May 31, 2015
Happy Birthday to me!  It's a beautiful day!  We had a really tough winter, and spring was once again slow to appear.  We didn't even bother to buy our bales this year until May 3.  We conditioned without incident this year, and although they didn't seem to heat up as much as last year, we started planting on day 12, and everything is looking good.  The beans sprouted literally overnight (they never fail to amaze me, can you tell?), we also have peas, tomatoes, red and banana peppers and of course, my strawberries (hope does springs eternal).  They are NOT ever bearing this year, so I'm crossing my fingers! Of course the bales look pretty too, with impatiens and marigolds in the side.  I decided the marigolds might help to keep the critters out.  We'll see how that goes.  We still have lots of empty space in the sides to fill up.  We're going to the Farmer's Market this morning (newly moved to Riverside Park!), so maybe we'll pick something up.

And so far, nothing sprouting except what we planted (you got it, no chia pets)

Yippeee!  Krista's orders finally came through and she and Jake will soon be on a plane back to the US!!  We'll see them Monday or Tuesday--can't wait!  On a sad note, that means our days with Sir Winston, their bulldog that has been our dog-in-residence the last few months, are numbered.  He's enjoyed those bales almost as much as I have.  I can't appreciate the smells that must be in there, but after being an apartment dog (on the 13th floor no less), he certainly can!  Farewell bud!

10-20-13 End of the season

We've had some frost on the lawn in the past week.  Not a hard frost yet, but it's coming.  The basil is done, the impatiens are gone.  Today seemed like a good time to harvest what's left.  The beans just keep coming!  Time to pick the chard and beets too.  They actually look better than I expected.  Ironically, I have about 10 strawberries on the vine that don't stand a chance of ripening now--figures!  Tonite's supper will be salmon with orange sauce, and chard sauteed with pine nuts, parmesan and basil.  Oh, and sweet potatoes (not from the garden--I left those in, I don't think we'll get more than  puny roots).  Dessert will be banana chocolate pecan bread.  These cool days are re-kindling my desire for bread-making.  Here come the winter pounds!

So really nothing more to write about the straw bales.  It worked mostly as advertised.  At $4/bale, we really got our money's worth.  The ability to keep them close to the door, on the patio, made the minimal upkeep easy, and the fact that I could sit while planting and harvesting was the frosting on the cake!  I'll need Scott's help to put what's left in the wheel barrow and up to the compost pile.  But that means I won't need to buy potting soil for next years pots.

So here are the final pictures of the year:

Chard and Beets

Izzy hangin' out with me (if you look hard, you can see some red strawberries)

So Long until Next Year!

September 1, 2013. Reap what you sow!

The garden continues to produce.  Tonight's spaghetti sauce is going to have a vegetarian sauce with beans, zucchini and squash (thanks Tom), peppers and of course tomatoes.  It sounds interesting, but I have no doubt my resident chef will make it good.  Thank goodness for the irrigation system!  We may not have needed it earlier, but we're now in a "flash drought" (LaCrosse Tribune).

A few grasses have found their way back into the bales, but everything is growing so well, they have no where to go.  I'm not losing any sleep.  It seems I have to keep checking the beans and tomatoes every few days, with a large majority of the tomatoes probably ripe later this week.  A few carrots have survived, it will be interesting to see how they look.  The leaf lettuce has officially gone to seed.  I could probably re-seed...

Get this, just when I had given up on my strawberries, it seems the fat ground squirrel has had his fill, and they are now growing again!  I had 2 last week, with several more ripening right now.  I may yet hit 10 whole strawberries (woo hoo!).

The beets are getting big, as is the kale.  Not sure when I should harvest them... The pea pods seem to be done, but they were really good while they lasted.  At this point, I think I can call the straw bale garden experiment a success!

Notes for next year: Either try different carrots or don't bother with them.  We should put in some fingerling potatoes (not sure if the sweet potatoes are actually doing anything).  Label things a little better....but at least it's now clear what is beets and what is kale.  This years beans were apparently wax beans, so we should try another variety.  The impatiens in the sides of the bale worked well (the shaded ones anyway), and I think I'll skip the zinnias next year (or just put them elsewhere-they;re infringing on the beans). 

8-15-13 New Garden Guardian

Well, Izzy's been living with us for about 3 weeks now--hence no spare time for blogging.  She's a rescue dog, and she's had a few issues (namely house-training), so the garden hasn't been top priority. The fact that it's so maintenance free is a plus right now.  Still no weeds, but also no strawberries :(  The kids' CD's worked great for the birds, but it seems it's the striped ground squirrels have a hankering for them.  The green beans are just doing great==we' had lots of fresh ones right off the vine.

And for those wondering if green beans will stick to your shirt, here's your answer Shannon!

July 16. This is war!

I've suspected something has been sampling my garden, but it's now confirmed.  I had a strawberry I've been waiting for, and today when I went to pick it, it was gone. Severed clean off the stem.  I'm suspecting birds.  Ironic that I feed them in the front of the house...Anyway, that prompted this evening's bird intimidation project.  Thank goodness the kids left CD's behind when they moved on (such yesterday's technology).  Between those and some aluminum foil strips, I'm hoping to deter the birds.  So Andrew, if you're reading this, no offense, but I hope the birds will hate "The Stokes" and "The Shins".  Krista, "Buckcherry 15" is your contribution.  I couldn't bear to put the John Mayer Trio out there (and in fact I may play that one tonight).  Cross your fingers this works--I want more strawberries!

July 14-Beans, beans, beans!

I truly believe if I'd been sitting on my patio (with a cold beverage), I could have watched the beans grow!  Apparently they are pole beans (or do all of them climb?).  Anyway, their long tendrils appeared overnight.  So off to Shopko again for another trellis.  Amazing what warm sunny weather will do!  We had the pea pods in a delicious salad, and I ate a couple more right off the vine.  The strawberries are teasing me, one by one.  Not as prolific as I'd hoped... The chard and beets are picking up.  I'm having trouble telling which is which because I think I threw the seeds in together.  How do I know when to pick the carrots??  I think I'll let them go a while--Scott thinks they'll stick up like the radishes.  I'm certainly learning by doing this year.  I'll let the photos do the talking.

Peppers

Tomatoes!

Eggplant

Beans

Sunday July 7

Sunday July 7, 2013
Happy belated birthday America!  We FINALLY put together a stretch of summer weather.  I don't believe we've had any rain in a whole week--wait, I have to take that back.  We had a weird sun/downpour on the 4th.  But our rainwater barrel has actually run dry, so tomorrow we'll have to use the irrigation system to water the bales/plants.  We've pretty much neglected the garden in the past few days, due to the holiday festivities.  But other than making sure they're watered (which hasn't been so labor intensive this year), there's not much more to do.  The weeds have remained non-existent since the grass has been pulled.  So I still take my morning stroll to see if anything needs to be picked, and yes, I've now had FOUR ripe, warm strawberries.  Glad I didn't count on them for pie, because they're just ripening one by one, but there's still more to come...Tonight I also picked 6 pea pods.

 The Zinnia seeds I tossed in are coming up nicely and will hopefully blossom soon.  The sweet potatoes are really doing nothing, and the chard has stalled too.  The peppers, eggplants and tomatoes still look good, and my beans are taking off.  We'll see how things go now that we're in the heat of summer (I hope!).  There's still some leaf lettuce left, but I've been told it will probably be bitter.  I guess I should pull it and re-plant more seeds in a few weeks. Until next time...

beans (left) peas (climbing), zinnias and strawberries (in side of bale)