LOL, I think you 2 have lost it.
Jeanette
Straw Bale Gardening (Part 11)
WHAT JEANNETTE?
I CAN'T HEAR YOU
WIND'S BLOWING TOO HARD
At 25 miles per hour???? You are very fragile.
BTW, how do you get "finger painting" out of planting in bales?
Jeanette
on this (Happy Mother's) day my tomatoes & eggplants stuck their little heads above soil
What a great present....
My squash are well up, my peppers are well up & its thrilling because I've never been very successful direct seed ing before.
I've just seeded some lettuce & spinach & finally gotten my beans in.....they'll be late but all right.
Hope your day has been as nice as mine
Foggy
Jnette; Well I have been getting mushrooms. I have my tomatos out. They seem to be doing good. Sorry I don't have pictures yet. I planted the small mellon seeds. I'm still waiting on the results there. We had a great time last weekend, at the IARU. Had a few advance trades with some, for sweet potato plants. and a few other things. Of course I came close to filling my wish list too. Now I have to get every thing planted, in the proper places. "Not today though. It's Sunday, but also it is 87 and very windy. And I have a headache that I refuse to claim.That is one thing I am plagued with and I just have to take things easy.
If the wind doesn't strip the leaves off the tomatos I'll try get a picture. I don't have them covered for cold nights yet. I'm not too sure if I need to or not as we are at the point of our last frost date.
Foggy,
Isn't it great to see those little plants start comming up. I'm still planting.
However I planted radishes early. so we are eating radish from the garden now.
I will have to plant more soon or we will run out soon. I think that this year a good garden will more than pay for it's self, with the price of gasoline. it would break a person to have to drive to town to buy all the veggies, we can raise ourselves.
Russ,
That is great that you almost filled your wish list. Did you meet a lot of people you had been talking to online? That would be the nice thing about roundups to me.
Those little melons came right up for me. 100% germination within a couple of days. I have been giving them away. I planted 9 because I didn't expect them to all come up. But they did. Did you plant them outside? That could make the difference because I started mine in the house under lights.
Sure sorry to hear about your headache. Those can ruin a day.
Hi, all.
I have just transplanted some tomatoes to my straw bales. I found a local farmer that sells barley straw bales. They left a bunch out in the weather last winter. Mushrooms growing all over. Cost me a buck a bale. So far I have hauled home 5 and will get some more. I am on a fixed income so have to buy things when there are funds.
I added some lime to my bales to sweeten the system. Generally, decomposing material tends to be a little acidic, especially here in western Oregon where we get a lot of rain.
I put some soil on top of my tomato bales and have planted salad greens between the tomato plants.
I like the idea of making a hay bale square to plant potatoes. One problem I can see here in Oregon are slugs. Has anyone had problems with slugs in their hay bales?
Thanks for all of the information. I having a great time this spring.
God Bless
Ya I had quite a few real wall banger migrains. Sometimes they would put me down for three days. Then they got bad enough I had to go to the hospital for, and get a hypo and tordal shot and a another one to relax with. Never did find a cause. But found that one of the side benifits of amitriptyline eases them considerably. So now that is a part of my evening diet. I had every kind of test they could think of and nada. so now when I feel like one may be comming on, I quit what I'm doing and go rest.
Supose that may be another ( benifit ? ) of geting older? LOL
Yes I planted the mellon seeds direct in a bale. But that was today, so I have a little wait yet.
Oh by the way... Happy mother's day Just thought you would like to hear that from someone. DW and I, after Church were invited to daughter and son in laws.
For a BBQ. Then This evening After I mowed some weeds for our local resturantere. we were invited for supper. Plus this after noon after the BBQ we stoped and had a root beer float. so my sweet didn't have any dishes to do or any thing to fix. I made a sweet potato dish to take to the BBQ. So that was our day.
lonejack;
We don't really have a problem with them. All I have ever seen here are very small. When we lived in Missouri we had the large ones, but salt did a number on them. But I've been told that " slug away" or something like that works very well.
