Since I'm not working.... I've had time to work on my garden. Right before I was let go I ordered $30 worth of vegetable seeds. Would I have still went on with the garden had I known I wasn't going to have a job? Probably not. But since I ordered them, I am going to keep on keeping on....
I plan to get a few more seeds....
I decided to go with a bale garden. This house is new to me and I don't know what's going on with the land so I figured that the bales (a)can deal with this Georgia clay, (b)would be easier and (c)better for me overall. If you've never heard of wheat bale gardening, google it. People are growing amazing gardens in wheat bales.
Basically the science behind bale gardening is the bales will turn into compost with 10-14 days of treatment. Treatment includes a nitrogen fertilizer and water. Once properly treated, you can put plants right in the bales or start seeds. Starting from seed is actually cool because the bale will retain a certain amount of heat, and plants planted in compost grow out of control. Also plants won't be competing with weeds for nourishment. You do need to add some soil to the top once you get planting. The bales should last through 2 seasons of planting (summer and fall) and then you can either plant new bales over it, till the compost into the ground or both. The down side is the amount of constant watering you have to do. Bales don't hold water well.
I had the hardest time finding wheat bales. Pinestraw? Everywhere! I lucked up and found some decent sized bales at Lowes. They were about 4'x2' and cost $6.77/bale. I was planning to do 15 bales but I downsized to 10. So the bales cost ~$70 and the seeds cost $30. The garden, so far, cost $100. I had a gift card given to me by a friend as a wedding present. Yeah, the God and I got legally married... So my overall investment is $50. I moved the bales in my Jeep. In the future... I will rent a $19.99 uhaul. It cost me $20 to get all that wheat straw out of my car and I think, I'm not sure, that I broke the vacuum cleaner. I'm documenting the costs because folks always wanna complain about how expensive healthy activities are.
The bales are supposed to set up on corrugated cardboard. That keeps the grass underneath from infecting the bales. But not in a bad way. Cardboard will decompose and become part of the compost mix. Also cardboard will encourage earthworms. Worms are great for a garden. But I didn't have any corrugated cardboard,nor was i going out to look for any. Since I have been in the moving cipher, I used a few of the boxes that we used to move. Hey cardboard is cardboard. Right?
I set them up and watered them in. The smell of damp wheat was strangely soothing... The 1st 3 days are water only. Next 3 days are 1/2 cup fertilizer per bale. Day 7-10 the fertilizer is reduced to 1/4 cup per bale. If the bale is cool enough, you can plant on day 10. Otherwise, keep watering without fertilizer and plant on day 14. I'd like to start the 1st week of May.
That's my boo thing garden, y'all!
PEACE!
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