Next thing is watering,
In his method marketing presentations I see him talking about 2 easy things regarding watering the bales during conditioning, run water over the bale till it comes from the bottom or water like a minute per bale (that's from these presentation from podcast with master gardener). So that's the recommendation for the garden hose (average garden hose in the suburbia will produce a lot more water than 1 gallon per minute). In the other presentations he uses 1 gallon per bale for the conditioning.
On the other hand the man himself has blamed the straw vendor (and pretty decent size vendor 60k bales a season) in comments that he had to water a lot because he has over watered. The straw vendor here has mentioned that the straw bale garden used a lot more water compared to raised beds mulched with the straw and he has pointed exactly to the area of evaporation. He did straw bale test garden for the season and shared what has worked and what has not. According to what one will see on his videos (in his area near Arkansas river) he did cook the straw indeed, he also picked nice tight top quality bales because his father is the straw vendor for free. He did 2016 season, video is published in the beginning of May 2017 (right before the straw sales season... so why would a vendor of straw do that to not to sell straw bales :) ). With soaker hose 15 min a day increased when his tomatoes started experiencing heat strikes and blight (which should not be happening on straw bales according to Joel as a disease).
Quote. (that was about September 2017 at the end of the nearest season)
"The key to success is to water no more than one gallon of water per application. Then increase the frequency of watering as the plants grow and summer heat comes. IF you water a lot and water runs out the bottom, then you will leach nitrogen out as well. It is THE most common mistake new straw bale gardeners make. Once you start overwatering, the excess water leaches nitrogen and pulls the newly forming bacteria and fungi inside the bales right out the bottom, and the result is wilting plants that look like they need more water. The next day you water longer and the problem is exacerbated and you water more, etc. simply stated at no time ever should you add more than one gallon to a bale, the results will change dramatically. Last summer we had pretty regular rain and after the conditioning process many people never needed to irrigate at all, Mother Nature provided enough water. In addition, you are missing several of the most important advantages of straw bale gardening over traditional soil gardening. I'm 48 and the first half of my life I grew a garden in soil but the past 24 years I've only grown in bales, so trust me I know both methods very well. One of the biggest advantages is that when the bales are being conditioned they get hot inside, and in the spring when the soil is still cold the bales are much warmer, and this give a huge jump start to all of your warm season crops like tomatoes and cucumbers. In addition soil harbors many diseases and insect larva from year to year over winter, while the bales allow you to start each season with virgin soil which forms inside the bales as they condition for planting. The other huge advantage is that a straw bale garden won't get flooded out like soil gardens often do with heavy spring rains. Training vegetation and vines to climb Vertically on trellises above the bales also changes the culture of most gardens, with better air circulation and lower humidity the foliage stays drier which translates to fewer bacterial and fungal disease issues. Having the foliage up off the ground also allows earlier detection of insects or disease issues, and when using a spray treatment it is much easier to get coverage of leaves from multiple angles because the vines are hanging on trellises above your bales. The cost of the bales is irrelevant when compared with the incredible labor savings of this method. I'd suggest you try it again Preacher and get a copy of "Straw Bale Gardens Complete " and read it! Use it as your guide to success this time. I watched your videos and your biggest mistake which appeared very early was overwatering on a major scale. One minute per bale is more than enough."
Here is the thing, the farmer is on well water, the book author never asked about well speed or amount of water per bale. The farmer got blamed for overwatering and here the author came to comment because it's indeed the straw vendor having the good point if the straw bale garden was such a bomb he would not be there in a barn with so many not sold straw bales.
Here is what the son of the straw vendor has answered
Quote
Joel, I appreciate your comment and I encourage people to give their opinions. I did a lot of research on this before I started the garden. To be perfectly honest after the bales were conditioned the opinions went in every direction as to watering, feeding, planting and so on. Our problem was not lack of nitrogen, bacteria, or fungi. We fertilized periodically and captured the run off water and added it back to the bales (returning what was leached out.) The bales grew mushrooms off and on all summer. We had lots of veggies. I have said that I am not expert, but raised beds are easier for me to maintain straw bales. I hate having to haul bales in and out every year and I live 200 yards from the barn and they're free for me. If they work good for you and you like them, I say plant them for 24 more years. Thanks for your input I hope it helps some one contemplating straw bales to hear from a successful straw gardener
It is an honest answer. and indeed he did return the water in because he has collected it. Some did evaporate but if you see where is his round leaning good bit of his water is absorbed back into the bales... at least if they were a spurge and he did give the timing 15 min on a soaker hose auto set up on timer. That's what is a good set up.
Another comment
Here is one gallon per minute contradicting with his own podcasts recommendations. That's for every climate. And very size of the bale. But anyways he wants the customer to go ahead and buy his book. He's the book promoter so that's a natural behavior for that type of a sales situation.
So we have 1 gallon per minute, water till bale is saturated, water 15 min a day, water 3 times per day 5 min each from the same person in different presentations.
Now I'm getting confused on the easiness of the method because it does become that pretty clear to be successful with that one has to have automated drip system with that set up outputting 1 gallon per day per bale of water (otherwise it is not going to work and do the right bacteria thing). Now the plants feeding with that system should be... can not use granules because you will overwater, that would mean one has to have fertilizer coming into the dip system and buy more parts for that.
And I was thinking of using my weeds brew I make on site for my garden from my bindweed and thistles I've inherited (they were not in my garden the first 2 years, some did blow in, some are still on the property having the amount of those and alkaline clay soil... that's their habitat and they try to raise me water table) . It looks like with this method I have to have drip system with the particular output. Now will that work in high mountain desert? Or do I need to pay for the man's consultation himself? I did scan his forums and did read posts from folk who did it in my area. I see one successful growing something and no one came to the same method for the next season. I see one garden club that tried it and several people were successful, all of them has straw uncased raised beds style. That is still an expense for the raised beds using corrugated sheets of metal. None did free pallets walls. So I wonder... is that method as universal as it's marketed...
This blog would have lots of 'you have overwatered' and therefore that's you own fault thrown at her things. What I'm saying if people do apply it by the book in every climate it does not mean they will compost any bale uniformly. If that was so easy his following would be much much bigger in 24 years compared to what he has now. The method does not produce uniform results everywhere. It seems to work in more humid climates better.
People who are unsuccessful with this method are told by avid followers and the man himself they are trolls, what they did wrong with more than one thing and as a conclusion ' to buy my latest book' because all the answers supposed to be all in there.
It is a garden popular book. For me it's very much lucking the biology data and makes me wonder was that ever observed and used to reduce the wide variety of the field tests results and levels of the frustration of the folk who tried that and came to conclusion not to do that again for the various reasons. From the marketing point of view it seems he has main customer base that are first time buyers. He also has a small set of avid followers bases in several types climates, and his happy customer base is more of a coastal closer to water sources.
Lots of mountain folk know it's not as easy to compost that straw as some try to say it is :)
Take a look at this video on Joels's site, it has his drip system going. that drip is going pretty high I wonder how much is that outputting, his bales are pretty wet looking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhqY6kYa5eo&index=3&list=PLFd8mVbj7VrCiPwl8mehhuST96NM6d1Sl
Take a look at this video on Joels's site, it has his drip system going. that drip is going pretty high I wonder how much is that outputting, his bales are pretty wet looking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhqY6kYa5eo&index=3&list=PLFd8mVbj7VrCiPwl8mehhuST96NM6d1Sl
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