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www.strawbalegardens.com

Copyright © Joel Karsten 2010

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One – Never Fail with a Straw Bale! • Convenient: All-in-one container and growing media • Easy: Straw bales are easy to find • Fast and Flexible: Preparation is quick

Chapter Two - Advantages of Straw Bale Gardening

• Dirt is not free • Less expensive • Dependable and predictable • Physical advantages • No soil… no problem • Pest control

Chapter Three - Site Selection & Setting Up The Bales

• Put it anywhere • Good sun exposure • Room to grow • Cut-side up • North to south • Support system

Chapter Four – “Conditioning” the Bales

• Cooking straw • Get into good “condition” • Day-by-day recipe

Chapter Five – Time for Planting

• Check your calendar • Fertilize • Water

Chapter Six – Maintenance of the Straw Bale Garden

• A bug’s life • Critter control • Chia Pets • Building support

Chapter Seven – Harvest Time

• Can-do • Cold “don’t” • Mush is for sled dogs

Chapter Eight – What Remains is Gold

• “There’s gold in them there hills bales” • Dip a toe into gardening with the straw bale technique and the next step will be to dive in head first

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Chapter One

Never Fail with a Straw Bale!

Container gardening, or the act of growing plants in large plastic pots, window boxes, clay urns, etc., has been a great alternative for gardeners with poor backyard soil. By using potting mix, often referred to as growing media, in these containers, the gardener eliminates many of the pitfalls of using traditional soil. Growing media will never contain weed seeds, soil-bourn diseases or insects, and will usually have a suitable particle structure allowing for adequate drainage with good moisture-holding capacity. Other characteristics of good quality growing media include good fertility and a predictable nature to its performance, where the same inputs will produce similar outputs on a yearly basis. Most planting media, purchased by the bag, has many qualities that make it a terrific alternative to regular backyard soil; however, the cost can be prohibitive, especially if a large quantity is needed to fill a variety of containers.

One alternative to the traditional container with growing media is to use a straw bale as the container and the planting media – all in one. Encouraging the tightly packed straw inside the bale to compost quickly into a welcoming planting media is a process called “conditioning” and is an essential part of any successful Straw Bale Garden (SBG). The resulting composted straw has all of the desirable characteristics of a good potting media, without the cost. Straw bales are held together by a few thin nylon strings, so keeping the strings intact is essential to maintaining the “container” for the growing season.

Finding straw bales can be as simple as visiting your local garden center. Gathering a large number of bales at a lower cost per bale could mean a visit to a rural area near you to buy directly from a farmer who has some to spare.

The process of preparing the bales for planting is quick and can be done in 12 days or less; however starting the process in late winter or very early spring is also acceptable, especially if the gardener gets spring fever. The preparation should be done just prior to the last potential date for frost in the local area. May 12 is a good target date, but is not necessarily a hard-and-fast rule. In some years, planting May 1 is possible, and other years a tender crop planted May 20 could be nipped by frost.

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Chapter Two

Advantages of Straw Bale Gardening Dirt is free! So true… yet so wrong! Using backyard soil as the planting media could just possibly be the most expensive method of gardening. Considering the labor needed to keep a garden free of weeds, diseases and insects, labor (your time) is a major factor in growing a successful garden; therefore, the concept of “free dirt” is tenuous at best. Other costs may be incurred to improve existing soils in an effort to correct problems with soil drainage, water-holding capacity, particle structure, fertility and pest control. Some existing backyard soils are filled with gravel, rocks or clay, or are nearly all sand, making it virtually impossible to grow anything. It may take years and be very expensive to make modifications to existing soils to transform them into a suitable state to sustain a successful garden. Using a growing media (such as Miracle-Gro® potting mix) is a great alternative to tackling non-productive and inhospitable existing soils, however the drawback with using large volumes of growing media can be the substantial cost of purchasing the product.

The cost savings of using straw bales, when compared to buying equal volumes of planting media in bag form, are immediately apparent to anyone who has a calculator. With an average volume of approximately 14 cubic feet per bale and an average cost of $5 including costs to get the bale “conditioned” to plant, the cost per cubic foot of the resulting media is 36 cents. A single two-cubic foot bag of planting media sells for an average of $10 or $5 per cubic foot, which is nearly 14 times as expensive as the straw bale’s per-cubic-foot of resulting media.

