Straw Bale Gardening (Part 10)

Eggplants are loving it too

As are the squash.

I could have used another 25-30 bales. I wish there was a speed way to condition them!

BB

gosh, i wish I'd turned the strawbales onto the stringside down, oh well.....

My melons are up after 5 days(charentais)....no sign of the peppers or eggplant that i seeded.......gonna seed the squash and tomatos today...the already started plants are going Great!

can one of you shoo me in the right direction to put pictures on the site? You are all such great photographers & I'm not, but I want to put in my 2 cents worth....

and kent.....all work & no play etc...take it from an old lady...DON'T give up dancing entirely

BTW...no mushrooms at all.............

Foggy

This message was edited Apr 30, 2007 8:40 AM

BB: as Jed Clampett would say, "Well doggie!"

I can see that's going to be a great producing bale garden.

I love the woods behind you.

Kent

Foggy: D-mail on the way with some basic info on adding pics to DG.

BTW, all, someone introduced me to a great site for posting pics: www.photobucket.com

This site is especially good if you're posting pics on other websites or sharing albums, etc. with friends and family. It's FREE, too.

Kent

jeanette:
What you are gonna do with those "nutrients" is to make up a batch of weekly feed fertilizer; so here goes: Get a 40 lb bag of Triple fertilizer - 20-20-20, 15-15-15 whatever - This year I got Triple 12 at Tractor Supply: To that bag of fertilizer you will add 7 lbs of epsom salts (they can be gotten at wal-mart, or most drug stores) and 7 TEASPOONs of 20 mule team borax ( look in the soap aisle of most large grocery stores) and ONE sleeve of the nutrient mix you purchased: Mix it all together, I use a cement mixer (because I have one & it is easy) - Now you have your weekly feed for anything you have growing in your bales: I bet you want to know how much to put to a bale dontcha? OK - It depends on the size of the bale - Take a look at your bale and decide how many 5 gallon pails it is in size - most 'kicker' bales are about 4: for each 5 gallon pail you think your bale is sprinkle on 1 ounce of the fertilizer each week & water it in - What you made up is a poor mans miracle grow - perry

jnette I had 5gal buckets. with hole cut in the bottom and set them upside down. That gave the more leggy tomatoes plenty of room and they don't blow all over as quick as the milk jugs.
We have whole fields of corn that will go for Ethanol, 80 to 160 acres each. There are several Ethanol plants just in this area alone. I like the concept but on the other hand it will increase the cost of beef and pork. Even though after the fermentation process and all. the leftover mash is still good for live stock feed. The Ethanol producers will want to sell it for another great profit to themselves. Oh there will still be a large number of farms that will use their own corn for livestock and not for Ethanol production. Over all though I think we will all see price increases all over the country. I'm not negative but that is the way I see it. Just as the skyrocketing gas prices are makeing all produce higher at the super Mkts. That is one reason I must raise our own veggies. Goodness sakes $.60 for one cucumber. out of sight

Got my thirty bales started this Saturday. I used Urea (46-0-0) and hope to see them steaming soon.

While the bales are “cooking”, I started a batch of Stink Tea. It’s my own little recipe, but I’ll share with you all.

I started with a free 55 gallon soap barrel form a local carwash. I sawed the top off and drilled a 1 inch diameter hole a few inches from the bottom. Into that hole. I placed a pvc pipe and stop-cock to allow for later draining. Once the caulk was dry, it was time to start the first batch.

I filled it with water then inserted a water pump that was made for a 150 gallon aquarium. This cost my $33 from the local hobby shop. I also purchased two small air pumps and six air-stones. That totaled to another $25 or so. I put the plastic cylinder from the water pump about two feet down and start churning the water from the bottom to the top. The pump claims to move over 400 gallons an hour, so in theory, I’m getting my water turned over every seven minutes or so. I also bubble air in from the two air pumps using the air-stones. These all set in the top few inches of the barrel.

Ideally, I’d have a big giant pump that would have enough pressure to pump air from the bottom to the top, but that would cost hundreds of dollars and take a lot more energy to run. My setup seems to be working well, and the $60 cost was right.

Once the water was aerating, I poured a good quantity of alfalfa pellets, Epsom salt, brown sugar, bone meal, powdered milk and fish emulsion into the water. I let that churn for 48 hours. At that point, sometime tomorrow, I’ll throw in a gallon or so of vermicompost from my worm bins (all placed in a paint-strain bag to keep it from getting into the pumps and clogging them) and add more brown sugar. This will really start to foam in another 48 hours and I’ll take that 50 gallons or so and pour it onto my bales. This is prime stuff – magic. It’s all organic – at least to the point of not using chemicals. I understand some people have issues with bone meal, but I’m good with it – in small quantities.

