Kent, great video, Thanks for posting the link on Memorial Day.
Straw Bale Gardening (Part 12)
Here's a pic of our garden. The in-ground garden to the right is green beans and corn, 3 cultivars of each. The strawbales on the left which are late starting will have sweet peppers, tomatoes, squash, zukes, cukes, and canteloupe in them. We have now put a sprinkler inside the fencing due to lack of rain. It waters the whole garden, the landscaping over to the pond edge and even gets the compost bin :~) DH just has to haul lots more water for the cistern!
Lana
Look at what surprised me this morning. These are my Supersweet 100 cherries. This is the first homegrown tomato I have ever tasted in May. Thanks for all the great info Kent and everybody! I have a feeling every morning is going to hold more happy surprises like this.
dbar: I've planted some cherry tomatoes for the first time. Hope they look that good.
Kent
Rats! The man who was giving me spoiled hay bales cannot get to them, so I will have to buy straw bales afterall. Today I bought cedar posts to put in the ground to support cattle panels where I'mm tie my tomatoes.
Can anyone give me a reason NOT to put a row of bales on the other side with pole beans to climb on the same cattle panels?
Thanks everyone for your input! So I'm back to pure instinct, am I?! LOL Well since my bales are still over 100 I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait. It does make sense to wait until the internal temps reach about 80-90. I would also guess that adding the potting soil would help protect the roots if the temps inside get too hot. The outdoor temps have been in the mid 80's all week with no rain and the bales seem pretty hot to the touch during the middle of the day. We moved suddenly from very cool nights (40's) to very hot days neither of which is ideal for planting seedlings. My seedlings (which are getting quite large!) are waiting patiently in a partially sunny corner of the garden to go into the bales. I'll continue to give the bales more water to cool them down but now watering has to be somewhat controlled with the lack of rain. The insides seem nice and soft at this point but I just don't want to burn those tender roots! I'm anxious to see my plants start growing in the bales. All the pictures you are posting look fabulous and are a great inspiration! You may not consider yourselves experts yet but with even one year on me you have more experience than this strawbale newbie and I appreciate your advice and ideas! Jessica
Lana, surely you didn't need to put up such high fences to keep out such teensy dogs?
gardadore, with those ambient temps the bales should cool off quickly. I started my seedlings way too early and remember panicking as they were exploding with growth as my bales sat cooling. I'd be willing to bet you're planting before Wednesday if you keep your bales wet. My rule of thumb was that if I stuck my thumb in a bale and it felt any warmer than my dinner I didn't plant.
LOL @ Summerkid!!! They may only be 4.5 and 5lbs but are very high jumpers :~p ROFL
The fencing is to keep out deer and bunnies, not to mention the neighbors dogs. It was what we had that was easiest to put up. Next year we will move the garden because we're trying to slowly ammend the packed down clay soil that the yard is made of after the previous owners pushed all the top soil over the hill during construction :~( Grass won't grow and it's a dust bowl to mow. Figured this was the easiest, if not the fastest, way to ammend the soil. The open areas around the garden and bales will have newspaper, cardboard, etc laid down to walk on, kill the weeds and compost into the soil. We'll plant the garden area with grass next spring and have the garden on another section of the non-yard. Slow but should be effective. I hope to plant potatoes in this years straw next year if Kent's potatoes work out well. They sure are growing gangbusters eh, Kent? :~)
Lana
Gwen, sorry I didn't answer sooner. I think if you have blossoms this early that you are FAR ahead of the game given where you are located. I think that is great and you are probably expecting too much. Strawbale gardening is not superman. It is merely NO HOE, NO WEED, and NO TILL. Is that right Kent? LOL It is NOT produce over night. Give nature a chance Gwen.
Lana, I am dying to know the answer to Summerkid's question about those teensy dogs.
Gardadore, you are worrying too much about your seedlings, temps, etc. This is not an exact scinece. We are all in different parts of the country and there is NO set way to do them.
Also, I say, back off on the watering some. Watch your plants and you will know if you need to water more. Expecially I have found the melons can't take too much water but they will be the first to let you know if they need more water. Their stems seem to hold water and if they get too much they will rot off at the soil line.
