This straw bale thing caught my interest and I attempted to find some bales. In Gainesville Florida, as best I can find, there are 5 bales @ $11 and change plus tax!
The guy at the feed store said the bales came from Montana, a long ride for them. No wonder they are so pricey.
I have tons of Laurel Oak leaves pretty much composted that I'll try I suppose. (Hint for advice there, than you.)
My yard is sand and smothered in tree roots so I want an alternative to traditional gardening. I may have to go to containers and purchased top soil.
Bill G.
Straw bales for the wealthy!
Straw always goes for at least $2 a bale, up here anyways, even local stuff. Has for years...
Sorry for the confusion, that was $11 dollars plus each bale.
Bill
ackkkk!!!!
Bill: At 11/bale I wouldn't be bale gardening either. Great day!
I have a fella who says he can get me some bales at 1.50/bale, but it seems too good to be true. We'll see.
Kent
This message was edited Jan 17, 2008 8:51 PM
If you go to a website echotech.org you will find a way to make bales out of straw and grass. I suggest that you make a box the size of the bale you want, 18"X36", with open a bottom. Lay twine or rope inside the long direction. Place straw in cross-wise, the 18" direction.. Tamp the straw or long grass as tight as you can until you can't get any more straw or long grass in. Pull the ropes over and tie as tight as you can. Lift your homemade bale out and start over.
If you do this right you will have a bale that is tighter than most hay bales.
I know this is a lot of work but I guess if you want to try straw-bale gardening you can have bales. You can leave the grass or straw in the box and make a garden. You will have to make more boxes.
The up side you will get boxes filled with straw and grass that won't dry as fast as bales open in the air.
I guess if there is a will there is a way. I would probably pay the $11 and grow my gardens. You will not be able to plant as many bales.
Gods Blessings to you.
lonejack
Ouch! $11 a bale is pretty astounding; we've gotten them for as little as $1 a bale (picking them up out of a neighbor's field), but usually pay $2 to $2.50. However, what would you have to pay for topsoil or potting soil and containers? Or you could try checking a bit farther north; might be worth a trip, depending on how many bales you were thinking of.
Strawbaleman wrote;"I have a fella who says he can get me some bales at 1.50/bale, but it seems too good to be true. We'll see."
Okay Kent, bales of _what_?? And, can my cows eat it??? Sigh. We're strugglinfg to keep the big pets fed, so the bale gardening may be out this year, at least for now. With the rain, we may have spring hay, i hope. For now, we got straw at HD for $4.00, but since it's full of seed/grain heads (I really don't know what they are), it's being held in reserve for the cows. Probably not great for bale gardening, either.
Sigh.
Catmad, how much are the hay bales? tsewyek, is that $11 each? Or $11 for 5? If the latter, maybe you should buy all you can get and send to the rest of us. If each, I think I would reconsider strawbale gardening. Do raised beds instead.
Jeanette
catmad: that would be wheat straw bales; I haven't heard back from my source, so not sure where I stand on those cheap bales.
Kent
Jnette wrote;"Catmad, how much are the hay bales?"
There's one place we have been getting hay (square bales, average size) for $7.00, but it's "cow quality" and not always available. The round bales are scarce, our last ones were $45, and _very_ light and loose.
Kent, I wish you luck The thought of limited bales makes me sad, I have aquired Soooo many cool seeds. Somehow digging in the dirt sounds like a LOT of work :(. Spoiled, I am.....
I feel very lucky, but don't know that I will find another source like what I'm getting right now. They are oat straw. and some alfalfa. They are all 15 to 20 years old. and in a barn. If I carry and toss them out of the loft, and haul myself. It is $0.00. But I share some of what I grow with him. So he don't mind. The number is schrinking so it won't last forever.
He has been retired for some time now and rents out all the land, and has no need for what is up in the loft.
Check out some of the older farmers around. You could get lucky.
I wish you all to find a deal.
Russ
Russ,
First, I got the seeds today. Wonderful!! Thank you. Makes me anxious for spring and we have 6" of ice on the ground and it is now snowing. First time in weeks it has been warm enough to snow. It has been clear as a bell, and around zero every day.
Next, you get some help to get that straw out of the loft. Don't you do it by yourself.
Next, How is Connie? And Barb, how is she? Tell her hi for me.
Take care, and no rush on that straw. Jeanette
Jeanette ;
Connie is still doing as well as she can. She feels good but knows, she has to back away from stress. We still pray for her, and ask for healing.
She is able to work enough part time to give her gas money, and keep her auto insurance up to date. she has a few other bills she is working on to get paid off.
