Article from:

Transcription

1 Article frm: Straw Bale Gardening Limited space? N sil? Txic r rcky grund? Spare crner? Edge f drive r yard? Here's bales f advice fr yu n the straw bale gardening way. TIP: Kids just LOVE t climb n these irresistible messy playthings, s if it's feasible, get an extra 1 r 3 bales and put them ut f the garden just fr fun. Straw bale, r hay bale gardening is nt t be cnfused with using lse straw in yur garden fr mulch r cmpst. What we're talking abut here is the whle bale, as it stands, tied with twine and used fr planting plants n the tp. Fr hw t use lse straw, see N Dig Materials Especially gd fr thse with dicky backs, straw bale gardening needs nly smene t lug the jlly bales int place and with a minimum f effrt yu'll have a marvel f bunty and beauty indeed. We can learn frm thers here. There are timely tips n straw bale gardening that will save yu angst. Here's the hedwn: The bale is the garden. Put it n yur balcny r path if yu want t. Use ne r umpteen bales as yu need and in any pattern. Because straw bale gardening is raised, it's easy t wrk with, s make sure yu allw fr handy access. Which straw t use fr straw bale gardening? The best straw bales fr a garden are wheat, ats, rye r barley straw. These cnsist f stalks left frm harvesting grain; they have been thrugh a cmbine harvester and had the seeds threshed frm them, leaving nne r very few left. Hay bales fr gardening are less ppular as they have the whle stalk and seed heads with much seeds. They als ften have ther weeds and grass seeds t cause truble. Use what yu can get lcally it may even be lucerne, pea straw, vetch r alfalfa bales. Crn and linseed (flax) bales are nt s gd as they are very carse, and linseed straw takes a lng time t decmpse due t the il residue left n the stalks. It's simple t pull ut the dd wayward grain seeds with straw bale gardening, but hay bales have tendency t grw the likes f a small lawn! Thus yu may need t ccasinally give them a haircut rather than try and pull the tenacius new spruts ut.

2 Hay bale gardening has ne up n straw in that it is a nice warm and rich envirnment with enugh nitrgen t cntinually supply grwing plants. Straw is mstly carbn and s nitrgen must be added fr plant grwth (see further belw). Where t buy straw bales fr garden? Mst garden supply centres and nurseries sell straw bales. The big nursery centres ften have free trailer use t cart yur bales hme if yu have a twbar and if yu need mre than ne bale that wn't g in yur car. Farmers are yur next bet if yu live in the cuntry. Als try animal breeding places and stables as they ften buy straw bales in bulk fr bedding and may sell yu the dd ne. With the ppularity f straw bale huse building, it's wrthwhile asking at builder's suppliers fr bales fr yur garden. Lcal cuncils, public rad r transprt cntrl rganisatins are als wrth a try fr buying straw bales fr gardening, as they smetimes use bales t buffer traffic and divert rubble frm drains etc. If they wn't part with ne t yu, they shuld be able t give yu a supplier's cntact. Hw much d straw bales cst? Straw bales csts vary frm cuntry t cuntry, but yur cheapest ptin is usually ging t a farm, where yu culd be lucky at US$1.per bale. Otherwise prices range frm US$2 t $5 per bale. Still gd value fr an instant little garden! Arranging yur strawbale garden Put each bale in the exact place, because it's hard t even nudge these mnsters nce yu've gt yur little straw bale garden factry in full swing. Just like a nrmal vegetable garden, yur straw bale plants need sun, 4-8 hurs if pssible, depending n yur chice f plants. Leafy greens and sme herbs need slightly less sun than vines and tmates fr example. If yu have a sunny rt-prf wall, yu can put yur bales against it and grw tmates, cucumber r similar up the wall. A very ppular idea fr hay bales and straw bales is t make a raised garden bed with the bales as the edge. This limits excessive evapratin frm bth the garden in the middle and ne side f the bale. If yu are starting a n-dig garden and dn't have enugh filling t begin with befre yur cmpst, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, mulch r whatever yu have, are nt ready, then a cheap way fr the first year is t buy bales and with a little bit f cmpst n the tp, and a few ther ingredients mentined here, yu can get yur garden ging the first year.

3 Deter thse darn diggin' mles, gphers, rats r whatever thieves ppulate yur area, by first laying dwn galvanized wire bird netting befre laying yur bales dwn. Lay the bales lengthwise t make planting easy by just parting the pads f straw. There are tw pinins n which side t lay straw bales Make sure the string is running arund each bale and nt n the side tuching the grund in case it's degradable twine such as sisal. The straw is nw vertical, cut ends up. This means when yu water much f it will g straight thrugh the bale and wash away. 2. Laying yur bale r bales with the twine tuching the grund (as lng as it's plastic r wire twine f curse), means that the straw stalks are hrizntal and water will mre likely sak in and nt flw thrugh the bale and be wasted. This methd f laying dwn yur straw bale lends itself t using a saker hse better than the vertical way. If using a saker hse, which are marvelus by the way, lay it under the twine t stay in place. The steady slw drips f water will find it hard t escape thrugh channels, unlike the vertical methd whereby the water channels dwnwards. Starting yur straw bale garden If yu start with aged bales f abut 6 mnths r mre, they may already have been thrugh their initial weathering and starting t decmpse slightly inside. If they have been wet at all they almst certainly wuld have lst their cl and dne their cking. If nt and they are still new r in pristine cnditin, they need t d a bit f stewing befre it's safe t plant in them. Thrughly sak with water and add mre water s they dn't dry ut at all fr the next 5 days whilst the temperature rises and cks them inside. Slwly they will cl ver the next 1-2 weeks and then be ready fr planting. Yu can plant when the bales are still warm which prmtes rt grwth. The bales wn't be cmpsting much inside yet, that takes mnths, but yu dn't want that initial ht cking f yur plants. Sme sneaky peple speed up the prcess f prducing micrbes and rt by fllwing a 10-day pretreatment regime f water and ammnium nitrate n the tp f each bale. But, hey, rganic gardeners are a patient lt aren't we, s let's fllw nature? Just s yu knw, the chemical ammnium nitrate (AN) acts as a catalyst. It is high in nitrgen and encurages and feeds micrbes which rt the straw s plants can grw. Yu may be questined when buying it due t security reasns, especially if yu lk like a bmb maker rather than a gardener... :(

