Well here it is! I cannot believe that I planted the first of this garden on March 2, and didnt put in the Squash plants till April. I have already eaten Zuchini that were at least 8' in length. I am going crazy watching the little yellow squash growing, mouth a'droolin'!
Here are the Grape tomatoes that I planted ( a tiny Scraggly little guy ) on March 22. The actual plant is over 3and a half ft. tall with branches climbing through the bales. It is covered with blooms and hanging with fruit!
I am now trying to prune it back and tying it to the frame!
I planted my red potatoes( gleaned from my kitchen pantry) on April 15th. Today I just couldnt stand it so I pulled aside some of the hay and looky looky, I have potatoes ! This one is only about 2 inches in length, so I covered it up and checked in on the White ones.............
I didnt dig to far before finding this little fella. Since the plants are still in bloom I need to quit doing this!LOL! I just cant stand it! I love to see what they are doing under all this hay and I cant wait to try them out with a little Milk and butter!
Zuchini babies! Planted the End of March.
Yellow Squash, so many babies that they arent growing fast enough in size, just keep putting on more and more fruit! I will have to resort to culling out the oldest soon so that the newer ones will have room,... now I just wonder what in the world Im going to do with all these 4 and 5 inch culls??? : }
Still waiting on the pole beans! They just keep climbing and a bloomin'. Should see tiny little beans soon!
Your snooping is being watched by garden guard..LOL
Ooooh , If only I had had room for cabbage!!!
Eufaula: looking good!
Thanks Kent, I really have tried hard to do this and its paying off! NOW,... How about some photos from you guys. Lets see all those pretty gardens!
Eufaula where is Diesel..He is okay right..Everything looks so good
Here I am Tubbytee, She wont let me help in the Garden any more...says Im too destructive NOT Constructive!! Hmmmph! Me??? D.
Thanks Tubby, How about some More pics of your garden! Id love too see them. E.
I'm a first time straw bale gardener starting with 10 bales. Oh, how I wish I had more bales! Everything is growing like crazy! In fact, I'm afraid I might have planted things a bit too close and may have to thin out some plants. I transplanted my seedlings (after hardening off), into the bales around April 25th.
Here's the cabbage and some eggplants.
Anaheim Peppers & a couple of mildly hotter peppers
Eggplants - Something is eating the leaves. There are tiny pin holes all over the leaves. Any ideas for an organic type insecticide?
Tomatoes - cherry, paste, seedless (for hubby who has diverticulitis), Celebrity, Amish. In case you're wondering what those red things are, I read somewhere that tomatoes plants grow stronger and put out redder tomatoes with red plastic under them while they grow. Since the plants are doing so well, I have removed them to provide more air circulation and prevent fungal disease.
All ten bales.
Potato plants just starting to peek through the straw. I purchased 3 laundry baskets at the dollar store, poked holes in the bottoms, layered about 4" of straw and the potato seed, then just covered them with another 1" of straw. Each time as the plants grow to 4" in height I will apply another layer of straw. It's just a trial to see how it does this year. If it works, I'll buy some more next year!
I also made 4 raised beds for the radishes, beets, carrots, lettuces, strawberries, peas, beans, limas, squashes, cukes, and onions. BTW, I had some onion sets left over and last week I stuck them in the strawbales and they're about 3" high already! Those straw bales totally rock!
Oh my Frausnow, what a wonderful bale garden! I have the same problem, I planted too close and too much, on just a few bales(8). Everything I have is growing great and already producing fruit.
Next year I definitely will have a bigger garden and I plan to start getting info on bales now. Actually Im looking for more bales now to get started on a late summer garden. We have such a long growing season in Georgia that I decided Im going to try keeping one going for the whole season.
I have a feeling that since the bales hold heat so well that maybe a Fall Garden would do great! well we will see!
I am using Diatomaceous earth as my organic pest deterrent. So far it hasnt failed me. If I see the beginnings of anything Pesty I sprinkle a little DE, and get the job done!
