SprigOfTheLivingDead
Garden Addicted
Zuchini can grow to be quite big. I would have put three in a line and only planted it on the middle one.
Strawbale gardens
- Thread starter ChickenMomma91
- Start date
-
- Tags
- first garden strawbales
Zuchini can grow to be quite big. I would have put three in a line and only planted it on the middle one.
canesisters
Garden Master
You mean, 3 side by side??
like this:
bale
balebalebalebale
bale
like this:
bale
balebalebalebale
bale
SprigOfTheLivingDead
Garden Addicted
I just meant three in a row with the long sides against each other (3 total), with the zucchini planted in the middle one.
canesisters
Garden Master
That's what I thought. Good idea.
canesisters
Garden Master
The straw bale garden is still going strong. Got 3 large cantaloupes sitting in the kitchen - probably going to make jam from 2. Still getting tomatoes like crazy - but about half are going to the chickens because of bug damage. The herbs seem to LOVE the great drainage of a SBG and are the biggest, healthiest looking things I've ever seen. I WHISH the pots on my porch looked as good. HEY!!! Maybe I should fill pots with straw next year and plant herbs! 
Things I've learned:
*The drip hose is essential and SBG takes a lot of water. Some folks sit the bales over a shallow trench/plastic, collect the runoff & re-water with it to save on water.
*Slugs like SBG too. They got almost as much of my spinach & lettuces as I did. I wonder if salt around the base of the bales would deter them w/o hurting the garden?
*Tomatoes LOVE this method and a TALL, sturdy trellis is a MUST. Also, with all the watering, they need to be spaced out well for air flow. Next year - 1 per bale with something low growing using the rest of the bale.
*I think that this would be an EXCELLENT way to convert lawn to garden with out having to fight the grass/weed battle on such an overwhelming scale. If you mow very low, cover in degradable weed barrier like cardboard or paper, then set the bales and cover everything else in mulch (or in my case, sawdust) the grass will be pretty much gone by the time your first garden is done for the season. Then bust the bales, spread them out, start planning the next season.
Those of you who also tried SBG this year - what did you learn? What did you like?? Not like?? Will you do it again next year?
Things I've learned:
*The drip hose is essential and SBG takes a lot of water. Some folks sit the bales over a shallow trench/plastic, collect the runoff & re-water with it to save on water.
*Slugs like SBG too. They got almost as much of my spinach & lettuces as I did. I wonder if salt around the base of the bales would deter them w/o hurting the garden?
*Tomatoes LOVE this method and a TALL, sturdy trellis is a MUST. Also, with all the watering, they need to be spaced out well for air flow. Next year - 1 per bale with something low growing using the rest of the bale.
*I think that this would be an EXCELLENT way to convert lawn to garden with out having to fight the grass/weed battle on such an overwhelming scale. If you mow very low, cover in degradable weed barrier like cardboard or paper, then set the bales and cover everything else in mulch (or in my case, sawdust) the grass will be pretty much gone by the time your first garden is done for the season. Then bust the bales, spread them out, start planning the next season.
Those of you who also tried SBG this year - what did you learn? What did you like?? Not like?? Will you do it again next year?
- Thread starter
- #106
ChickenMomma91
Deeply Rooted
My bales look drunk lol. They've sort of collapsed a bit and started leaning. My tomato plants have given lots of fruit it's just taking a while for them to ripen. Some I've had to ripen on the window sill. I never thought about using it to create an in-ground garden though. I laid chicken wire down to keep moles out. For some reason my root crops essentially sucked though. Almost as if the bale were too tight. Hope I have better luck with the fall/winter crops.
thistlebloom
Garden Master
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2010
- Messages
- 16,473
- Reaction score
- 17,423
- Points
- 457
- Location
- North Idaho 48th parallel
I will not do it again.
Too expensive.
My straw was not cheap. And the fertilizer was something extra I would not have had to use for planting in the good (though weedy) soil of my garden.
Way too much water is needed to keep things from wilting.
I used a soaker hose too, so it at least was efficient at putting the water where it needed to be without a lot of waste. We have practically no summer rain, so watering with a hose was not optional.
Everything looks stunted, the tomatoes are blighty, the beans that the 'hoppers didn't eat now look like they're getting diseased.
None of the kids carrots survived the hoppers, though that may not be a result of SBG, it does seem to showcase them at that elevation with a 'hey, look at me, come have a bite!' look.
To be brutally honest I can't wait to be done with it so I can take it apart and spread all that straw out. At least it will help the soil get more humus-y.
I have harvested a handful of potatoes and two peppers from it so far. Plus one stolen tomato. My vision of canning homegrown salsa
this year has expired.
