First Planting

For the past week, I kept all the transplants outside in the sun during the day, but brought them up on the front porch and covered them with large boxes overnight.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, this "hardening" exercise -- acclimating them to coolness of the evening -- is important for seeds started indoors. 

One (or more) of my cats has decided that tender veggie leaves are great to munch on.  Having found several of my transplants inside with their tops chewed off one morning, I started moving them outside later that day.  I put as many pots as I could fit in flat, plastic storage containers and put them on some of the front straw bales.  In an attempt to protect them, I put a low, wire, garden fence around them to "pen" them in -- I guess what I should say is to keep the cat(s) out!

Seedling Pen

Another issue I had was with the summer squash.  They seemed fine inside, but outside, the shoots have collapsed on most of them.  I would have considered the squash the fastest growing and sturdiest of all the veggies I had moved outside, but they didn't like something -- got too cold overnight, wind might have been too stiff -- I just don't know.  Dad and I talked about it today, and he thought maybe they needed to stay inside a little longer.  I only had one that I was able to plant today, so I put eight more seeds in peat pellets to germinate.  I actually had four, but I snapped those shoots when I was getting them out of the fiber pots to plant in the straw bales.  I was trying to be so careful, but I guess they're just very fragile.  My plan calls for four summer squash plants, so I hope by planting eight more seeds, I have enough that make it to a straw bale.

Most reading I did on straw bale gardening suggests that you should use a trowel to open up a spot on the straw bale to plant each seedling.  You can, but I found that it just produces more of a slit in the straw bale and not a nice hole in which to plant.  When you've conditioned the bales only a couple of weeks earlier, they are still pretty stiff, and -- at least for me -- a trowel just literally didn't cut it.  Instead, I used a heavy (sturdy), serated steak knife to dig into the straw bale and hack at the straw enough that I could pull some out to create a nice deep hole. 

We put in four strawberry plants today.
I'm going to buy four of another variety later this week.

I really think this is important because a slit is not going to let you get very deep, and the deeper you can plant the seedlings, the sturdier they will be as they grow.  Also, if you just have a slit, you'll have to press the transplant's roots into that small space, and that's probably going to damage them.    

After digging into the straw bale, the color is much darker.

One thing I noticed when I was pulling straw out of the bale to create the planting hole was how warm the inside of the bale is.  That's the heat from the decomposing straw, and a key reason that straw bale gardens produce faster than cold dirt.  As suggested by other straw bale gardening writers, I pulled the peat pots off the strawberries today.  It made it easier to press them into the planting holes, and I tore up the peat pots and put the small pieces around the top of the soil (to hold moisture).  Then I put the bits of straw I had cut out/pulled out of the bale on top of the pea to further support and protect the strawberries.

Happy pole bean (left) and pea seedlings.

I planted twelve pea seedlings and four pole bean seedlings along the back of the back two bales. Several of my other bean seedlings had been munched on outside -- even though they were inside the wire pen -- so I will be planting at least eight more pole bean seedlings soon.  Last week, I bought some trellis netting, and after measuring off the length we needed, I stretched it tightly between the two steel stakes I put at the end of each back bale and secured it on each stake.  The beans, peas, and cucumbers that I will plant need this support.  The pea seedlings have already started putting out tendrils to attach to the netting.  As I did with the strawberries, I put the cut out/pulled out bits of straw around those veggies.

April 11th -- First day of conditioning the new straw bales.

 

April 29th -- After just 18 days, decomposition (darkening) is clearly visible.
Looks like the grass is a lot greener, too!

These bales will have pole beans, peas, and cucumbers along the back of these bales, to take advantage of the trellis netting,  In front of them (on the back two bales) will be green peppers, green onions and eggplant.  I'll put four kale seedlings on the front/left bale (plus acorn squash and basil on the front side), and the strawberry plants will have the front/right bale.  I'll also have other herbs planted in the front and west sides of the bales.