One more thing, I gave all of my plants, especially the tomatoes, a half a cup of Epsom Salts in a 2 gallon container of water the other day and they LOVED it. Please give your roses ES also.
Jeanette
Hi Everyone!
I've been lurking for a while--waiting to get started on my bales. I finally got them started this weekend--hoping to be able to plant in them about a week from now. I'm planning to plant heirlooms tomatoes (Brandywine and Picardy) and Green Striped Cushaw winter squash (they make unbelievably tasty punkin pies!). I've been wondering about Tristar strawberries and have a couple of questions--is it too late to plant Tristar? Do they do OK in straw bales?
Perhaps some of you have some experience with planting strawberries in straw bales and can give me some advice or pointers? I've only planted strawberies once before and that was out in Washington State, not here in West Virginia. I can use all the advice I can get.
Kim
Lana: I checked my potatoes and I have some about 1.5 inches in diameter. Beautiful red color. Can't wait for my first pot with lots of Land of Lakes butter, onions, salt, & black pepper. Hot biscuits to sop the gravy. Plus some cayenne pepper on the side!
Jeanette: almost there! No weeding, no hoeing, no tilling!
But, I can see you have definitely been practicing; good girl! :-)
Dmail me your address and I'll send you a Junior Deputy sticker!!
I think I'll give my tomatoes a dose of salts, too.
Kim: glad to have you with us! No experience with strawberries, but someone will have some input, I'm sure.
Kent
This message was edited May 29, 2007 10:11 AM
Hi everyone:
I think my peppers are going to be very productive. Lots of fruit. My plants are starting to look a little yellow. Not very bad or anything. How often do you all feed your plants. I've been feeding a solution of alfalfa tea and fish emulsion about every 2 weeks. Do you think I need to feed once a week?
Some of my eggplants are really struggling. They have blossoms but they look absolutely horrible from the flea beetle damage. Haven't seen any beetles since I sprayed but I wonder if they irreparably damaged some of the plants.
Kent:
Now that's the way to eat potatoes although I have to sneak them because Mrs Bronx is scrutinizing my diet :-(
How do winter crops do in the bales? Have you ever grown cabbage or collards in them through the winter and does the colder weather require any special attention for the bales?
BB
I fertilize with Alfalfa tea and Worm Tea every week. I have really packed my bales full, though, almost using Square Foot Gardening techniques, so I figure I need to supply more nutrients. Things are doing great here, tomatos have flowers, basil and wildflowers growing underneath them. The mellons are flowering as well. All, in all, they are doing as well or better than my in-ground versions. This really helped me to increase my planting without having to expand my garden.
- Tim
Thanks Tim:
Have you posted any pics? I'd like to see how hard you pushed the envelope when it came to planting. I always like to test those limits myself.
BB
Gosh Tim, you are in zone 5 and have all of that stuff blooming etc. How did you keep them warm enough to grow? Yesterday was our "last chance of frost" day. And my plants look like it. They are doing good and I have a hoophouse over them but not like what yours sound like. But, I only put 2 plants in each bale. Show us some pictures.
Jeanette
Jnette; I don't know what happened, but I got into the pic's. So will give you a peek. I think this was around a week ago. They look a little ragged to me but they seem to be straightining out some. They are now to the point I need to start tiying them up. Now I need to get a pic of the melons. lol
Russ
You know kent with that meal you are supposed to have molasses mixed with butter for the biscuits. Now that's a meal! LOL Deanna
This message was edited Jun 23, 2010 3:03 AM
Dbarbrady, you are right. I could have planted today but was too busy. Tomorrow the plants go in the bales! Can't wait! Good thing, too since some of the tomatoes are starting to turn yellow in their tiny pots.
Concerning Epsom Salts. Jeanette, I also find it great for tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. You add more than I do. I always put some in each tomato hole when planting. Later I put 2 tbs in a gallon of water and then feed each plant a pint when the first blooms appear. Epsom salts supposedly help the plants set fruit. This winter I read somewhere on the Internet that foliar spraying is even more effective with Epsom salts. They recommended 1 tbs per gallon. Spray plants at transplant, flowering, and fruit set. That method uses even less but less is supposed to work better so I'll try it and see! Jessica
I agree, Jessica, with what you've found in re Epsom Salts. Most effective as a foliar spray.
