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Has anybody done it? I've been reading up and it seems like it works really well for some folks and not so much for others. I'm gonna give it a try this year. Phase 1 started today. Approximately 12 -14 days of "conditioning" the bales.
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I did it for about 5 years worked fine. Mostly tomatoes, cukes and peppers. Got tired of having to get bales every year.
How does it work ?
You condition the bales by keeping them watered down and using a high nitrogen fertilizer. After a couple weeks or so, you plant directly into the bales. Supposed to be weed free and of course, no stooping over and no tilling. When the growing season is over, you've got compost. I got all of my info online and I'm hoping it does well.Quote:
Originally Posted by jusanothajoe
I bought an auger to help make holes in the straw. When they are new it is hard to dig a hole in it.
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Works great..go by your county extension agent..They will have a bulletin on it. Or go to MSU cares. Com
Dang I thought this was gonna b a big crappie condo at first. Lol
Vonna- it would be great if you could update this every week or so with pics and details of your progress. I know I'm always trying to learn new things. :biggrin
I purchased a book on this technique for gardening and will be watching how you do. Have gardened with raised beds and it worked very well, but after about 5 years
you do have to replace the boards. Drainage is critical and you can't be afraid of worms in your garden.
I'm happy to share my progress, good or bad. I've found out quickly that the soaker hose does not work well at this stage. The water was just running off the bales and soaking the yard instead. Switched to using the regular hose and spray nozzle. I'm on day 5 of watering and day 3 of fertilizing. I know the bales are soaking it up because you can't budge them now, but I can't really tell that they're heating up yet.
I don't think you will notice much warming until you stop watering. I know saturation is necessary and patience is more necessary. :confused:
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Day 16
After a gullywasher rain, I planted this afternoon. I spread about 2 inches of garden soil on top and then proceeded to plant everything. The bales are "softening" up and it was fairly easy to stick a trowel in. I've got tomatoes, jalapeņos, hot peppers, okra, pole beans, yellow squash, cukes and carrots planted. I'm gonna get Paul to help me set stakes out for my climbing plants next weekend.
I believe your going in the right direction. The plants look healthy and strong. I understand these are straw bales but are they hay baled last year or older bales?
I would think hay baled a couple of years ago would break down faster. Just wondering.
I got them from a local nursery. I'm thinking they're just from last fall.
I'm going to continue to monitor your success and after your successful, I'm going to jump in and try a fall garden.:highfive
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All my seeds sprouted. Woo Hoo!
Very nice, keep posting I am enjoying watching!
:hesaidand the plants do look good and healthy.
Six weeks in. Plants are doing pretty well. I've had some yellowing of the lower leaves. I know this can happen from overwatering, but are there other causes as well? It has only been on the tomato, pepper and okra plants. The beans, cukes and squash don't have that problem. I have some baby peppers and tomatoes and all of have blooms.
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Well, I ended up losing all my tomato plants, pepper plants and okra. Don't really know what happened. I replanted, so that will certainly push back some harvesting. We did eat our first squash last night and I'll have some cukes ready in a couple days.
If they continued to turn yellow, it may have been too much water. If they just dried up and wilted and turned yellow, may have been too little water. Sorry to hear you
lost your plants.
You need to use some Epsom salts, just a little, for when plants start to yellow. Also get some powdered milk, and sprinkle around the tomato plants about once a month.
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Here's my garden today. The squash, cukes and pole beans are doing really well. The okra hasn't done well at all and the peppers are just marginal. The tomatoes are late since I had to replant, but are finally coming along.
Looking good and it will be better next year as the hay matures.
"gene"
That is looking good, congrats!
I'm glad you posted pics of your first straw bale garden. I set up a 20-bale garden this year after a farmer friend said that you could grow potatoes in a bale. Hadn't heard of that before so I found a book that explained the process and decided to give it a try. My yard has good sun only in the part that has a rock terrace and poor clay soil so previous gardens weren't much to brag about. The bales took a loooong time to condition because the spring weather was very cool with a late frost in May. The starter plants survived that stretch, but I had to replant the seed beds. Things are finally starting to take off in a big way. Thanks for sharing your garden pics!