redbuddha's 2012 Straw Bale Garden:
3.15.12
Today was the first day of prep for my no till wheat straw garden for 2012. I'm planting mostly hot peppers and tomatoes, but there will be some cucurbits mixed in for good measure. I'm using fresh, "green" bales that have been stored out of the weather so I need to season them before planting. Here's the 11 day process:
Days 1-3 – Water the bales twice daily to make sure they stay wet.
Days 4-6 – Sprinkle a half cup of ammonium nitrate on the top of each bale and water it in.
Days 7-9 – Cut the amount of ammonium nitrate back to a quarter cup a day.
Day 10 – Water in a cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer on each bale.
Day 11 – Start planting.
Once the bales get wet the microbes inside will begin to digest the cellulose and the internal temperature will skyrocket. The hottest I've measured was 150F. If you plant directly into fresh bales you'll fry the seedlings very quickly.
I'm doing 20 bales of wheat straw this year. Most of my seedlings are still at least 3 weeks away from planting but I'm going to get the seasoning of the bales out of the way and get some Jalapenos from a local nursery in them ASAP.
Here's a look at the bales in action from a previous garden:
I was much more interested in tomatoes than peppers then...that's changed a bit. The black tube is a drip irrigation system on a timer. I'll get the watering system put together next week.
![straw_bale_garden_web.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.outdoorblogging.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fpics%2Fstraw_bale_garden_web.jpg&hash=7a84c84560c4883172c972dcaadfa66c)
3.15.12
Today was the first day of prep for my no till wheat straw garden for 2012. I'm planting mostly hot peppers and tomatoes, but there will be some cucurbits mixed in for good measure. I'm using fresh, "green" bales that have been stored out of the weather so I need to season them before planting. Here's the 11 day process:
Days 1-3 – Water the bales twice daily to make sure they stay wet.
Days 4-6 – Sprinkle a half cup of ammonium nitrate on the top of each bale and water it in.
Days 7-9 – Cut the amount of ammonium nitrate back to a quarter cup a day.
Day 10 – Water in a cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer on each bale.
Day 11 – Start planting.
Once the bales get wet the microbes inside will begin to digest the cellulose and the internal temperature will skyrocket. The hottest I've measured was 150F. If you plant directly into fresh bales you'll fry the seedlings very quickly.
I'm doing 20 bales of wheat straw this year. Most of my seedlings are still at least 3 weeks away from planting but I'm going to get the seasoning of the bales out of the way and get some Jalapenos from a local nursery in them ASAP.
Here's a look at the bales in action from a previous garden:
![straw_bale_tomato.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.outdoorblogging.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fpics%2Fstraw_bale_tomato.jpg&hash=c352ae7d68a7b32b63ddb8b0f9c285ee)
I was much more interested in tomatoes than peppers then...that's changed a bit. The black tube is a drip irrigation system on a timer. I'll get the watering system put together next week.