Straw Bale Garden: Our Story

It has been well established that I love to garden. :) There is something deeply symbiotic about working with nature. Hawaiians might call it "aloha aina"... the love of the land. It is a relationship of respect where you take ownership and stewardship of the earth. We care for the garden, which in turn cares for us. <3 There are benefits physically and spiritually. Simply put, nature is good for the soul. 

I come by this deep internal sense of connection to the earth honestly. My parents kept gardens throughout my childhood. I have many happy memories of working in the garden with my mom and dad. I even have some fun memories of my sister's iguana climbing a pole and eating the fresh leaves of pea plants. :)

My grandparents on both sides also loved gardening. Both grandfathers invested a lot of time in tilling the land and forming careful gardens. My grandmothers too, of course. They also enjoyed picking berries and laying up jellies and other goodies. Their plots were always well-tended and robust with life.

I can still see my paternal grandfather walking among his corn. He is in his eighties now. His garden is smaller. He told me that this year he is probably only going to put out some tomatoes. Even so, he is still practicing that connection to his land. I can still taste his tomatoes and other vegetables, cooked as only my grandmother could. She passed away last fall. Those memories are all we have left and oh, so very precious.

My maternal grandparents did not have as much property, but they still put in wonderful gardens. I smile as I think of my grandfather talking to his little plants, much the way he spoke lovingly to his pigeons. I can almost still feel the sun warming my skin as we picked what would become the night's salad, as well as fresh strawberries for after dinner. <3 The sounds of his calls and whistles to his racer, roller, and prized pigeons zooming and looping in the sky above us still echo in my ears and in my heart. He passed away in 2010. The memories I have of him, while vivid, are not recent. 

Most precious are the memories of 2016, the year my dad went rapidly downhill with no apparent explanation. He visited often that summer, walking through my own (comparably small) garden. Dad gave me tips about growing vegetables, letting me know when my peppers would be ripe enough to pick. With every visit, he had lost more mobility. Even so, he would walk through the L-shape of my bale garden from beginning to end. We sent him home with as much fresh produce as we possibly could. These memories with my dad are my dearest and most precious. He passed away the following spring, just 69 days after being diagnosed with ALS.

None of my favorite memories of my last summer with my dad would have been possible without straw bale gardening. In spring of 2009 (I think... possibly 2010) my hubs, Giraffe, and I were all still living in a second story apartment. I had a pot of brand new tomatoes out on the deck. It was the only living thing I had grown as an adult. lol My sweet little one spoke lovingly to the plant, just like I had taught her to. She also read books to it and told it stories from the time it was a seedling. It warmed my heart to see the actions of her great grandparents reflected in her. <3

One afternoon, the local news ran a story on Joel Karsten's straw bale gardening method. I was fascinated by this idea that plants could be grown this way! I would never forget the diagram of carrots and other vegetables growing deep inside straw bales. My little deck was too small to try, but the image stayed with me. 

In 2010, we were surprised to learn that we would be able to build our own home! It had a very small backyard that felt huge to us! <3 We watched our dream grow, and then settled down into enjoying it. Our own family also grew before too long. We were a busy, happy little home. <3

By 2013, I began to want a garden. Since we live under the regulation of the local HOA, I called and asked what protocol was. To my dismay, we were not allowed to have any 'permanent' changes such as an in-ground garden. I was disappointed, but it made sense. On top of that, my spine curves in several places. The pain is at times excruciating. It feels as though my spine is made of glass which is shattering from the bottom all the way up into my neck. I knew that bending over and getting down on the ground repeatedly would be impossible for me. The same could be said of hoeing and trying to dig up a plot of dirt. 

One day, I remembered the news piece I had seen on straw bale gardening! I did not know how I might go about it, but I thought it would be worth a try. I asked Hubs what he thought, and he was all for it. In spring 2014, we picked up four bales of straw from the local TSC store. I googled information as much as I could, since I could not at the time afford to buy the book. (A rookie mistake... the book really is the best place to start! lol) I initially tried to plant in my bales facing the wrong way and completely raw (unconditioned). Further online research showed me that I needed to remove my plants and begin the process of conditioning correctly.

SBG June 2014

This is the result of my efforts that year. By June 2014, this is what I had growing out back. :) We had tomatoes, peas, cucumbers and broccoli. It was a very small garden. I did not know back then that I had wasted a lot of valuable bale space. This felt like a truly big deal to us! Our tomatoes grew well that year. I did not know about stabilizing them, so I simply used tomato cages. The result was top-heavy tomatoes that literally fell out of the bale, massive root ball and all! 