Straw bales are a great solution, eliminating many of the difficulties often encountered with soil gardening and are an economical solution for even large scale garden production. Finding bales of straw should not be difficult, but the costs will vary based on the buyer’s proximity to the source of the bales themselves.

Like any good quality growing media, straw bales are predictable so they will react in a

similar way from year to year when treated in the same manner. Straw bales will always be straw bales, from one farmer to the next; the oats or wheat stalks will not change from one year to the next. This creates an advantage for the gardener, in that similar results can be achieved if the same process is followed each season.

Some physical advantages also exist for those growing a SBG. One is the height of the

growing surface – if the grower has any physical limitations that preclude bending over to ground level, or is wheelchair bound, having a working height of 20-24 inches can be a real advantage. Another is the elimination of the hard labor required every fall to physically turn the soil with a spade or a mechanical tiller. The tedious physical task of hoeing or pulling weeds on a weekly basis throughout the season is also eliminated.

The existing soil in the gardener’s backyard is irrelevant to success when growing a SBG.

Even the edge of a concrete patio or an asphalt driveway would allow enough space to plant a SBG. Utilizing a rocky or inhospitable gravel patch can be a big advantage for a space-challenged gardener.

Spraying to guard against insects and disease or to eliminate weeds, or putting up fences

to keep out wildlife, can all be eliminated or dramatically reduced by utilizing straw bales. It is the physical height of the garden that discourages the development and infiltration of these pests and problems, and provides a big advantage over a traditional soil garden.

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Chapter Three

Site Selection and Setting Up The Bales In The Garden

A SBG can be placed on almost any surface. The surface or soil underneath the bales is irrelevant and will not play a role in the process. The sub-soil acts only as a drain for water that filters out of the straw bales and as a mechanism to hold the bales in place. If the area chosen to set up the SBG has a slight slope, it can be advantageous as it will keep water from pooling underneath the bales and making the aisles between the rows of bales muddy. It is vital that the site selected for the garden is in full sun exposure with a minimum of 6-8 hours of sun each day. Anything less than this will limit the vegetable crops that will grow and will not allow other crops to yield as much. Limiting sunlight not only reduces photosynthesis (the process by which plants grow, using sunlight), but also slows the drying of morning dew or overnight rain from the leaves of the vegetable crops. Wet leaves spread disease, fungus and bacteria, and should be avoided for overall plant health and better crop production. If possible, pick a spot that allows for morning sun exposure so leaves dry earlier in the day, which leads to fewer problems with disease. Spacing rows of straw bales apart from each another to avoid one row shading another row is also important. A spacing of at least 24” is recommended, because the space between the rows of bales will need to be maintained by mowing the grass or putting down a layer of landscape fabric, or unrolling an old piece of carpeting cut to fit the width. These weed barriers will eliminate the growth of grass and weeds between the bales. If you choose to grow vine crops like pumpkins, squash or cucumbers in your SBG, it’s especially important to use a weed barrier such as landscape fabric between the rows of bales to prevent unappealing weed growth up through the vines. Take notice that straw bales have two distinctly different sides. One is the cut side and looks as if the ends of the straws are aligned and have been sliced off. The other side of the bale is the folded side and will appear as if the straws have been folded over in the baling process. It is important that the cut side is positioned upward (facing the sky) to allow for much easier penetration of water and fertilizer. The strings of the straw bales should be around the sides of the bale and not on the top or bottom surfaces of the bales. This is most important to avoid damage to the strings, which would destroy your new “container.” Setting up the rows in a north to south orientation is best, however not essential. Allowing morning sun to hit as much leaf surface as early in the morning as possible is advantageous as discussed above and this orientation allows for that to happen. Planting annual flowers in the sides of the straw bales is a great way to make the garden attractive as well as productive. Since a north to south row orientation will allow sunlight to hit the east side of the bales in the morning and the west side in the afternoon, this allows the grower a wider choice of annuals that could grow well. With a row of bales set in an east to west orientation, any plantings on the north side of the row of bales would be limited to shade-tolerant annual flower selections.

