It’s that time of year again, for garden planning. I have a tablet nearby and graph paper available for any garden thoughts and plans.

photo credit: RuTemple

One problem area in my yard and gardens is the fact I have very little flat land. Living in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains flat land is scarce – particularly on my property.

This year I have decided to terrace a lot of the yard. It will be easier, cut back on mowing and create interest in the yard.

The problem is terracing can take time and money depending on how you go about it.

So this year most of my terraced gardens will be what I call the overnight straw bale terrace garden. Fast, cheap and this idea will prepare the slope for next year but be practical this year.

Overnight Straw bale Terrace Garden

1. Start early by picking your hill or slope to terrace.
2. Select the site and figure out how many straw bales you need. I suggest straw for this project so that when the bales break down you will be able to create good compost without a ton of seeds.
3. Place the bales in the desired spot. You will have to level the bales. I use soil placed under the bale to make them level. Fill behind the bale with soil or compost even with the bale.

You can set the straw bale on end so that you plant in the stubble part of the bale or lay it flat and cut an area for any plants. (The choice depends on the area you will have to fill behind the bale and the area you want to plant in.) A flat bale has a little more planting space and less soil that needs to be added behind the bale. A bale on its side has less planting space on the bale and more soil will need to be added behind the bale.

Tip: I use materials that I can compost in later behind the bales with a little soil mixed in and top the mix with about 5 inches of soil.

As with any straw bale gardening you need to age the bale first. You can do that by setting the bales out over winter or very early in the spring and watering well. You can also add nitrogen to the bale.

The reason for adding nitrogen to the bale is as the bale breaks down it uses nitrogen and the plants will be missing this nutrient unless you add it or compost heavily.  I set my bales out early and add a compost tea before planting.

You also need to add soil to the top of the bale to plant seeds and plants in. I add 4 to 5 inches of soil. Water to firm the soil in place and ignore for a day or so.

The straw bale terraced garden will have a unique look. It will give you a fast terraced hillside with plenty of color or vegetables at a reasonable price. And depending on how often you fertilize the bales they will last for one or two years.

While your gardens are producing and adding beauty to you yard you can find stone, cement block, wood or whatever material you plan to use for the terrace walls.

When you ready to terrace the area all you need to do build your walls and break down the bales. Add more compost or topsoil and you will have a rich area to plant in.

Technorati Tags: frugal hillside garden, Straw Bale terraced garden, strawbale gardening

A Straw bale garden under glass?

photo credit: cotaro70s

Our summer weather has been a disaster. Rain and cold is the definition of most days and I don’t have to tell you that doesn’t do any favor for the gardens.

When I noticed this trend didn’t seem to want to change, I covered most of my gardens with plastic or glass. I wondered at the time if I was over-reacting but from the results of my gardens and the neighboring gardens I think I made the right choice.

The hay bale garden was a little more difficult as a prepared hay bale weighs quite a lot. But I moved the hay bale with a trolley and the plants were young, so it didn’t seem to make a difference in the plants.

I also set up another 2 hay bales since growing under glass I will now have a longer growing season.

One of my first bales had a crop of lettuce growing in three stages for a longer supply of fresh greens. All stages are now done so I soaked the bale with a liquid fertilizer and added more topsoil. I plan on planting bush cucumbers in the front of the bale and a row of pole beans in the back. The back of the bale has a trellis so the beans will grow up that.
photo credit: Ross C.

I have several crops growing in a cold frame so I will add one of these to the following bale after I have treated it and few more days.

So far with my weather the hay bales sitting under glass are doing well. I had a small mini greenhouse I made of windows that were being tossed. The structure took a day to set up. The roof is a thick plastic. I don’t trust glass in a roof. Just in case it breaks I don’t want anyone injured.

Straw Bale Garden challenges

Next week we are actually going to have sun and a few dry days. It will be interesting to see how the hay bales do in a warm environment. I may have to water them more or add a little more compost to help keep the bales cool and moist.

The biggest challenge I see with the garden under glass is keeping the crops watered well if the temperatures finally decide to warm up.

How to cover your garden

If your in a situation like me, too much rain and cold days and nights, and feel your garden would do better being covered there are several ways to do this.

• Move as many of your crops or second crops into containers as possible.
• Create row covers for you beds. This is easier on raised beds or wide rows.
• Build a mini greenhouse. There are several min greenhouse that can be made of old windows or plastic pipe that can be put up in a few hours to a day.

If  it will save your garden crops the extra work is worth the time.

My covered hay bale gardens seem to be doing well. The plants are healthy and growing well. And I don’t see any insects so wee will see how the garden grows as the season progresses.

photo credit: ellievanhoutte

And if anyone has some spare sunshine, please send it my way!

Technorati Tags: straw bale gardening