Straw prices are out of control in New England this year. I managed to get these for $12 apiece, which is at least twice as much as I’d consider normal. I saw $10/ea about an hour and a half away, but not worth the drive (especially since I can only fit 3-4 in my car).
@galinas I wanted to give it as much sun as possible, plus leave room to walk between the bales and the rhubarb/horseradish/compost bin on the right and the flowering quince (off camera to the left). Also need some swing room for the collapsible clothesline right behind where I’m standing.
@robert I just followed the directions from Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten. Basically, water in some ferilizer every few days for about a week and a half, wait a bit, then start planting. There’s some wiggle room on amounts, but you need to make sure there’s enough N in there. I’m not sure it would be worth it for potatoes. It’s very fertilizer intensive compared to how I normally garden. I went with organic fertilizer, but I think conventional might work better. You need to get the nitrogen down in the bales to kickstart bacterial decomposition, but the organic fertilizers tend to cake up on the top when applied in the quantities needed.
Even at “normal” straw prices, I think it would be much more expensive than a normal in-ground garden. I wanted to try it and see how things that need a little more heat than I typically get will do (I’m looking at you, okra). Between the decomposition and being raised, it should be much warmer than the soil. I’ll also end up with maybe 1/2 yard of compost when all is said and done, so that’s worth something.
@galinas I just realized which stone wall you were referring to! We’re considering putting a ramp in at that location, so we want to leave the space open to see how it feels. The strawbales are also serving as a low-commitment pilot project for eventual raised beds. Get a better sense of how we like where they are. If bales were cheaper, we’d probably be doing 2-3x as many and have a more diverse layout.
I got the idea from a youtube video. What they did was make circles out of farm fence. Then made layers of straw and dirt inside the circle. Big layer of straw, small layer of dirt/compost, repeat several times. Seemed to work well for them. Also, if you have a way to move them I have seen the hay rolls as cheap as $20. That’s enough to do anything.
That does sound less expensive, but also a lot more work. The fencing seems superfluous, but I might think differently if I saw the video. I could definitely see that working, though. Are you going to try that this year? I’d love to see your results if you do.
I’m not sure how much the round bales are going for around here, but I’d be willing to bet $20 that it’s more than $20 this year. We had bad drought the last few years, and they don’t produce a lot of grain/straw to begin with in New England, so prices are through the roof. Either way, I’m pretty sure I can’t fit one in my station wagon!
The nice things about the square bales are that it’s very little work to get set up, it’s modular, and you have almost zero risk of soil born disease since you’re not using any soil or finished compost. Also, the bales give off a good amount of heat, so you can plant tomatoes and other warm weather crops super early if you use plastic or row cover to trap some of that heat. Regarding the work, I spent a lot more time and effort sourcing the bales at the least disagreeable price than I did in setting the garden up. Downside is it’s expensive (at least this year). But I’ll recoup some of that value in the form of compost next spring.
Planted my first persimmon tree today! Prok, in the front yard. In excited about all my fruits, but the persimmons are what I’m most excited about. It gets afternoon shade, but will have sun from shortly after sunrise until about 2.
And here’s a good look at how sandy my subsoil is. Nice loam on top, but beach sand below. There’s a reason the soil report says “excessively well drained.”
Here is the video we were talking about. Might be to late for me to try it this year, but I am in love with the no dig idea. Also, would work for sweet potato and even other veggies that do not need dug. Just looks like easy gardening to me.
I am thinking about trying it for everything. Sweet potato, potato, peanuts, horse radish, everything. Those things are hard to get out of the ground. End of the year just spread the straw like mulch. Looks easy, but I’m sure it has some type of issue. Like water.
I’ll probably prune it back a bit to encourage more of a bush form and try to root the cuttings as backup. I haven’t had great success with hardwood cuttings on mulberry; does softwood or semi-hardwood fare better?
I don’t know the full details, but many mulberries (supposedly including this) will set seedless fruit without a polinator. There are quite a few wild mulberries in the neighborhood, so I should be OK either way.
As for size, everything I’ve read has been somewhere between 5’ and 10’. I suspect it will only really reach the 10’ size if grown as a single trunk and will be on the smaller end if is more of a bush/open center with competing leaders. I like mulberries, but I didn’t want to commit to managing and harvesting a full-size tree. This variety got (mostly) good reviews here, with a few dissenters. That seems to be the case with a lot of mulberries and the quality of a given variety seems to be site and weather dependent. Even if they’re just ok, it will be nice to have our own mulberries to graze. We go on a circuit of the neighborhood in summer snagging berries that you can reach from the sidewalk.
Are you planning on covering them from birds? Is the harvest one time deal or they produce over summer?
(Caps for my self : I DO NOT HAVE ANY SPACE LEFT, EVEN FOR DWARF. PERIOD!!!)
Still figuring that out. I’ll probably have to end up netting them, but on all the wild trees there’s usually enough for birds and people. These are supposed to have an extended harvest period.
Are you sure you’ve used up all your space? (not my house)
Congrats @jcguarneri
I have 2 of those gerardi dwarf, they seem to be really precocious and productive.
One of my favorites in my orchard. If the voles get these I’ll be maaaad.
Next step against voles, to nuke them ahah
Gonna try to add some tree guards, in wire mesh a few inches under the ground also now
