven. Either way it's going to be fun.

Kent

Well Kent, you didn't tell us their prognosis!! Jeanette

Great job Kent! I had a friend stop by today and ask me how the tomatoes were going. I said I learned a lot this year about different varieties and about the need to get my staking system in first. And I said I couldn't imagine growing tomatoes any other way but in straw bales.

I really like San Marzano - what a nice paste or salsa tomato
Roma's did well this year but are not re-blooming
Rutgers was very prolific
Early Girl and Beefeater made a lot of tomatoes but Early Girl has a thinner skin and the grasshoppers really bit into a lot of tomatoes.
Yellow Pear is a nice little sweet indeterminate tomato but you have to be on hand to pick it or they split right away as they turn yellow. We've been having very cool nights so maybe the temp change is causing that too. I started picking them green and ripening in the house. They're like candy - so sweet

Jnette: the garden club members enjoyed their visit; many took photos and scratched out notes; asked alot of questions; none had seen this method before, but a few had heard about it

I've got to get some pesticide for my collards tomorrow. Farmerdill told me what I needed to get.

I'm dog tired tonight; took the last 2 days off to start power-washing my house, get the yard straight, etc. I'm hosting a home-made ice cream social for my church Sunday evening, so I want everything to be 10-8 (LEO talk for tip top shape or in service).

I need to get my guitar out and tuned up in case we have a little pickin' & grinin' session.


alyrics: I'm with you on growing tomatoes in bales; all my neighbors' and friends' tomatoes in the dirt have just about gone

I want to try some different varieties next year.

I need to redo my inline trellis and set the posts in concrete. One end is sagging some due to the rain and wind from Ernesto the other week.

The Chinese 5 Pepper plant is gorgeous. A local pastor came by yesterday and he said the plant reminded him of a Christmas tree with all the multi-colored peppers looking like lights. Purple, orange, red, yellow, and white.

Well, I've rambled on long enough.

Kent

Have a real nice party Sunday Kent. Jeanette

Hi Kent,

I am responding to your e-mail back in the middle of Aug. asking how our gardens are doing.

We used hay bales and they worked great.

We had good success with herbs, swiss chard, some tomatoes, some cucumbers. Some of the bales were in a wet area & we had a big slug problem.

Did a second planting a few weeks ago. We packed dirt around the starter plants in the bales of hay and I have been really pleased with the response - they are much happier and we do not have to water/fertilize nearly as much.

We learned a few things this year and are looking forward to a better garden next year.