Seeds Galore...and Time to Plan

After starting the 10-day process of cooking the bales -- conditioning them with Dad's "pure gold" urine, organic blood meal, and traditional garden fertilizer, I moved on to getting seeds planted.  When I would go to the grocery store or hardware store, I'd check out their seed selection, and I began collecting a few packages of veggies and herbs I thought would do well from seed.  About the only things I'm not starting from seed are tomatoes, bell peppers, and strawberries.

Here's our seed list:

• summer (yellow) squash
• acorn squash
• zucchini
• cucumber
• banana peppers
• pole beans
• eggplant (variety mix)
• green onions
• peas
• kale
• basil
• dill
• thyme
• cilantro

I have four "greenhouse" seed starting trays -- two with peat pellets, and two that have peat pots that need to be filled with soil first.  I bought the ones with peat pellets first (at the hardware store), but when I went back a week later to get more, they were out, so I had to get the other type.  Both work well.  The pellets just seem to be a novel, quick and non-messy way to go.  You just soak them, and place a seed or two in the pea-sized hole that is in the middle of the pellet.  

Peat Pellet Greenhouse Tray -- 50 pellets per tray

Peat Pot Greenhouse Tray -- 50 pots per tray

Covered Greenhouse -- moisture stays inside

I keep all the greenhouse trays on the dining room table and an adjacent cabinet, so they can get south sun exposure.  What I planted when was based on the time to start indoors before planting outside -- after last frost.  I'm a little ahead of schedule, in that I began cooking the straw bales two weeks ago, and it's still three weeks until Mother's Day weekend -- northeast Indiana's "safe" time to plant.  But I'd rather get an early start than to be late having them ready for the straw bales.  While they're still growing in the greenhouse trays, I mist them a couple of times each day to ensure they have plenty of water.

My pole beans, summer squash, and peas germinated and grew quickly under their protective cover, so two days ago I started to transplant them into bigger, biodegradable fiber pots.  And WOW!!!  They have alreay doubled in size!  Today I moved them outside -- it's a warm (50's) sunny day, and I am starting the "hardening" process...getting the young seedlings acclimated to outdoor conditions.  As long as it stays above freezing at night, I'll leave them outside...move them to the front porch and cover them with a box to keep them protected overnight.  This is a very important step when starting plants from seed to make sure that direct sunlight and the temperature changes that occur overnight don't shock them.

Transplanted seedlings -- their first day outside

The straw bales are starting to show the early stages of decomposition at this point too.  They are beginning to darken on top.  The straw bales shown below are in my front flower bed, behind some low shrubs.  Three of the bales were twine-wrapped with the full length of the straw on its side; one bale wrapped with the cut ends of the straw up (top of the bale looks like big cluster of drinking straws).  With my twelve bales, I have about half of each.  My reading suggests that side-stacked (full length of straw) bales condition slower, but hold water better.  The upright-stacked (cut ends of straw on top) bales condition more quickly, but don't hold water as well -- the water runs more quickly through the straw -- DUH!!! -- just like drinking straws!  I wonder if there is a connection there.  You can see in the photo below that the bale closest to the sidewalk is darker than the other three.  It is the one with cut-side up.

After two weeks of conditioning with water and fertilizer,
the first bale (straw's cut side up), shows darkening
which indicates first stages of decomposition.

Even if the bales don't show it, they're decomposing inside, and after two weeks, they're ready for plants.  So don't be discouraged if you think nothing's going on.  Something's going on.  You're creating an ideal growing environment for your garden vegetables and herbs!

Dad and I are at the point now where we're just watering the bales each day, to make sure they stay wet and keep the decomposition going.  We've been fortunate to have recent rain, so that's been helpful.  We don't need any more "pure gold" or traditional fertilizer until we get into the growing season.

I did a layout of what to plant where, so I'd know how many seedlings to have ready for the first planting.  Quite a few vegetables can have more than one planting per season -- after harvesting and a plant is "done," another plant can be put in its spot.

Joel Karsten's Straw Bale Gardening book is a terrific guide for how far apart the plants should be, how many of a specific vegetable should be planted per bale (if the entire bale is devoted to one vegetable), and how many crops (re-planting opportunities) are available for various vegetables.