SBG July 2015

In 2015, I was determined to try again. I have to laugh at what a pro I thought I was by then! :) This time, we put up T posts and strung wire between. No tomatoes fell out of their bales this year! hehe We also branched out a little bit, growing carrots and teensy-tiny watermelon. :) My garden was still small, but felt absolutely huge to us! I was really warming up to the idea of having a green thumb! ;) The joy we found in our garden was immeasurable!

SBG July 2016

By 2016, I had this thing under control. I was ready to go big! We bought eight bales and Giraffe helped me to plant them. We had pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, zucchini, and more! (I have blog posts about this garden!) As I said, this was the year my dad walked through my garden during his visits. Those memories bring me joy and comfort I cannot even put into words. <3 <3 <3 <3

SBG June 2017

Last year, I began my garden after my dad passed away. This was a sincerely dark and painful time in our lives. I used 18 bales, and planted everything I could possibly think of to buy. The garden became a place where I could reflect on the searing pain of our loss, and draw close the memories of my beloved dad. This garden brought life to a heart shrouded in death. 

SBG May 2018

So, here we are in 2018. We are one year out from the loss of my dad. We started the seeds indoors for the third time, but with more information and better success than ever. My Mom (Granna), Giraffe, Koala, and I all planted seeds on the one-year mark of my dad's Heaven date. We have twenty-two bales of starter plants, and are greatly looking forward to seeing how they all grow through the summer.

Straw bale gardening started out as something interesting I heard about on the news one day while living in an apartment. It makes practical sense because of my back and other health issues. Our enjoyment of it, however, goes far beyond practicality. Straw bale gardening connects us to the earth, to one another, and to those precious relatives who have gone on without us. My children are growing up with a garden in their backyard. This would not have been possible without straw bale gardening. 

On a more personal note, the bale garden is where I find my peace. It is the place I go to breathe deeply and to center myself when the world is chaotic around me. Every seed is my friend. Every sprout is my baby. Every seedling that becomes a starter plant that then grows into six to eight feet of tomato-bearing goodness is my flesh and blood. Straw bale gardening is how I give back to the earth by sharing with friends, family, and neighbors. It is how the earth gives back to me on a soul-deep level. I would recommend it to absolutely anyone. <3

Hallelujah, She's Planted!!

Has this been a year, or has this been a year? For one, we are nearly in June. Crazy! Five months never went by so quickly! For another, taking on the task of prepping for and filling twenty-two bales of straw was almost daunting! It would have been, had I not been so stinking excited! haha I sincerely intended to plant a mere 14 bales this year, down from last year's 18. Some of those bales were wasted last year, as seeds didn't take. (It was hard for me to stay motivated so close to my dad's death.) It is purely repetition for me say at this point that we ended up with *so* many seedlings that we simply *had* to have the additional eight bales! lol Suffice it to say that this mama loooooves getting straw bales!

This morning we were out in the garden around six thirty (almost on the dot). Giraffe helped out with three bales worth of plants. I tried not to ask for too much help, since it was so early. Koala was a willing worker... almost too willing. That is how it is when they are tiny though, isn't it? haha She wanted to put plants into bales for me, so I had to pull out straw and then very carefully tip the plant out of the plastic cup into her hand. It is a beautiful thing to teach the little ones how to garden! <3 <3 <3 

Above is the somewhat skewed panoramic picture of the yard/garden. Excuse the pool. ;) One does not get through a summer without a pool of some sort, am I right? Call it spring if you want. The temps in the 90's say otherwise! You can see the lettuce camped out to the left of it. haha They are coming along nicely. 

Here is a picture of our pot of potatoes. This is our second attempt. It seems to be successful so far! These are mostly russet, if I remember correctly. We also threw in a red potato I couldn't bear to trash. Truth be told, I don't even know if it is advisable to mix potatoes. It probably isn't! I suppose you can call this an experimental year for us, potato-wise. ;)

Our beets are still tiny, but I have to mention them. They are my absolute favorite seedling at the moment! Why? I am glad you asked! haha These little babies germinate out of their seed looking like wee little flamingos! haha They are tiny, stringy, and a very bright shade of pink! Pictured is one of five little fellas that has leaves. The rest are all naked and hiding in the dirt where I placed them. I'm in love!

These are some of the plants I put in this morning. There were still cabbages, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes (plenty!), peppers, beets, carrots, parsley, and more squash. :) Let me tell you, we worked fast and hard pulling out straw to make holes, plopping plants into them, and filling them with dirt. When we began it was already 69/70 degrees out and almost 80 degrees when we came back in.

