I have read several articles on straw bale garden and decided to give it a try. If you are not familiar with the concept, you garden "in" the straw bales after the center composts into soil for your plants. The bales provide a raised bed that feeds and warms your plants and you can put them anywhere that gets enough full sun to grow stuff. That the deal in a nutshell.
I started this project yesterday. The straw bales are purchased and laid out in the garden fence that was moved to a sunnier location. The fertilizer has been applied to begin the composting process and the soaker hose secured on top of the bales. The hard work part is done. But I have some concerns...
Oh yeah, I'm allergic to straw. I remember that now from my 4-H days at the fair. I'm betting I won't notice it once the bales begin to age. I'm on allergy meds anyway.
One of the articles I read made it sound like it would take the bales about 2 months to compost enough to plant in, and that was the theory I started with. If that's the case, I'm only about 2 weeks late of my "frost free" date and there's no problem. Another article I came across yesterday in my local newspaper says he starts his bales in the fall and let's them get ready over the winter. Now that's a serious problem. If that's the case I won't be able to plant my summer garden in the bales and I'll have to default back to the dirt garden that is now not protected from the deer by a fence. That probably won't be the end of the world, but I really wanted this bale garden to work out. I'm going to top the bales today with compost to see if I can help speed up the process. Fingers crossed. Stay tuned.
Yesterday I planted seeds that Susie and I bought from Territorial Seed Co. This is the first year that I have gotten serious about starting plants from seed. I bought a seed tray with a humidity dome and a heating mat to get the seed germinating. So far I am using an existing overhead florescent light, once the plants start to grow I'll transfer them to my neighbors new greenhouse.  |
| It's spring in our backyard. The bleeding heart is one of the first to put on a grand show. |
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| The magnolia is very happy with spring so far. |
