tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post6056716368367545184..comments2023-06-29T04:13:21.927-07:00Comments on Real Food Dudes: Straw bales and potato cagesErik (Real Food Dude 2)http://www.blogger.com/profile/09219172054238035355noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-63166986199166849642011-05-02T17:37:39.461-07:002011-05-02T17:37:39.461-07:00Wow that's a lot of rain! Here's the link...Wow that's a lot of rain! Here's the link to Mother Earth, looks like you are already using 1 of the ingredients...the seed meal. After reading your analogy of the "meals" above I'm not sure, if any I find will be chemical free. Currently I'm in process of locating all the ingredients here to make it and hoping our Farmer's supply will have everything. I'd be willing to try the urine next year to get the bales jump started. Even after doing the fertilizer prep our bales were still pretty stiff when we planted this past weekend. But I know they will soften even more in the coming weeks http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-06-01/A-Better-Way-to-Fertilize-Your-Garden.aspx<br /><br />You can check over on my little blog- nothing special but I do have some nice 2009 pictures of my harvest. I was very pleased considering how small my set-up was. Just goes to show you how you can straw bale garden in a small space without much ado. You can try most anything in the bales. I've had squash, gourds, cukes, peppers and of course tomatoes seem to be made for them! Beans did not do well however. Here's the link: http://simplelifesforme.blogspot.com/search/label/strawbale%20garden<br /><br />I'll check back often to see how it's all coming along. Good Luck!Lantanalane2http://simplelifesforme.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-60674032975272220302011-05-02T05:16:53.710-07:002011-05-02T05:16:53.710-07:00Lantanalane2: Thanks for all that great info! I h...Lantanalane2: Thanks for all that great info! I haven't had a problem with drying lately -- we've gotten 24 inches of rain in the last month (20 times the normal amount). Right now I'm trying to figure out how to plant anything *not* in a straw bale, because my whole place is a swamp!<br /><br />I'd love to know more about the fertilizer recipe you mentioned -- there was an article in Mother Earth News about homemade liquid fertilizers, is that the one you are talking about?Erik (Real Food Dude 2)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09219172054238035355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-10236811305920908812011-05-01T09:50:54.808-07:002011-05-01T09:50:54.808-07:00Hey Erik,
I recently found an organic fertilizer ...Hey Erik,<br /><br />I recently found an organic fertilizer recipe on MotherEarth that I will be trying as side dress fertilizer on my bales. I have a much smaller operation(way smaller..only (2)12 ft bale beds for tomatoes) but this is my 4th year of doing so. Here's a couple of things we found out after the first year:<br />1)Surround your bales with something-to keep them from drying out. We used treated wood after researching and finding that the new way wood is being treated no longer involves arsenic. And studies have noted no leaching occurs at any rate. Now that ours are surrounded, we water with and average of 1 gallon of water per plant per week...which is minimal to say the least. We've found once the bales are saturated and surrounded they retain moisture much better. 2)Because water/nutrients easily leak through the bales- you do need to fertilize with something fairly often. 3)As the bales slowly decompose down- you will need to figure a trellis of sorts for your vertical plants. We used a wooden trellis in the past but this year we're going to try tomato cages. The wooden trellis has been great but it is labor intensive to install. While the cages will be easier, I am concerned about them holding up the plants. They get laden! <br /><br />I'm doing potatoes in a raised bed but I like your poultry cage idea and definitely will try it next year!Lantanalane2https://www.blogger.com/profile/16914855162607992879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-18713575958721682011-04-23T20:04:04.266-07:002011-04-23T20:04:04.266-07:00@Linda: I'm not certain, but I believe sweet ...@Linda: I'm not certain, but I believe sweet potatoes can be raised this way as well. I think the key is that it needs to be a vining plant that produces tubers wherever it touches ground. Potatoes and sweet potatoes do that and there are probably others I don't know about. It might also be possible to grow things like beets and carrots in straw -- I'm doing some experimenting with that this year and I'll post some updates with my results.Erik (Real Food Dude 2)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09219172054238035355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-91829199877372201062011-04-22T13:17:08.520-07:002011-04-22T13:17:08.520-07:00I am intrigued with the potato cages. Could you d...I am intrigued with the potato cages. Could you do other root veggies this way?Lindanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-87940220125802180562011-04-18T04:47:26.579-07:002011-04-18T04:47:26.579-07:00@Lou: I think the legumes would be hard to work in...@Lou: I think the legumes would be hard to work in combination with the straw bales, but that is certainly an excellent strategy for an earth garden. <br /><br />You're right about manure, I expect it is an excellent option if you can get it from a facility that doesn't medicate their lifestock (trickier than it seems...). I wanted to try this, but never got around to asking my friend for a load of his chicken manure. I was too skittish about getting it from unknown suppliers this year because of the threat of various chemicals contaminating it (aminopyrolids from grass-eating animals, and various antibiotics, wormers, and hormones in other animals). I'll definitely try it next year though, if my friend is willing to part with some of his "gray gold".<br /><br />Thanks for the tips!Erik (Real Food Dude 2)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09219172054238035355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-21594814945121088012011-04-17T22:33:09.365-07:002011-04-17T22:33:09.365-07:00Im not sure what the success of this would be in t...Im not sure what the success of this would be in tandem with your hay bale idea here, but you could try to grow some nitrogen fixing legumes (peas, or clover etc) during the process. And cutting back the legumes to provide some green cover over the bales may help with maintaining moisture levels. <br />Or invite some friendly chicken around for lunch, They'll love to get into your weeds and leave little drops of the sweet nitrogen filled stuffed everywhere.<br />LouAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073081193735653406.post-32997077470081997242011-04-17T19:38:09.402-07:002011-04-17T19:38:09.402-07:00I've been seeing the use of human urine in the...I've been seeing the use of human urine in the garden around the blogosphere lately....don't think I'd ever go there.Get Real Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14486455789063572505noreply@blogger.com