Wow, Margo, looks great! How many bales did you have producing all those yummies? Thanks for the bloodmeal tip, I'm writing that down so I remember what works for people. Are people finding that there's a reason to go with hay vs. straw? Or is it a question of availability?
I'd definitely be on the once-to-twice daily soaker hose regimen, summer rains are at least 2 weeks off, temps are in the mid hundreds til then, and we won't cool down to the 90's until October. Gotta love the desert Southwest! I'd like to try the plastic wrap, clear so it won't heat the bale up any more than it will already be just do to the weather.
Thanks for all the tips!
Straw Bale Gardening (Part 14)
Let's see. The end bale has the cucumbers, about 6 plants, I think. Then green beans, the front a row of bush beans, the back a row of pole beans. The next has Sugar Baby Watermelons, just beginning to set fruit. Then at the end of that bale, at right angles, there are 2 zucchini plants in the next, then two pattypan in the one after that. Another corner, and there are the ones that I haven't harvested from yet, the winter squashes, pumpkins and melons. So, so far the harvest is from a total of 5 bales. The rest of my garden is tomatoes and peppers, a total (so far) of 17 more bales.
I used hay because I have it for my cows *s*. The last bales are rye hay, and more like straw, hard and solid bales. I had real trouble planting in them, even afte they were "ready". The hay decomposed much more quickly, and those bales have pretty much fallen apart. Doesn't seem to bother the resident plants, other than that they are getting closer to the ground, or crawling off the bales.
It's been a lot of fun, and I'm very glad I tried.I hope you enjoy it as much!
Keep us posted, and ask questions, I sure did.
Thanks again, Kent, you've made my garden grow:))
Margo
Something is attacking my melons....perhaps one of you can help....or identify
Foggy
Great googly moogly! Looks like some kind of Bird Flu-Athlete's Foot hybrid. I would quarantine that and call the CDC.
LOL...it's been quarantined.....I assure you, but who's the CDC?( Civil Defense Chaps, County Directer of Creepies, ??), I can't remember ANYTHING anymore :))
Foggy
Oh! Center for Disease Control! Whew!
Foggy
Creepies.....lol : )
i just got back from town. my neighbor with a trailer took me and i got 30 straw bales, cattle panels, and a few bags of top soil for the plants once they can go in the bales.
BUT FIRST, i need someone to dig 5 holes for 8' cedar posts which will go 18 inches in the ground (no cement so i can move them next year if necessary) and the 2 cattle panels stretched along them, bales on either side. i think i will staple my cattle panels from the top as most things do not need support near the bottom. then i can start on the stuff for my bales to get them ready to plant.
i'm still thinking about another line of posts (16 feet) and more bales several feet away, making a sorta hoop house attached to the top of this first one. IF I can get someone to dig the holes i should have layout photos by mid-week.
darius; If I were there I'de dig them, with my handy little earth quake. It is a small gas powered post hole digger. I would almost bet that a rental shop, like A to Z rentals might just have one. For so many $$$ per day. I don't know this but it would be worth looking into.
Not too hard to opperate lest you hit a root or a rock. Then it might jerk a bit. I had a good use for it as I had to replace the fence across the back of my little acre. Also used it to put up a privacy fence behind the house and patio, where my pond is. At any rate much easier than using a hand auger or the ( ear slaper) that they call a post hole digger.
Hi All:
Here's another pic of my diseased melon plant.....Do you think I ought to remove the entire bale?
I've googled all over the place & can't find anything similar...it came up overnight....VERY fast....
Foggy
rand, i can 'rent a boy' cheaper than driving to town to rent a tool. i can't believe of alll the thousands of dollars invested in my tools that i only have a hand post-hole digger.
none of my neighbors that i know have an auger for their tractors either. one of them would surely come and dig the holes.
Darius, you be careful. You just had surgery!! Why didn't you ask at the store where you bought the stuff about help? Quite often they have a bulletin board where you could either find someone or post for help. But you should not be doing that.
Jeanette
I have used Blood meal Bone meal and fish emulsion for my bales and have also used Epson Salts They are doing great.
What is the purpose of the epsoms salts?
cajun; it is the magnesium sulfate. And for convienence it is right on the useage directions on the box. But when you buy epsom salts get it from the pharmacy section it is the same as what they have in the gardening part. but cheaper in the pharmacy section. reason. supply and demand. more people use it for body aches and foot soaks, Good luck . R
Edited to correct magnesium Also I just looked The walgreens brand doesn't have the directions for house plant healt aid. But other brands I have purchased did have.
This message was edited Jun 23, 2007 8:34 AM
This message was edited Jun 23, 2007 8:42 AM
jeanette, i am hiring it out! too much work for me right now.
Good Darius. I wish I could find someone, even a highschool kid, to do my work. However, my daughter and grandson came over for 4 days this week from Seattle and it was so nice having someone to help me. But, I am so far away from other people that they don't like to come this far. I suppose because of the time and gas. I would even be willing to pay for the gas.
Cajun, Also, I think it adjusts the ph. Roses and tomatoes love it. Also, dig a hole for a banana peel for your roses. BUT, I use Epsom Salts for everything. I just put it in the water when I make the rounds.
Jeanette
The cherries are coming in waves now. Instead of letting the birds take their usual 15% right off the top I used a supersaver to vacuum pack and freeze several quarts. Has anyone had experience with vacuum packing their produce?
no, but i cannot see why not.
Here's the packaged product ready for cold storage. My freezer looks like it belongs on the space shuttle now. All I need is a fallout shelter and I'll be ready for nuclear attack.
