Strawbale Gardening - no weeding, no hoeing, no tilling

Old bales from last year - make great mulch

Here's last year's bales that I'm going to put around some crepe myrtles at my Daddy's house.

 

Another way to make a hole/crack in your bales

Lynn, another bale gardener from Georgia and fellow Daves Garden member, came up with this idea for making a space in the bales for your plants.

She was kind enough to let me use her pics.

Looks simple enough with most any kind of bottle.

Drop your plant down to the first leaf and fill the hole with potting mix.

You don't have to worry about trying to pull the bale apart and holding it open while you try to drop a plant in at the same time.

Thanks, Lynn, it's a great idea.

 

Due to many other things, I haven't gotten started yet. I'm going to get the bales tomorrow (don't want to get them before tonight's storms in case they're really severe). My starter plants are inside and doing very nicely.

If I put my bales for peas and beans along the fence, can I get by without having to use posts/fencing to make a trellis? We have a 5-foot chain link fence.

Also, when you say 2 plants per bale for the zucchini and squash, and it's a double row, is it two plant per bale or two per double bale section?

 

Oh, my hubby is starting to get excited now that I've shown him exactly how many tomato and pepper plants we can have! Now he has a question...can we plant corn? If so, how many per bale?

 

ACF: good afternoon, Sister.

Bales along side your fence will work just fine if you need the support.

If for some reason you needed to go higher, just use some cable ties to fasten something to the fence and run some rope, twine, string, etc. parallel with the fence.

As for planting the squash, put 2 sets/bale, with each set having 2 plants.

Here's a pic of some young squash from a past garden:

 

As far as I know, none of the bale gardeners I've talked to have tried corn.

You will definitely have to have some major support for corn or it will be on the ground for sure.

I would try at least 3 "hills" of corn/bale.

 

Whoo Hoo! I've got the posts, the fencing, the blood meal, and the bales (well, half of them. I'll get the other half tomorrow!) Now for good weather to get everything going! My seedlings have sprouted inside so I can transplant them in a few weeks.

 

Good luck. I would put money on Kent's instructions.

Sherry

 

I don't want to blow stuff up...

Agri Supply didn't have ammonium nitrate, they said that's what terrorists use and I can't buy it.

So I got calcium nitrate (the guy at the desk swore it would work just as well, you just have to use twice as much, PLUS he handed me a flyer with Kent's info on it, from the link in the first post. Pretty cool, so I believe him).

I've got the bales set up, and I'm gonna water them in a bit. Very low key, only a few bales this year. Can't wait to get started.

 

ponychick: welcome aboard the Bale Garden Express! Looking forward to seeing your progress.

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The comment from the rep at Agri Supply about only terrorists using ammonium nitrate is just plain ignorant on their part.

That comment ranks right up their with another "expert" who said, "You can't grow anything in wheat straw bales, but wheat."

Ammonium Nitrate is still a great agricultural product world-wide and you can still buy ammonium nitrate locally, but usually only in bulk orders, which is what most farmers do since they'll use so much of it on their fields.

Since the nitrate is regulated merchants have just grown weary of having to keep up with everyone who just wants a bag or two, like myself.

However, I was talking to another bale gardener the other day who talked a merchant into selling him a bag of nitrate on a piece-meal basis.

Ammonium sulphate is a common substitute which is what I'll probably use this year.

The calcium sulphate is another substitute, but as you said, about 1/2 the nitrogen (15-0-0), similar to the strength of Blood Meal.

 

Tracking bale temps with using just water to pre-treat

It's been 8 days since I put my bales out.

The outside temp is 65.

I spot checked the temps and the average internal temp in my double rows are 100 - 120, "cooking" along nicely.

The single rows all had internal temps around 75-80.

Because the double rows tend to keep each other warmer, this would create a more favorable environment for decomposition.

The single rows, with less mass in one spot, are just "simmering" along at a slower pace.

I've already got a few wheat sprouts here and there.

I'm going to see if the bales "cook" out and then I'll add a nitrogen source to see if they'll heat back up.

