1st time bale gardeners - Who's trying it this year?

Here is the other bale...

Great Lav, I wanted to plant this week but it's been too rainy and cool. I plan on doing it this evening. It's supposed to be back up in the upper 70's to upper 80's here next week. I'll be gone camping/hiking for most of next week so I won't get to check them daily. (Feel like an expectant Father!!!) Good luck on yours.

Doug

Eewwee!!! It is so hot!!!. Are we never satisfied. I personally would prefer a gradual induction into summer vs this wam bam we're there thing. I left Tombstone, AZ to get away from this type of heat. We have one fan and I hate to leave windows open as I hate to have the bugs inside. What to do, what to do. Oh well, it won't last too long. I will just stay inside till it cools off a bit. I can't handle this kind of heat. I've beem watering the bales morning and night and they seem to be doing okay. Bless their little straw heats. Hang in the bale babies, its going to cool off soon.

You guys are doing great!! Good for you. I hope to get mine in this weekend, but then will have to cover them. It is suppose to be in the mid 30s at night the last week of the month.

Great pictures Lav. Looks like daylilies in the one.

Jeanette

surprise lilies. They were a surprise too. My garden was made (claimed ) from 3 monsterous forsythia bushes the previous owner had planted and the next year after we removed them the lilies showed up. I figure if they can survive being swamped by those monsters so many years they deserve their day in the sun.

They should do real well. Give them some food once in a while.

Jeanette

Here comes another newbie to straw bale gardening. A friend of mine told me about this recently and it really sparked my interest! I was a little reluctant in planting the standard way so I am very excited in trying this out! I have been away so I hope to get started in the next 2 weeks! Thanks for all the great tips that I read from everyone!

Marie

Added my son, James, to the list. We prepped 3 bales for him at the end of the driveway. Super easy access for him. He is wheelchair bound with CP and he is really excited about this.

We had just gone to a garage sale and the pickaxe I bought for $1 made quick, easy work of getting the holes into the bales! Swing, wiggle, remove.

Peppers are in!

James really wanted to grow carrots in his bales also, but I see they are on the list for plants that don't work. Any idea why they don't?

Welcome to all the new folks! Glad to have you on board!

Don't forget to put your marker on the map: www.frappr.com/strawbalegardeners

Kent

P.S. - Would love to see some pics of James working in his garden. It would be a great inspiration to others who may be wheel-chair bound.

Kent, how soon to fertilize? I think I remember that you use miracle grow. Liquid? How much per plant/bale do you use?

Lavender: I use Liquid Miracle Gro, the powder form that you put in an attachment on the end of your hose so you can feed and water at the same time.

I had a PhD extension specialist tell me it's almost impossible to burn a plant with Miracle Gro since it's so diluted. That's why I like it.

Since there is no nitrogen in a straw bale to speak of, you can start right way.

Use your own judgement, but I feed my plants at least twice a week since I don't use any more additives like manure teas and other organic additives.

Just about every one of us do something a little different with pretty good results overall.

Just keep in mind that you're not dirt farming any more and that the bales just don't provide a whole lot of nutrients for your plants.

That's the biggest change for most of us - getting our feeding schedule and amounts fine tuned.

Re- read Lena's post from NZ; she gave a great accounting of how she fed her plants.

Otherwise, you'll have to skim through the threads and see if you get more responses.

Kent

Kent what ratio of NPK is the fertilizer you use? (and anyone else doing strawbale gardening for more than one year) I bought an organic slow release fertilizer yesterday to try. It's 10-2-8 with 1.8% Calcium and 3% Sulphur also.

Doug

i have tomatoes i have tomatoes they are less than the size of english peas , blooms just shrivled over nite BUT, i have tomatoes i have tomatoes i just want to hug everone sally

Good for you Sally. I don't even have mine planted yet. And probably won't for another couple of weeks. But yours sound good.

Jeanette

I just planted 14 tomato plants in my bales yesterday. I have Long Keepers, German Pink, Rutgers, Oxheart, Brandywines and 1 San Marzano. I also have 3 Nyagous coming from a friend.

darius I love your set up. it looks great!

I really shouldn't have posted on this thread for 1st timers... but I was ill and in the hospital so much of last year (with my first bales) that I DO feel like a noobie, LOL.

oh hope you are doing well! I just love the fencing with the bales, how handy for tying up. I still haven't figured out what I am going to use for stakes on my two measly bales. Are your oxheart yellow oxheart?

I don't know about the Oxheart. They came from a nursery and the tag just says 'Oxheart' although the photo on the tag is red.

I quickly found out last year that even tall stakes are not enough for tomatoes in bales. I had a huge sprawling tangle, and lost a lot of tomatoes.

I grew yellow oxheart one year and I have to say that is my favorite tomato. If the red is as sweet and meaty it will be good too. I have not been able to find any since then locally. In fact, this year our pickins for heirloom tomatoes has been pretty slim. Only Earl May has any at all so far. Seems like almost everyone else is selling only the Boy and Girl series tomatoes and rutgers and celebrity.