The little ones do destroy some of the tomatos but they are little enough that I don't worry about what they get.
Russ
Actually, I am surprised if you have slugs on the new bales. Not so on the ones from last year. They would be soft enough that they wouldn't scratch the bellies of the slugs. I don't know, since we left the coast we don't have many. Got my fingers crossed. Might try Diatimaceous Earth. Or egg shells, but like, I think it was Summerkid said, clean the shells good or they will stink. I always used the slug bait myself. Salt will work, but makes such a mess.
Thanks for the "happy Mothers Day". It does sound nice. Also got one from my daughter and a couple of nieces.
Randeponder,
I was wondering about the hay bale square and planting potatoes on the ground and piling straw on top. I tried a container type potato growing system and had the slugs take out the potato plants as soon as they came up. Maybe they won't be so bad that i can use some sort of slug bate in the straw around the potatoes.
Thanks for the info.
God Bless
lonejack wrote: "I was wondering about the hay bale square and planting potatoes on the ground and piling straw on top."
I'm trying that :). So far, so good. I'll try to get a picture before I mulch some of the plants tomorrow. There is one that was very early, and it needs new mulch, while the rest need a few more days. I'm not sure which variety it is, but I think it's a Russet. Now I need to ask a question;
How do you know when there are little potatoes to gather? I really don't care if I get big ones, but I LOVE the new potatoes .
Margo
lonejack;
I think I would definatly go for some slug bait, or something. There are a lot of home brew remedies. I like to see the birds too so I wouldn't to poison any little birdies. I have used course rock salt. where they would have to crawl over to get to the tender goodies we call our veggies. They just turn into a slimy mess. and crawl no more!
The square of bales should be great, I would cover the potatos with a little dirt then some straw. then go on from there after the the plant comes up. pile the straw around the plant untill you have the square filled and the plants staying above the straw all the while.
Catmad I really don't remember for sure at what time you can harvest little taders. but think it would have to be after they stop blooming. If you have any extra just scratch down by a plant and check. you can cover it back up. if you arn't satisfied.
It won't shock the plant too much if you are carefull.
Margo,
Some of your potatoes should blossom. After the blossoms die down, they should be ready for new potatoes. Or simply feel under the straw to check to see if they're big enough. ☺
No, it's not ME who's washing eggshells!!!
Mine go directly into the slop bucket & then out to the compost bin.
Having the time, energy & inclination to wash eggshells totally boggles my mind.
I'm a FINGERPAINTER, not a pointillist, for crying out loud!
Have been reading all this great info for awhile. This is my first try at the straw gardening. when I first started to put in my seedlings,my dogs bit the tops off.So stopped until I could get some fence.I had put the bales string side down and then saw they should be up so turned them.Everything looks good. Was watering today and noticed something green coming out the side of my bale so looked real close thought it was weeds as there are some coming up tall by the fence. And then realized it was the leaf lettece I thought my dogs had killed.So I have cukes in the top and lettuce on the side.Good thing it is leaf so don,t have to worry about heads. Getting my money's worth out of my straw. Ha! HA! Well actually I got mine for free . I called around and one nursery said they had some from last year I could have it, so once I get some veges I plan to take them some.At $4.00 a bale don't know what I am going to do next year. Every where I called it was the same.This is NC near Fayetteville. Anyone find it cheaper in this area?I would drive to get it for the right price.Dea
Deanna8,
I would go out and see if you can find some farmers that are putting up hay this summer.
They might let you have some right from the field if you were to load them and haul them yourself. That way you can let them cook over the winter or cover with a plastic until next spring.
I don't know whether you have a pickup or just a car but you can make several trips. Take the kids along and they can help load.
God Bless.
I may get some spoiled hay bales from a neighbor, although he really scoffed at me for the idea. I hope I can grow some great plants and SHOW HIM!