Here are some of my lovely peppers. I initially planned on having two varieties, but thanks to a wonderful weekend trip to the farmer's market I have four! Mine were not growing quickly enough. I now have Big Bertha and Emerald for my greens, Sweet California Wonder (red, yellow, green) and Orange Bell for my colors.

I don't know if you can tell or not, but Koala placed all of our 'fancy' Dollar Tree lawn ornaments into the fronts of the bales this morning. There are now random butterflies, frogs, and birds at odd intervals beautifying our space. It is quite lovely in person, regardless of how how it looks in the pictures. :)

You can probably see one better in this picture of my too-tiny green pepper plants. :) How cute is that little frog? He really adds something to the garden. :) Anyway, I don't suppose I should continue adding pictures. I just wanted to share how sincerely delighted I am in having finished planting my garden for the year! 

To that end, here is a(nother) list of everything that made it into our backyard. I have updated it to reflect the new plants we've added. All told, we planted twenty-two different kinds of tomatoes. Can I say just how *eager* I am to see them thrive and produce fruit!?!?

VEGETABLES

Zucchini 

Romaine Lettuce (green)
Romaine Lettuce (red)

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
New Zealand Spinach

Red Acre Cabbage

California Sweet Wonder Pepper (multi-colored bell peppers)

Emerald Green Bell Pepper
Big Bertha (a 7" huge green pepper)
Orange Bell Pepper

Spaghetti Squash

Butternut Squash

Bush Beans

Muncher Cucumber
Tendergreen Cucumber
Waltham Broccoli

Radishes

Detroit Dark Red Beets

Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Danvers Half Long Carrots
Russet Potatoes
Red Potatoes

FRUITS

Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe

Congo Watermelon

Strawberries

FLOWERS

Morning Glories
Lilacs
Red Roses
White Roses

TOMATOES

Sunrise Bumblebee (a red/yellow striped cherry tomato of moderate size)

Sun Sugar (best guess... small yellow/orange cherry)

Small Yellow Pear
Orange plum 

Honey Delight Hybrid (large 2" light yellow globes)

Chocolate Cherry (an acidic cherry almost brown with green)

Red Cherry 

Brandywine Cherry (same flavor, smaller tomato)

Unknown Small Red Paste (best guess... shaped like small jalapeno peppers)

Gold Nugget (best guess... small, orange cherry)

Plumito (Best guess... dark red, shaped like bell pepper)

Black Cherry

Blue Beauty 

Hillbilly Potato Leaf (large red/yellow fruit)

Beefsteak 

Brandywine (pinkish fruit the size of a slice of bread... my favorite flavor)

Big Rainbow (another large red/yellow fruit)

Steakhouse (the largest tomato ever bred... fruit up to 3lbs! We shall see!)

Abe Lincoln (a regular red heirloom)

Yellow Mortgage Lifter 

Serendipity (another yellow/red mix)

Black Early 

Plan Nine from Outer Space (a yellow/red)

So far, we have harvested bush beans, radishes, and lettuce. The rest is still growing. Also, you can add peas to the list of things I still want to plant as soon as I find an available spot for them to grow! haha I am also eyeballing a bunch of dry beans from my collection, and wondering if they would bother to germinate. haha I cannot help it! I have gardening deep in my blood! <3 <3 <3 I look forward to sharing pictures of produce as the year continues to progress. 

Live happily, everyone. We only get one go at this! :) <3 :)

Straw Bale Garden Update :)

After what felt like an eternity of winter, no spring at all, and what has amounted to being flung face-first into summer... it is safe to say that we are hitting our stride in the garden. That feels incredible! :D I thought I would show you where we are with our garden this past and present week. <3 

This is a view of my messy but happy backyard. :D If my bales look as though they are casually laid around without thought, you are wrong. I wanted them to extend further out this side, closer to the picture. However, we live in a neighborhood that has a governing HOA. They graciously allow me to put up my garden year after year, with two stipulations: 1. It must not be visible from the road. 2. It must be temporary... no permanent structure. 

The bale closest to us was just a wee bit visible from the road when it was aligned with the rest. (Poo!) We had no choice but to point him inward. As you can see, the swingset is in this portion of yard. I did not want the kids' play to be impeded and I did not want my bales to be in harm's way, so we stopped at the one bale. In the far side of the yard, the bales came up to and then skirt around our small patio. The layout doesn't "appear" to make sense, but it does. Bales closest to the house will receive the most shade. They will host the plants which require it. 

