In this episode, we talk about Straw Bale Gardening, used by Kearny Community Garden; an inexpensive way to grow vegetables in raised beds without tilling and weeding.
We review other raised bed techniques. And the pros and cons of Community Gardens, how rules of conduct are sometimes broken, ending with a reflection on living by our "heart rules."
I hope you enjoy the story.
Related Stories and Helpful Links:
Straw Bale Gardening Builds Community
Vegetable Gardening Basics
Ep 28. Three Sisters, No-Till Gardening (No-till Gardening – Blog Post)
North Country Organics Cheep Cheep 4-3-3
Book on Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten
8888
I'd love to hear about your garden and nature stories. And your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in.
You can Follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.
Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page
Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
AskMaryStone.com
More about the Podcast and Column:
Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.
It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page
Ep 149. Straw Bale Gardening Builds Community
Sat, Feb 24, 2024 5:19PM • 11:23
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
garden, bales, raised beds, gardening, growing, plant, straw bale gardening, straw bale, work, community, steel, vegetables, straw bales, rules, straw, live, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Hello fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens, it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:25
Hello, there it's Mary Stone. And thanks for joining me on the screen porch. It's another cold day although the sun is shining, and the snow is melting due to it, but I'm still enjoying the fluff. Once again, I want to thank those that reached back about last week's episode Anatomy and Array of Beautiful Bark. One listener wrote, "another beautiful column and podcast, educational and fascinating. I will never again look at a tree in quite the same way." Thank you so much for that. I find myself practicing identifying bark while walking Jolee. Like trees, we have different kinds of skin, and we speak diverse languages. But the core of who we are is all the same as is what we wish for -- comfort, providing for our families, and living in peace, which is a theme of the story I'm going to share with you today and I look forward to it.
Mary Stone 01:21
We are approaching March and folks are thinking about their vegetable gardens. I'm excited about a new season of growth, aren't you? This year, I hope to have more attractive fencing rather than the work-around stakes and deer netting. Not so pretty, but the vegetables are. In addition to the No-Till Gardening technique, which I adapted thanks to my friend Patty Doell. And you can listen to Episode 28, Three Sisters, and No-till Gardening. It gives you the whole skinny on how to do it, but I just want to give you a broad stroke reminder. It's also known as no dig gardening. It's the practice of not disturbing the soil by turning it over. And as a result, not only will plants grow better, and produce more, but they'll also be more resilient to pests and diseases and more tolerant of periods of drought.
Mary Stone 02:12
There's another way to forgo tilling and weeding and that is using straw bales. I wrote a story about the Kearney Community Garden long ago when I met some volunteers, and it starts like this.
Mary Stone 02:25
Hello fellow listeners and readers. I knew little about straw bale gardening until I met Peg and Ed and entrenched volunteers of the Kearney Community Garden in New Jersey, not far from Manhattan. Peg, I retired sixth grade teacher of 52 years said she still is teaching but now her students are gardeners from age eight to 93. She explained that their textbook on the subject is Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten, and there's a more updated version I think from 2019. The subtitle being complete updated edition breakthrough method for growing vegetables anywhere earlier and with no weeding. Doesn't that sound great? And it is.
Mary Stone 03:11
While a trend in urban areas. Straw bale gardening also works for folks with little space, difficult rocky or heavy clay soil and those with lousy backs or who garden in a chair. Don't confuse hay with straw though. Beware of mislabeling to hay is the entire harvested plant, including the seed heads, while straw is the plant stock left behind after the seed heads are removed. Using hay bales will result in a Chia Pet sort of situation. Do you recall most commercials around the holidays? What is that catchy tune how did the ditty go? Chi chi chia. Yeah. Anyway, if you inadvertently use hay bales a lawn will sprout from your bale and that is not going to work because it will out compete your vegetables. And be sure to use organically grown straw to be free of nasty pesticides, especially when you're growing food.
Mary Stone 04:07
The Kearny Community Garden is along the Passaic River, though the town installed Hose Bibs, so the river waters so close to the city is not a factor. And at the time of the story, they had 62 spots with five bales each at a modest 20 bucks a season. You can see why they were quickly sold out. I emailed the garden folks via the Facebook page and hope to hear back for updates. But I was excited to see they're still using the straw bale technique. They are hosting an event in late March for volunteers to line up the straw bales for the community plots.
