Strawbale gardening a revelation! - long post

[Blooie]

Down the road from us is a house made from strawbales, 2 story really nice thick walls. Outside covered with stucco. He says it is very cool in summer and warm in the winter. If I didn't see them building it from strawbales last summer you would never know! Bales are supposed to be +40 insulation value. As long as bales kept dry they are good for home building. This website RedFeather builds strawbale homes on Indian reservations. https://www.redfeather.org

They really are fantastic! Our plans have been done for awhile. Lots of them around us.

 

[Krazzy]

im doing straw bale gardening this year as well. its working really good for me so far. i put about 4 inches of compost on the bale beds, and let it sit out in the weather for about 6 weeks. so far all the plants that ive put out seem to be happy.

 

[lazy gardener]

You can cycle them quite quickly by giving them a healthy dose of Ammonia, Urea, or a high nitrogen fertilizer. I had good results with the technique, but found that it required more frequent watering than I cared to do. I actually had better results with hay bales.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I have a question for you straw bale gardeners, if thats alright

I did a bale garden for the first time this year, and my plants are doing wonderfully! However, we've gotten a ton of rain over the last few days and I noticed yesterday that I've had a bunch of mushrooms pop up in my bales. Do I need to get rid of them? They don't seem to be bothering whats planted in there (except for some of my mixed greens, which they pushed up out of the dirt on their way up, I put them back and they seem fine), but they look gross and some of them fall over onto my veggies when the sun comes up and they wither away. The bales are getting full sun, but the shrooms just pop up over night. My other bales on the opposite side of the yard are mushroom free and I haven't noticed any growing near the bales that have them.

I usually do my watering in the evenings, which is why I'm figuring they pop up so well at night, and have plans to let the bales dry out a bit, but it looks like we'll be getting more rain today.

Any suggestions? Should I just leave them? Do I need to spray them with something? I really don't want to do that, but I suppose I will if the mushrooms are a problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lazy gardener]

Nope, you can just let things coast along. If the mushrooms get slimy and disintegrate over your greens, you can just pull them. They're actually helping the straw and compost decompose into nice soil. I've often wondered if a straw bale could be inoculated with mushroom spawn, so you could grow a spinach and mushroom salad!! Enjoy!!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Okay, great! I have just been pulling them off of my plants leaves and none of them seem any worse for wear.

Thanks so much!

 

[backtomygarden]

I love straw bale gardening! I found the book, then contacted the author Mr. Joel Karsten directly.

Gardeners are amazing...he was up for a skype interview, and was extremely generous with his time...and his tips! He shared things about his straw bale garden that he rarely tells anyone, including some spectacular failures.

The interview is up, complete with transcript and video on my blog.

Hope you get a couple of ideas to help you with your own straw bale gardening adventures.

Dave Leoux

http://backtomygarden.com/strawbalegardens