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Pounding or planting a five-foot tall steel post, pipe, or wood stake into the ground at the end of the rows of bales will help to hold the end-to-end bales tightly squeezed against one another. These posts also allow a wire to be stretched tightly back and forth between the posts above the bales – approximately three or four wires back and forth (zigzag between the posts) to a height of about 30” above the bales, at a 6” to 10” spacing vertically. These wires will create a trellis to support vines or a heavy vegetable crop. Without these support wires, it may be necessary to individually stake any plants that require support. When staking individually it will be necessary to drive the stakes through the bales and into the soil for stability. The bales will not provide a stable enough mechanism to support movement of the stakes and may cause the entire bale to tip over. Creating the wire trellis is ultimately easier than individually staking plants!

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Chapter Four

“Conditioning” the Bales The process of getting the bales to compost internally to a stage at which they will support root growth is called “conditioning” and is a simple but essential part of the process in growing a SBG. Most gardeners are familiar with the concept of composting and they understand that any organic matter can be composted; however, some materials decompose more quickly than others. Composting hardwood wood chips from an oak or ash tree can take several years, while composting fresh grass clippings can be completed in only a month or two. The compost pile is always alive with microbial activity and spurring on these microbes is as easy as turning the pile, adding moisture and incorporating nitrogen-rich fertilizer every once in a while. These inputs can really get a compost pile cooking! In many cases a freshly turned, fed and watered compost pile will heat up due to the microbial activities happening inside the pile, to temperatures of 150°F or higher. This heat usually does a thorough job of killing off most harmful bacteria, such as those present in manure. The combination of this microbial activity, heat, and worm and insect activities on a compost pile produces a rich, fertile organic media that plant roots love. By applying what most people know about composting to straw-bale gardening, it will help explain the methods and processes involved in the conditioning process. The process of conditioning the bales will take approximately 10-12 days and will be somewhat determined by the temperatures during that time. If the target planting date was May 15, then beginning the process on May 3 would allow the appropriate time for conditioning. It is essential to allow the bales to compost for this short time prior to planting into them. If a potted seedling is inserted into a raw straw bale, the microbes in the bales may pull nitrogen from around the seedling’s roots to feed their reproductive process and literally starve the plant for nitrogen, turning it yellow and killing it. The lesson here is to always compost any organic material before using it as compost around young, shallow-rooted garden plants.

Day One: After the bales are set in place and the rows are adjusted to be in their final position, the first application of nitrogen-rich fertilizer should be applied evenly over the bale at a rate of ½ cup per bale. This fertilizer should be watered into the bale until the bale is thoroughly water logged and water is running out the bottom. Ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) fertilizer is recommended as it is 34% pure nitrogen and the nitrogen is in a highly available form. It must be noted that ammonium nitrate can be difficult to find in some areas (which is probably due to its infamous use as one component in a rudimentary explosive concoction similar to what was used to blow up the Federal building in Oklahoma City many years ago). Try visiting a farmer’s supply or farmer’s elevator, as they often stock this in bulk. If ammonium nitrate is not available, look for a substitute fertilizer with similar high nitrogen content. Urea is another common nitrogen source, which would work as a good substitute. Make certain that the nitrogen in the substitute fertilizer used is “immediately available nitrogen” vs. a slow-release type of nitrogen. Many combinations of fertilizers exist, but do not use anything with any herbicide content. Avoid weed-and-feed type combinations, and avoid those that have less than 20 percent nitrogen content as they will be less potent and the quantity required will make working it down into the interior of the bale more difficult. The proper fertilizer is providing a food source for the microorganisms that are going to do the actual work of decomposing the straw. The moisture is also a key component that is required to fuel the same microorganism “party” inside the bale.

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Day Two: All that’s needed is to water the bales again and ensure they are completely saturated. Using rainwater or water collected the previous day in buckets is helpful as the water will be warmer. Cold water tends to slow down the microbacteria that are hard at work digesting the straw.