This is some of what it looks like from my door. You get a better idea of the layout. Most of the bales are doubled, so we have two full rows. There are 22 bales in all. You can also see what most excites me in this picture!!! Eeeekkk!!! Hubs brought me a cattle panel! Measuring 50" by 16', this beauty supports 10 bales, front and back!

I have planted an assortment of tomatoes (18 varieties) along those back rows. Interspersed in between the tomatoes are cucumbers on the front and cantaloupe on the back. The cucumbers will vine upward through the summer, helping to hold up the tomato plants when they get really tall! The cantaloupe will be directed down the back, out of sight. I simply *cannot wait* to see these bales fully loaded and growing!

Here is a little peek at the bales. We are not done yet, of course. I ran out of dirt, so I need to get more to put around the base of these plants and the plants in the back row. We are still not done inserting plants, either. I have around 30 plants in the house yet, and more on the back porch. I am also germinating beets and carrots. I have peas, more bush beans, some flowers, and a few other seeds I still need to get started, as well. 

This is the view from the side of the patio. Please excuse the red flag in the background. We call 811 before we place stakes, even though we know by now that our garden is not in the way of anything. It is the responsible thing to do. ;)

As previously stated, these will hold plants that need a little bit more shade. We don't get much as it is. Any bit helps.

These are some of the lettuce plants I have growing. This pot contains mostly red romaine lettuce. There are two regular romaine plants growing in there, as well. The other varieties of lettuce are in other containers. They seem to like it in there, so far!

I know that this update doesn't cover 'everything' today. It is going to be harder to cover everything with every post or they would be unending! haha

Anyway, I hope that this at least lets you know what our progression is like. We continue to place plants into bales and containers as we have time - and weather permitting. The rain is free water, so I am not complaining! haha We also continue to germinate new plants so that we are staggering our grow cycles through the summer. We have begun to harvest bush (green) beans and radishes. We could harvest the lettuce while it is small, but I intend to get it grow a bit yet. 

The last thing I haven't mentioned here is the conditioning process of my Mother's Day bales. All eight bales are a solid seven days into the process. They will be ready to plant into by this weekend. Yay!  In all, I would have to say that we are having a successful garden season so far. Surely, a ton of life has burst forth from my dad's heaven-date anniversary this year. We will be continue to nurture, protect, and eventually enjoy consuming the fruits (and vegetables) of that labor of love for months to come. <3 <3 <3 

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Are you tending your spiritual garden? Fill your heart and life with fruits of the spirit. These may be found by time spent daily in His Word. <3 

Straw Bale Garden 2018 Pics

I am going to add these and run through them as quickly as possible. :) These  pictures show the progression of our plants for this year's garden. 

May 23rd was one year from the day my dad passed away in 2017. I so terribly wanted some good to come from that horrible date. It was important for me to focus on life and not death. I think this would be important to my dad, too. He wanted us all to know that the day he passed would be the best day of his life... the day when he got to meet the Lord he has been loving and talking about for such a long, long time. I didn't get to it until that night before bed, but we seeded plants into fifty little pods.

Three days later, on the 26th, we got a phone call telling us that dad's ashes were ready for pickup. He had donated his body to science the day he passed. We were told to expect this phone call at the end of May or perhaps early in June. Needless to say, receiving this call on the 26th of March was quite a shock! I do not have a picture, but that same day our very first plants sprouted! We find that comforting.

I moved the sprouts as quickly as I could (seen above and to the left) into trays. I was hopeful not to have to thin out so many plants this year. I wanted everything to have its very best chance to grow. :) It was a real joy watching them stretch upwards toward the grow light. <3

Grow, they did! In what seemed like no time at all, the sprouts became seedlings. Now we had true plant starts. We also added a second grow light to our home. We had gone from packets of seeds to nearly 200 plants! We felt so blessed by this wealth of little garden starts. <3 

The plants continued to grow and thrive throughout the month of April. May rolled around and I was in full swing, moving plants out of trays and into 3" and 4" cups. A week ago, we moved some of those outside to harden off. We are tremendously pleased with these little guys! :) 

In the week since, I began to plant some of our little guys, as well. I have two buckets that are presently growing varieties lettuce. I set out some tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, zucchini, two types of cucumber, some of the 18 varieties of tomatoes we are growing, cantaloupe, and I forget what all else. They are all very small yet, but the garden as truly begun! 

Because he knows and loves me so well, my husband gave me the gift of my favorite kind of potting soil as well as 8 beautiful new bales of straw to add to the fourteen we already have. I don't know what everyone else gets for Mother's Day, but I call that true love! <3 :) You can tell the new straw compared to the darker, already conditioned bales. Aren't they lovely?