My planting layout (from top to bottom):  Back yard; front - behind shrubs; (left) front/next to garage; (right) front/next to porch.

Cooking the Bales

My 20-year old cat, Chloe (AKA Lomie, because she is the
reincarnation of my Mom), has discovered a new water bowl. 
I can put up with it for now, but after we plant, no!

Getting the bales nutritionally ready for planting is at least a 10-day process.  Most straw bale gardeners call this "conditioning" the bales.  They also call it "cooking" them, because the temperature inside the bales can get over 130 degrees.   

I wanted to start plenty early and make sure that by the time Mother's Day is here (May 12th), the bales have cooled back down and we are able to plant.  Watering is the biggest component to begin decomposition of the straw, and fertilizer can be traditional commercial varieties or organic.

After breakfast each morning, Dad and I have been going outside and adding fertilizer on top of the bales, then watering the bales to help work the fertilizer deeper into the bales.

Cooking the bales -- blood meal and urine. 
That Tropicana Orange Juice bottle has something "pure gold" in it,
but it's not orange juice!

When I mentioned in an earlier post that my Dad was going to be my water boy in more than one way, it's because most of the people writing on "best-practice" fertilizers for straw bale gardening recommended human urine.  It is very high in nitrogen.  So Dad didn't hesitate to contribute!  After I got past the "ick" factor, I figured if Dad could put aside his pride and pee in a jug, I would get it on the bales somehow.  

Our 10-day Cooking Schedule:
Day 1 -- water heavily
Day 2 -- water heavily
Day 3 -- water heavily
Day 4 -- 1/2 cup urine, blood meal (sprinkle liberally), water
Day 5 -- 1/2 cup urine, blood meal, water
Day 6 -- 1/2 cup urine, lawn fertilizer (sprinkle liberally), water
Day 7 -- 1/2 cup urine, fireplace wood ashes (sprinkle liberally), water
Day 8 -- 1/4 cup urine, water
Day 9 -- 1/4 cup urine, lawn fertilizer, water
Day 10 -- 1/4 cup urine, water

Getting the "pure gold" mixture just right!

To ensure that the urine was well distributed on the top of a bale, we measured the amount needed each day and put it in the white plastic jug shown above, then filled that with water.  Then one of us poured it all over the top of a bale.  After that, I would sprinkle the blood meal or other fertilizers on top, and we would water each bale.  I would suggest reading what some of the "experts" say about various fertilizer options (to get good amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and how much to water on top of the fertilizers, because too much will potentially just wash it through the bottom, but too little will not work the fertilizer into the bale.  I have found that the blood meal and lawn fertilizer is still not dissolved after 2-3 days.  We watered pretty heavily after adding them to the top each day.  But it will work it's way in over time, I guess.  We had thunderstorms yesterday, so that should help too. 

Garden fertilizer getting watered in.

 
  

Where to Put the Straw Bales

I had a week to think about where on my property I wanted to put my straw bales before they were delivered on April 5th.  Of course, the delivery man from Arbor Farms Nursery just stacked them on our driveway.  But unless you plan on covering the bales with a tarp, you will need to get them placed on your property as soon as possible.  They are heavy enough dry, but if they get wet, they are going to be way too heavy for most people to move.  

You'll want to refer to some online sources or the Straw Bale Gardens book for considerations that affect your property, but generally look for spots that get 4-8 hours of sun each day.  And to preserve water, it's best to put some side-by-side to have less sides of the bales exposed.

I live in a sub-division on the far north side of Fort Wayne.  Ideally, I would have put all my straw bales in the back yard...away from the possible negative scrutiny of neighbors.

My house faces south.  I  have a decent-sized lot, but there are mature trees in the back yard, which limits the amount of sun most of my back yard gets.  And unless I wanted to put a bunch of bales up next to the wooden privacy fence on the back (north) border of my property -- which would be the farthest point from our back deck and a long way to stretch the hose -- I only had one other sunny option.  But it was a perfect option for some of my bales.  Three years ago, I had started a compost pile between two tall trees which were hard to mow between because of smaller stumps and a couple of younger trees.  The area is very near our back deck, close to the hose, and gets great sun...all considered. 

