As I said in the last blog "green is not my favorite color" well...it's quickly becoming a runner up for first (red is my favorite). Green and I should say pale yellow (as in straw) are in a close race.
Why? well...I have come to realize that in just a short time, my kinda sorta like; has become a LOVE scenario........Love, love, love straw bale gardening. Not only are my veggies doing double duty, as in growing at twice the usual rate; not a weed in sight other than the expected trim I have to do because of the bales themselves sprouting. (but that just means you are doing everything right) So it's kinda a pat on the back that you actually achieved the perfect scenario for your plants to thrive. after all the bales sprouting up themselves means you have seasoned, watered, and maintained the perfect environment for the bales to grow. (therefore anything you stick in them grows too).
All together this is about the third week of this process. The first week I spent (after a little research) laying down the black plastic, and arranging my bales to the configuration I thought would work best for me. After that I spent the time seasoning the bales with the Miracle grow, blood meal, manure and topsoil...(I also did the center so it was more time consuming as opposed to just doing the bales themselves) In the center I did the Lasagna technique as explained in the last straw bale gardening blog.
In the last blog I really didn't list what I planted....so here it goes....
1)Broccoli plants- 2 per bale is ideal-just dig, hatch, cut into the bales (sometimes they pull apart easily and you can just gently push the plant root down into the bale and close it kinda like a book) and sometimes you don't find that divide in the bale so easily and you have to cut and remove some straw. You can fill in the space with a mixture of topsoil, manure. Some books I have read suggest cutting a piece of carpet out and putting it around the stem of your plants to prevent a certain type of worm and their larva....so far I just cut out the bottoms of Styron foam cups and ripped it to the near center, put it around the base of the plant then push it back together to form a barrier..(so far, so good) also with bale gardening one perk is Less pest!!!!! so you may not even have that worry at all.
2)Cabbage plants- I did 2 per bale. However considering how large they get, perhaps just one is ideal. I couldn't bring myself to give up an entire bale to one plant; I may pay in the future for that..So far the 2 in the bale has not been a problem and they are thriving very well.
3) Lettuce plants- I did 3 per bale-again, that's pushing it. 2 plants is plenty if you are doing HEADS of lettuce. Otherwise the salad greens types are fine..The more the merrier, and you can continue throughout the season (colder) planting and replanting lettuce.
4) Green beans Seeds- I covered one entire bale with blood meal, manure, top soil and planted approx 12 seeds of green beans-They have already sprouted are are doing great. If you decide to do seed, just push them in enough to kinda lodge in the top of the bale and cover lightly with soil.
5) Pepper Plants- I planted 2/3 per bale..All different types of pepper plants. Make sure you dirt up as your plants grow. This will help support the plants as they get taller.
6) zucchini seed- I covered an entire bale with seed thinking that it might not take off...YES they did take off and now I am going to have zucchini as far as the eyes can see!!! LOL oh well, live and learn and I can also remove a few...I intend to help the vines outwards toward the yard so that they don't overtake my center area of the straw garden.
7) Cauliflower plants- 1 to 2 per bale. I only did one per bale because of the size and then added some greens seed to the other side so not to waste the space..I will have lots and lots of lettuce.
8) Tomato plants- I have Cherry's, big mommas (I think) and two other kind I don't quite remember at the moment. I plan to stake them directly through the bales. Also check out my upside down tomato plants..they are doing even better than the straw garden ones. Manure I find is the key to tomato's....
9) Brussels sprout plants- 2 to 3 per bale. Make sure to dirt up as the plant grows to help support its heavy load of sprouts once it starts producing.
10) The center area is planted Lasagna style. I planted strawberries on the far side and left lots of room for their runners. I also planted Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, and sweet peas (Rocco's favorite) in the big tractor tire (we found in a ditch) Also I decided I love the no dig Lasagna style gardening too. So I took cinder blocks and created a Lasagna style garden. First I made my rectangle with the blocks 6 blocks long, and 4 blocks wide. Next I took cardboard paper (3rolls) and layered the inside bottom, then added my compost from my compost bin, manure, topsoil, blood meal. Make sure you wet the cardboard paper well before putting on your layers of other matter. My herbs were planted on the edge inside the cinder block holes and I planted onions, lettuce, celery, spinach, asparagus, radishes; which, all of the seeds are already sprouting and I need to thin them..check out the pics
11) In the Styrofoam container- I pushed holes in the bottom of the Styrofoam cooler (recycling) and added topsoil, manure..then I threw in carrot seeds. I will have thin them out because they really took root and all are growing.
See?..............I drive around and see people just now tilling up their plots. They haven't even started to plant yet because it still gets cold at night. It's amazing how early you can start to garden when you use bales. The Lasanga style allows you to plant immediately because you dont have to wait for all the compost etc..to break down. So you can take any space on your lawn and instantly turn it into a veggie paradise.........Hope you enjoyed this blog and it was imformative.