Me too.The nursery said I hope you are going to do what you said with this straw. So I really want to take her some vegetables. Most people have never heard of this so she was trying to take me at my word.With the lettuce coming out the side once it gets a little bigger I can take some of that. In a reg soil garden it would not have come back. This is so much easier. My mother is 82 and her garden is about to kill her. The nut grass tries to take over. We hoe and less than a week later you cannot tell we have done anything. I am just not sure about fertilizing the bales. Do not want to do too much. I guess it has been about a month and I have put miracle grow on twice. I did not add extra soil just what was on the plant root but peppers and tomatoes are okay. My cukes and squash are okay. My cantaloupe not sure. Looks puny.
Deanna: welcome to bale gardening and what a great idea of growing something out the sides! :-)
Let's see, I can use the top for most anything and one side for some running items like cukes on some landscaping cloth. Hmm. Just might work.
No problem putting the bales string side down or off the ground. I'm doing strings side down this year after 2 with them off the ground. Using the regular twine, too, and not the plastic strings. The plastic strings were a pain when it came to removing the old bales, but some have used the plastic strings to tighten up their bales.
darius: 10-4 on making a BELIEVER out of your neighbor! Do it. Of course I show folks some good pics, but some still don't really believe it until they see in person.
And getting some old straw/hay from a source is a great way to get a discount. We've had several posts about folks doing exactly that.
Kent
This message was edited May 15, 2007 10:30 AM
As I said before I did not mean to plant it my dogs thought it was a treat for them and ate the tops off. When I turned them and planted the bales. I thought it was weeds coming up and then remembered the lettuce. Coming up good though.K I am so glad I read the article in Carolina country am having so much fun. my onlyent I emailed you before am in raeford and used to live in AK.My only question is about fertilizer how much and what kind? Thanks
deanna8;
I can't answer your question. Just thought this might make you chuckle. After reading of your situation. I decided to give it a try, on purpose. I now have 3 of the 15 bales, side planted with cantelope. I just thought hmmm - worth a shot. So we will see. I have Tomatoes on top of 6. in 1 row with the 3 being side seeded, with mellons. In another row I planted the small mellon seeds DW got from jnette, hoping to grow them on a catle panel. Then just for fun, way down on the end of the rows away from the mellons. I side planted butternut squash. So this may be interesting. Russ
Hmmm. You know, I have lots of vining seeds left. I think I'll stick some in the sides of the bales I'm prepping now.
Okay, here's the "Tater Corral". It's doing well, but I have to figure out how to get the pumpkin, butternut and sweet dumplings from falling into the corall and, well, _squashing_ the Taterbabies.....
deanna8 - randbponder
I, too, have lots of seeds left. How are you planting the sides of the bales? Just sticking the seeds down into the side of the bale or cutting a hole for potting soil and seed?
Having run out of "top" to plant on my bales -- this sounds like a neat idea to try!!
cadmad - love your "tater corral". I have a roll of chicken wire so I just made a couple of "rounds" about 3 ft across with it, put newspaper over the grass, couple inches of potting mix, taters, leaves on top. Mine are not as large as yours -- only planted them a week ago, but I see green coming up through the leaves.
Karen
It sounds to me like you guys are having a lot of fun with this strawbale gardening. How many plants like cukes or melons are you putting in each bale. Just the top. Not the sides. Have any of you put pole beans in?
Jeanette
BTW Russ I am anxious to see how your melons do. I just planted mine in the bales today. Only a couple tho. I put 2 in.
Thanks Karen. This is my first attempt at potatoes (or anything else in SC) so who knows what will happen!
Jeanette, I planted cukes in a row. Some are growing very well, some not. Same bale, same seeds, same water. big difference. You can see them closest to you on the left side of the Tater Corral. Behind them are the beans, left side bush, right side pole. Melons, I have two sets of two long watermelons in one bale, one set of four Sugar Baby Watermelons in one bale, one set of four Hale's best cantaloupes in a bale with eggplants (closest on right side of the bales), Charentais, two sets of two in one bale. The melons are the slowest growers for me, all still quite small. Maybe not enough warm weather yet. We'll see:)
Margo
jnette; I just divided the seeds into three hills on the top. Put them in with just a little potting soil, it was nice and moist, and the sun was warming the bales nicely.
