Posted on 02/20/2021 6:24:26 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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And I’m assuming you’re using STRAW bales. HAY is what animals eat, STRAW is for bedding and using in Straw Bale Gardening."
Yes, you are obviously right. I am not only a crappy gardener, I'm also obviously not a farmer!
So I decided to search for the ugly that was growing on my thyme and found out it was called "Dog vomit slime mold". Grows on mulch that is wet. We had a really wet and cloudy season last year. The mold spread from the straw to the thyme, that was laying over on the straw. I am hoping that stuff is gone for good.
Thanks! I'll look into it!
Thanks! I will look into this.
I’ve seen that type of fungus. And being a long-time dog owner? The description is spot-on, LOL!
Hope dry weather finds you this season. I always have a better garden in a dry year than in a wet year. We had a serious drought in 2012 and it was the BEST Pepper and Tomato season ever. I kept everything watered with well water and fertilized more than usual, but it was worth it.
Excellent production that year, but I don’t wish a drought on anyone. I also had big Bullfrogs in any damp and/or shady spots and one took up residency in my watering can.
I hate Bullfrogs! *SHUDDER*
Those Veggie FAces are always fun. That guy looks like The God Of Gardening, for sure! :)
Here’s some more good info, Grammy!
“How to Build a Straw Bale Garden” ~ Modern Farmer
This one was the picture on a podcast episode on pirates! I haven’t figured out the connection, but the more I looked at it, the more intrigued I became. I had to go looking for the artwork to a larger version - there are a bunch out there, but this is one of the better ones, IMO.
Thanks. That leads me to just one more question. What exactly is organic fertilizer? It calls for 3 cups to start conditioning the bale. Is it what I can buy in a bag for the lawn or what? (I really am that bad a gardener)
Bull FRogs = Meat was severely rationed during WWII so fish and frogs took up some of the slack. We lived in Western FResno Ca were the irrigation ditches were full of both. Dad and I used a 2 man net by day for the fish and gigged frogs at night. My two older brothers and one sister served in the military. We had a 38 Chevy coupe with a spotlight that dad removed and made it hand held by running wires from the car to the lite. Mom drove the car slowly along the ditch bank while dad gigged the frogs and it was my job to keep the wires out of the weeds and this was RATTLESNAKE country ...
I am headed to Texas Friday. Meeting home builders to talk about designing my home. Sketching out my dreams on paper.
For some reason spending a lot of time on plumbing and electric for greenhouse and gardens. Hmmm.
*APPLAUSE* So HAPPY you are escaping! :)
Awesome seed-starting set up!
You’re NOT a ‘bad’ gardener! You’re just a novice - and I’ve been doing this for 50+ years and I still learn something new nearly every day! :)
“Days 4-10: Feed the bales using a high-nitrogen organic liquid fertilizer – any standard vegetable and flower mix will be fine. Simply add it to your watering can as directed on the pack and pour onto the bales.”
https://sympathink.com/conditioning-fertilizing-straw-bales-for-gardening/
Look for a liquid fertilizer that has a high ‘N’ or FIRST number in the NPK rating. Bales need Nitrogen more so than a garden in the soil and a liquid will be the easiest way to apply it and get it to the plant roots.
They should give you some specific recommendations in any of those books suggested for Straw Bale Gardens.
Thanks !
A friend recommended this to me, and it's in my 'stack-o-stuff' (Miss You, Rush!) to read.
"Andrea Wulf's fine story of how gardening and farming shaped the thinking of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison … One of Wulf's most luxurious and sharp-witted chapters concerns the matter that would fertilize a new nation: 'Mundane as it seems,' she writes, 'manure was of the greatest concern to all four of them." San Francisco Chronicle
“Eloquently written and very beguiling "Founding Gardeners” … Anyone who thinks gardening has zilch to do with politics should read this book … [Wulf] is a writer of considerable grace and breadth of vision, and "Founding Gardeners" is an excellent portrait of the early years of the federal republic. It will delight the general reader, not just the garden buff. But for the garden enthusiast, this is a book of special interest, reminding us that a garden has a purpose, a character, a soul -- that it's an expression of our relationship not just to the soil, but to a vision of the world.”, The Plain Dealer, Ohio
"Excellent ... riveting …There is a huge amount of fresh research in this valuable book, including the first proper examination of the gardening exploits of presidents James Madison and John Adams. The Founding Gardeners is a great achievement and deserves its place on the shelves of political as well as garden historians", Country Life
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