Allotments 4 All

Now I have sourced the straw I have all sorts of ideas of what to do with them.

I have just realised there is another huge advantage.  Some of my lottie is contaminated with AP, and it has not worn off.   If I put down a waterproof membrane under the straw I can grow above the affected areas and be sure there will be no contamination issues. 

I have been reading your thread Artichoke iwith interest it actually spurred me into action to check out a little notice I had seen re straw for sale. 

Let the experients begin.

I just have a vision in my head of furtive allotmenteers having a sneaky pee on bales of straw up and down the length of the UK. ;D

Well.....I'm not one of them.....

Furtive? Say it loud, say it clear: Alchemy is the way to go: http://transitionnorwich.blogspot.com/2010/05/alchemy.html

I just have a vision in my head of furtive allotmenteers having a sneaky pee on bales of straw up and down the length of the UK. ;D
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There are ways of doing it discretely.

I have realised that I can use this method to cover an area which is still contaminated with AP so I have bought another 3 bales and will put a plastic membrane underneath.  Though I do think Dow now owes me some money. 

I started two bales off on Tuesday and there must be something extra in the Eau de Toilette.  The bale started that way is really hot already but the other one is barely warm. 

However I do not understand the wait to plant it up, I thought that the point was to give the courgettes some extra heat.   It was more or less freezing here last night, a bit out warmth is just what a courgette needed.

My understanding from reading is that the heat is too much for plants and would frazzle their roots. The point of the heat is to get the bales decomposing quickly to the point where they make a good medium for plants to grow in when they have cooled down a bit.

You are lucky getting the heat! Mine just never did heat up, but they did get softer over the weeks I waited - it wasn't like trying to plant into fresh hard straw.

Will be following this thread as well  :)

I have been trying to excavate a hole and I see what you mean about the hard straw.  It is pretty solid.   I am wondering about burrning a potting hole.  Hopefully if it is wet ti will not take off.

Did you see my post about ramming a heavy iron rod (crowbar, post hole maker, whatever) into the straw and pushing it round and round to make a deep, widish hole? I found that much the easiest. The other solution was my son's - hit the spot with an axe several times to break up the straw. We found that once we were through the "crust", the inside was soft enough to scrabble out in handfuls. Then I filled the hole with a potting mixture, put the plant in, and mulched it with the handfuls.

Another visit today saw 80% of the plants crawling avidly across the straw - others a bit slug attacked and stationary, but not at all bad for the time of year and weather. I covered them with fleece against the terrible winds expected tomorrow, disrupting out plot BBQ.

PS Even a good solid rake handle might do - I don't think I could face burning out each individual planting hole! The aim is for an easier life, not a harder one......

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s186/strawbaleman/?action=view&current=P6040321.jpg

I am hoping for a dense canopy like this to keep the straw damp....

Well they are off.  The bales are warm but not hot so I put in the courgettes.  They had a good warm night of it, there was condensation inside their bottle cloche.  I am keeping a eye out on the heat, I can cool them off with some water in necessary.

It was not all that easy to hack out the hole but managed to remove some straw and compress some and so make a hole.  I filled this with compost and fertiizer and watered it well and it mostly disappeared so about half a bucket of compost finally disappeared somewhere into the bail. 

Sourced another couple of  bales so thought I might try a couple of melons on them as well.  Though I have one which is much harder and compact which for this use may be a disadvantage.

There seems to be something of a problem with water.  They act like thatching and the water seems to be channelled out the side and never really reaches the bottom.

Watering: when I tipped full buckets on, I did find the water flowed through and out the other end, but now I use a slow hose and it sinks in very well. I have the baler twine on the top and bottom - might that make a difference? Is yours on the sides?

I found the holes a pain to make until I used my iron bar, and my holes have less compost than yours - we'll have to keep comparing notes!

I gave mine a foliar feed of seaweed yesterday to compensate for only having straw to sink their roots into, and I plan a scattering of poultry pellets before I next water them. They have been in for 3 weeks now, and are growing well, uncovered, with one courgette fattening up!

Sadly, something is attacking the stalks of several of them, almost eating through them, which doesn't help. I am surprised they are continuing to grow - but I have seen this happen in the ground as well.