Strawbale Gardening - no weeding, no hoeing, no tilling

Got my bales!

But I had to pay $4.25 a bale. Highway robbery!!!!

 

Lantanalane: some of my friends in the bale garden forum at www.davesgarden.com have paid double that in some parts of the country in seasons past.

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We just had a nice little rain shower come through. After it passed, I went out and checked on my bales.

They are purring along nicely anywhere from 80 - 100 degrees.

The frames help a lot in retaining the heat (and moisture) so the decomposition process can work more efficiently.

 

Kent,

There's a guy in Smithfield who is selling wheat bales for $2 if anyone is close by there. Found him on Craigslist.

Meant to ask you how you put up all your surplus last year, by your pics you certainly had a beautiful harvest!

 

Kent,
If I'm understanding this correctly, if I am not going to use the 10 day quick cook method, I can go ahead now and get my bales set up and start watering them? I was thinking the bales would get to soft by the time I was ready to plant.

 

1. You are correct.
2. The softer/more decomposed the bales, the better.
3. Welcome aboard!

 

I friend of mine told me that a neighbor did some straw bale gardening last year but sometime during the summer the bales just got too hot,could he have maybe not watered them enough?

 

Thanks Kent, I will be finishing up my trellis this week. I am going with your method with the 4'x4'x10' at 13 feet apart with wire fencing. I found some straw bales around $4 a bale from a buddy who does landscaping.

 

Annette: once the bales go through the heat of the initial decomposition process they don't re-heat from that. Biggest problem most folks have is NOT keeping the bales moist and the bales dry out.

nozlnut: good deal. Looking forward to seeing those tomatoes hanging off that trellis!

 

Thanks Kent!

 

I hit the jackpot today and found strawbales for $2. With my job I am fortunate to be exposed to many people and I just got lucky to find someone who had connections. Anyway, I got my bales layed out today. I originally started with 15 but I stepped out for 30 minutes and my 1 year old lab tore one bale apart. So I am going to make due with 14. Its my first bale garden and I am starting small. I will post pictures of my progress after I figure out how to post them.

 

nozlnut: excellent deal.

Try www.photobucket.com for storing and posting pics.

I've been using them for a long time.

Easy to use.

 

Great deal... can you share where you bought them from?

 

http://wilmington.craigslist.org/grd/1644697446.html

I know this ad is for peanut hay, but this guy had wheat straw last weekend for $2/bale. It's right at the Wayne/Duplin Co. border just off Hwy 111. I picked up 15 bales.

 

HidesinOBX - It was from a farmer down here in York County SC. He doesn't bale much anymore and he doesn't sell to the public. I just happen to know a friend of his who gets an occasional few bales here and there.

Kent - Do you soak your bales for a count of 15 or do you drown them? And is it better to water in the AM or PM right now?

 

10-15 seconds straight out of the hose should be just fine. That'll be about 2 gallons. No need to waste the water since it won't do any good anyway.

I always like to water at the end of the day so evaporation won't be as bad.

It gives the ground more time to soak up any run-off b4 I get in the garden the following day.

 

Thanks Kent!

 

Wheat sprouting

Hey Kent,

Thanks for all of this awesome info!! Hubby and I were talking about trying this, and reading thru your info, I saw where you said usually wheat, rye, or oats will start to sprout out of the bales...this will be a weird question, but my daughter has Celiac Disease, which means she cannot have any wheat, rye, or barley...it damages her small intestines...I wonder if growing the veggies in a bale that may have wheat or rye in it would bother her (if the veggies would get any type of cross-contamination???) What do you think??

Thanks for your time!!

 

beebsy: that is an excellent question that I cannot answer.

Better ask an agronomist or someone in the medical field.

NC State Crop Science Dept: http://www.cropsci.ncsu.edu/

 

Almost done! I am putting a finely hammered mulch around the bales to try and suppress the weeds plus it looks nicer than just the old dirt garden underneath. Then I just need to attach the wire fencing to complete my trellis and I'm ready. Can't wait!!!

 

We bought our bales yesterday and I started to water them,so if all goes well I should be ready to start planting within 3-4 weeks I guess!?