Outwardly she looks fine and keeps her time occupied and does not dwell on the problem or feel like the world has come down on her.
I feel that I would have her around like this than to loose her to being unable to do anything by herself. which is the big risk, on the surgery procedure it would take to repair the problem. That, or to not survive the surgery at all. This is what the Dr's. feel as well.
Barb is still dealing with bursitis in her hip. The Dr. wanted to try Therapy for a month, to see if that would help.
It has helped to strengthen some muscles But it also aggravates the bursa. We have an appointment with the Dr. again on Monday. Will see where we go from there. He may try another shot of cortisone, or he may suggest draining the bursa.
The straw, there is a big drift between the drive way and the barn. That is put on hold for a bit now . I did have Gary lined up to help, and he still will, as he does appriciate my help as well.
I don't know much about those particular melons, but I thought it may be worth a try.
Well we have 2 or three days of warmer temps again. There is more snow and ice than 2 or 3 days could take care of. They are predicting rain for tomorrow, which could shrink the snow, but it would take quite a bit to get rid of the ice.
Oh well only 4 more days left of January. Feb is usually the coldest month. Hopefully the end of March we will be doing some tilling, and planting Onions. May even have to plant a few potatoes.
I may even put in a row or two of sweet corn. We still have plenty from last year, that we froze. But don't really want to miss out on some fresh corn on the cob.
Hey take care now, and keep warm.
Russ
Sounds like both Connie and Barb are doing "as well as".
We got another foot of snow today, on top of the ice and the snow we had. Weather report says more snow the rest of the week.
Looks like a long time until I will be worrying about how much the strawbales cost. And boy aren't you the optimistic one. Plowing in March!! I have all the seed catalogs dog-eared and most of my orders in. I buy way too many seeds and then end up giving them away. Oh well.
Also, I give all the seed catalogs to the local gardening club. I think the seed catalog companies all got together a couple of years ago and culled out the names and addresses of people who weren't buying. I have had a lot of people tell me they aren't getting them any more. They just stopped showing up. Too bad. That is the "arm-chair gardening" as my mom used to call it, that you do starting in January. After the holidays.
However, I certainly can understand why they would do that. Everybody is cutting back and those catalogs sure aren't cheap.
Well, fixing oysters for dinner so gotta run.
Jeanette
Guess we probably should be using D-mail for this. Nobody else cares about this stuff.
This message was edited Jan 27, 2008 9:58 PM
Might give some a smile, others a hmfp. LOL
You may be right.
Yesterday was nice. Done a little thawing. Today is supposed to get mid 40s, then rain in the afternoon. The next 3 days chance of snow and cooling back down again. I am going to start constructing some sand boxes for the plant stand. They will be for holding the rope lights. that I use for bottom heat. Since a pic is worth a thousand words,, I will wait on the description untill I get one built.
Russ
Russ, I'm anxious to see it. Please do send a picture.
Jeanette
:>) K
Jeanette; Ok I have a start on the boxes.
And another
Lights installed. Noticed the one end is not lighted. It is OK though I think it will have enough heat any way.
Think I might move a couple of the retainers. might have to re-distribute the heat a little.
Haven't put kitty litter in any yet. Want the plant rack set up first.
This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 6:47 PM
Here is another string of rope lights. I have coupled some together. used those for Christmas. They look like white but the bulbs are blue. and outside the did look blue.
I had to make the box a little shorter than the shelf so it would fit between the poles, of the plant rack.
Does it look to you that it should work??
Now I need to hang a light over the fish tank and start planting those other little guys. Just remembered I forgot to get some fertilizer for them today. Well we will have to go back in in a day or so any way. The Dr. wants an MRI of Barb's hip. They will call us when they can get her in.
Russ
You aren't going to put them, btw, do you have your plants growing?-----in before you get nutrients are you? How about the pump and airstones? That is interesting. Where are you going to put it that you need all that heat? Now, are you going to have yours so that the water circulates with some in a reservoir?
Jeanette
I'm curious. Are those Christmas lights cheaper than heat cables? Seems like the lights would cost more to operate than just the heat cables. I know my electric bill goes up drastically when I run Christmas lights outside, but I hardly notice a difference when I use my heat mats. Nice boxes. Are you going to post pics of the whole setup when you have it done?
Jeanette; I think I have you confused, The boxes are for putting under the seed flats. They will be on my seed starting rack. The seeds you sent me. those plants will go in the fish tank. Two different projects. Sorry bout that.
I still need to get a light hung over the fish tank. ( no fish in it)
I don't have it 100% ready yet. I have been looking for the heater for it..
