Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

Dick

"Dick Adams" wrote in message
...
Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

Dick

I've done something similar. I had a huge number of molding bales of fescue
grass that I threw down in "flakes" all over the garden in the late fall,
after liming the soil. I tossed horse manure on top of the hay flakes and
just let everything sit over the winter. In spring, I moved the layers aside
for plants. It acted as a mulch. The next fall, I hoed all the stuff into
the dirt and added more layers of hay and manure.

If you keep that up for 4-5 years you can turn the roughest soil into rich
loam.

In article ,
(Dick Adams) wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

Dick

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm
--

Billy

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953

"Dick Adams" wrote in message
...
Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

What do you have in mind when you use the term 'straw bale gardening'?

I've grown spuds in a bed with straw bales around them and infilled iwth
dirt. I've cut a hole in a strawbale and put soil in and grown things in
it. I've used slabs of straw bales as a base for no-dig. I use lots of
straw bales in my garden and have no idea what on earth you mean by your
question.

Billy wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

Of all the approaches I seen to straw bale gardening,
Len's is the most different as he has one large bed
rather than north-south rows to optimize direct sunlight
for each row. But then he's in Queensland which gets
more direct sunlight than is available on the cold side
of the frost line.

We do share some equal problems though. He has roos and
rabbits while I have deer and rabbits.

There's a lot of material on the Internet about straw
bale gardening. But I'd really like to hear from people
who have done it

Dick

Farm1 wrote:
"Dick Adams" wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

What do you have in mind when you use the term 'straw bale gardening'?

I've grown spuds in a bed with straw bales around them and infilled iwth
dirt. I've cut a hole in a strawbale and put soil in and grown things in
it. I've used slabs of straw bales as a base for no-dig. I use lots of
straw bales in my garden and have no idea what on earth you mean by your
question.

I was looking for people like you who have actually done it.

Have you tried tomatoes, onions, squash, or melons?

Dick

Pat wrote:
"Dick Adams" wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

I've done something similar. I had a huge number of molding bales of fescue
grass that I threw down in "flakes" all over the garden in the late fall,
after liming the soil. I tossed horse manure on top of the hay flakes and
just let everything sit over the winter. In spring, I moved the layers aside
for plants. It acted as a mulch. The next fall, I hoed all the stuff into
the dirt and added more layers of hay and manure.

If you keep that up for 4-5 years you can turn the roughest soil into rich
loam.

So you are basically using your garden as a compost bin. Great idea!
One problem I have is my son's hay fever so fescue is out. We get a
lot of weeds in our yard so grass is out too. But in-garden composting
with straw is worth a try. Thanks.

On Thu, 5 Jan 2012 02:20:55 +0000 (UTC), (Dick
Adams) wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

I used straw bales and old shower doors for a cold frame one or two
years. It worked well.

On Jan 5, 10:08*am, wrote:
On Thu, 5 Jan 2012 02:20:55 +0000 (UTC), (Dick

Adams) wrote:
Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

I used straw bales and old shower doors for a cold frame one or two
years. It worked well.

I tried tomatoes in a bale a few years with no luck at all.I am not
sure exactly what happened but they didn't grow well and then got
wilt.
MJ

wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

I used straw bales and old shower doors for a cold frame
one or two years. It worked well.

Thanks. Nice idea. Don't have any old shower doors. But
could probably find a few at a Habitat for Humanity Resale
Store.

Dick

wrote:
wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

I used straw bales and old shower doors for a cold frame
one or two years. It worked well.

I tried tomatoes in a bale a few years with no luck at all.
I am not sure exactly what happened but they didn't grow well
and then got wilt.

Thanks - I'm considering tomatoes. The management of my house
wants them planted in area she has assigned to me for gardening
because she thinks they will be top heavy.

As for the problem with your tomato plants, my initial questions a
1. Was there enough well-composted soil in the straw bale?
2. Were the straw bales adequately soaked and fertilized?
3. Did the plants get enough sunlight?

My limited experience says that vegetables should be planted in
rows North_to_South maximize exposure to the sun. Last year I
crowded the rows of Habenero Peppers to fit them all in the
garden plot. The quality of harvest was definitely a function
of row position - from excellent to poor.

