Gardening

[KDdid]

Spent a few minutes in the garden-some pics:

A view through the cucumber trellis looking down the lasagna beds.

My newest bed, a hugelculture hybrid: rotten wood in the bottom, cornstalks, old hay, straw, chicken poop, topped with grass clippings. Sides of cut down cattle panels, it retains water well, and is off the chart in terms of fertility.

Anaheim and Serrano peppers growing in straw bales. Having some struggles with the bale planted crops this year, but they seem to be coming around.


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[KDdid]

This was fun- this larger red bell pepper was started from seed o '16, made a crop last year, then over wintered on my enclosed porch. Almost ready to harvest, about 4 weeks early.

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[john volkman]

Spent a few minutes in the garden-some pics:

A view through the cucumber trellis looking down the lasagna beds.

My newest bed, a hugelculture hybrid: rotten wood in the bottom, cornstalks, old hay, straw, chicken poop, topped with grass clippings. Sides of cut down cattle panels, it retains water well, and is off the chart in terms of fertility.

Anaheim and Serrano peppers growing in straw bales. Having some struggles with the bale planted crops this year, but they seem to be coming around.


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when you grow in the bales are you using water with dissolved fertilizer in it regularly ? I've seen people doing this and always wondered how the plants are getting enough nutrients? your plants look great.

 

[browndog]

I'll be picking some sweetcorn today or tomorrow. My coon deterrent has been working great! Got it cranked on a bee-bop station

 

[bueller]

I'll be picking some sweetcorn today or tomorrow. My coon deterrent has been working great! Got it cranked on a bee-bop station

Teenage dance party in browndog's garden!

 

[KDdid]

when you grow in the bales are you using water with dissolved fertilizer in it regularly ? I've seen people doing this and always wondered how the plants are getting enough nutrients? your plants look great.

You have to condition: jumpstart the bales with high Nitrogen fertilizer like Urea to start the composting process. Afterwards a monthly sprinkle of triple 16 will suffice.


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[browndog]

Teenage dance party in browndog's garden!

That would be about the only thing that would come around with that stuff playing, but my neighbors cat triggered my cam set on video (doing coon surveillance) and all you could hear were the song lyrics "must be the money" blaring.

 

[bueller]

^^^that's awesome

 

[swat1018]

I do talk radio in my corn patch. Seems to work.

 

[browndog]

^^^that's awesome

It's a 20 sec vid, maybe I will upload to youtube and post if I get time. Im assuming it was a cat, I looked on the cam viewer real quick and all I could hear was the bee-bop music...must be the money.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

KDdid - I never saw bale gardening before your pix. How do you actually plant tomatoes or peppers IN the bales ?? What's the process ?? Is there dirt in the hole you plant into ??

 

[KDdid]

You go through a two week conditioning process which heats the bale to around 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit using water and high N fertilizer. The bales start to break down, and potted seedlings can go into a hole stabbed into the bale with a garden trowel. I also make little pockets and fill with potting soil for seeds like squash or beans. If the weather cooperates you can get a couple of weeks head start verses planting in the ground based on soil temps.


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[Mortenson]

The bale gardening is very intriguing. Can't wait to try it out next spring. Thanks for the info

 

[Mortenson]

I'll be picking some sweetcorn today or tomorrow. My coon deterrent has been working great! Got it cranked on a bee-bop station

Is the rock for more echo?

I don't have any coon deterrent, so today I thought I had gambled long enough and did a large picking for the freezer. I'd say the ears would've been perfect in 2 more days, but so be it...

 

[browndog]

Is the rock for more echo?

I don't have any coon deterrent, so today I thought I had gambled long enough and did a large picking for the freezer. I'd say the ears would've been perfect in 2 more days, but so be it...

No, it is for the pail. I put the pail over the radio to keep it dry, then I prop the edge of the pail on the rock.
I have not lost any ears this year with the radio. Last year the coon took out about 120 ears. The year before that was about the same amount. I have a field corn plot about 50yds away and they have stalks pulled down everywhere.

 

[chickenlittle]

I did straw bales a few years ago. Worked ok with little need to weed. My only complaint was having to water so often. When it go really hot (and I'm in NY), some stuff would start wilting if I did not water everyday. I tilled the straw into my regular garden the next year. The last 2 years I no tilled with lumite ground cloth but I still have a lot of weed issues, mostly pigweed and crab grass. My garden shrinks every year so I might try straw bales again with drip irrigation.

 

[KDdid]

Yeah, the only way I'm doing large scale straw bale gardening again is with irrigation system. All 50 plus bales I used this year are going into lasagna/hugel beds next year.


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[bueller]

Ok I'm officially overrun with cherry tomatoes! We're freezing some as KDdid suggested. What are some other easy to do things I can try?

 

[browndog]

Give them away

 

[KDdid]

You can always pickle some- I had some at a party, they had poked a hole in them with a fork, poured a hot brine over them, sealed and water bath processed them for 10 minutes for pints. Tasty.


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