Day Three: Add another ½ cup per bale of the same fertilizer, and water the fertilizer into

the bale. Day Four: Another water-only day, again to full saturation. Day Five: Add another ½ cup of fertilizer per bale and more water. Day Six: Water only! By now it is likely that a somewhat sweet aroma will begin to emit

from the bales. Curious or concerned neighbors should know that this aroma does not last long, but can be rather pungent for several days during this time. A quick check inside the bales interior by sliding a hand or thermometer down inside will show a slightly elevated temperature, and the beginning of a microbial “party” inside the bale. This decomposition process will eventually generate a significant amount of heat, but for now a slight increase should be felt and “smelt!”

Days 7-9: Apply ¼ cup of fertilizer followed by watering each day. Day Ten: Apply a full cup per bale of a balanced 10-10-10 type general garden fertilizer.

Many water channels will have developed in the bales, as the water tends to create these paths of least resistance through the bales. Try to force water into the areas around these cracks to get the fertilizer into the interior of the bales without allowing it to wash into these channels and quickly out the bottom of the bale. This is the last step in the conditioning process. Within a couple days the bales will be ready to plant!

Don’t be surprised to see an accumulation of earthworms in the straw bales, as they enjoy

this nutrient-rich decomposing organic matter. This decomposing straw bale is like a five-star hotel for worms, and worms mean one thing… worm poo… and believe it or not, this is a good thing! Worm poo happens to be extremely rich with soluble and available micronutrients that have been transformed through the worms’ digestive process into a form that can be easily adsorbed by plant roots.

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What now exists inside the straw bales is a nutrient and micronutrient rich, composted

organic matter that is still slightly warmer than surrounding air and soil temperatures as it is still composting, is weed- and disease-free, is full of worm and microorganism poo, and has good particle structure that holds plenty of moisture but drains excess water easily. In simpler terms, it’s a plant seedlings paradise, so let’s start planting!

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Chapter Five

Time for Planting

The nights may still be a bit cool but the chances of frost are minimized, so now that the bales are conditioned, it is time to plant the bales.

Pre-started Plants

If pre-started plants from the garden center are being used for your warm-season crops, such as tomatoes, peppers, melons, eggplant, cucumber, squash or sweet potato, now is the time to make a shopping trip. Once you are ready to plant, use a hand trowel to stab into the bale and, working back and forth, open up an area large enough to insert the entire root mass easily without breaking up the roots. If necessary, remove a small amount of straw to accommodate the roots. Make certain to remove the pot, even if the pot is a “peat” pot and says to “just plant the whole pot,” it should still be removed. Tear the pot away; do not try to shake a plant from any pot, as this will loosen the roots and can cause damage. Use a small amount of potting media, purchased from the garden center, to make sure the roots of the potted seedlings are well covered and the space around them is filled. Water these newly planted seedlings well to assure the roots are sealed in and will not be exposed to air as this will dry them out quickly. Make certain to have some paper milk cartons, coffee cans or plastic juice jugs ready, just in case the forecast says that a frost is coming that night. It may be necessary to run outside in pajamas and cover these plants if any chance of frost exists or even if temperatures of 35 or below are forecast. Make sure to remove any covers in the morning or they may get too hot under a plastic helmet during the next day if it is sunny and warm.

Seed Packets For planting cool season crops (such as peas, beans, carrots, or lettuce) from seed, the

seed packets should also be purchased during your shopping trip. It will be necessary to create a seed bed with bagged potting media (do not use soil) on top of the bales for effective seed germination. The Miracle-Gro® potting mix is a good one and it has slow release fertilizer mixed into it. Purchase approximately one cubic foot of media per bale you plan to seed directly. Carefully mound up the potting media on top of the bale and use a long piece of wood to tamp down the media into a 1”-2” flat layer from edge to edge and from end to end on top of the bale.

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Use the same long board on its edge to create a seed trench in which to drop your seeds. Read the back of the seed packet to determine the proper depth for planting and the recommended seed spacing. (Here’s a tip if you have trouble seeing the tiny seeds as you drop them into the seed trench: Use a length of toilet paper cut in half, and fold that half into half again so it forms a “v”. Line the seed trench with this toilet paper v-shaped liner, and it will be easy to see the exact spacing of the seeds. Go ahead and bury the paper as it will dissolve away quickly.) It is okay to plant plenty of seeds, however it is important to come back and thin the sprouted seeds to the desired density after they have emerged, or overcrowding will surely occur.

