I have one friend that doesn't even bury his potatoes in soil, he places the spuds on the ground and covers them over with straw or hay in the fall he just uses a rake to pull back the straw and then pick up the potatoes.
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I have one friend that doesn't even bury his potatoes in soil, he places the spuds on the ground and covers them over with straw or hay in the fall he just uses a rake to pull back the straw and then pick up the potatoes.
Jben, that is an impressive setup. I’ve been thinking about setting up some T5s for seedlings.
I’m in awe of how resourceful and genuinely green thumbed everyone is.
Green beans
Tomatoes (for sauces)
Cucumber
Squash
Strawberries
Raspberry
HoneyBerry
Weed
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Thanks for the response guys, much appreciated... Lesson learned, first thing will be to acquire some growing lights. I don't have an area i.e. windows with a west, south exposure... The place where I've been starting the plants has an easterly facing window... Morning sun only...
Amazon has tons of grow lights for cheapQuote:
Originally Posted by Bo D
GW I'm was not impressed with that video at all. He didn't even explain the most critical part of the process at all which is preparing the bales for planting, which takes a couple of weeks and requires daily maintenance to get the straw to start composting. They need daily watering and the addition of high nitrogen chemical ferts to get the process going, similar to a compost pile. Also the best method involves opening up the bales down the center and adding some soil to provide the bacteria source that's needed along with the carbon source (straw) and the nitrogen (ferts) required to build up the heat to break down the carbon and provide the nutrients required to grow healthy plants. You can use organic substitutes but the process will be that much slower as you're not adding urea at 46-0-0 for high nitrogen. So the bale needs to build up heat like a compost pile (mine get up to 150°) for several days and then cool down before planting. The straw on it's own provides nothing for growth without doing this first. Then they need daily watering as they drain so fast and weekly fertilizing as nutrients get washed out so easily as well. I thought about trying them at one point but decided I was far better off with my raised beds. Another issue with them is that they cool down very quickly in cool weather which is not conducive for most plants that prefer a warmer soil for roots to flourish so come fall growth is inhibited for many plants. I'm not saying they don't work but there's a lot more to it than many realize. Plus they start to look pretty ugly later in the season as the turn grey and break down more over the summer. I'm pretty well mostly an organic gardener, using manure, my own compost that I make yearly, bone meal and alfalfa pellets as well as aerated compost tea that I usually have a couple of pails going all summer long and use for everything I grow including my berries and apple trees as a foliar feed and soil drench. Nothing beats that for a total soil enhancement to build up a healthy soil full of beneficial microbes. It would be very beneficial as well for established straw bales.Quote:
Originally Posted by greatwhite
Cheers
Smitty, do you not find that manure brings weeds along with it. If it's cow manure that you are using, they do have a tendency to eat weeds along with grass, and it does come out the rear end eventually... Just asking here cause it is plentiful around here...
Yes I will agree it's not perfect but you don't need to get quite as specific as your say. They all leave steps out and I would not do everything the way he is doing. I will take some pics this year and then post them in the fall. I plan to use 16 bales for a small garden.
It would be nicer to get bales that are a few years old.
They have those laying around here a lot, sitting in the same field for years, only thing is they're the big rounds ones. If you can get them to your place all you'd have to do is roll them out...
For sure it needs to be well composted or that can happen. Make sure to check. You could even just bring a shovel full home, lay it out anywhere warm a few inches deep and water it. Within a week you'll know, even if nothing shows hopefully, break it up and look for fresh shoots to be sure. Other wise it's a great organic addition to improve soil structure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bo D
When I first moved here I bought a tractor bucket full of manure from the farmer just up the road and it was terrible for seeds as everywhere I used it sprouted up like crazy. So much for assuming it was old well composted manure. Never again. I was not happy, it took like three years before I had it cleared out. Since then I've literally bought hundreds of bags over the years of the store bought cattle or sheep manure when they go on sale as well as countless bags of black earth, topsoil mix, peat moss by the bale, and huge bags of perlite and some agricultural lime as well. I've also had a couple dump loads of topsoil and a load of triple mix over the years. I'm literally on a rocky Lanark slope and besides my compost and leaf mold piles I've had to import everything to the property. I quickly figured out that the only way to try and make garden beds is to remove and relocate rocks, and after breaking many a shovel I finally bought a real pinch tip crowbar that still gets regular use on my log piles over 20 years later.
I've always made a planting mix with those products by the wheelbarrow that gets used for ever single plant I ever put in the ground whether its annual flowers every year, all my veg seedlings of course and for sure a lot in my herb beds and other perennials like my fruit trees, hostas, ferns and annual bulbs like 4 Oclocks and Canna lily that I plant each summer and dig up in the fall and then just store in the basement in cardboard boxes. Over the years the soil in all my beds around the property has greatly improved as a result. Plus to grow vegetables on this property I've always had make use of 4ft wide raised beds, my first ones were 20" Hemlock using rough 2x10s I got from a farmer. They actually rotted out over the years, I turned one 12 footer into a mixed strawberry raised bed now and the rest has been replaced by 5 4'x8'x16" boxes using one inch cedar, all rough cut #2 grade. My 2x4 cedar bracing was free too so with hardware each box was around $60. I grow 200 garlic each year too, so that uses two beds that rotate each year. My favorite crop, along with my Greek and some other heirloom tomatoes. I'm still eating fresh garlic that I grew, and I have 200 planted in November from my largest 50 bulbs. But it's getting closer to the point where I'll slice and dehydrate to make my own garlic powder that gets well used too till summer harvest . I use it in my spice rubs too for sure and marinades.
Cheers