Straw Bale Gardening

 Garden Center, Vegetable Gardening  No Responses »
May 102013
 

Barbara Whipple, Dundee Horticulturist

Straw bale gardening has been around for a long time, but has recently been rediscovered. I used straw bales to grow potatoes, hoping to fool the Colorado Potato Beetle, way back in the ‘70’s. It worked very well for a few years.

Today what appeals to many people is the raised bed aspect of gardening in a bale of straw. Raised beds save the back! For other people, with very few sunny spots in their yards, putting the bales in a driveway or on a deck, gives them the opportunity to grow fresh tomatoes when they thought they didn’t have the proper conditions. If you’ve thought you couldn’t grow your own vegetables, maybe straw bale gardening will change your mind.

The first step is to place the bales where you want them. They will not be moveable once you begin to water them. A bale could even tear apart if you tried to move it.

Now you can prepare the bales. The easiest way is to just water them for 3-4 weeks. You want the inside of the bale to begin decomposing and as it does so, it’ll heat up, enough to kill off any plants in it. So you have to wait until the bale has heated and cooled before you can plant.

If you want to speed up the time from acquiring to planting the bales, you can sprinkle a high nitrogen fertilizer such as blood meal on the bales and then water them very well. This method results in a wait of about ten days for the bale to cook and then cool. Each day for the first week sprinkle about a half cup of the fertilizer on each bale and water it in. On day seven cut back to one-fourth cup of fertilizer.  On day ten, quit the fertilizer but continue to water the bales. From day eleven onward, stick a fist into a bale to take its temperature. Hot! Not ready. Cool? You are safe to begin planting.

If you want to start seeds, you must make a seed bed about two to three inches deep on the top of the bale with seed starter mix. Then just follow the directions on the seed packet for that kind of crop.

If you are planting transplants, make an opening in the bale and insert a small amount of potting soil. Then arrange the transplant in the opening, up to its third and fourth leaf. Ease the roots apart just as you would when planting in garden soil.

You can grow whatever you want in straw bales, but you must water. Straw bales dry out faster than other kinds of containers, especially in hot weather. Through the middle of summer, expect to water twice a day, morning and evening. You’ll also need to fertilize since the bales provide no nutrition.  Choose a balanced garden fertilizer such as 10-10-10, which provides all the nutrients plants require. You can also fertilize with products such as fish emulsion, kelp extract and compost tea.

The hardest part of straw bales gardening is hefting the bales into place. The best part is, as with all gardening, the crop: juicy, flavorful tomatoes, fresh herbs for every meal of the day, green beans so delicious a three-year-old begs for them. And don’t forget about the flowers! Grow a few of them too.

Starting Tomatoes and Peppers from Seed

 Garden Center  1 Response »
Mar 262012
 

Kim GaidaBy Kim Gaida, Store Manager, Dundee Plymouth

 

 

BLT’s and stuffed peppers – as I thought about starting tomatoes and peppers from seed, my two favorite summer dishes popped into my head (and made me hungry).  If you like either of these foods, or similar ones, you might want to think about starting them from seeds so you can make BLT’s and stuffed peppers this summer with fresh-off-the-vine vegetables from your own garden.   Peppers and tomatoes are wonderful summer vegetables that are easy to start from seed for your garden.  Let me share some of my tips for starting them.

When starting seeds, the main thing to think about is timing.  Tomatoes and peppers should be started about 6 to 8 weeks before they are to go outside (after the last frost).  Timing the seeding right will reduce the number of times you will need to repot the seedlings before they can be planted outside.

Seeds can be started easily and with something as simple as a cut down milk jug and some potting mix.  Garden centers, like Dundee, will carry an array of different seeding trays and containers for seeds to be started in, depending on the plants you are seeding, but almost any container that holds soil and allows extra water to drain out can be used.

Once you have your container, fill it with your 1 – 1.5 inches of soil mix.  Your soil should contain some peat moss to help keep the seeds moist as they germinate.  Wet your soil before you fill your container.  Then the soil will not settle as much in the container.  Place the seeds on the top of the soil and cover with ¼ inch of the soil mix and gently pat down.