Lana--I'm impressed with your long term plans to reclaim your yard. It incorporates short term goals (food) and long range objective (usable soil). Way to go!
We bought an old farm house on about an acre of land in 03/05. The first year was spent on the house and driveway (not that that is completely over, thanks to the windstorms from hell in mid-April). It had had renters for about 5 years before we bought it. The house was very rundown but the land had NO care during that time. The first year we put in many bulbs and some ground cover and started pruning. Since then we have really started to work on the grounds. We are learning all kinds of things we never knew before. I'm into veggies and cut flowers and my partner is doing trees, shrubs, and bedding plants. Both of us like the bulbs. They are so satisfying; one shot and you are pretty well done!
The planting in the bales and in the beds was completed by the end of April. Currently the garden looks like this.
These bales have cukes, cantaloupe, melon and cherry tomatoes.
And these bales are different types of tomatoes, including Cold Set direct sewn into the end bale.
Thanks, sandie, I wish my bales were farther along. I'm so anxious to plant in them but got a late start :~( The beans and corn are growing gangbusters though and the peppers and tomatoes which will go into the bales are starting to bloom. Guess it's time to give them a shot of epsom salts.
Lana
Lana--your bales are further along than mine! I'm still prepping mine....
Kim
So am I. My tomatoes are in pots and the peppers are still in tiny whatchamacallits :~D
Lana
you mean "seed packets," Lana?!
Peat pellet pots, or something like that, I bet... Well my maters are still in pots too. And my Green Striped Cushaw are still in the seed packets...
Has anybody tried to grow Tristar or another variety of strawberry in the bales? How did you do? Any advice?
Kim
Couldn't resist cutting into one of the cantaloupes today. I ended up eating three. They are about the size of large grapefruit. I guess this is as big as they are going to get. The ones I ate were so sweet. Does anyone else have experience with cantaloupes in bales? The only help they have gotten is Miracle Grow every 10 days or so. I'd love to know if there is something I can do to plump them up just a little. What they lack in size they make up for in quantity though. I will definitely have cantaloupes in the bales next year.
Dbar you are deffinatley giving me a taste of zone envy.
I have only picked a few radish. well most of the first row. But then we are a few weeks behind the Southern states. Is that melon normaly a smaller variety?
Randbponder, they are Sweet N' Early cantaloupes. This melon is on the small side, but I think I jumped the gun just a bit. From what I've read the stem of the cantaloupe should drop away with the slightest pressure from your thumb. I had to cut mine lose with a knife. I'm going to leave them alone for a week and see if they fill out a bit more. This is my first season bale gardening, and the first I've been able to harvest so early. I'm finding it hard to resist posting my new finds.
You are too funny, Summerkid! :~p LOL
Lana
Lana, u up too?
Me, too...
Darius -- hope you are feeling better than u were earlier today.
Man, I sure wish I was... been thinking I might have to go to the ER yet tonight and hope they will just keep me until my surgery on Friday. I'm just sick of upchucking and being in pain.
I'm sorry you aren't feeling better. Can't they give you anything for the pain and nausea?
Only if I go to the ER... small towns close up at night.
DARIUS!!! What is wrong with you? I don't like to be nosy, but what is your surgery? If you don't want to tell me that is ok.
Russ, those are tomatoes. Yes, it looks like they are ready to start tying to the cattlepanels or whatever.
I will definitly try the folier spraying with the Epsom Salts guys. I can imagine that it would work better.
Dbar, your cant looks wonderful.
Darius, good luck. So hope you are going to be ok. Jeanette
Gall Bladder, been going on for 27 days now without a definitive diagnosis until today. Had every test known in the past 2 weeks. LOTS of nausea, upchucking and pain. Surgeon hopes to do a lap. procedure but has warned me he may have to do a full cut. If so, it will mean a few days in the hospital.