That mix will contain everything the soil (bale!) needs to become healthy for plants. The alfalfa tea base and vermicompost tea add wonderful little microbes and plant growth hormones. The other stuff is fertilizer and minerals. I do this once a week for my gardens. Once you get the setup built, you can make 50 gallons a week all summer long for under $50 for the entire season. I also bottle this and sell it at the Farmer’s Market. The addition of aeration makes it contain exponentially more beneficial microbes than non-aerated teas and it keeps the stink down. Aerated based microbes simply don’t stink.


This message was edited Apr 30, 2007 1:24 PM

Thanks Kent.

Thanks for starting the posts about this growing method. It really saved my bacon as it allowed me to expand my growing area without the costly work that would have been needed to put in raised beds.

Foggy:

Did you seed your melons directly into the bales?

BB

BB:

I put about a good handful of potting soil into the bale & seeded into that.....I have a soaker hose ...used it once a day in the morning & 5 min. in the evening & it kept them moist enough & they are all up now...5 days from planting to full up.........

Kent:
Thanks for the instruction...I'll be all set when I get a couple of better pics

Foggy

Have a stupid question. My husband bought 10-10-10 fertilizer the other day. If I double the amount of fertilizer in Perry's recipe above will that make it 20-20-20? Sorry if this is a completely ridiculous question.

Lana

Perry, is that one ounce per 5 gallon bucket of straw? Good grief, that will last me, my daughter, my grandson and his kids the rest of our lives. Maybe I could sell it to Russ to grow that Ethanol. Or trade!!

Jeanette

BB your garden looks great!!

Really Perry? Only 1 ounce per 5 gallon bucket of straw? Only once a week??? I've only got 10 bales. Isn't 1 ounce 2 tablespoons?

Lana, Perry said "or whatever". Meaning triple 10 should be ok. That is what I would take it to mean anyway.

Novelist, got a question. Do your customers at the farmer's market come back for more?

Jeanette

Lana: Use the triple 10 - do not double it - do you have the nutrients from food for everyone?

Jeanette: Use the old adage of "a pints a pound" so a pint is 16 ounces or 2 cups - so a bale would take about 1/2 cup per week depending upon size:

I told you it was a poor mans miracle grow formula - take what you don't need and fertilize your lawn or shrubs or whatever - You will need to put it into some sort of container you can close so it does not harden up with humidity

Jeanette,

My customers love the product. The rose growers are used to alfalfa tea, but many of them hate making it because they make it anaerobically and it stinks. I have a recycle program whereby I will give them .50 off the next batch if they bring back the container.

- Tim

Jeanette; Don't think I would want to spend more for shipping than the product is worth. So I guess I would just have to make a trip and torment ya. He He
But just to clarify, I only have one acre. But the farms all around have fields of corn for miles and miles.
You made us both laugh on my Ethanol production. Good one :)

novelist, do you have any pix of you at the farmers market?

No, why? I can probably take some this year if you like, but we don't open until the 19th of May. I can also take some of the "brew station" if you like. I had thought of taking pictures of the various stages to show how it comes together in a nice foamy mass. The thing I like best is the lack of stink. If you've ever brewed alfalfa tea without external air pumps you know what I mean!


- Tim

It's just nice to see our friends in action sometimes. Pix of the brew station would be great too!

Novelist...Don't believe I've seen you around very much and just noticed your fairly new to the site. Let me offer you a hearty WELCOME TO DG!

I, too, love aerated tea...with all its benefits I could never be without it! I keep a batch brewing usually all Summer. I think it'll be great to use on the bale gardens. Wishing you a great time with your 30 bales!

Hope you keep in mind though that once the aeration of the brew stops that the aerobic bacteria begin to die off after around 4 hrs tops. Combine that with putting the brew in airtight containers and you might not get that long a lifespan from it. (Just something to keep in mind should one of your customers come back complaining of "stink"! *ugh) :>*

Hey, Perry...mighty interesting recipe ya posted! That sounds like the perfect picker-upper for my potted perennials that need a bit of a kick. I think I'll make a small batch and try it (sparingly at first) and see how it works. Very much obliged!!

Happy Bale-ing, Folks!

Shoe

You're right, Shoe about the short life-span of the tea. I keep it brewing at the Farmer's Market in small five gallon pails and pour it on the spot. I tell people to use it right away. I am new, and loving my bales. I prepared them this weekend and today the smell of straw and nitrogen started. It smells like a bard - a clean bard, not bad at all. I plan on planting some of them on Sunday.

- Tim

Welcome to DG, Tim! Thanks for the specs on your "tea maker" :~) We probably have most of that on hand to be able to make one. One good thing about having had aquariums and ponds for years :~D

Lana

Well, it didn't take long to get to 100 posts!

I love the activity, especially all of the ideas for making your own fertilizer.

Unless someone starts Part 11 tonight, I'll try to get it going tomorrow to help make it a little easier for the dial-ups.

Kent

This message was edited May 1, 2007 9:54 PM

Thanks Kent, would appreciate that. LOL

Jeanette

Let's continue our discussion in Part 11: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/718768/

Kent