I prefer to start my own seeds (esp. tomatoes) but this year I have 3 cats in the house so no space is safe for seedlings. I do have a few winter squash seeds started outside now that it's a bit warmer. :)

ok lesson one for the newbie. I usually water my new plant/bales in the morning. Today I was too tired and we had a very very windy sunny day. I just went out and my poor plants were wilted horribly in one of the bales. I should have watered the transplants this morning. Pouting....

darius: welcome back! Love the cattle panel or whatever it is you're using for your trellis.

Kent

Hey Kent and everyone else-

Just a newbie here who has watched the thread with great excitement for more than a year now. I am in Western Montana and just got the bales placed today. They are replacing a rose garden that gave some nice curb appeal to an ugly garage. I figure that a SB garden will not only add curb appeal, but some curious passers by may give it a second look and wonder just what the heck I am doing!

So- in earlier posts, I guess I realized that the twine should be on the ground which is against what my cherry tomato size brain thinks is rational... however I do respect the advice here and will flip them tomorrow. I am concerned about the curing time required for this garden area. Is the best and only way to tell by feel? I have not been able to find a provider for the recommended fert so I am considering Urea, bone meal, or just plain old manure (an suggestions are appreciated). Regardless, any suggestions are appreciated, and I hope to post a blog on the progress. Here are a few photos from today-

others have used urea. I used bloodmeal. It took more than a cup per bale in our cold spring weather.

dsid: welcome aboard! Put the bales either way but I like'em with the strings on the ground. Water run off seems to be noticeably less.

Don't see where the Bone Meal will help in prepping the bales. Nitrogen is the key ingredient.

By the way, I love the color of a fresh, new bale.

And, as mentioned, urea will work along with Blood Meal.

Unless you want to keep track of the temps, which was fun for me 2 years ago, the bales will be ready in about 2 weeks as long as you have kept them good and moist, which means watering them down each day.

You can't go wrong allowing more time for the bales to soften up. It really helps when it comes time to crack them open and transplant.

Kent

Thanks Kent- More to come from Montana as things progress! I appreciate the SB revolution which you are spearheading!! :)

dsid, aren't you worried about the damp bales against your siding?

Darius, maybe we are too practical. I thought the same thing. LOL Must be an "age" thing.

Jeanette

Also, Kent missed a beat there. He forgot to tell you to put your mark on the map dsid.

Actually Darius, I have them about a foot away from the garage. I planted sunflowers behind the bales and am keeping my fingers crossed that they germinate.

well this sounds really really cool. I would like to try them on a steep slope in the back lane. Newbie Questions:
1.Are there any associated watering problems with using them on a slope?
2. Will anything self sow into straw? Probably not but I'm concerned about the abundance of invasive weeds in the lane.
3. How do they hold up to strong winds and hail? I don't want to straw the neighbourhood.
4. How are they for water retention in a dry climate? Are they the same as soil or do they dry out faster?
5. Do you have to put in enough soil to incompass the entire root system of what you're planting or will the straw work if you fertalize?
Thanks in advance.

Dahlia,

1. I don't know that anyone has tried it, but that is what we all do. Try things with what we have.

2, I would almost have to say no, but who knows if the seeds you have in your area are very prolific and would self sow in anything at all they might in straw.

3. If you get a tight bale of straw and don't cut the twine, wire, or whatever holds them together they are not going anywhere. You will not "paper" the neighborhood with straw.

4. The climate doesn't much matter in a tightly tied bale. I would say you have to water the bales probably a little more than soil.

5. Most of the people don't put any soil at all extra besides what is on the roots. Some add some to the hole. If you prepare your bales, i.e. decompose, then you won't need to. You will HAVE to fertilize to make this work. Straw does not have any nutrients.

Now these are just my opinion. Kent or someone else will come along and tell you what they think.

Jeanette

Jeanette: you did fine with your post to Dahlia.

Kent

Thanks balegrowers :) I'll keep you posted on how mine do on the steep slope (about 45 degrees with 90 degrees being vertical). I have 8 x 8s already placed about every 3-4 feet that will keep the bales from sliding. I'm going try planting the top and the side that angles up.

dahlianut: pics, pics, pics!

Kent

Absolutely we want pictures. Good for you Dahlia.

Jeanette

lavender,you didn't know what to use for posts. i always put steel t-posts in the middle of rows. now that i'm trying the straw bales,it's 2 bales,end to end, packed tight, then t-post in center ,2 more bales,t-post .at the end of row of bales,i stepped out about 2 foot, to allow the tomato runners to have extra grow room. putting the posts in the center allowed me to lay a tarp across the fencing i attached post to post when bad weather threatened.also ,putting the posts in the center, will let me pack the bales in tight again next year , without taking my posts up.those little,cheap,woven rugs,about 15x20" for a buck or two at wm or dollar store are taken apart easy. they are my 1st choice for tie strings .wont cut plants. i hang them on the fencing along with a pair of sissors and a small pocket knife to be handy for cutting ties as needed .hope somebody can use this. sally

One more thing that someone might be able to use: I went to the thrift store and picked up a used venition blind. One of the thin ones. I cut it up for plant labels. You can cut them any length you want. Also, I cut them about a foot long and use a paper punch to put a hole in the end then use a plant tie to fasten to the wire or whatever to label the plant. The black sharpies are ok, but the indelible ones work best for writing the name on them.

I use the scissors to trim the ends so they aren't sharp. You can also cut them to a point to go into the soil easy.

Jeanette

Thanks Digger!