Because I get full sun in my front yard, I put most of the bales there.  Two went right beside our front porch, where an overgrown cedar tree had to be taken out a few years back.  I will be planting summer (yellow) and zucchini on the top of the bales.  On the sides that show, I will put herbs and low, bunching annuals (like alyssum, petunias, rose moss, etc.  I need to do some more reseach on what would look good there.

2 bales next to our front porch.

Across the sidewalk from those two bales, I have a big flower bed, that has quite a few shrubs.  I put four bales behind some low shrubs, but the bales will get full sun.  In those bales, I will put several tomatoes on the top, back edge (and stake them), then put other vegetables -- yet to be determined -- in front of them.

4 bales in large front flowerbed, bordering the sidewalk.

I put two bales on the far side of the drive-way, where I have a small flower bed next to the garage door.  The bales are at the back of the flower bed, and I have lots of perennials in that bed.  I will probably put more squash and zucchini on top, and herbs and annuals on the exposed sides.

2 bales in a flower bed on far side of driveway, next to garage door.

I put the final four bales on the top of some decomposing leaves in the backyard compost pile.  Along the back edge of those bales, I'll put some pole beans and peas and other veggies in front of them.  I'll put some herbs on the front side.

4 bales in the back yard compost pile.

After getting the bales in place, Dad and I watered them like crazy.  They have to be "conditioned" for the next two weeks.  I have a month before planting most of my vegetables, but the longer the bales "cook," the better it will be for their new inhabitants.  

The conditioning steps will be the focus of my next post.

Getting Started

What to Read

Just Google "straw bale garden," and you'll get a long list of articles, YouTube videos, and other resources to check out.  I liked seeing all the photos that are posted -- just Google "straw bale garden photos" -- great for what you'd like (and NOT like) to do.  Here are a few articles that I'd highly recommend:

Grow and Make -- Straw Bale Garden -- Good step-by-step how-to's.

No Dig Vegetable Garden -- Good step-by-step how-to's.

Container Gardening -- Straw Bale Gardening -- Good step-by-step how-to's.

New York Times -- Grasping at Straw -- I loved this article which appeared in the 3/20/13 issue of the NY Times.  Apparently a lot of other people did, too.  I read later it was one of the most-visited online pages the NY Times has published.

I would also recommend buying a copy of Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten, who is probably the ultimate expert on the subject.  He has a website, Straw Bale Gardens, where you can get some basic info, see some pix, but it's essentially a site to order his book...which is also available on eBay, Amazon.com, etc.  

The book is newly published (2013), thorough and, visually, beautiful -- layout, design, photography, artwork.  I just got my copy on April 8th, so I haven't had time to read much of it, but I think the most helpful part will be all the drawings of vegetable placement suggestions for various numbers of straw bales.  Definitely get this book!!!   

What to Buy

Straw -- You need to buy STRAW, not HAY.  Hay is feed for livestock...it is full of seeds.  If you use hay bales for your garden, you'll grow a bale of "grass" weeds.  Straw has had the seeds stripped, and any residual seeds that sprout are easy to pull. 

Frankly, trying to find places online that sold straw bales was frustrating.  Articles would suggest nurseries, lawn and garden stores, home improvement stores, farm retailers, and such.  But finding straw bale sellers -- when I listed my city -- not much to go on...old links, places 100+ miles away, etc.  But out of the blue, a pop-up ad for a wonderful nursery (Arbor Farms Nursery) about 1/2-mile from where I live appeared on my screen, and they had straw bales listed as part of their inventory.  I called and, yes, they had straw bales, so I went over and ordered 12 bales and made arrangements for delivery a week later (on April 5th).  I love this nursery, so I would have called them even if their online pop-up ad hadn't hit my laptop screen, and it didn't surprise me that they would have just what I needed.

