My first Straw bale garden

[chicknboots]

I hope I'm not being overly ambitious with the root veges but here's what will be planted:
Winter Squash:red kuri, spaghetti, sweet potato acorn, delicata, butternut
Small sugar pumpkin
Yellow zucchini
5 types of tomatoes
5 types of onions
5 types of lettuce
Spinach
Dwarf kale
Carrots, dragon radish
Snap and shelling peas
Cucumbers, 1 slicing and 2 tiny varieties
Red noodle beans
Parsley
Basil
Cilantro
Sweet pepper
Strawberries (moved from another part of the garden)

 

[Honey B]

This sounds like an interesting gardening method. Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

 

[chicknboots]

The garden ended up being 5 feet smaller then I had laid out cardboard for. I found some blueberry bushes today for 6.99 each. I'm going to set up a bed for them using cinder blocks and compost/peat blend on that area to the right. I've not noticed the bales getting hot but they do look like they are starting to darken a bit which is a good sign. I'm considering hurrying one of the bales along to get some lettuce started. I have some plastic I could put on it to help it cook.

 

[N F C]

That's a good deal on the blueberry bushes. We have 6 of them and the early ones are now flowering. Love those berries! We have blackberries that are coming on a bit but I don't know if our red raspberry bushes are going to do anything yet. Last year was our first year for berries and hopefully they all are better established and do ok this year.

Good luck with the lettuce. The heat here takes a toll on them in summer but we can grow it well early summer and fall. It's really nice to be able to pick a fresh salad right out of your own backyard garden.

 

[chicknboots]

My bales are hot today! They are also sprouting a bit of wheat grass but I would imagine the inner seeds will get cooked. I think I will start planting in about a week.

 

[N F C]

Keep us posted on how it's going!

 

[chicknboots]

The layer of chicken manure on top seems as thick as when I put it down and I was thinking it might insulate seeds for long enough - the heat should go away in a few days. I planted some mini romaine lettuce in a bale and carrots in another. I figured they were cheap seeds so its worth trying.

 

[chicknboots]

BTW, it's very well aged manure. Practically compost.

 

[chicknboots]

Lettuce does very well here. We stay pretty cool except for August/September. It's been unseasonably warm lately though. Nearly 70 degrees the other day. It's encouraging me to plant - hopefully there won't be another freeze.

 

[N F C]

Where I am in FL, our lettuce does pretty well except for the occasional freeze (maybe 2 a winter). We have a greenhouse and even though it isn't heated, our lettuce does ok there in the winter. The summers do get really hot/humid and that takes a toll but with some shade we've done well with it. We plant individual heads of lettuce in 1 gallon pots and set the pots in a water trough type thing. Well, we did have a water trough for the lettuce until DH cut down a large branch and it landed right on the lettuce. This year I think we're going to use a kiddy wading pool (and keep it clear of falling branches, lol).

I was wondering if the bales wouldn't generate too much heat for things but if I understand, the bales cool off once they reach a certain point in decomposing?