A pretty humbling and humiliating garden year.
Too expensive.
My straw was not cheap. And the fertilizer was something extra I would not have had to use for planting in the good (though weedy) soil of my garden.
Way too much water is needed to keep things from wilting.
I used a soaker hose too, so it at least was efficient at putting the water where it needed to be without a lot of waste. We have practically no summer rain, so watering with a hose was not optional.
Everything looks stunted, the tomatoes are blighty, the beans that the 'hoppers didn't eat now look like they're getting diseased.
None of the kids carrots survived the hoppers, though that may not be a result of SBG, it does seem to showcase them at that elevation with a 'hey, look at me, come have a bite!' look.
To be brutally honest I can't wait to be done with it so I can take it apart and spread all that straw out. At least it will help the soil get more humus-y.
I have harvested a handful of potatoes and two peppers from it so far. Plus one stolen tomato. My vision of canning homegrown salsa
this year has expired.
A pretty humbling and humiliating garden year.
digitS'
Garden Master
Hmmm ...
Just a thought for @thistlebloom :
Imagine if after years of gardening experience, you had thought you'd just about figured everything out. Then, Mother Nature throws you a curve ball!
Maybe, it's something that people in the the "real" workaday world hardly notice. Just a little weather event they talk about around the water cooler for one or two mornings. Your plants are slammed; your gardening goes totally off the tracks!!!
Imagining that, Feel Better? Well, you should. Your own private, little smirk ...
Steve
Just a thought for @thistlebloom :
Imagine if after years of gardening experience, you had thought you'd just about figured everything out. Then, Mother Nature throws you a curve ball!
Maybe, it's something that people in the the "real" workaday world hardly notice. Just a little weather event they talk about around the water cooler for one or two mornings. Your plants are slammed; your gardening goes totally off the tracks!!!
Imagining that, Feel Better? Well, you should. Your own private, little smirk ...
Steve
so lucky
Garden Master
Steve, I somehow take solace in your post, reminding me that I am just more intensely at the mercy of the weather than my friends who do not try to garden.
This morning I went to my soggy garden, after a couple days of not even trying to see it. I could see the bean leaves yellowing and falling off from the back door, and that was enough.
The tomato and pepper plants with their leaves hanging limp and wilted (roots rotting from excess rain) have been invaded by tomato horn worms. Adding insult to injury.
I picked off a few greenish tomatoes, hoping they will ripen indoors, away from the sun that is sure to scorch them now that there are no leaves to protect them.
Thistle, we have had so much rain here, that if I had had straw bale gardens, I think stuff would still have rotted. The garden smells bad. The chicken yard smells bad. Even the lawn smells bad.
I am thankful that I am not dependent on this garden for food this winter. I can't imagine how the early settlers, and people all over the world now, are dealing with the changing climate. I whine, but at least my home wasn't flooded, or burned down. And I am so thankful for that.
This morning I went to my soggy garden, after a couple days of not even trying to see it. I could see the bean leaves yellowing and falling off from the back door, and that was enough.
The tomato and pepper plants with their leaves hanging limp and wilted (roots rotting from excess rain) have been invaded by tomato horn worms. Adding insult to injury.
I picked off a few greenish tomatoes, hoping they will ripen indoors, away from the sun that is sure to scorch them now that there are no leaves to protect them.
Thistle, we have had so much rain here, that if I had had straw bale gardens, I think stuff would still have rotted. The garden smells bad. The chicken yard smells bad. Even the lawn smells bad.
I am thankful that I am not dependent on this garden for food this winter. I can't imagine how the early settlers, and people all over the world now, are dealing with the changing climate. I whine, but at least my home wasn't flooded, or burned down. And I am so thankful for that.
thistlebloom
Garden Master
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2010
- Messages
- 16,473
- Reaction score
- 17,423
- Points
- 457
- Location
- North Idaho 48th parallel
Gardeners have solidarity in commiseration at least!
Thanks Steve, for the reminder that it at least may not be all my fault. Weather is huge, and especially if it catches you napping.
I agree So Lucky, I was thinking along those lines too, that I'm grateful that I don't have to depend on my garden for survival. This year anyway.![:\](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/side.png "side :\")
Sorry about your gardens problems this year.
As we always like to say - Next Year Will Be Different!
Thanks Steve, for the reminder that it at least may not be all my fault. Weather is huge, and especially if it catches you napping.
I agree So Lucky, I was thinking along those lines too, that I'm grateful that I don't have to depend on my garden for survival. This year anyway.
Sorry about your gardens problems this year.As we always like to say - Next Year Will Be Different!