Once the seeds are planted cover each bale with two clear seed tray covers, 35 cents each at almost any garden center. Bend a 20” length of wire (like the wire in those flags used to mark underground utilities) in half, and use it as a giant staple to stick through the seed tray covers into the bales, to hold them in place. These covers will help hold in the heat being generated from inside the bale due to the decomposition that is happening inside. The covers will also hold out the hard rain that is sure to arrive and wash all the media off the surface of the bales, if they are not covered. The heat being generated inside the bales will have a remarkable effect on the growth of the seedlings and the germination percentage of the seeds themselves. A warm-root growing zone, with cooler plant tops and surrounding air temperature, is the greenhouse grower’s dream situation. Creating this type of growing environment in a green house is very difficult without using expensive electric rooting mats or hot water coils inside of expensive rooting benches. The decaying, heat-producing straw bale will create this ideal environment for plant growth, without any electric bills! The plant-rooting zone inside the upper half of the straw bale will reach temperatures of 85 degrees and maintain nearly that even during cooler nights. This makes plants grow quickly and will result in fuller and healthier plants. Measuring the temperatures of the soil just next to your straw bale garden may show a difference of 30 degrees or more, so it is not difficult to understand how the plants in the straw bale garden may grow more rapidly.

Flowers If desired, the SBG can look more attractive to the neighborhood by planting the sides of

the bales with annual flowers. The flowers on the side will not effect the growth of the vegetable crops on top of the bales. Use the handle of a hand trowel or a broom handle to push a downward-slanting hole into the bale, in the middle of the strings on the side of the bale. This makes a perfect hole to insert an annual flower, from a six-pack. One six-pack on each side of a straw bale is right for most flower species. Using marigolds (which have an inherent natural pesticidal quality) may help to protect the vegetables on top of that bale from potentially damaging insect pests. Any 12” or shorter annuals should do very well, so try whatever flower species look appealing.

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For All Plantings Liquid fertilizer application is recommended every two to three weeks, beginning only after the seedlings have reached the stage where they have set their third leaf. For the first few times use the fertilizer at half the normal mixture rate, and apply it slowly with a rain-head style watering can so the media is not washed away. If you planted from seeds, the seed tray covers will need to be lifted to water and fertilize, and should be permanently removed before the seedlings are touching the roof. Remove the covers slowly by lifting one end a little each day, and over three or four days they can be completely removed. This process allows the tender seedling to harden off a little bit rather than being completely exposed on a hot dry windy day, which would likely kill them off immediately. Water the SBG early in the day; this allows all the leaves to dry completely before the sun sets. Especially during the warm sultry nights of summer, wet leaves can provide a breeding ground for fungus spores and bacterial cultures. If watering by hand, try to apply the water underneath the canopy of the plants, as this keeps the leaves dry and puts the water directly over the root zone. A great way to water a SBG is to run a soaker-hose down the middle of the bales. Use a handful of 20” pieces of wire, bend them in half to straddle the hose and use them to “pin” the hose down in the middle of the bale. Two or three “pins” for each bale is plenty. Water applied to the soil through a soaker hose will work its way to the edges of the bale, so there is no need to worry or supplement what is applied via the soaker hose. Liquid fertilizer can also be applied through the soaker hose simply by putting the applicator in between the end of the regular garden hose and the soaker hose. With your soaker hose, you can use an automatic programmable timer on the water faucet so that your water turns on automatically three or four times a week for at least 20 minutes. This will allow you to leave for a vacation and not worry that your garden will get too dry. It should be stressed that one great advantage of using straw bales is that they cannot really be over watered, as any excess water will simply run through the bale and out the bottom.

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If a question arises as to whether the garden needs water or not, it is always suggested to use the best resource for checking out the situation… and in this case the best resource is the first finger on either hand. Simply sticking a finger into the bales and feeling for moisture is the best way to know for sure. If it does not feel damp, then watering is suggested. Another great tip is to plant a couple of indicator plants, such as an impatiens flower. This plant will wilt easily if it starts to get dry, but will perk right back up once watered. A quick look at the indicator plants in a garden will help determine whether watering is required.