Landscape Fabric -- Since one of the big advantages of straw bale gardens is the lack of weeds, it's important not to have any other seeds or perennial weeds from under the bales creep through.  I bought some biodegradable landscape "fabric."  It was actually heavy paper that was about the weight of construction paper, except much stronger.

Fertilizer -- High-nitrogen fertilizer is needed to begin decomposing the straw for planting.  Potassium and other nutrients are mentioned, too.  You can go with traditional commercial fertilizers or go organic.  The reading sources listed above have more complete information, and I'll write about our special home-brewed, high-nitrogen, organic fertilizer in a later post.  Let me just say, however, that it is "pure gold."

Peat Seed Starters -- I've never had much patience starting plants from seeds, but it just felt right for this effort.  So I got two peat pellet greenhouse kits at the nearby hardware store.  Each kit's bottom tray holds 50 biodegradable peat pellets, that expand to about 2" high when water is poured on top of them.  Seeds can be placed in the center hole of the peat pellets to germinate.  A clear plastic top is the greenhouse cover.

Seeds -- I also bought some seeds while I was at the hardware store.  Just for starters, I got basil, cilantro, summer (yellow) squash, zucchini, banana peppers, and pole beans.  I will be getting more, but I wanted to wait until I figured out what vegetables and herbs I wanted to grow and what ones I wanted to buy as young plants vs. growing from seeds.  Like I said, I'm not all that patient.  I definitely will be buying tomato and bell pepper plants, probably some other herbs, too.  But if I see other things I can start from seed and feel reasonably sure I can get them to a hardy, stable size by planting time, I'll do that.

Potting Soil -- Get a bag of potting soil to use when you transplant your seeds to the straw bales.  They need just a little to help protect delicate roots.  One of the reasons I went with peat pellets was to get a starter cushion for the seeds, but I'll surround the little 2" high pellet with about 1 cup of additional potting soil when transplanting.

There are certainly a few other things you'll need for your straw bale garden...but you should have plenty of time between getting your bales ready and planting time -- after Mother's Day (here in northeastern Indiana).  Some writers say that having a soaker hose is the best way to go for straw bales, since they require more water than traditional gardens, but Dad is my water boy (as you will hear more about later), so this is a good daily activity for him.  Plus I didn't want hoses laying all around.  I'll also be getting tall metal stakes and twine for my tomatoes and pole beans.  I've seen that most gardeners use T-stakes, which are pretty sturdy, but I'm going with slender but strong, dark green rods that my hardware store carries, so I can put them with a couple of bales in my front flower beds that will have tomatoes.  I would prefer not to p.o. my neighbors who might tend be snooty about that kind of stuff.

Welcome!

On January 1, 2013, I made a commitment to lose weight -- typical New Year's Resolution, right?  Well, yes...but with a difference this time...I am sticking to it.  I needed to lose a great deal of weight, and with some self-discipline, whey protein shakes and one "real" meal each day, and support from family and friends, I'm (as of April 7th) down 63 pounds.  I still have a LOT more to lose, but this is great progress, obviously!

Part of my "Quest" toward a more-fit me has led me to a lot of online reading -- or research or whatever you want to call it.  And the more I read, the more I am coming to a preference of plant-based eating.  I have never fully embraced a vegetarian or vegan approach, but I certainly see the merits of it.  

So several weeks back, I decided I wanted to have a garden this summer.  I grew up in a rural area, and my family always had a garden.  As a young adult, I had gardens at my first two homes.  But later moves brought shade or suburbia -- not much sun or not much space.  Such is the case now (not much space), plus concerns about making a small garden space in our back yard and possibly digging into utility lines.  Raised bed gardens and all that entailed seemed like too much work and expense.  No way did I want to buy and haul border materials (stone or wood), soil, compost nutrients, etc.) to our back yard...only to find that a year or two later my enthusiasm had waned...or the spot we chose didn't get enough sun...or it was too much work for the limited amount of space I had to work with.

But then I found some online articles about straw bale gardening...and it sounded perfect!

I'm just starting "My Straw Bale Garden" blog today.  Please check back frequently as I post more information and photos.  Thank you, and if you have any comments, please leave one below.