4 Mre natural ways that help speed up that all imprtant burn ut, are t spread n a high nitrgen rganic fertiliser just befre the start f yur watering prcess and watered in each day as detailed abve. Remember thugh that this fertilizing alng with the initial saking will mean that the bales will cntinue t ck lnger and yu will have t wait befre planting. It ultimately prvides a better base and grwing cnditins and saves yu having t be s wrried abut getting nutrients t yur plants as they start grwing. Sme materials t use are: A 3cm (1") layer f fresh chicken manure - duble that if aged chicken manure, r Other suitable manures such as turkey r rabbit 5cm (2") layer, r A cvering layer f 2/3 bne meal t 1/3 bld meal, r A very thick layer f milder stuff such as spent cffee grunds. Als t balance the grwing medium, add ptassium by sprinkling n a handful f sulphate f ptash. Especially great is urine t add (sneak ut at dawn fr a... :) Watering a Straw Bale Garden Keep watered. That's ging t be yur biggest task twice a day if necessary. Straw bale gardening uses mre water than a nrmal garden, s set up a system nw. It may be that swilling ut the teapt n it each day is enugh in yur area, r yu may need t keep the hse handy. A saker hse system set in place is perfect. A DIY drip feed is anther ptin fr when yu can't be there ver a ht perid. Fr a DIY, take a large plastic bttle such as sft drink r milk cntainer. Take ut thin lining frm inside cap and make a tiny hle in cap with a ht needle, pinty scissrs r smallest drill bit. Nw pierce the thin cap lining separately with 5-6 tiny pin-prick hles and put back inside lid, and put lid back n bttle. Fill bttle with water and place, cap end dwn int sil near a plant. Put a few stnes in first s the hle desn't get clgged up with dirt. Depending n size f hles the water shuld slwly drip ut ver 1-6 days. Yu can als add diluted fertilizer, such as seaweed r cmpst tea t this bttle. Anther bright idea is t pke sme water saked remnants f ld clth, (babies nappies/diapers t sme, r tweling are ideal) dwn the bttm f the space yu plant each plant in befre yu put sil in. These will eventually rt alng with the straw. If yu have rm fr mre than ne bale, grup them side by side t minimize evapratin frm the sides. Yu shuld still be able t reach and tend t the plants this way. Anything yu can put n the expsed sides f yur straw bales will help cnserve water and stp them drying ut in the sun. Lw bushes r herbs, planks r bricks and s n will wrk. I dn't believe

5 Straw bale gardening plants t plant in buying new plastic, but if yu have sme already, and dn't mind the unnatural lk in yur garden, then put that arund the sides. Keep the twine there t hld it all in place fr as lng as pssible, and if it des rt, bang sme stakes in at bth ends. If yur straw bale is n a balcny r cncrete, yu may need t chck up the ends with smething heavyish, like rcks, bricks, bxes r plant cntainers. Annuals f vegetables, herbs r flwers will lve it. Remember yur bales will be histry in 1-2 years. Yung plants can g straight in. Pull apart r use a trwel and depending n the state f the straw, put a handful f cmpst sil in t, then let the straw g back int place. Seeds can be planted n tp if yu put a gd 5cm (2") layer f cmpst sil there first. Tp heavies like crn and kra, are nt s gd, unless yu grw dwarf varieties. With straw bale gardening it's hard t put slid stakes in s big tmat plants are ut, althugh they will happily dangle ver the edge. Each bale shuld take... Up t half a dzen cucumbers, trailing dwn, r Squash, zucchini, melns maybe 3 plants, r A cuple f tmat plants per bale with ne r tw herbs and leafy veggies in between, r Fur pepper plants will fit, r bean r pea plants, r A mix f the abve r any ther plants yu like. There's n limit and why nt pke in arund the side sme flwer annuals fr clur and cmpanin if yu like. Once a week r mre ften when yur plants are in full grwth water in a liquid rganic feed, such as cmpst tea r fish emulsin. Tip sme wrms n tp if yu want t use yur bales nly ne seasn. If yu are using hay bales instead f strawbales, this liquid feed can be spaced much further apart because hay bales have a mre nutrient dense envirnment. Yu'll get ne gd seasn ut f a hay bale garden, and usually tw with a straw bale, albeit with a bit f sag. It makes fr great cmpst r mulch when finished with.