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#1
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Hay Bale Gardening
I am wanting to try this later this year. I am moving so I cant do it
right now. I would like to know if any here have tried it. This has some idea what it is about...lower down on the page has two pictures one of the bales in place and one of the veg growing. http://www.co.clay.mn.us/Depts/Extensio/ExAPHydr.htm My only problem I forsee is not many do bales in Northern Ireland any more. Mostly round bales. Can anyone give me Ideas on how to try this using round bales rather than normal ones. I am only doing this for select plantings as an experiment since I dont know what kind of ground is underneath the grass in the paddock area of the new house and I dont want to start digging....no-dig is what I am after. I plan to get some raised beds in for next seaons growing. Thanks Julie Northern Ireland |
#2
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Hay Bale Gardening
snip than normal ones.
I am only doing this for select plantings as an experiment since I dont know what kind of ground is underneath the grass in the paddock area of the new house and I dont want to start digging....no-dig is what I am after. I plan to get some raised beds in for next seaons growing. Thanks Julie Northern Ireland This is interesting, I have some hay which is not good enough for the pones and I have been wondering what to do with them, now I know,keep us posted :-) kate |
#3
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Hay Bale Gardening
"al8dan" wrote in message oups.com... I am wanting to try this later this year. I am moving so I cant do it right now. I would like to know if any here have tried it. This has some idea what it is about...lower down on the page has two pictures one of the bales in place and one of the veg growing. http://www.co.clay.mn.us/Depts/Extensio/ExAPHydr.htm My only problem I forsee is not many do bales in Northern Ireland any more. Mostly round bales. Can anyone give me Ideas on how to try this using round bales rather than normal ones. Couldnt you just put the bale on its end? So you had a big circular area? -- Tumbleweed email replies not necessary but to contact use; tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com |
#4
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Hay Bale Gardening
"al8dan" wrote in message oups.com... I am wanting to try this later this year. I am moving so I cant do it right now. I would like to know if any here have tried it. This has some idea what it is about...lower down on the page has two pictures one of the bales in place and one of the veg growing. http://www.co.clay.mn.us/Depts/Extensio/ExAPHydr.htm My only problem I forsee is not many do bales in Northern Ireland any more. Mostly round bales. Can anyone give me Ideas on how to try this using round bales rather than normal ones. I am only doing this for select plantings as an experiment since I dont know what kind of ground is underneath the grass in the paddock area of the new house and I dont want to start digging....no-dig is what I am after. I plan to get some raised beds in for next seaons growing. Thanks Julie Northern Ireland Seems a good idea. One caution. Under no circumstances add the Ammonium nitrate to the bales when they are dry and never let the bales dry out. You could have a potentially explosive mix or at the least a very dangerous fire hazard. |
#5
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Hay Bale Gardening
Tumbleweed,
The round bales would be a bit too tall I think. Rupert thanks for the advice. I probably wouldn't have thought of that. It does say to keep it VERY well watered and maybe you would have a less explosive alternate to use??? Anything would have to be a commercial preparation as I have no time yet to grow anything for make yer own. I plan to do comfrey somewhere it wouldn't be a disaster if it spread. Cheers and Keep up with the ideas. Thanks Julie Northern Ireland |
#6
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Hay Bale Gardening
"al8dan" wrote in message ups.com... Tumbleweed, The round bales would be a bit too tall I think. Rupert thanks for the advice. I probably wouldn't have thought of that. It does say to keep it VERY well watered and maybe you would have a less explosive alternate to use??? Anything would have to be a commercial preparation as I have no time yet to grow anything for make yer own. I plan to do comfrey somewhere it wouldn't be a disaster if it spread. Cheers and Keep up with the ideas. Thanks Julie Northern Ireland I am doubtful that you will be able to get your hands on Ammonium nitrate in a pure form in the quantities you may need Perhaps it is available with a fire suppressant. I assume that it is used for a plentiful supply of nitrogen so any other nitrogenous fertiliser should do but you would need to adjust the amount used. This link gives various things with the relevant nitrogen content:- http://www.chemicalland21.com/indust...rganic/NPK.htm There are other more "organic" materials which should do the same job. |
#7
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Hay Bale Gardening
Rupert wrote:
"al8dan" wrote in message ups.com... Tumbleweed, The round bales would be a bit too tall I think. Rupert thanks for the advice. I probably wouldn't have thought of that. It does say to keep it VERY well watered and maybe you would have a less explosive alternate to use??? Anything would have to be a commercial preparation as I have no time yet to grow anything for make yer own. I plan to do comfrey somewhere it wouldn't be a disaster if it spread. Cheers and Keep up with the ideas. Thanks Julie Northern Ireland I am doubtful that you will be able to get your hands on Ammonium nitrate in a pure form in the quantities you may need Perhaps it is available with a fire suppressant. I assume that it is used for a plentiful supply of nitrogen so any other nitrogenous fertiliser should do but you would need to adjust the amount used. This link gives various things with the relevant nitrogen content:- http://www.chemicalland21.com/indust...rganic/NPK.htm There are other more "organic" materials which should do the same job. On the whole, one of the last places I'd want to be seen trying to buy ammonium nitrate in quantity is Northern Ireland. I'd love to know how the bales project goes -- I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen those photographs. It does sound like an awful lot of trouble, especially with a hosepipe ban, so I salute you in advance. I've used spoiled silage as a mulch to feed an area I raised with trucked-in subsoil, and it worked well in a scruffy way. Apart from the fun of experimenting with the system, which I wouldn't deny for a moment, it might be more relaxing just to use the bales to build ginormous compost heaps and dig in the result when it finally gets there. But I suppose you are going to have to pay for the hay. I don't know how much hay costs these days: I haven't bought it since it was, I think, about two pounds a bale. Straw would be cheaper than hay, and just as good. Even at less than that price, if you aren't going to feed it to stock, it's probably more economic to buy in bales of peat substitute (please, not real peat) and dig it in. I can't remember the name of the firm to go to for bulk orders: were they called Maskell, perhaps? If you just want to buy a growing medium, growbags are cheaper and easier as well as much better. -- Mike. |
#8
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Hay Bale Gardening
snip
there. But I suppose you are going to have to pay for the hay. I don't know how much hay costs these days: I haven't bought it since it was, I think, about two pounds a bale. Straw would be cheaper than hay, and just as good. Even at less than that price, if you aren't going to feed it to stock, it's probably more economic to buy in bales of peat substitute (please, not real peat) and dig it in. I can't remember the name of the firm to go to for bulk orders: were they called Maskell, perhaps? If you just want to buy a growing medium, growbags are cheaper and easier as well as much better. As Janet says dealers usually have some spoilt bales of hay and will give them away if you are lucky. Hay is usually £1 a bale off the field, £2.50 later and £3 per bale now, straw is about £2.50 approx. I buy mine in early and pay about £1.50 per.bale delivered. Using it as a growing medium is just out of interest. kate |
#9
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Hay Bale Gardening
Janet,
yes I'd be using spoilt hay if I can find it for nearly no cost. The bale are watered for well over a week and started composting (the reason for the ammonium nitrate) before you plant. So it perhaps by the time the roots need to bury themselves the inside of the bale is looser( who knows) The website was jsut an over view if you want I can post more links that detail it better (I think). And I think with the supports in the photo the plants MAY have been young tomatoes. Potatoes are one of the veggies they say ya cant grow in a bale. And as Kate says it is just an experiment as I found it interesting and thought perhaps then I could do a few things in hard to dig areas. I am looking for no-dig ways to grow as the ground at the new house has never been used for a veggie patch and to be honest working full time I cant really be bothered to dig this year. Cheers and THANKS... Julie |
#10
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Hay Bale Gardening
Hay Julie, LOL
I thought you may find this useful. As an experiment we grew in hay and straw this year. We found that the hay grew much larger plants. We couldn't locate any old bales so we used new ones. We did NOT use any Ammonium Nitrate (AN). I am sure the heat of the bale had something to do with the delayed growing. This hay bale was a grass hay from Southern Colorado. In these photos both of the plants came from the same seed packet and were planted the same day within seconds of each other.. http://www.cheap-land.com/Rich/s4200022.jpg http://www.cheap-land.com/Rich/s4200006.jpg All of our plants in the bales were put out several weeks late and are nowhere near as large as the ones in the ground, which were put in earlier. We didn't fertilize the bales at all until a few weeks ago just to see what they'd do. Then I started using a Miracle Grow knock-off mixed with some Mittleider minerals. One pepper and one tomato was put in a couple of weeks after the others. I started with fertilizing them and they are now among the largest plants in the bales. Within a couple of weeks of starting to fertilize they turned a darker green and began to really shoot up. I have only been fertilizing a few weeks now. Just for reference. We have tomato plants in the ground that stand over 5 feet and are loaded, at least 5-100# pumpkins, watermelons (which may or may not be ripe before the frost) and several other plants producing very well. Our area is very rocky and has a lot of shale. All of our neighbors will all be happy to tell you that stuff just doesn't grow well in this area. They have tried for years and nothing works..... Oh well.... http://www.cheap-land.com/Rich/s4200005.jpg You can also read about one other experience at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/libra...he_Hay_Miracle Google Ruth Stout. She was the first person I read that did the hay mulch. Last week I brought home another 20 bales of alfalfa. I have heard it may be better than the grass hay. Next year we will have the plants in early enough to produce. We will NOT use AN. We will put compost on the bales to help provide more nutrition. We will be using both hay (alfalfa and grass) as well as straw to continue our little test. I will also add that we planted potatoes on top of the ground under about 18-24" of straw. We are very happy with the results. I have reached under the straw and picked potatoes. I always grab a handful of black compost with the potato. That ground is going to be prime next year for pretty much anything. http://www.cheap-land.com/Rich/s4200019.jpg Good luck, Steve |
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