I hate to admit it but I have a vacuum packer I have never used but I guess this year I will.Your tomatoes look great. I have never been one to eat cherry tomatoes but I imagine picking and eating them fresh the taste is different than in the store. Next year I plan to increase greatly so what variety do you recommend and I will try some. Deanna
These are Supersweet 100s. They are mildly acidic and very sweet. They are also incredibly productive. I've even used them to make marinara. I wouldn't cook with them unless you don't mind the seeds though. Here's a shot with my cherry bale on the right. They are half a foot short of grabbing the phone line coming into the house.
Wow I'll say productive. What is the growing time and did you start them from seed/ thanks deanna
Nice plants Dbarb. Do you freeze your tomatoes first? I used to when they came on, now I was using the large ones. I would freeze them on a cookie sheet and then just put them in zip lock bags. That was before I got my foodsaver. I could use them for everything except salads. They were not like fresh.
I meant to ask you what you are using for supports for your tomatoes? Whatever it is they certainly stand right up there. Very nice.
Can't believe you don't use your vacuum packer Deanna. They are a necessity. Also, the Sweet Millions are very good cherry tomatoes. Very sweet. That is if they get a lot of sun.
Jeanette
My Seal-a-Meal is getting a workout with the zucchini and pattyPan, and I will freeze some tomatoes as well, when there are more than I can eat (if that's possible:). I'm also freezing zucchini breads and cakes. I freeze everything before sealing, to keep them in better shape, literally. I would be lost without it, although I like the Foodsavers better than the Seal-a-Meal. I'd like to try canning my cherry tomatoes, since I'll have so many different colors, and I'd like to look at them *G*. I also want to can because I have tto much experience with power going out, and trying to keep freezers going...
Last year I just put my excess cherry tomatoes in a ziplock bag and threw them in the freezer. Yesterday I just threw the frozen tomatoes in the pot roast in the slow cooker. Tasted great. Since last fall I bought a food saver and and now use it for homemade soups, sauces and meats. Freezing soups and sauces in a plastic container and then putting the block into the food saver bags works great. It's a whole lot easier to store and cook, and lasts longer.
My bales are starting to produce cukes. My raised beds are producing lettuce and snow pea pods. I have lots of green tomatoes (nothing ripening yet) and the cantaloupe and melons are flowering but no fruit set yet. I am delighted by the bale system and will increase the numbers next year and use the raised beds for garlic and asparagus. I plan on knee replacement over the winter and need crops I can tend from a standing position.
Here are the snow pea pods.
And the lettuce.
Looking good Sandi, good luck with the knee.
Jeanette
Sandie your snow pea pods look great.I did not grow any because I. heard they did not like the heat. And Jnette feel bad now seeing how everyone uses their vacuum sealer and I have all the extra parts too. To suck the air out of jars etc. Will use it for the veges now. Deanna
All: great posts; everyone's doing a great job.
Shoe: I'm having a blast with my trombocino zucchini! The post is 8 ft tall and the plant's running along the top of my tomatoes for another 4 - 5 ft, and still growing!
Thanks a million for turning me on to this wonderful plant!
Kent
Close up of the trombocino.
Kent
You can pick'em small or large, just like any other squash/zucchini.
I'll be sampling my first trombocino in the very near future.
Kent
Cukes in the foreground are really producing. Zucchini in the back is still going strong. Peppers on the left need staking. Most are starting to lean some because they're full of peppers.
My bride has been busy making more sweet pickle, zucchini bread and a great zucchini & artichoke heart casserole.
Kent
OK, Kent, where's the recipe for the great zucchini & artichoke heart casserole? Hmmm, Hmmm? :~)
Lana
LOL, how did I know that was going to be the next post??? You didn't disappoint me Lana.
Jeanette
Kent wrote;" I'm having a blast with my trombocino zucchini!"
Okay. That does it. I just found that I ordered seeds for those twice, and yet never planted it. I actually have an empty bale that I never planted, 'cuz I was afraid it would shade out my peppers, but if I can train this up as Kent has, The peppers will be fine, and it will have about 15 feet to run above the tomatoes. *G*. And I thought I was done 'til fall.....
Oh, and Kent? Best get that recipe up, I have a feeling that anything new to do with zucchini is going to be very much in demand. I even made Chocolate Zucchini Cake :):)
Margo (who is also wondering what other seeds could be trained up that empty panel....hmmmm.)
OK, here's the recipe.
I called it a "casserole" for some reason, but this great dish is called:
Zucchini Frittata
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup fine drybread crumbs (you can use Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing mix)
2 medium onions, minced
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 tsp oregano
Dash of tabasco
8 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 lbs sharp chedder cheese, shredded
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients. Bake in 2 greased quiche dishes in preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes. (My wife baked it in 1 large glass dish.)
(I cut out a square and made a sandwich with 2 pieces of sourdough bread! It was so good!!)
Enjoy.
Kent
This message was edited Jun 26, 2007 10:38 AM
Wow...great pics, Kent! Everything looks so healthy (and well organized!). I love the weed mat where the squashes are growing; sure makes things much nicer!
Enjoy the Trombocino. I grill it (with an olive oil/garlic baste), fry it, bake it, and the younger ones can be eaten raw (dipped in Ranch dressing) if you like.
Everyone else's gardens are looking fantastic, too. Just great garden pictures on this thread!
Happy Gardening!
Shoe
Thanks Kent!
DINNER!!