Joel Karsten podcasts references
and fixing solutions play list
Now the pests...
Mice will use dry straw bales, he recommends to leave these on site over winter, so ay mice moved in, now he recommends to start watering in spring, by that time mice would make couple generations (mine would :)) , then we water, mice do not like wet straw so they move out, if feral cats do not get them where would mice to go? House? Garage? That;s where neighbors mice went when they cleaned the hay in barn redoing the barn :), ridding of mice. Ok, a side effect. We are in semi-country on large lots with barn, and folk have cats and we have hawks and owls and coyotes... They at mice... I'm catching mice in my chicken coops in traps for 2 weeks because the buggers went into the wall behind nesting boxes where chickens do no catch them...
So Joel recommends to put hardware cloth under the bale as voles barrier. Well, the voles I would be more worried about (not mice) because those eat my roots...
Let's research voles barriers and is hardware cloth under is enough... Maybe ask some nurseries that had voles problems with them eating roots... they do travel above the dirt level and plastic and get into arrays of plastic pots... Should I wrap the bales in the hardware cloth or put corrugated raised beds and wrap bottom of that in hardware cloth in hardware cloth (galvanized, otherwise voles will get in). Now that will be very expensive.
Now the looks...
I'm in the country, well semi-country and to be honest people here can afford to make things look nice, several neighbors are very handy and resourceful about making things look nice
Hals decomposed straw bales look gray and falling apart. In the country ... meah... that's ok. He recommends to put flowers in sides, and because straw bales are an annual setting thing. Hoping that flowers will fill in (that would be more plants concentration than in square foot gardening) they will look blooming when the garden is in a full swing, then when the annuals are done we are back to half decomposed uneven rows of falling apart straw bales. Unless they already had raised beds walls.
In suburbia a nosy neighbor may complain about that and hoa is not likely to approve that type of a raised bed...
Not like I'm going to get that but I'm not the main customer for that method either, it appears from the podcasts it's marketed to suburban and urban gardeners as a fort of container gardening. That is supposed to be cheaper than soil and containers.
Now the trellises
Straw bales need to be stabilized, they decompose, meaning fall apart, that means one needs to anchor into the dirt through the straw bale at least foot to 2 feet plus the high of the bales. That means get the tallest t-post from the farm store (I pulled tractor supply, home depot will cost more) 8-10 feet. 8 footers are $8 a piece, 10 footers are $10 a piece, post driver $25 (you want one for $39) the cheapest and you do not want that one that much... but that's the cheapest, t-post puller s $20 the cheapest and you do not want that one either you want $60 red one (trust me on that :) ).
Then the wire or panels, top boars over the trellis... It does add up...
Tomato cages will fall off the bale, so those will not work.
We have 10 foot $10 post on each row end, tension wire roll, all that must go 2 feet into the ground, and also have posts in between depending how log the row are. My trellis and cattle panels are every 6-8 feet I have the post. Nothing else does hold my tomato weeds in my soil. For someone who is just starting... Its not the post cost, you will get it as soon as you will try to put that post into clay without post driver and try to get that post out without the pot puller (that's $100 in tools for you right there)... unless someone like to dig 2 feet holes and do a lot of hand yanking (those posts are designed to be pulled by the tool and not by your hands,,, use very good $20 glows when you do... of just go rent the post puller to get it out).
One can not make 5 bales t-post trellis for $15, costs of the posts do not add up unless he uses not tools and buys these posts at bulk price as deer fences (they come in 250-360- range, I needed to do 1200 feet of fence, so I did price that and I did not need 8 footers because I did go into the ground and not bale high above it).
And also when you drive t-posts give me a favor that Joel never is mentioning anywhere in his podcasts : use call before you dig services if you are going to drive t-posts into the ground couple of feet deep. Just trust me on that... you may find many lines do not run below couple of feet. Especially for the warmer climates where they do not freeze and do not have to run certain utilities below the frost level. Because you do not want to find some line by t-post dead center. Just saying.
O found one of my water lines like that with a t-post on multiple acres, and that was a good thing after we got in another zone into the garden. It was just our inherited irrigation water line.
When I found where my gas line is in the proximity of my blackberry bushes... I'm moving my blackberries and not driving no t-posts in there period... Neither should you without calling your local locate services.
Now I'm thinking those free straw bales come with a lot of additional costs for straw bale gardening method.
He talks about getting rid of the straw bales. He recommends using it in post and as mulch... Why do not use it to improve the soil under the bails? Did not get that unless he want folk to buy more and more bales. He does talk about little pile of compost and he moves it or makes new bales from the old ones... What strikes me he never talks about improving the soil on site. He wants people to stick with straw bales and wants people most importantly to convince themselves to try it and they will commit themselves. Now that's the sales man! I'm impressed. However I'm not convinced and not about to convince myself that it's an easy fool proof cheap method. So far my podcasts listening, forums reading, feedback reading ... it did not add up to that self convincing thing. The main thing is after 24 years he still is doing straw bales and dealing with weeds outside straw bales. That's the main reason for him not using garden soil. So far that was interesting. What will I do with my free straw bales. So far my chickens are playing with some of them and pooping on some of them as under the roost bedding, my worms will take over that after chickens are done with it :).
I also asked questions in his forums, about pre-conditioning in high mountain deserts. Answers - like from the admin, and nothing. Must have asked wrong questions. Asked is anyone did try to pre-condition in autumn, our autumn is like Alaska spring, we have stings and warmer in summer, but very much drier 10% humidity. He said a lot of love in Alaska coastal areas... why not a lot of love in high mountain desert? Is our not humid cold the method killer? It supposed to be the universal one according to the marketing.
The original location of the straw bale promoter garden remarks
O did look at his troubleshooting presentations. Where is his garden located? Under very much established pine trees.
In 20 years over there in the soil he should be having high fungal very much alive soil unless he was pooing lots of fertilizers salts on it leaching that from his bales..
He should be having very rich pure compost soil in there...
I did not get it why he does not and still doing straw bales year after year with the fertilizers.
That one is the major disconnect for me, how did he manage with all these organic materials introduced on top of his soil still do and prefer high bacterial young compost for tomatoes and other vegetables, most importantly why? He should not be needing that by now in that location...
I'm in high mountain desert and I have high fungal compost already in my terraces made out of free logs, wood chips and horse poop. He has there on his site way better start. Why is he still doing straw bales...
in this video in particular, his wooden stake was pushed by hands then pounded a little. In our bad clay that does not happen unless in spring. He should not be needing straw bales by now, he should be sitting on couple feet of good compost, if he does not I wonder what has happen...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hCCc4HIlPU&list=PLFd8mVbj7VrCiPwl8mehhuST96NM6d1Sl