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Chapter Six

Maintenance of the Straw Bale Garden The goal of most gardeners is to use as few garden chemicals as possible, but to still stay ahead of the insects, diseases and pesky critters that will certainly come for dinner, even when not invited. While this rude behavior is unacceptable, it is to be expected from these garden pests; however, with a straw bale garden many of these buggers will be disoriented. It may be due to the way the wind actually blows up and under the leaves of the plants on top of the bales. This wind dries out moisture and exposes those insects that are hiding inside the plant near the center of the plant to more air and leaf movement that they may normally experience in a tradition garden at ground level. It may also be that insects seeking a meal are familiar with the stem hairs at the bottom of a cabbage plant, for example, so they trek along the soil and when they bump into a hairy stem they are familiar with, they start climbing upward because they know there is surely some tasty leaves on top of this stem. With a SBG, the same insect or caterpillar runs into the side of a straw bale may turn and go the other way, not knowing what this unknown surface is and therefore they don’t bother to climb up and check it out. It is not suggested that no insect or disease problems will occur with a SBG, however experience shows that the problems will be less. If encountered, these problems will need to be treated using methods similar to those used by traditional gardeners growing in the soil. Many homespun remedies do exist for treating common garden pests, so give those a try first. Always use chemicals as directed on the labels, and remember that even home remedies are like chemicals to plants, so be careful about overuse of any treatment method. Sometimes a careful inspection will allow the chewing potato bugs or tent caterpillars to be simply plucked from the leaves by hand, rather than resorting to any chemical treatment at all. Rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, large birds, deer and the neighbor’s dog are all pesky critters that can do serious damage to a newly planted garden in a very short time. Over the years a thousand homespun ideas and natural deterrents have been developed, many that may work sometimes, but all of which never work all the time. A fence may be a deterrent, but a white tail deer can clear an 8’ fence without much difficulty, and a rabbit can dig under a fence in about 60 seconds, so that may not be an option. As the ultimate skeptic, it would not be my style to ever suggest a new solution to all of these problems without first having tested it myself. I can attest through my own experiences that the creation by some smart Canadian entrepreneur of the motion-sensitive sprinkler is nothing less than genius. It is not inexpensive but it is extremely simple to use. First hook it up to a garden hose, then put in a single 9-volt battery in the unit. All that’s left is to turn on the water and turn on the switch. Be sure to plant the sprinkler near your garden where any movement by anything bigger than a very small bird in or near your garden will trigger the sprinkler. It emits a three-second burst, resets in eight seconds and looks again for more movement. This combination of sound and water will keep the garden free from pesky critters of all kinds. I can personally attest to the fact that it works, since after forgetting it was there a time or two, I received a few heart-pounding doses of water in my face… much to my wife’s amusement!

Regardless of which farmer baled the straw bales being used in a SBG, the bales are going to contain a few left over oats or wheat seeds that did not get harvested during the combining process. These seeds will sprout and your bale will grow “hair” like a Chia Pet. It takes only a few seconds to simply trim this “hair” with a sharp knife or pull it out by hand. By trimming the sprouts a couple of times when they get big enough to cut, they will sort of give up on their attempt. Pull out any sporadic weeds that may grow, which will be easier than in a

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traditional garden as they are rooted in the straw and the roots should come out easily. Weeding will not be an issue in your SBG; plan on about 30 seconds for weeding per bale per summer.

Put stakes or cages around any plants that are not being supported by the wire trellis system (see Chapter Three for trellis information). Tomatoes, especially vine tomatoes, will need to be staked well or caged. The greatest thing I have ever found for building the perfect tomato cage is available at almost any home center and is called concrete reinforcing wire panel. This is normally used to bury in cement when they build sidewalks or driveways, for strength. It is inexpensive and measures approximately 4’ by 6’. Roll the panel up like a taco, and use some plastic zip ties to secure the ends. This makes a 4’ high by 2’ diameter cage that works perfectly. The holes in the wire are large, so harvesting tomatoes inside the cage is easy. When the season is over, if you don’t have room to store the cages rolled up, just cut the zip ties off and flatten out the panels on top of your garden. They will get rusty, but so am I and I still get the job done! They will last 10 years or more… and did I mention they cost about $4 each? I am not a lazy person, but one may think that if they looked at my gardening techniques. But I can imagine ordering the perfect veggie garden: “Make it easy, quick, cheap, and so I don’t have to spend all summer bending over. Give me better results than my friends who plant the back-breaking soil gardens that are labor-intensive summer-long projects. Keep down my insect and disease problems and make the garden look nice as well. And oh yeah, can it also somehow create a pile of useful compost that I can use to improve the soil in many other problem areas of my garden next year?” Now that’s a big order… but the SBG can deliver!