Also I just learned that peppers are perennials! So if they winter
indoors, they will prosper again the next spring. This is great
news - expecially here in the Land of the damnyankee Snow."

On Jan 6, 6:04*pm, (Dick Adams) wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:
Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.
I used straw bales and old shower doors for a cold frame
one or two years. It worked well.
I tried tomatoes in a bale a few years with no luck at all.
I am not sure exactly what happened but they didn't grow well
and then got wilt.

Thanks - I'm considering tomatoes. *The management of my house
wants them planted in area she has assigned to me for gardening
because she thinks they will be top heavy.

As for the problem with your tomato plants, my initial questions a
1. Was there enough well-composted soil in the straw bale?
2. Were the straw bales adequately soaked and fertilized?
3. Did the plants get enough sunlight?

My limited experience says that vegetables should be planted in
rows North_to_South maximize exposure to the sun. *Last year I
crowded the rows of Habenero Peppers to fit them all in the
garden plot. *The quality of harvest was definitely a function
of row position - from excellent to poor.

Also I just learned that peppers are perennials! *So if they winter
indoors, they will prosper again the next spring. *This is great
news - expecially here in the Land of the damnyankee Snow."

There was no compost of any kind in the straw. They were soaked and
fertilized and had plenty of sun. The bale was placed between my 2
raised strip bed gardens so it was able to utilize the irrigation
system as well as the sun. To be fair, I have not had very good luck
with tomatoes in any way shape or form in this garden so I can't be
sure that the bale had anything to do with it. When I did pull the
plants out I did notice that the root structure was not as vast as
usual. There were hardly any of the tiny filler (finger?) roots. Maybe
the straw was too dense for them to grow.
MJ

"Dick Adams" wrote in message
...
Billy wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

Of all the approaches I seen to straw bale gardening,
Len's is the most different as he has one large bed
rather than north-south rows to optimize direct sunlight
for each row. But then he's in Queensland which gets
more direct sunlight than is available on the cold side
of the frost line.

We do share some equal problems though. He has roos and
rabbits while I have deer and rabbits.

Len lives in suburbia now so he doesnn't have problems from roos or rabbits.

"Dick Adams" wrote in message
...
Farm1 wrote:
"Dick Adams" wrote:

Anyone here into straw bale gardening?
Like to read opinions on it before I try it.

What do you have in mind when you use the term 'straw bale gardening'?

I've grown spuds in a bed with straw bales around them and infilled iwth
dirt. I've cut a hole in a strawbale and put soil in and grown things in
it. I've used slabs of straw bales as a base for no-dig. I use lots of
straw bales in my garden and have no idea what on earth you mean by your
question.

I was looking for people like you who have actually done it.

Have you tried tomatoes, onions, squash, or melons?

I've planted a pumpkin into a well rotted bale into which I cut a hole. It
did well. If I was going to plant toms or beans, I'd do them in a bed with
bales around like Len did but in a smaller bed than he used. The spuds did
well in the bed we put bales around.

I always rot my bales for a while before doing anything with them unlike Len
did. I buy bales and drop them on the ground and then turn them when I
think of it so the soil microbes can start work on them.

Bales also work well to extend the growing season (beginnig and end) and
especially if they are starting to rot. Use them straight on the ground to
protect things and with an old window or some plastic on the top of them.

wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:

....
Thanks - I'm considering tomatoes. The management of my house
wants them planted in area she has assigned to me for gardening
because she thinks they will be top heavy.

As for the problem with your tomato plants, my initial questions a
1. Was there enough well-composted soil in the straw bale?
2. Were the straw bales adequately soaked and fertilized?
3. Did the plants get enough sunlight?
....

There was no compost of any kind in the straw. They were soaked and
fertilized and had plenty of sun. The bale was placed between my 2
raised strip bed gardens so it was able to utilize the irrigation
system as well as the sun. To be fair, I have not had very good luck
with tomatoes in any way shape or form in this garden so I can't be
sure that the bale had anything to do with it. When I did pull the
plants out I did notice that the root structure was not as vast as
usual. There were hardly any of the tiny filler (finger?) roots. Maybe
the straw was too dense for them to grow.

I have yet to try straw bales, but everything I have read says that
well-composted soil is necessary. Think of a straw bale as a container
that soil will eventually break down into compost.

Dick