Now the DE can be expensive but well worth it. To conserve the powder I use My Handy Dandy( Kent Are You Listening?) Eufaula's "Sock-It-To-'Em" used sock 1/2 full of the DE then shake it vigorously over the plants !! Hey! Dont laugh it works! E.
Thanks, Eufala! I'll give it a go. I think I may even have some on hand.
Eufaula: first you invent an eufaulatum and now a sockitoum! Get those patents started ASAP! :-)
frausnow: I also had some critters eating my eggplant leaves. I used liquid sevin.
Eufala we're right on schedule, I'll have squash medley before the end of this week.
Frausnow, stop at Marion and Bucks and check on the plastic barrels for your potatoes. I have 4 barrels and the potatoes are growing out the tops of all of them, I posted pics somewhere just can't remember where I've been but the white barrels work best they keep the heat down.
Fremar, I had a feast yesterday of Zuchini and Squash, simmered with the drippings of one piece of bacon. I was dissapointed that I had not one onion left to add but , after I started eating I really didnt care!
I need to ask a silly question now. Do ants eat potatoes? I discovered another ant bed and it is right on top of my potatoes. They are fiesty to. I am afraid to put any ant bait on them, for fear of poisoning the potatoes for eating. DE just doesnt seem to get to the bottom of the bigger nest. If I leave the ants alone for now will they harm the potatoes?
Aw, Euf! I'm jealus! I can't wait until my squashes and eggplant are ready for harvest!
I love egg plant I didnt have enough room for them in the bales but I have them growing in five gallon buckets. Not growing any where as fast as the bales though!
I got 3 zucinni and about 12 yellows tonight, here's a shot of my zukes first time in a bale and amazing.
I can't get over how much easier this bale gardening is. My bell peppers and some of my tomatoes are planted in dirt and I am constantly weeding, here are some volunteers, the carrots I had dug up while thinning the barrels and just on a whim stuck them in the hay bale and they are HUGE
OK euffie remember you asked for pictures, this is a little less than half my garden space
and these are my taters and carrots
Oh My Gosh! Beautiful, just B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L-!!!
Well , here is my haul from today! Doesnt seem like much , but this the third time this week that I have "Culled" the veggies! They are growing so close together and fast that I have a feast each night and am freezing what I dont eat! I planted 2 yellow Crookneck and 2 zukes.
Hanging Gardens of Squash!
As you can see I have a mini-jungle! Just look at those Kentucky Wonders climbing. Beans soon!
Closer look at teeny weeny little beanies!
OMG
I am sooooo jealous, I know you got an earlier start than I did I can only hope mine look that good in 3 or 4 weeks.
Congrats Eufala that is fantastic, needless to say you're as convinced as I am about this bale gardening.
Might try cinnamon sprinkled on top of the ant problem areas. i buy mine at sams in bulk. They dont seem to care much for it and usually leave. Sometimes we add DE to the cinnamon as well. Kathy
Is it okay if I borrow the DE "sock it to em" idea? That's a brilliant way of distributing DE!
Fremar---- I dont know what I would have done this year If the Strawbale DG'ers hadnt convinced me on what to do! All My gardening equipment that could have dug up or tilled this Red Clay either went with the "Divorce Tide" or was left here because it was broke. So with little money and little land and a couple of bales , look what anyone can do!
Kathy---- HMMM , cinnamon , I never knew that! Ive tried the DE and epsom salt earlier , and it helped for a while.The bigger aggressive ants that started at the bottom of the bales and worked themselves to the top are real boogers! Yep I'm going to try the cinnamon technique next! Thanks gal!
Stephanietx----- You go right ahead LOL!!!!! I am flattered that you asked and seriously want to try it! It does work! I believe I have a big bottle of cinnamon in the pantry , Im going to make a blend of DE and Cin. today and get my trusty "Socketuem" and SOCK-IT-TO-EM!!!