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Chapter Seven

Harvest Time

Pulling out fresh radishes picked at the end of June, washed off in a sprinkler, and eating them while standing in the garden is an experience nobody will ever forget doing as a child. It was only the beginning for me… soon it was carrots, beans and peas, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. It was something that I looked forward to every day as a kid, working in the garden with my Grandma Josephine. “Save some for dinner” was an expression that resonates from my memories of grandma.

The fruits of your labor are the reward for an entire summer’s efforts, but don’t let any of them go to waste. Learn how to “put up” canned goods – it isn’t hard or expensive, and only takes a little advice or time online to learn how to pickle beats, make sweet or dill pickles, or “can” almost anything you grow. This method of preservation has lost much of its appeal as we have flash frozen bags of every fruit and vegetable crop known to man available 365 days a year at your nearest grocery store. Don’t be fooled by the idea that simply freezing what cannot be used immediately is a good option, and then simply thawing it later for a great dinner in January. It will not work, and the vegetables or fruit will end up as mush. Why can frozen vegetables from the store be so good, but frozen vegetables from home be so horrible? It all has to do with the freezer used to freeze them. Flash-freezing at very cold temperatures like -40°F allows the water molecules inside and around the vegetables to be instantly frozen and are not given time to adhere to one another. Using a home freezer causes the freezing process to happen slowly, giving the water molecules time to adhere to one another and expand as they freeze. Once thawed, the cells in the vegetables are blown apart and thus everything turns to mush, so avoid the temptation to freeze your garden’s produce. The only exceptions are those things that are okay to be mushy. For instance, freezing a fresh tomato works well; peel it as it thaws and throw it into your chili pot for fresh stewed tomato. However, you will need to freeze the tomatoes separately on a cookie sheet and then bag them up once frozen, or else a huge chunk of frozen tomatoes will result.

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Chapter Eight

After Harvest, What Remains Is Gold

Gold? Yes, gold… but not the precious metal. Gardeners’ gold is exactly what remains after the harvest is complete. It is important to remove any nylon strings, wood stakes, wire, and hoses that made up the SBG. Pile up all the remaining straw/compost/planting media, throw a few more cups of the ammonium nitrate on top, mix in some water and let it cook all winter. The results will be pure compost that, when added to problem areas of the garden, will improve any soil. Mix it into the soil in annual flower beds, use it to modify soils in perennial gardens, or use with existing soils to backfill planting holes for newly planted trees and shrubs. It can also be used simply as mulch around existing plantings in your landscape or garden. It could also be used to create the seedbed on top of the next year’s SBG in place of the planting mix. Thus begins the process all over again. Gardening isn’t just something you’ll do once as an experiment; it will get in your blood. Nothing is more satisfying than planting seeds with one’s own hands, and harvesting, cooking and eating a plate of fresh green beans picked that morning. Many people get frustrated and overwhelmed with the initial soil preparation of traditional gardening, and this tedious labor turns them off. When standing on a shovel and jumping up and down makes an almost unnoticeable mark in one’s backyard soil, it can take the wind out of the sails of a new gardener very quickly. Even the best of intentions can be squelched when a garden gets covered with grass and weeds. It’s seemingly impossible to stay ahead of them by pulling or hoeing them out, and then, succumbing to the wrath of Mother Nature, it’s easy to give up and head to the Farmers’ Market. I would encourage a newbie gardener to start with a ten- or fifteen-bale straw bale garden and let the gardening bug bite hard the first year. Then, use the resulting compost to begin building up the surrounding garden soil, and in a few years there will be plenty of room for the things that don’t thrive in a straw bale garden like sweet corn, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and asparagus. No more excuses for not getting that vegetable garden started this year, so put down this guidebook, go get a few bales and some fertilizer, and get started today!