The heat is on!

**UPDATE** Today (May 8th) when I went out to add more 10-10-10 I noticed that quite a bit of yesterday's fertilizer is still visible on the surface of the bales. I decided that instead of adding 1 cup per bale I would only add 1/2 cup today and tomorrow. Sunday is planting day and I've already drawn out my plan for where to place the plants. I'll go over that information in an upcoming post.

Original Post:

The nitrogen sink the straw bale gardening instructor was talking about is working! I stuck my finger a few inches into a straw bale the other day and there was HEAT and moisture! I've been nervous about my calculations when it comes to applying organic fertilizer instead of conventional.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that I missed a step in the instructions. I was suppose to be adding fertilizer every day on days 7-9. Technically I HAVE been adding fertilizer every day all along, but the every day manure application is factored in to get as close to a 34-0-0 ratio as possible required for days 1-6.

I'm suppose to start planting on Sunday - day 14 of the conditioning process.



I think everything is still going according to plan despite my little omission.

For the next 3 days I will add 1 cup of 10-10-10 to each bale. I don't think I'll have enough for that so I'll either ration it out, start planting a day early, or use some of the other fertilizers instead. This is an experimental year after all.


And so far my little experiment is working! Can't wait to start planting!

Does anyone in the Metro know of a place to purchase organic vegetable plants? I have access to organic seeds, but I don't know if the natural food store has their garden plants out yet.