Hubs also took the time this past weekend to cut down the pine tree which has grown to take up so much space in our yard. You can see where some of it was, by the absence of grass at the left of the bales. My yard now looks larger, and I have more space for gardening! What a win that is! I love this man so very much! <3 <3 <3 Our garden has gotten bigger every year. Yay! I cannot wait to see these overrun with plants!

Straw Bale Garden 2018

Year Five - And We're Off!!

2018 makes our fifth year of putting out a straw bale garden. Right now, we have fourteen bales conditioned and ready to go. We used locally farmed straw. Let's call our straw guy "Farmer". :) He is a very kind, middle aged gentlemen. He brought us the cleanest, sweetest, best-smelling straw you have ever seen! Seriously, after last year's fiasco with the corn husks and cobs in the straw we purchased at the local TSC, I was desperate to get some truly quality straw. Farmer delivered! <3 

We will be seeing him again this week, here in two to three days. Hubs is buying me an additional eight bales of straw for Mother's Day! I cannot even quantify the levels of excitement I feel right now! <3 <3 <3 

He has also chopped down the now-large pine tree which was such a small thing when we moved in nearly eight years ago. My yard suddenly looks a bit larger! 

Anyway, I know that I am rambling, so let me get down to the point of this blog. We have too many plants! lol Hubs thinks it is a big deal that I will even admit to that! lol I will be listing the things we are growing here in this post. But first, allow me to explain myself. I do not like to thin plants. It makes me sad to cut off potential life. (Yes, I am a "tree hugger"... That is a good thing! Shut up!) 

I prayed over each of my wee little sprouts, and gave every plant I possibly could a sixth of a tray to live in. They did very well! In fact, they did too well! haha I ended up having around 200 sprouts, seedlings, and plant starts by a week ago. I had so many that I began to sell them using FB marketplace. haha You have never seen such a silly little sale! Even so, some of my plants made their way into three different homes. 

Alright, down to business. These are the plants I am growing this year. Some will be grown in bales, others in buckets, and a couple are in the ground. (Shhh!)

VEGETABLES

Zucchini 

Romaine Lettuce (green)
Romaine Lettuce (red)

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
New Zealand Spinach

Red Acre Cabbage

California Sweet Wonder Pepper (multi-colored bell peppers)

Emerald Green Bell Pepper

Spaghetti Squash

Butternut Squash

Bush Beans

Muncher Cucumber
Tendergreen Cucumber
Broccoli

Radishes

Detroit Dark Red Beets

Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Danvers Half Long Carrots
Potatoes

Radishes

FRUITS

Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe

Congo Watermelon

Strawberries

FLOWERS

Morning Glories
Lilacs
Red Roses
White Roses

TOMATOES

(I am listing these separately because I am growing so many different kinds!)

Sunrise Bumblebee (a red/yellow striped cherry tomato of moderate size)

*Sun Sugar (best guess... small yellow/orange cherry)

*Small Yellow Pear 

*Honey Delight Hybrid (large 2" light yellow globes)

*Chocolate Cherry (an acidic cherry variety which grows to be almost brown with green)

*Red Cherry (regular old humdrum cherry tomato)

Brandywine Cherry (I am so excited to try these! I purchased this plant at the farmer's market.)

*Unknown Small Red Paste (best guess... shaped like small jalapeno peppers)

*Gold Nugget (best guess... small, orange cherry)

*Plumito (Best guess... small, dark red... shaped like bell pepper with a point at the bottom)

Black Cherry (purchased one plant at the farmer's market)

Blue Beauty (purchased one plant at the FM and can't wait to try!)

Hillbilly Potato Leaf (purchased two plants at FM... large red/yellow fruit)

Beefsteak 

Brandywine (pinkish fruit the size of a slice of bread... my favorite flavor)

Big Rainbow (another large red/yellow fruit)

Steakhouse (the largest tomato ever bred... fruit up to 3lbs! We shall see!)

Abe Lincoln (a regular red heirloom)

Yellow Mortgage Lifter (bought one plant from FM

The tomatoes with an * by them are kind of an odd story. I bought a medley of tomatoes twice from two different groceries. Both times, I liked the cherry tomato flavors, so I harvested seeds from one of each kind. I dried them out for a week, maybe a little more, and then planted those seeds in pods with the other seeds I had bought. They germinated! haha So, several of the plants I have grown on my own are literally from cherry tomato medleys out of a supermarket. ;)

So, there you have it! Everything that either is or will be in our garden this year. I cannot wait to see how everything comes out! We have been working tirelessly already since March 23rd to bring all of this about. We are very pleased with what we've done. <3