Those plants, are almost ready to transplant. They sure are way behind yours. according to the picture you posted.
I'm sure I'm not doing something right. I didn't have every thing ready, so I started the seeds. in potting soil in one of the six pac sections of a starting tray. I may have to buy a new tank heater, if I don't find the one I know I have.
Not going anywhere today though, we are at blizzard conditions today. The wind was howling all night but it didn't start snowing untill daylight.
The intensity has been picking up rapidly ever since. Definitely a big change from yesterday. Very little wind, temp up to 46. Uh huh now it is 2 degrees, snowing, wind at around 40 mph visibility way down. Nope not going any where today.
Did you start your seeds right in the mini hydroponic system???
Russ
Woofie; They are really very small bulbs, but yes they are used for Christmas.
I used them last year. Only had 2 --12 footers, in use. I didnt really notice any difference in power usage.
I will post more pictures a little later. but will post one now that shows the rope lights under the trays. Last years picture. This may not be the right pic. I'll look it up off line, to find the one that really shows the lights.
OK this was the one I was looking for. You can see the rope lights under some of the flats.
This year yoy won't see the lights just that box under the seed flats. but I will try give an account of time to germinate and such. That may be of more help than any thing.
Russ
So, do I have this right? The lights go in the boxes, you put kitty litter in the boxes to help keep the lights in place and hold the heat, then the flats go on top? Are those just plain ol' fluorescent fixtures above the plants or the fancy grow lights? That looks like a very nice setup you have there. I'm going a bit stir crazy here, but I don't have a good place to start anything. Can't afford to keep the greenhouse warm enough and I don't have enough light to start seeds indoors. Which is why I'm so interested.
Woofie; Yep the rope lights in the box, ( I did use wire retainers to hold the rope in place) they are bridge of nylon to go over the rope, with 2 tiny nails. on each side of the rope) but you have the concept right.
Yes they are just shop lights. although I did opt for them being an instant on and quiet start. I use 2 shop lights for each shelf. so 4 bulbs per shelf. That gives as much light as I can get there. I doubt that it would be enough to grow any plants beyond a size for transplanting into the garden. but it worked well for me. Now I would like to have the seed flats set on something besides directly on the rope light. Also if I splashed any water, I wouldn't have to wipe it up. The kitty litter would soak it up quickly. and the warmth form the rope it would be dry in less than a minute. The real plan is to have the heat distributed more evenly
under the flats. That is the main purpose of the kitty litter.
I take up about a 4' X 6' space in the kitchen, for which I am grateful. My wife don't mind too terribly, that I use that part of the kitchen. Of course being retired I help with the kitchen chores too. And we take turns at doing the dishes and cooking.
It does get to look like a mess by the time the weather is fit to plant every thing out in the garden. I use the plant stand primarily for garden vegetables.
How ever I do start a few other things as well.
The boxes are made of 1 X 2 ,s and are just long enough so they will fit between the poles that hold the shelves and they are 2' in width . the bottom of the box is Masonite. or pressed hard board. and it was the thinnest I could get
Hmmm, if you put plastic over the kitty litter, you wouldn't have to worry about spills at all. Anyway, that is a very nice arrangement. I may have to steal your idea there.
We're twice as warm as you are: toasty 4 deg this AM. :-)
You know what guys? This thread started out with the cost of strawbales. We hyjacked it. Darn, I wonder if there is a way to move the beginning of our subject to a new thread? There are a lot of questions I have for you Russ, and some ideas thoughts for you Woofie. I think I will ask Terry if she can do that.
I'll let you know.
Jeanette
Hmmm, true. This probably belongs over in Propagation, anyway.
Nah we'll just have to shut up for a while. and get back to the strawbales. Which by the way. I didn't go get yet as they are safe in the barn with a big snow drift in the way. I don't plan on doing any shoveling.
OK, Russ & Woofie, I started a new thread. I just couldn't get the pictures you posted Russ. They are on here.
Terry said there was no way she could split a thread. That's ok, this works. It is new on the list. Under "strawbale gardening".
Jeanette
This message was edited Jan 29, 2008 5:04 PM
Bill,
Check your local "Craig's list" for straw bales, you will probably find it cheaper there.
http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/us/fl
Just kind of by accident I looked under livestock food/hay, don't remember the exact heading in the classifieds and there were strawbales advertised there. I just didn't look before because I don't consider straw as food. But, there they were. Don't know where else they would put them tho.
Jeanette
Hi Jeanette
We have a Farm+Garden section for Columbus Ohio.
Looks like each city is different.
Right now prices in our area are a little steep because it's winter, prices will come down in the spring.