Cover the top of the container with a plastic dome if you are using a seeding tray. Oftentimes the tray and dome come as a set.  If there is no dome, you can use a plastic wrap.  Vent plastic wrapped trays to prevent condensation from forming.  The seeds will start to germinate in 10-14 days depending on the variety of tomato or pepper you are planting.  Check your seeds every 2-3 days and keep the soil moist.  This can be done easily with a spray bottle in the beginning, so that the soil doesn’t become too moist.  Don’t allow your soil to become too wet as this can result in the seedlings “damping off” (a fungus condition that causes the stem to weaken and the seedling to keel over).

Damping Off

Damping Off

After the seeds have germinated (sprouted), the containers will need to be placed in the light.  Florescent lights can be used or place the containers near the window.  Florescent lights should be placed within 6 inches of the top of the soil and should be on 12- 16 hours daily (timers can be used for the lights).  The lights should be kept 6 inches above the top of the plants, so the lights will be need to be adjusted regularly as the plants grow.  If your seedlings are by a window, make sure to turn the container every day. If you don’t turn the tray your seedlings will keep reaching for the sun and grow crooked.

Tomato Seedlings

Thanks to Golden Hound for making this image available through Creative Commons

Depending on when you sowed your seeds, you may need to replant seedlings before they can go outside.  Place transplants in slightly larger containers to give them room to grow.  This will keep the plants happy and healthy.

Before you plant your vegetables in the garden, they need to be “hardened off.”  This means getting them used to the outside conditions before you actually plant them in the ground so they won’t get sunburned.  Place them in a shady location for the first few days so they get used to the outdoors and bring them back inside at night.  This usually needs to be done for about a week or two depending on the weather.

After your plants are hardened off, they can be planted in your garden or container.  Carefully monitor the soil moisture levels, especially during the first week as the plants adapt to their new surroundings.  This would also be the ideal time to place a tomato cage or something similar around the plants.

 

Happy Planting.  Enjoy your summer produce and share!!

So…..Can I Plant Now?

 Garden Center  No Responses »
Mar 242012
 

Vicki TrattarBy Vicki Trattar, Dundee Nursery and Landscaping

Unseasonably warm, even record-breaking temperatures have awoken the sleeping giant in local gardeners.  The question we hear most often these days is “Can I plant now?” Well, the grass is greening up, the worms are surfacing, and it sure looks like planting time.  If you can dig a deep enough hole to accommodate the plant you want to add, you can technically plant it.

I think what people really want to know is “Will this last?” If you want a definitive answer on that one, get back to me in about 8 weeks.  Anyone who has lived in Minnesota long enough has seen snowflakes in June.

If you decide to go ahead and plant, be prepared if the weather reverts to more seasonable temperatures.  If we get freezing temperatures again (the average date of last frost in the Twin Cities area is MAY 10) and if your tender plants have sprouted, you need to put some protective covering over the new foliage so it doesn’t die.  You may have to do this on several occasions before we are past any danger of frost/freeze.

You can also use Freeze-Pruf on your plants.  It’s a spray-on product we sell in our stores that will help protect tender vegetation from freezing.

If you can’t resist planting, stick to planting things like pansies that can handle a light frost.

The questions you need to ask yourself before planting are these:

  • Am I willing to spend the extra time and effort to protect my plants if we get a frost/freeze?
  • Am I willing to invest in a product like Freeze-Pruf to protect my plants?
  • Am I willing to lose some (or even all) my tender plants if the weather returns to normal?
  • Is it worth the risk to get some color into my life?

As for me, I think I will try starting some of my pea seeds in containers this weekend.  A package of seeds is not a big investment.  I would risk losing them for a chance at fresh vegetables outside my door.  I will take home some pansies and cover them if it gets really cold.  I won’t be going full steam ahead, but I can’t resist getting starting with SOMETHING!

Anyway, you know what they say, “If you haven’t killed a plant or two, you aren’t really gardening.”

So….will you or won’t you plant?  What will you be starting with?