The bales should be a much better host at transplanting this year than the previous 4 years since I'm giving them more time to decompose than the quick-start method that I've been doing.

I just have to be patient and not transplant too early. You can't go wrong by waiting until at least the last week in April. Watch the extended forecasts.

It only takes one cold night in late April to damage your plants.

 

At what point do you add the nitrogen? Do you just throw it on top or make a hole with a bottle and pour a 1/2 cup in? Do you have a list of how many plants per bale for each veg? I have a trellis that's perfect for this...

 

Good morning, space_cowboy.

If you're doing the quick-start method, after you have watered the bales for 3 days, on the 4th day scatter your nitrogen source on top of the entire bale and water it in.

For ammonium nitrate or sulphate (33/34-0-0) NPK, use 1/2 cup for days 4-6, and then 1/4 cup days 7-9. Just water for day 10. Check the bales daily to see how they are "cooking". On day 10 or 11 if the inside temps have gone down to the ambient temperature, then you're ready to transplant. If the bales are still "cooking" give them a few more days.

For Blood Meal or any product in the (15/17-0-0) NPK, use 1 cup on days 4, 6, 8, and maybe 10.

As you have read, I'm prepping my bales a lot earlier this year with nothing but water for now. A lot of folks have asked me about that because they didn't want to mess with the nitrogen mix. So I'm going to see how they do with just water for now and then add some nitrogen and see what happens.

Don't be in a hurry to transplant. The longer you wait, the softer the bales become and make a better host for your plants.

As for how many plants:

3 tomatoes/bale (I tried 4 one year but that's mighty crowded, especially if you don't sucker them.)

3 peppers/bale

3-4 okra sets/bale

2 sets of squash or zucchini/bale

3 - 4 sets of cucumbers/bale

2 sets of collards/bale

 

Success without nitrogen

This is my first time doing straw bale gardening and am looking forward to eating the results.

With two airborne schnauzers, I have not been able to use the blood meal. (They like to drink the water on the bales). My lettuce is doing beautifully with just the weekly watering with miracle grow.

Oh by the way, my neighbors here in the city of Charlotte, think I'm crazy. At least they did until they tasted the lettuce!

 

izitmidnight: Welcome Aboard. Always good to hear a good report from another bale gardener.

Yep, seeing is believing for some folks.

I looking forward to getting my plants in at the end of April.

 

Bales are in place, and tonight was the first time putting out the bone meal. I hope I did it right by sprinkling it over each bale and the watering it. I noticed it dissolved and sunk in. I'll try to figure out how to post a picture tomorrow.

The only bad thing is that my seedlings inside are doing so well that I'll have to transplant them to bigger containers while waiting to put them outside! My beans are about 8" tall already, and my zucchini has started sprouting more leaves.

 

ACF: BLOOD MEAL is what you should be using as a nitrogen source, not BONE MEAL.

Not sure if yours was a typo or not. If it was BONE MEAL, then discontinue using it. No need to waste it.

BLOOD MEAL: about a cup/bale every other day starting on Day 3 or 4.

Do post a pic when you can.

 

(SIGH!) I had the wrong thing, but that has been remedied! My day 5 is now back to being a day 4, but that's okay. I just transplanted my first seedlings into bigger pots. Can you put peat pots into the bales? If not normally, can you cut off the bottoms to put them in? I don't mind taking the plants out of the peat pots to put into the bales; I was just checking on what I should do when I plant them.

 

FYI Got Amonimum Nitrate at Hudsons today pretty sure it's 50# for $14
Got posts and welded wire mesh @ Lowes - should do the job.

planning 25' tomatoes 25' other stuff like eggplant peppers zucchuni etc.

Just need straw now. (anyone??) wishing for $2/bale range

Gonna give this a try this year and we are pretty intrigued by it.

opcorn:

 

Agri Supply had some really pretty, clean straw for around $4 a bale. My garden isn't on the scale of yours, so it was worth it.

We have the bales out, and have been watering them every day for about a week now. Waiting till the end of the month to set plants out.
There's potential for a light freeze Wednesday morning.