Okay! I'm picking up hay bales today. Can't find straw, so hay will have to do. I'm nervous, as this is so foreign to any way I've ever gardened. I figure the worst that will happen is I will add organic matter to some pretty bad (BUILDER's) soil.
I've printed out all kinds of advice on how to prepare the bales, so I think I'm good on that score. What about planting potatoes in the bales, or do they NEED soil to form potatoes? I'm thinking some squash (it will likely be November at least before any hint of frost here, if it frosts at all) and peas and a brassica or two. Any last-minute (well, I have at least ten days before thinking of planting) advice? warnings? laughter?
Thanks!
Hay bales + fall garden = ???
Hi Brigidlilly:
I'm sure you've read the extensive threads here on straw bale gardening. If you haven't, please do so as it's a good resource
I planted about 120 bales last year as an experiment and my results were ok. I had few problems with diseases and stuff but my yields were larger from crops planted in the ground.
One piece of advice I would give is to make sure you are adding adequate nutrients. At first my plants did poorly. But they did better once I got into a regimen of feeding them nutrients which the bales didn't have and hold
BB
Yep. Them bales turn into mighty fine coarse compost. BronxBoy is dead right about fertilizing. My straw bale plot didn't produce as well as the soil beds.
Frank
Instead of strawbale, try hydroponic or earthboxes. Both preformed much better then my soil beds. I have tomatoes from the same seed sprouting in both earthboxes and soil beds. The soil beds are half the height of the earthboxes. Same type of results with hydroponic drip system.
brigidlily, I did MUCH better with hay than with straw. My hay-bale garden last year did amazingly well, but this years straw was pretty bad. The tomatoes that I planted in what was left of the previous years straw did the best.
I think the straw needed more fertilizer, and I didn't meet the mark. After the summer, my unused straw bales have decomposed, and I'm going to try again with some squash, and beans. We'll see:)
Thanks, all! BronxBoy, I've printed out quite a bit from those threads -- it's what got me inspired. The only thing is I'm going to try and do it organically. I soaked the bales yesterday and then (hallelujah!) it rained last night. A couple more days for soaking, then I'll pour alfalfa tea on them for 3 days, then fish emulsion and compost, then put the seedlings in.
Just a thought, and I don't recall from the huge major posts -- can you direct sow in them? I would think that would be pretty iffy.
Okay, my experience only. I used bloodmeal as a prep to keep it organic, worked fine, very well, in fact. I "sort of" direct planted. I put a scoop of compost in a seperation (just as if I were planting a start) and planted a couple of seeds in that. I did this with beans, cucumbers, summer and winter squash, pumpkins and melons. They all came up well, and did just fine:).
HTH,
margo
Brigidlilly:
There were people who said you could but I didn't try it. I put transplants in the bales.
BB
Okay, finally had the snap to snap a picture! Here are my 12 bales, with a soaker hose all along the top. Bloodmeal is a GREAT suggestion. Sometimes you know things but you don't think of them, you know? That's why I love DG.
I think I'll direct sow a few and transplant a few -- I have some seedlings started which should be ready in a week or so.
Looks good Lilly
BB
Add blood & bone meal both & you shouldn't have any problems - my granny did it that way for years. You could also add some alfalfa to get the higher nitrogen content if you need it as it is usually easier to find ( I live in the middle of a county were the horses outnumber people at least 3 to 1 & I can't hardly find straw & when I do it's $7 a bale!) & thicker stemmed than the hay so it should keep it from compacting too much - just slide a small slice of alfalfa between the layers & pour a few lbs. of both the blood & bone meal. I have the prettiest rogue tomato growing in mine right now (actually the best looking 1 since I cut them back - I wasn't going to use this bed til next spring but I found it & threw it in there & she's a growing like crazy) so I'm a fan of both blood & bone meal. Just my opipion. Hope it helps & have a nice day.
Brigidlily,
I have been experimenting for the last two seasons and am very happy with straw bale gardening. I would like to try some hay bales next year. I used the blood meal like Catmad but substituted a cup of general organic fertilizer on the 10th day. Throughout the season I feed with fish emulsion and the plants seem happy enough. I like the idea of adding bone meal - will consider that next year! Just one thing to watch: once the bales get "cooking" inside you have to make sure they are cool enough when you plant in them. Please check the internal temps before planting your seedlings. Even when I waited this year I still managed to "stew" some tomato plants when we got an unexpected heat wave in June. It's amazing how hot the bales can get!! Have fun and good luck! Jessica
That's why I suggested the alfalfa - it's coarser than hay & harder to break down but not as hard as straw + the benfit of it's usually grown in weed free fields & has high nitrogen content ( that's pretty much all you feed racehorses in training as far as baled products go & it's for that reason - it's a better & cleaner product for feed than regular hay & it's why you don't use horse manure too much in the garden-a little on the rich side & will heat your pile up real fast!) & by layering you should keep from getting hot spots. Only "fish emulsions" I use is the water from the weekly cleaning of my daughter's 4 guppy tanks - hungry little devils do best w/ a 1/4 to 1/3 water change a week so I get about 10 gallons there & pour it on everything on a rotating basis (each garden spot gets it about every 3-4 weeks) & it saves on buying it. Oh and check Burpee or Bonnie for your vegie seeds - been growing tomatoes for 10 yrs here & you definetly want a heat & crack resitiant varities - Celebrity does very well. Hope that helps & good luck w/ your garden.