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  • From: "MaryLou Reid" <frogpond AT aimcomm.net>
  • To: RayZentz AT aol.com, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] tomatoes the year-around and then some :
  • Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 20:06:24 -0700

On 18 Oct 2004 at 3:15, RayZentz AT aol.com wrote:

>> frogpond AT aimcomm.net writes:
>>
>> First of all, I am using an old European practice of planting in
>> strawbales.
>
>
> Please explain a little further how you do this?
>
> Ray

Here are some websites for the strawbale method.

http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/ghveg.html
"Organic Greenhouse Vegetable Production-Horticulture Systems
Guide" has a section on strawbale culture. (The ATTRA website
has a huge list of really useful articles and books to download!)


http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~bcohen/cucumbers/greenhouse.html#co
nt
This article on growing cucumbers in greenhouses has a section on
strawbale culture. It's much more technical than the home gardener
needs, and not organic, but I found it interesting and useful,
nevertheless.


I don't have a website for the following--it's one of the threads from
the Gardenweb list that I'd copied awhile ago when I was looking up
info on strawbale culture. It has a lot of useful ideas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>RE: straw bale gardening
Posted on Mon, Oct 20, 03 at 8:50

I have a friend in Farmington MO who has set up "raised beds" in
her hoop house using straw bales. She places two side by side, then
puts on a layer of manure which she waters in well. As the straw
starts to compost, she puts on a layer of potting mix and plants
seeds for her winter salad greens and such in the potting mix. The
heat from the composting straw helps germination but doesn't last
long enough to provide any heat during the growth period. I read a
post from a man in Florida on either the Market Gardener thread or
Four Season Harvest who does the same thing outdoors with his
lettuces in his cool season. He put the bales cut edges down on
pallets and used a weed eater tool to carve out a depression in the
bales. I think he used mushroom compost as a growing medium. He
said he sells his greens for $6/# wholesale or $8/# retail Last
summer I put a single straw bale, cut edge down in the yard. I put
dried goat manure on it, watered it in and transplanted a volunteer
pumpkin seedling into it--just opened a space in the cut ends and
watered it. I emptied the chickens' waterer onto it very day when I
gave them fresh water. It was a miniature pumpkin and produced a
few fruits. The added benefit is that the whole bale composted
nicely. The best thing is that all summer long, I didn't see one
cucumber beetle on the vine or any other bug for that matter. Since I
have livestock, I have used leftover or spoiled hay with pretty good
results. The trick since hay can have a lot of seeds is to water it well,
let the seeds germinate then cover the whole business for a few
days with clear plastic to "cook" the bale and seeds. Yesterday (Oct
19) I put "books" of hay treated this way to make an experimental
bed in the second hoop house, wet them down and put some good
finished compost over the top. We'll put the cover on the hoop
house this afternoon and then I can start transplanting my seedlings
into the beds. The other two beds are finished compost and plain
soil just in case the straw/compost bed isn't as effective. I am
concerned about the layers freezing where the natural soil hasn't
done so in the past, even in extended periods of cold. At least our
cold here in central Missouri. <<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw, I realize I wasn't too clear about how I placed the bales in my
rows. I should have said I made two rows of strawbales--each row
two bales wide, placed end to end lengthwise along the row, but
side by side the width of the row, making the rows approx. 3ft wide
by 20+ft long with a space approx. 2-1/2 ft between the them. Does
that make more sense?

Anyway, I hope this gives you the general idea. I'd like to hear how it
works for you if you try it. ;-)

MaryLou




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