(Be sure to check out "My complete profile" for ChewyChewsNews-a family oriented second blog-Also YOU readers feel free to leave COMMENTS!!!! good or bad; I can take it)
Why? well...I have come to realize that in just a short time, my kinda sorta like; has become a LOVE scenario........Love, love, love straw bale gardening. Not only are my veggies doing double duty, as in growing at twice the usual rate; not a weed in sight other than the expected trim I have to do because of the bales themselves sprouting. (but that just means you are doing everything right) So it's kinda a pat on the back that you actually achieved the perfect scenario for your plants to thrive. after all the bales sprouting up themselves means you have seasoned, watered, and maintained the perfect environment for the bales to grow. (therefore anything you stick in them grows too).
All together this is about the third week of this process. The first week I spent (after a little research) laying down the black plastic, and arranging my bales to the configuration I thought would work best for me. After that I spent the time seasoning the bales with the Miracle grow, blood meal, manure and topsoil...(I also did the center so it was more time consuming as opposed to just doing the bales themselves) In the center I did the Lasagna technique as explained in the last straw bale gardening blog.
In the last blog I really didn't list what I planted....so here it goes....
1)Broccoli plants- 2 per bale is ideal-just dig, hatch, cut into the bales (sometimes they pull apart easily and you can just gently push the plant root down into the bale and close it kinda like a book) and sometimes you don't find that divide in the bale so easily and you have to cut and remove some straw. You can fill in the space with a mixture of topsoil, manure. Some books I have read suggest cutting a piece of carpet out and putting it around the stem of your plants to prevent a certain type of worm and their larva....so far I just cut out the bottoms of Styron foam cups and ripped it to the near center, put it around the base of the plant then push it back together to form a barrier..(so far, so good) also with bale gardening one perk is Less pest!!!!! so you may not even have that worry at all.
2)Cabbage plants- I did 2 per bale. However considering how large they get, perhaps just one is ideal. I couldn't bring myself to give up an entire bale to one plant; I may pay in the future for that..So far the 2 in the bale has not been a problem and they are thriving very well.
3) Lettuce plants- I did 3 per bale-again, that's pushing it. 2 plants is plenty if you are doing HEADS of lettuce. Otherwise the salad greens types are fine..The more the merrier, and you can continue throughout the season (colder) planting and replanting lettuce.
4) Green beans Seeds- I covered one entire bale with blood meal, manure, top soil and planted approx 12 seeds of green beans-They have already sprouted are are doing great. If you decide to do seed, just push them in enough to kinda lodge in the top of the bale and cover lightly with soil.
5) Pepper Plants- I planted 2/3 per bale..All different types of pepper plants. Make sure you dirt up as your plants grow. This will help support the plants as they get taller.
6) zucchini seed- I covered an entire bale with seed thinking that it might not take off...YES they did take off and now I am going to have zucchini as far as the eyes can see!!! LOL oh well, live and learn and I can also remove a few...I intend to help the vines outwards toward the yard so that they don't overtake my center area of the straw garden.
7) Cauliflower plants- 1 to 2 per bale. I only did one per bale because of the size and then added some greens seed to the other side so not to waste the space..I will have lots and lots of lettuce.
8) Tomato plants- I have Cherry's, big mommas (I think) and two other kind I don't quite remember at the moment. I plan to stake them directly through the bales. Also check out my upside down tomato plants..they are doing even better than the straw garden ones. Manure I find is the key to tomato's....
9) Brussels sprout plants- 2 to 3 per bale. Make sure to dirt up as the plant grows to help support its heavy load of sprouts once it starts producing.
10) The center area is planted Lasagna style. I planted strawberries on the far side and left lots of room for their runners. I also planted Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, and sweet peas (Rocco's favorite) in the big tractor tire (we found in a ditch) Also I decided I love the no dig Lasagna style gardening too. So I took cinder blocks and created a Lasagna style garden. First I made my rectangle with the blocks 6 blocks long, and 4 blocks wide. Next I took cardboard paper (3rolls) and layered the inside bottom, then added my compost from my compost bin, manure, topsoil, blood meal. Make sure you wet the cardboard paper well before putting on your layers of other matter. My herbs were planted on the edge inside the cinder block holes and I planted onions, lettuce, celery, spinach, asparagus, radishes; which, all of the seeds are already sprouting and I need to thin them..check out the pics
11) In the Styrofoam container- I pushed holes in the bottom of the Styrofoam cooler (recycling) and added topsoil, manure..then I threw in carrot seeds. I will have thin them out because they really took root and all are growing.
See?..............I drive around and see people just now tilling up their plots. They haven't even started to plant yet because it still gets cold at night. It's amazing how early you can start to garden when you use bales. The Lasanga style allows you to plant immediately because you dont have to wait for all the compost etc..to break down. So you can take any space on your lawn and instantly turn it into a veggie paradise.........Hope you enjoyed this blog and it was imformative.
(Be sure to check out "My complete profile" for ChewyChewsNews-a family oriented second blog-Also YOU readers feel free to leave COMMENTS!!!! good or bad; I can take it)
ChewyChews--
chewy - I read your comment to Walk Forrest Walk - and was wondering if your last name is Ebert? --- I am not able to work my way around blogs very well so if you can post your answer to Walk Forrest Walk -
ReplyDeleteWalk Forrest Walk's Brother - tom
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete