Straw Bale Garden 2016 - Season Three

There is way too much to share about this year's garden! I should have started blogging earlier, but I was unable to. This is going to be a long one! (Edited to add that formatting is really messing up. It won't let me space, delete or rearrange. This is going to be a hot mess!)

 Let me *try* for the nutshell version. I was sick for the entire beginning of the year, from January through the end of March. Somewhere near the middle of March, I *did* purchase my supplies and lay in some seedlings. Yay! :)

Here you see the sprouts. There were tomatoes (2 kind), cucumber, cantaloupe, cabbage, lettuce, and watermelon. 

 When the seedlings seemed big enough, I moved them to trays made of coconut coir and placed them into the greenhouse that Hubs so lovingly bought me. I had to rely heavily on the kids to keep them watered while I was still recovering. They got a kick out of spraying them daily with a spray bottle.

    We also filled a five gallon aquarium with dirt and sprinkled a packet of carrot seeds into it. Our goal was to get to actually watch the carrots grow before our very eyes!

 Seedlings kept growing, and along with them my hopes of the perfect garden grew. At some point we had eighteen or nineteen different things growing. I kept a religious list... and then Koala lost it. *sigh* 

 It was around then that we did finally bring home the bales. They only need about ten days of conditioning, but with me being so ill and with the weather this year being so temperamental we did not get to condition them for at least a month. In the meantime, they soaked up water and sleet from the sky.

 
Seedlings got larger, so we moved them to still bigger pots, refilling the old pots with herbs. There was basil, mint, cilantro, oregano, spinach, and chives.

It was a real pleasure to watch them grow! 

 The veggies were really taking off. Even the carrots began to show up in the fish tank. We were really excited! I kept hoping the weather would improve so we could get our bales conditioned and move them outside. We did place them on the patio on good days to harden off. 

 When the herbs began to come up, we got even more excited! We were going to plant a garden with SO much variety! I still think they are so pretty. Koala was very involved this year. Giraffe planted half of the seeds, and she the other half. 

 Next we added pumpkin and green pepper to our collection. Green pepper takes a while to germinate, so we left it under foil until it began to sprout. The pumpkin was jack-o-lantern and the pepper were green bell. 

 To our dismay, a few days of under-watering (coupled with yet another cold snap with freezing temps) killed off only too many of our precious seedlings. We emptied a few of the containers into the planter outside and forgot about the old dirt... until these little guys showed up! To our delight, some seeds that had not yet germinated began to sprout! Here you see cabbage, black seeded simpson lettuce and even two small tomato plants I believe are Red Cherry.  

 In April I was finally able to properly condition the bales. This year I went with Scott's Turf Builder Lawn Food, because of the high nitrogen content. There were more cold snaps and issues. *sigh* So frustrating! FINALLY, I got my brandywine tomato (the only one left) and our other few starts planted.

Our only remaining cucumber was placed lovingly in the bale closest to the pine tree by Giraffe, along with a potato gone to seed. (It is tucked deep into the bale from the front.) Unfortunately, this little guy lived a short week or two and also kicked it. :(

 In May we FINALLY made it to the farmer's market. I was really hopeful that I could get a lot of starters to replace the plants I'd lost. The day was ICE COLD. I could see my breath. No shock, another freezing dip was coming! I got an early girl tomato, summer lettuce, 4 golden cross cabbage, an ever green lettuce, 4 pac man broccoli, two kinds of chives, and 4 slicing cucumber plants.

They would be right at home in our bales if it ever warmed up. On Mother's Day I got my chance, and laid in the new plants. 

Fast-forward several weeks bc this is so long. We got everything planted, and only lost one cabbage out of the bunch. Everything else is thriving! :) We ate the lettuce, in fact. Giraffe harvested it too close to the root, so I am watching to see if it grows back. We also noticed our early girl needed support, so Giraffe and I strung yarn between the poles while we waited on Hubs to put up the 2x4 and wire. 

Meanwhile, the lettuce and cabbage continued to grow in the planter. It has been harvested for salad and regrown twice already. The tomatoes were moved over to the bales. I was also given some by Farm Girl and her husband and bought a Husky, for a grand total of 14 tomato plants of five varieties. 

The carrots, too, have continued to grow in the aquarium. We thinned out quite a few to make room. So far, we can still only see the dirt from the outside. Go figure! (All of the roots we saw in the beginning - those tiny seeds I have pics of somewhere - are no longer there. I thinned them too much.)

This is the bale with the golden cross cabbage (we lost one of four), and the two kinds of lettuce that were harvested too low. You can see they are attempting a minor comeback. lol

I picked up more seeds, and Koala and I seeded them into an empty bale. They've just begun to come up. I noticed today that something is making away with them. *frowns* I've seen a squirrel running my bales, and many birds off and on. Insects are another pillager, so it is hard to tell. 

Excuse the dirty look, by the way. That is not a plant ailment. It is diatomacious earth sprinkled over them for pest control. Here you see my early girl (the big one, brandywine (hiding behind her), the two varieties of alium chives, the two I think are red cherries, and (far left) the husky. 

These are watermelon. One sugar baby and one... oh, foo... I really don't remember! This is terrible! I will have to see if I cannot find my info and get it all written down. 

Again, pardon the dust. No sooner had we strung yarn across than the cucumbers than they set out tendrils! Yay! We just love that! You can see they took root and really began to grow. :)

You can see that my beautiful red bell pepper went from lovely to wilty. We are still trying to save her.

And the carrots keep on growing... :) :) ) 

And the lettuce keeps on growing and being harvested for salad. It has a really good flavor, by the way. :)

I re-seeded the carrot bale (which had but five little sprouts). It is now full of wee greens. :)

Every bale gardener's affirmation... the growth of fungi in and on the bales. Sure enough, we're doing a bang-up job this year! This in spite of the illness, weather, and other setbacks. Yaaay! :) 

HUBS TOOK DOWN THE YARN AND PUT UP THE WIRE AND BOARD!!! YESSSS!!!!

Now my lovely, large bale garden actually LOOKS lovely and large! hehe Plants are growing in and on every single bale. More plants are growing in planters and the aquarium. I wake up early every morning and go out there to just breathe a minute. Every morning, there is new growth. This has been a rough year, indeed, in so many ways. With hard work and time, I have my place of peace. It has all been worth it. :)

***Oh! I also have zuccini! lol I'm so forgetful! haha I hope to get some butternut and spaghetti squash laid in, and more potato starts before the season is out.