Mary Stone 04:42
They prep the bales before planting by watering fertilizer into them for about three weeks. Peg says they use Cheep Cheep by North Country Organics made of dehydrated poultry litter. As the name implies Cheep Cheep (4-3-3 which is nitrogen phosphate potash) is reasonably priced and approved for use in organic farming. It releases slowly and provides other essential secondary nutrients. I'll put a link in the show notes. And while their distribution is in the northeastern part of the United States, you should be able to find a comparable alternative near you.
Mary Stone 05:19
Each bale gets 16 and a half cups of the stuff that's over 5000 cups over 310 bales. The bales then decompose to the point that they will support plant growth. And the continued decomposition provides nutrients throughout the growing season. It's such a cool thing when you think about it, an instant garden. We want our garden to be a bridge for all the different groups in our community, their Facebook page said, when you come you may hear English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or Hindi. Regardless of the language we speak, we can all get together around food. Everyone and anyone is welcome. United as one. Imagine that. Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone.com
Mary Stone 06:08
There are many things you can use to create raised beds. The straw bale technique is certainly nifty. And if you have evidence of lawn chemicals from your previous owners, such as a golf course looking lawn, it is definitely best to install raised beds using chemical free borders such as rocks or natural lumber, or straw bales. Definitely don't use this pressure treated lumber that is found on decks. Fill your raised beds with organic soil and compost. And there's grow bags which have become a popular way to garden with raised beds instantly. Like straw bales.
Mary Stone 06:42
There are raised bed kits that are made from recycled milk jugs you've probably seen that they say are perfectly safe for growing food. Recycled milk jugs are also used for those beefy Adirondack chairs that come in fun colors. I still prefer untreated cedar for growing food, which stands up for years. But I also avoid drinking out of plastic bottles, but certainly recycling them to create practical products seems prudent.
Mary Stone 07:10
You can use steel edging to make raised beds. And there's a trend to use galvanized steel troughs that farmers use to provide water for their cows but be sure to add drainage holes. I was wondering though, is galvanized steel safe. Epic Gardening writes- that while acidic conditions can cause some zinc leaching. it will be extremely minimal, and they say that some plants prefer the slight zinc boost in the soil as long as the steel is from a reliable manufacturer and there is no need to be concerned. And I take a zinc supplement. So, there you go.
Mary Stone 07:45
While vegetables vary how deep their roots grow. 12 inches is a standard depth for raised beds. And you can use Core- 10 weathering steel as a raised bed border. It's the same steel developed for the railroad industry, and it's used in garden art, only the outer level rusts which would make a strikingly rustic garden edge. Veggie gardens, especially when they are organic, are indeed a work of art.
Mary Stone 08:13
Getting back to the community gardens. Initially as I mentioned earlier, they were popular in urban areas, but they are becoming more popular in farm country such as where I live here in Northwest New Jersey. Digging further I came upon an article on gardening know how.com about the pros and cons of community gardening. The pros relate to the benefit of fresh food for far less money than grocery stores, and knowing the origin of what you're eating, hopefully organic if you choose to garden that way, which I hope you do. In addition to community building aspects of rubbing shoulders with others interested in vegetable gardening. Plus, it's scientifically proven that gardening is a relaxing stress reducing activity that's good for your body and mind. But there's a con side of the equation. Bonnie Grant writes, there are those who want the produce for themselves and will stoop to stealing your perfect tomato or big bountiful peonies in the night. Theft of tools is also common as is vandalism. And not everyone is going to agree to the same rules, which can lead to arguments or even physical confrontations. But let's not let a few bad apples ruin our joy. And those are my words. Bonnie ended her story with there are many pros of having a community garden that far outweigh any cons. So what are you waiting for? Join your local community garden today.
Mary Stone 09:37
When I was reading Bonnie's article, it made me think about rules and how we have these laws and regulations that we must follow to live in our society which isn't a bad thing I suppose. But if we live by our true nature of kindness and concern for the well-being of all, including nature, there wouldn't be a need for rules. And while they exist, we can choose to live by our Heart Rules. Collectively if we do that, then rules will become less relevant. Maybe someday irrelevant. Imagine that. It makes me think of the song Imagine by John Lennon, the chorus. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one. What a beautiful chorus.
Mary Stone 10:27
So thank you so much for visiting with me each week on the screen porch. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am. I absolutely love hearing from you. So please keep those emails coming and Ask Mary Stone@gmail.com Or you can respond in the column posts. And there's a link in the show notes. I hope you share the column with a friend or two so more can join us as well. It means so much. Have a great day. See you next time.
Mary Stone 10:53
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.