Soil prep......

[rebbetzin]

Hmmmm, I use lots of straw as a mulch in the summer to keep the soil from drying out so fast. Sraw here is about $6.00 a bale.

If I attempted a straw bale garden, I think I would put the bale below the soil line. I would be afraid our hot dry days would dry out the bale too quickly. I have lots of straw these days in the compost bin and it appears to breakdown pretty quickly.

 

[beavis]

Check out this guys straw bales on youtube...

Scroll to about 2:30 in to get to the straw bale part

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgXnR5XEvmg

 

[okiemommy]

I read up on the straw bale gardening, and learned several things:

First the writer recommended to specifically use straw and not hay, because of the high seed content in hay.

2nd he said that you have to do a lot of watering because the straw bales don't hold water as well as soil. Which could matter to someone who has to pay for their water)

3rd as Rebettzin mentioned, the bales can break down quickly if you water too much, but if you don't water too much, and the bales have plastic or wire binding, the bales should last 2 years.


I guess for me, for one season it's worth a shot. I suppose the broken down hay bales are good for the soil?


I'm just hoping to find the easiest, most cost efficient way to garden this spring since this is my first year, and at first this sounded like a viable option for us, but would just be easier/cheaper to prepare the soil with dirt?

 

[obsessed]

Where I live a hay bale garden would cost way too much. I bought one bale of hay last fall and it cost 10 big one. Maybe because I am in a urban/suburban area :/

 

[okiemommy]

I found this:


http://www.oksustainability.org/guide/strawbales.php

Here they sell straw bales for 7-10 bucks a bale at Wal-mart around Halloween/ Fall time. I know I can probably get them cheaper than that from a farmer.

One of the places listed on my link says that their straw bales are $4.50!!

 

[patandchickens]

Something to remember about the dirt-on-hay method is that it requires a whole lot more water than planting into the ground. (Any sort of raised bed requires at least *somewhat* more water). For some people this is an issue, be it financial, practical or ethical.

You know what, I *don't* till new beds. (There was once, when I was gardening on bare clay subsoil compacted like cement, I would have *liked* to be able to, but other than that, nope). To me it's a waste of effort (now and in future weeding) compared to just mulching the living heck out of the future bed area and leaving it for a year or two. This will let the soil fluff itself up (and mix together) naturally without a lick of work required beyond occasionally pulling the very few weeds that manage to come thru the mulch. You can plant a border of annuals around the edge of the area if you want Decorative while the bed is sitting fallow.

This has worked very well for me, even on dense rather-compacted clay loam.

Call me lazy ,

Pat

 

[Arklady]

I want to try two different Garden styles...

One the Lasagna garden. I would like to put pumpkins, melons and corn in this one. I would like a tender sweet corn for this area but I would like to know of an heirloom variety so that I might be able to save some seed and also how much I could get away with planting in this garden area.

I want to try the raised bed two styles:

One style put 2"x 6"x12-16'ft boards in a rectangle (which depends on location as to how long or wide). This would be for onions and possibly other plants such as lettuce and bush beans etc.

Then another raised bed where I would put 12 straw bales sideways to each other in a row... into the soil a bit so its flat with the lumber sides on the top. This would be for the heavy water users like green peppers and tomatoes.

That makes three, then I would want to plant appropriate produce in each area. I also want to try the barrel for Potatoes thing as well and I under stand its using straw as well. but I bet you could also use shredded paper as well, to some extent.

I would also be prepping the soil there with news papers also using coffee grounds to encourage worms and I would be planting a dozen night crawlers to help with fertilizing. I am hesitant to use chicken waste for fertilizer. I would rather the rabbit pellets for that.

Has anyone used old grain bags instead of newspapers on the ground?
Just was wondering about that as a resource.

Of course suggestions as to what I put in each bed would be greatly appreciated.

Arklady

 

[patandchickens]

I would like a tender sweet corn for this area but I would like to know of an heirloom variety so that I might be able to save some seed and also how much I could get away with planting in this garden area.

Golden bantam is probably the most commonly available nonhybrid corn. THere are a lot of seed sources, even big mail order things like Stokes and so forth, that carry it. I've never tried it but the ears are supposed to be smallish but very tasty.

Good luck,

Pat