ChewOnGreens--

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Green-not my favorite color!

Green-proven that if you pick that color for a car your SMART (proven? really?)

Green-became an enemy, when I became a Golf widow (used to have an overwhelming urge when traveling on the highway and seen a particular golf course; to throw a exploding projectile onto the 18th green and snicker devilishly as I imagined all sorts of plaid clothing fly into the sky in a cloud of smoke he..he...he ...exclaiming FOUR!!!!!!!!! (ahem! sorry, got carried away) Geez...where would I get an exploding projectile. Hey! where would I get an exploding projectile? LOL..just kidding......or am I....

Green-makes the world go round-that's why I'm stuck in the vortex never quite spinning with the rest of the world...No green!

Green-A project (experiment really) I'm trying.......called Straw Bale gardening--

I have found there isn't much information out there about straw bale gardening. When you do find information there aren't many pictures of the process. So I decided that I would teach myself through trial and error and see what becomes of it. I don't claim to have a green thumb, and my only success story previously is that I have a few house plants that are still alive and thriving. I tried a traditional garden last year and was overwhelmed with weeds. I didn't see any fruit of my hard labor and that almost did me in on gardening. Most articles I read about Straw bale gardening seem to market the idea to those that can't bend much (like the elderly) or those that live in apartments, or don't have the yard space. All of those reasons are good ones of course but I decided to try it because it seem out of the normal realm of gardening; that appealed to me.

1) Get a few straw bales and set them up anyway you like-be creative-(make sure the twine around the bale isn't touching the ground) I put a sheet of black plastic down first because the bales need lots of water and the plastic helps retain water. plus, if you decided ( I did) to use the bales for a border and plant Lasagna style in the center (more about that later) then you will need to layer the center up (more later) and plastic is the first layer.

2) after you have set the bales up on the plastic-soak them everyday for 3-4 days. The other articles I read suggested using ammonium nitrate to soak the bales (but it is not found easily in USA) regulated etc...I had no luck finding this...so I experimented and soaked the bales with Miracle grow once. (really soaked each bale; you need a good nitrogen soak up)

3) The next day I covered the tops of the bales with blood meal, then manure, top soil.

4) Give your bales time to cool down, and start planting about four days after the Miracle grow. Plant- 2 plants per bale(just dig, cut or wedge down into the bale). If you do seeds (pushing them just barely into the bale) cover them with a thin layer of top soil and thin them out over time as they begin to sprout.

5) water often-straw bales require more water than traditional gardens.

6) Experiment-I can only offer the results thus far with my own straw bale experiment. I think I have already become obsessed. I have better results in the first week and a half than any other type of gardening I've tried. I also bent the rules a bit when planting. Because you get less area to plant, I decided to put a few plants like vining ones in between the bales at the bottom so that they grow out and into the yard. This way giving myself more available planting spaces...also I planted inside my rectangular shape. I decided in this area to try Lasagna gardening which is another alternative gardening style to the traditional dug garden.

The process of the center area of my garden is Lasagna style.

1) first we already laid the plastic.

2) cardboard or cardboard paper or newspaper.

3) top soil, blood meal, manure, compost--mix it into each other with a hoe etc...

4) loose straw

5) take the plant with a handful of topsoil and push it into the straw, firming it into the compact soil, and bringing the straw in close around that plant.

6) water, water, water.


Both of these techniques have saved me tons of time. I am a mom of four, and I don't have time to dig and weed. These techniques work great and my plants are doing wonderful!!


ChewyChews--