STRAW BALE GARDENING-DAY 1 - CONDITIONING THE BALES

[@pamelamercer6302]

Doing straw bales for first time. The video really helps. Thanks

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

I think u will love it. Happy gardening.

[@kingofhearts826]

Just what I needed! I have two bales now but am encouraged by your vision to think bigger. Thanks for making it easy to understand.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

You are very welcome. I appreciate the encouragement. Happy gardening.

[@felforgedaxe9793]

The way you laid out your garden is brilliant!

[@baptizeus]

Awesome! I think I'll add the fertilizer before a nice rainy day & let nature do its thing. Great video!

[@karenchason1117]

I really like your videos. They are very helpful. Thank you.

[@capeflatterytrail]

I have wanted to try this approach. The only thing I was concerned about was the bales setting on fire. Has that ever been an issue? Great video!

[@NicoleRiley-b7w]

I love your videos on hay bale gardening. Thank you. I have some alfalfa bales that i am no longer need for their intended use… can i do the same with alfalfa bales? Also, i gave a rabbitry, can i use either straight pellets (rabbit poops) or rabbit pellet tea instead of urea? Thanks in advance. Have a great weekend!

[@FloorsbySouthernboys]

Good job 👍

[@sheliadean9548]

Thank you for sharing this information with us

[@fullofgracehomestead]

Thinking of trying chicken compost tea for the nitrogen.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

I love that idea. Please let me know how that works. I love new methods and ideas.

[@patriot20000]

I don't know how you would determine what might be equal to 1/2 cup of granules.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

I really don’t know myself. I do apologize for not being able to help on that matter. I will do some researching and see if I can find anything.

[@shadyman6346]

The NPK of even great compost is very low, use Nitrogen.

[@saltlifegull4091]

Help Tracy - All I can find are hay bales, no straw bales. Thanks for great video!

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Thanks. Hay bales will work the same. You just might have more weeds. Happy gardening!

[@2751Brandon]

Are these wheat straw bales?

[@jackphelan9480]

Our first try...in our new greenhouse. Thank you!❤️

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

That’s awesome. Happy gardening.

[@michaelrodgers565]

@@gardeningwithtracy2326 🙈🙉🤓❤️

[@reubenpotter8992]

Very nice

[@josephpfalzgraf4213]

Do you buy what kind of fertilizer and does it have to have a lot of nitrogen in it

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Hello great question. As long as your fertilizer is at least 20% nitrogen it should work. Just make sure it’s not a slow release fertilizer and no weed killer. Hope this helps. Happy gardening.

[@onedalambert9484]

What is cattle cloth? Maybe I missed that somewhere. Thanks.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Cattle cloth is something our local farmers coop sells. It’s a cloth that is placed in areas where cattle will be walking a lot to kinda keep the mud down. Usually placed around feeding areas. It comes in 15 ft long pieces and u purchase by the foot. Really has helped with weeds for me.

[@brofessormex]

I have a good idea. How about using some manure, crushed Biochar and weed water with some yeast.

[@davecalvo6418]

I was thinking of trying this method for sweet potatoes this year, I have a question though. Do you use any lime on the bails to speed this process up?

[@tray2435]

Can use 30-10-10 plant food to season bale? Have been able to find urea.

[@tray2435]

Unable

[@DavidBrown-gy1nv]

Help Please! I just had a greenhouse built...I moved 13 bales inside and did the watering and prep with Blood Meal. I'm now getting a super strong ammonia smell. Is this normal? Can I fix it? Thank you in advance.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

It is absolutely normal. The smell will go away. I would just allow some ventilation if possible. Can burn the eyes. No worries.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Totally jealous of the greenhouse. You won’t have the trouble of the cold water conditioning. The warmth in the greenhouse works for you.

[@DavidBrown-gy1nv]

@@gardeningwithtracy2326 Thank you so much...love you

[@josephpfalzgraf4213]

Do you do this with everything you're planning to the bales of straw you're planning potatoes and carrots. Do you prepare each bale of straw like this for everything you're planning

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Great question. Yea I do this for everything although I have not had luck with potatoes in the bales. I do not think the potatoes do well in the nitrogen rich environment. If you do this and are successful please share your method. I have grown carrots and everything else in the bales though. Happy gardening.

[@trevapotter9239]

Awesome 👏🏻

[@stevestanley5183]

thanks for sharing

[@katrinabranson9918]

Tracy, glad I found you! Our family is preparing to move and plan on building another garden, since time is most likely not going to be on our side, I'm thinking about initially doing straw bale so that we won't have to mess with working with bad soil and loosing time. I can source clean (herbicide & pesticide free) straw but am thinking about using our urine and a weed tea, and the marc from it to condition the bales. Do you think it would get hot enough? I have never used synthetic fertilizer, and after the initial sb garden I would then want to use the remains as a raised in ground bed base to build up the soil below. I have always done large gardens, but it is always a slow process to build soils. Is there a soil/straw temp to be aimed for? Umm.... I will go watch your other videos before I get too far out in left field. Thank you

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Glad to have you. That sounds exciting the move and all. To be honest I am not sure about the temp question. I have never used that method. I have though used the leftover bales in a raised bed. I incorporated it into my already established raised bed by mixing it with the soil. I also used the leftover bales in a section of my garden that I semi framed out and stacked them into the frame. When using this method you will need to condition the bale beds as well. I do have other videos on some of the things you asked about. Please check them out. Please let me know how your garden is doing and if you have any questions please let me know. If I don’t know the answer I will sure try to get you one. Happy gardening.

[@allisonwhitenack2012]

Hi Tracy! Can I use 32-0-5 lawn jumpstart fertilizer? I can’t find 46-00-00

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Hello! As long as your fertilizer is at least 20% nitrogen you are good to go. Just make sure it’s not a slow release fertilizer and also make sure it does not include weed killer. Hope this helps. Happy gardening.

[@allisonwhitenack2012]

@@gardeningwithtracy2326 yea it does! I have been hesitant to start bc I didn’t want to use the wrong fertilizer. Thank you!

[@davehonness5398]

Can you use chorlinated water on the bales?

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Great question. I do use chlorinated water. I also fill 5 gallon buckets with water and let them sit open for couple days so chlorine will evaporate out of it. I have found my peppers don’t care for the city water too much so I use the bucket water for them as much as possible. I always use the chlorinated when conditioning the bales though. Happy gardening.

[@skeets6060]

Are these straw bales or hay bales ?

[@cherylhale5755]

It is October, but I wanted to get a straw bale garden set up for next spring. My question is, should I condition the bales now, or wait until a couple weeks before planting? Will they even need conditioning after sitting out in the elements for six months?

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Cheryl Hale that’s a great question. You can set them out now but u will still need to condition them a couple weeks prior to planting. I agree It is somewhat easier to find bales in fall. My only concern would be them decomposing prematurely. But if you have cold winters I think you should be fine. I have not ever put them out in fall but may do a few myself to find out if there is a difference. Please if you do, let me know how that works for you. I love new techniques and ideas.

[@cherylhale5755]

@@gardeningwithtracy2326 I was concerned that there would be shortages of gardening supplies in the spring, so I am trying to get a head start . Thank you!

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

That’s not a bad idea at all with all the shortages we have had with all things garden and canning.

[@smhollanshead]

I put the straw bales out in the fall and condition the straw bales in the spring. It’s okay if the bales decompose over the winter. The more the bales decompose the better the bale as garden soil. In fact, the bales will be even better as garden soil the next year.

[@sandrastreifel6452]

Thanks, guys, that’s my plan!

[@emilychaloux4153]

I conditioned my bales as I was supposed to but there is grass growing like crazy. How do I get rid of the grass?

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

You will need to pull these sprouts out by hand while they are still small don’t let them come to seed. Once you do this. They don’t tend to come back. I will notice little bits of sprouting occasionally. Straw bales don’t tend to have a lot of sprouting to occur. Did u possibly use hay bales?

[@marianne3024]

That happened to me from just using rice straw for mulch and covering soil in the winter and I had lots of little rice plants. We live in a very harsh environment and a zone 9a but it’s still very dry. We only get rain four months out of the year and we have voles everywhere. I’ve had a terrible time gardening, since I moved here. So I am thinking about this method as long as the bales were contained so the voles can’t get in. This spring I will be using those wire trash cans from the dollar tree to protect the root ball and then top them with hardware cloth pretty high up to keep the voles from eating at the stem. They literally ate 18 whole plants last year, I would come out, and an entire hot pepper plant or bell pepper would be gone, pulled down into a hole. I tried to isolate it from the natural ground as much as possible with hardware cloth but I ran out in some areas and used double layers of chicken wire but obviously it’s getting in. Somehow it’s an underground battle, so I lose most of the time. He’s already made his way in last week, although I cordoned off that area so he has not yet made it to the rest of the garden so far.

[@DavidBrown-gy1nv]

Hi Tracy...I need your help again. My Straw Bale Garden is in my greenhouse and doing really well. Every morning, I have like 1,000 gray mushrooms...I rake them in...and they're back the next morning...what can I do to stop this madness? Thanks...David (Rhode Island)

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

This is normal. They will eventually stop. It’s a part of the conditioning process. They will not hurt anything. Mine have finally stopped producing mushrooms. This is how you know ur doing it right. LOL.

[@DavidBrown-gy1nv]

@@gardeningwithtracy2326 Thank you. Because they're in the greenhouse, they're producing this gray like pollen. all my tomato plants are turning gray.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Oh my I did t think about that. It should not last long. Hopefully here in day or two it will stop

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Did the mushrooms clear up and how is ur garden going?

[@DavidBrown-gy1nv]

@@gardeningwithtracy2326 Yes! after like 3 weeks and millions of mushrooms, things settled down. I put landscape fabric over the bales to curtail the sprouting and it seems to have worked. The garden is amazing...such beautiful soil and strong healthy plants. How can I send you a picture?

[@saltlifegull4091]

great - tractor supply has them for about $6 - what do I do after first day? Am I missing something?

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqKTnWqZjt2Mb8k This has the instructions for conditioning. Hopefully this will help.

[@williamhartzelljr.9080]

Will chlorinated water have a detrimental effect?

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Great question. When conditioning the bales it will not harm anything. Works perfectly fine and will not affect the plants. I have found that pepper plants and sometimes tomato plants don’t do as well with chlorinated water but you can still grow them and still get good crops from them you may just see stress on the leaves. Something that you can do instead is fill up 5 gallon buckets and let them sit overnight and then water your plants with that water. The chlorine will evaporate out of the water. Happy gardening.

[@sandysorensen9279]

what was the name of the barrier cloth?

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

sandy sorensen I used cattle cloth from our local coffee farmers co op. It’s really great. It’s a lot thicker than just flower garden barrier cloth.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

I use cattle cloth that I got from our county farmers co-op. It’s what they put around feeding troughs to keep it from getting g muddy.

[@buckspencer667]

What would be the approximate initial investment for this size garden for bales, 2x4’s, T post, etc.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Straw bales in my area are around $4-$5 each. It’s about $8 -$9 for each 2x4x8. I went to our local farmers coop to get t posts and cannot remember. Sorry about that. The cost would just be based on how big u want to go. You also have to get the nitrogen rich fertilizer and that varies by type.

[@beverlylacrone6316]

I think I will put down sand and gravel between my rows to try to keep my boots clean

[@marybethham4967]

Straw where I’m at is 7 to 8 dollars a bale.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Oh wow. I found a local farmer and got mine for $4 a bale. Maybe u could check with your county extension office or farmers co-op if you have one, and find a local farmer you could get some from for cheaper.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

I’m not sure about leaves. If they were leaves from last year that have broke down over the winter and become leaf compost you could possibly plant in them. I have seen where people have worked leaf compost into their gardens or raised beds. I’m unsure about the cardboard boxes. Im thinking they would or hold up all garden season out in the weather. If you try this please let me know how it goes. I love new ideas.

[@sandrastreifel6452]

Still cheaper than filling a raised bed that big!

[@watermelonlalala]

Don't think I would want a very big bale garden with city water. Put my bale or two next to a rain barrel...

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Brendan Hall I am hoping to put up some rain barrels this year too.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

Brendan Hall with the way we have been getting rain lately I am hoping to not have to use city water very little.

[@mauricebrown9094]

I was all set to subscribe as well. However you mentioned that ugly word. " Fertilizer" Most homemade composts are Nitrogen Rich.

[@gardeningwithtracy2326]

You can definitely use homemade organic fertilizers as well. I have just not converted to them as of yet. It needs to be a nitrogen rich fertilizer with at at least 12-15% total nitrogen in order to work. Bone meal, blood meal, or fish meal will work. I just haven’t done this because it’s just really expensive. There are just different amounts u have to use. Here’s the schedule for that. I will also try to do a video this year covering this. Organic Fertilizer Day 1 -3 Cups then water till soaked Day 2 - Water until soaked Day 3 - 3 Cups then water to wash in fertilizer Day 4 - Water until soaked Day 5 - 3 Cups then water till soaked Day 6 - Water until soaked Day 7 - 1 1/2 Cups then water till soaked Day 8 - 1 1/2 Cups then water till soaked Day 9 - 1 1/2 Cups then water till soaked Day 10 - 3 Cups Phosphorus and Potassium mixture and water to wash in fertilizer Day 11 do nothing Wait until about day 16 to plant. Making sure bales are not too hot. Using warm water after day 4 helps in the conditioning process. I hope this helps and I hope you reconsider subscribing. Happy gardening.

[@unitedstatesdale]

Please have your twin sister contact me 🤣