The other melons are side planted in another row and when they start running the will run the opposite direction, so they should not cross. the small ones I hope to have run up the cattle panel. Now I need more cattle panels. This year woven wire( hog wire) will have to do, as I am going to try running the sweet taders on fence wire too. and way over on the other side of the garden, the cucumbers, also to run on fence wire. I had planed on putting them in the bales, untill I put the melons there.
I have a lot of tomatoes this this year and way more peppers than normal, so I will be putting a lot in the ground too. Boo hoo I lost one already. One that I picked up at the RU, It was a Dr. Caroline. Planted in the ground It looked like a cutworm got it. I didn't want to think about how many bales it would take to do a full sized garden. But it could come to that.
Karen; I think I will also try at least one sweet potato in a cage like you have done with the white potatoes. I have several little sprouts I haven't rooted yet. I made a sweet tader dish for mother's day. and I saw little sprouts starting on the SPs. Couldn't resist had to cut the end off, and start some more. Yes this is fun but it does take a toll on this old body.
I feel fortunate that I have a good source of grass clipings to cover between the rows on the dirt garden, which will help to keep the weeds down and hold a little moisture. But trying to get it all done at once is a little taxing. lol Russ
Russ, you sound like you don't mind at all. LOL. That's good for you. Jeanette
Russ, don't bite off more than you can chew ....LOL That's my old trick. I've taken more time to do things this year & have enjoyed it more...
your garden sounds gorgeous! When are you going to do some pictures? I'm going to try my melons that way.....I have some at the front that will run & some at the back that will climb
All of you are giving me a lot to live up to in my little garden......Wow! You are an amazing bunch of folks on DG.
You all come up with the right answer to anything! Jnette, you ask just the right questions, I don't even have to bother.
IFoggy
Me, teasing Wanda & Bill ( wandas flowers) at the IARU. With my Harley tee shirt, from Alaska. Last fall they had an accident with their Harley. This spring they did a 8 state tour in 7 days. Just had to do it. I don't have a Harley. My brother gave me the TS.
Some of the tomatoes, after a week in bales. Think I need to start training them to climb.
My row of sweet potatoes.
Row of garlic was to the right
One dbbl row of yellow onions, single row of white. with a start of grass clipping mulch on outer edge of garden. Small bushes are new this year, they are bush apricotts.
randbponder tomatoes look really good.Noticed strawbaleman has fence for his tomatoes too.So do you think they grow better with the fence versus just staking them.This is my first year but I am trying to plan for next year.if the fence is better than I will spend the winter preparing for next year so maybe I can start a little earlier. Any help greatly appreciated.Deanna
Tomatoes in another spot in dirt, with grass clipping mulch. They were planted Monday. I lost 1 to cut worm, Planted an Arkansaw Traveler in place of the lost Dr. Caroline.
deanna; If you have bush tomatoes just stakeing will be fine. If you allow the regular ones to run some will grow 6 to 8' but you can prune them and keep them from getting that tall. I had intended on just tieing them up and letting them grow.
If you go back a couple of Kent's forums. you can see, he had tomatoes arching over the top of his fence like an arbor.
I don't know that mine will grow that tall or not. but want to be prepaired.
Russ
Any body want to help weeding the iris bed? Sister in law gave us these. I know what colors are here but not which ones. so they are taking up space in the garden untill they have bloomed, so I can mark them and put some order in another location.
The temp is suposed to get down into the 30s tonight, Im hope it stays in the UPPER thirties. and glad I haven't put out the peppers yet. I will have some in the other row of bales but the majority will have to be in the ground as I have two flats of of them. DW will be glad to get all the plants out of the kitchen.