Well I'm going to give straw bale gardening a try. Above is a picture of the two bales I'm starting with. I read to set bales with the strings wrapping horizontally and the straws set vertically which supposedly allows better root penetration.
Day 1 is May 29th. I watered well in the AM and will water well again in the evening. I guess I do this for 3 days. Then add the nitrogen to it for a few days. Says blood meal will work so that's what I'll use. This speeds up the decomposition process. While this water/nitrogen thing is going on the bales heat up as they decompose. We need to wait for this initial decomposition/heating process to end before planting.
Here's a link from the blog that I'm following: http://mycharmingkids.net/2011/05/straw-bale-gardening-step-1/
and more here: http://mycharmingkids.net/category/straw-bale-gardening/ Directions say to scroll down to the bottom to see the oldest post and work your way up to "today". I love the idea of planting in the side of the bale!! Will definitely try that as well.
I'll keep you posted on how this works out. I'm thinking I'll plant a pumpkin plant and maybe a few popcorn plants. Would like to add a few flowers like zinnias and nasturtiums or a licorice basil. We'll see. I don't want to over plant.
Hope you're enjoying planting in your garden,
Mary
One of my first practical jobs in horticulture was carrying bales into a glasshouse in preparation for the tomato crop. That was in 1970! glad to see the system is still in action.
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andy