Strawbale Gardening - no weeding, no hoeing, no tilling

Patiently watching

My pepper seeds have finally sprouted! I choose a different pepper this yr. Sweet Early Crisp Hybrid over the California Wonder, which I have had problems with for the last 2 yrs. I'm also planting some Sweet Banana.

Even though I'm planting in old and new straw bales, I'm wondering if crop rotation or something along that order, might be a good move??
I've decided to plant my tomatoes as usual and in July plant beans at their base to off set the nitrogen issue, not really for the beans-although I will welcome them.-- My experiment for the yr. Always like to try something new. Suggestions are welcome.
:allears:

 

Last year my plants in bales didn't do very well. My cukes tasted absolutely horrible, squash was eaten up by vine borers, tomato plant I had in a bale got way too large and toppled over, peppers died, etc. My tomatos that were growing in a raised bed did very well as they usually do.

This year I am likely not going to use bales. We tilled up a section of the yard to plant a regular garden using wide rows. I am taking the bales from last year and tilling that straw into the soil.

 

Ricknc

I'm sorry you didn't have good luck with bales last yr. My first yr was good and bad--a complete learning experience! I spent the winter rethinking everything and I still do it now--this will be my 8th yr.
I wanted a garden with out much work so I could continue to bass tournament fish every weekend. It is the answer for me.
8)

 

VASandy: good for you for experimenting. That's what it takes. Be sure to post a few pics along the way.

Rick: the old straw will be good for the soil, for sure.

 

I hope this pic come thru--it's of the first container we made in 2010. I planted a bean called "Rattlesnake" (sent to me from Arkansas). It did very well.

 

Excellent pic.

You did a great job.

 

What type of garden

Help! new gardener needs help. What grows well in our soil and/or containers/strawbales. Did tomatoes in containers last year, were awesome but little. Everything else got eaten up, :banghead: but not sure by what. Our poor broccolli died a miserable death, the leaves being eaten before the plant coule even grown. Thanks for your comments!

 

FLai: just about anything you'd grow in a traditional garden will grow in straw bales.

Recommend reviewing this thread and all the pics, plus heading to www.davesgarden.com - Best gardening website on the planet.

 

Carolina Country - Annual Gardening issue

http://www.carolinacountry.com/curmag/past/PDF11/2011-03_Mar.pdf

Starting on Pg. 15

My article starts on Pg. 18

This is the 1st article I've written that DID NOT include the step of adding ammonium nitrate (or something similar) as part of preparing the bales.

You can still add nitrogen to the bales if you're in a big hurry and the weather is warm, but it's really not necessary.

The best thing to do is just get the bales out way early, soak'em down good for the 1st couple days and keep'em moist from then on.

Nature will take care of preparing the bales just fine.

 

2011 Best Planting Dates for Seeds

http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/NC/Wake Forest

Just plug in your zip code or town.

 

Interesting way to grow root crops on straw bales

Another straw bale gardener sent me this link:

http://www.kitchendoctor.com/recipes/burdock.php

Quote from the link: "...I planted my burdock on straw bales. There is about 3" of good soil on top of the straw. When ready to harvest, the bales will be knocked apart and the roots can be easily picked out without digging. The straw can then be used for mulch."




- - - - -

Kind of a raised bed on top of a raised bed.

 

HAY bales vs STRAW bales

Good 1st-timer video from one of my friends from the Straw Bale Gardening forum over at www.davesgarden.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXWz6AmzH_c

Sometimes it's good to see and hear someone talk about bale gardening rather than just reading about it.

Suzy is a HAY bale gardener -vs- STRAW bales. Either will work. Just use what is common in your area and also your price range.

Hay is A LOT more than straw in my area, so a few dollar/bale times 100 means alot.

The smaller your garden, the less the impact.

Hay has its own supply of natural nitrogen. Straw has virtually none, thus the compensation you have to make when feeding your plants, and also the breakdown characteristics of the hay/straw.

Suzy also talks about using fish emulsion or other organic type products for feeding your plants over Miracle Gro type products.

i'm moving more and more into her way of thinking with the more organic methods. I'm going to try fish emulsion for the first time this year.

My Daddy was a 10-10-10 fertilizer man and that's all I knew growing up. I don't use that at all in bale gardening.

Also, the only tomato I knew existed was Better Boy! LOL... because that was all he planted. Once I was introduced to heirloom tomatoes and how many different varieties there were out there, I was amazed! lol

Speaking of www.davesgarden.com, if you don't have a membership, you're really missing out on some great gardening info and fellowship. It's the GOLD STANDARD of gardening sites by far on the web.

Oh, Suzy, talks about the conditioning process and adding a high-nitrogen product to the bales. There's no problem with that. It's just I don't think it's necessary if you get your bales out early enough, water them down, and let nature take care of the conditioning.

This is an excellent first-tiimer video, so please take the opportunity to watch......Kent

 

Video

The video was good, I hope this encourages others to give it a try no matter what kind of bale they use.

I have a friend who had back and neck surgery and 3 weeks ago had double knee replacement. She had given up gardening because of it.
I'm going to set up her garden for her this week, using the boxes like mine, so she will be able to sit and work. She is very excited and I will have my gardening friend to swap with again.

Kent, I'm interested in your thoughts on going more organic. Are you looking for a happy medium of both chemical and organic?
Sandy

 

Sandy: looking forward to seeing how your friend does with the bales. Feel free to post some pics.

As to organic gardening, it's just something I'm growing into and have a lot more interest in than previous years.

So, yes, I guess I'm looking for that "happy medium" and will be trying new things this year.

 

What good resources have you guys found for buying the strawbales? Anyone who delivers?

 

A lot of the big box home improvement stores have straw this time of the year.

Most any place that sells mulch does, too.

Ask any landscaper where they get their straw.

Local garden centers should have some info for you.

Ask if they will deliver and what their fee is.

Unless you're getting a lot of bales, you can put quite a few on a pick up truck.

 

Thanks, Kent!

I have an old Chrysler.

I will check around sooon, though. This is my first attempt at a garden ever!

 

This is absolutely awesome!

 

saw this in the calendar here, thought some of you might be interested.

Garden Plant Giveaway
Mount Zion UMC parking lot
Saturday, April 16 from 9 to 10 am

There will be an annual garden plant giveaway at Mount Zion UMC on Saturday, April 16th from 9 am until 10 am in the parking lot. To receive free garden plants and seeds, gardeners fill out and sign a pledge card to share their harvest with those in need. Come and select your plants and get ready to grow your garden! We will have a variety of 2,000 plants to give away.

Mount Zion is located at 15772 NC 50 N, ¼ mile south of the intersection of Hwy 50 and Hwy 42 in Garner. Mount Zion welcomes visitors to its fellowship!

 

Better late than never...using old straw in bins for my tomatoes again this year. I've been a bit behind so I'm treating the bales with the blood meal to fast forward for my peppers. The peppers did better when I used the blood meal than getting the bales early and letting the process start naturally.