I've got the bales, which was somewhat a minor adventure all by itself. We, my cousin Bill and I, drove over to the next town to pick them up. I ordered them and paid for them a couple of days ago but had only a little car. A pickup making a lot more sense, I asked Bill if I could use his to bring them home with.
It's been raining (showers of blessings for this area) and the bales had been sitting outside and were soaked already when I ordered them. Sideways glances from a couple of people let me know that they thought I was a mite off, not fretting about those bales being soggy. They tried to talk me into taking the ones that had been under cover and were dry (the way they're supposed to be). Nope, sez I, it will save me having to use so much water to wet them down.
Not explaining further was possibly not nice of me.
At any rate, on the way over to pick them up, hoping being wet wouldn't make them fall to pieces (don't want Patsy Cline bales), it started raining cats and dogs, a real gully washer for just a little while there. But it was just for a little while; then it calmed down to a nice steady rain, which is a good thing all the way around.
Bill handed me the keys when we got there so I could go get the bales loaded while he shopped (for boots as it turns out) and out I went to drive over to pick them up.
Right.
The humidity had the windows so fogged I couldn't see a darned thing. Plus I can't get the seat to advance in that pickup to save my life so was hanging onto the steering wheel to keep myself where I could reach the clutch, brake, and gas pedals. Backing out of the parking place it dawned on me that there might be somebody behind me that I wasn't able to see, so I held onto the steering wheel with one arm while I used kleenex to wipe the windows clear of fog with the other hand, and rolled down the driver's side window while I was at it.
Now the loading guy was apparently watching.
He asked me if I wanted to put one of the straw bales in the driver's seat so I could drive.
No.
Just put 'em in the back.
But I was grinning when I said it.
I only got a half dozen and they filled the box of the pickup nicely.
By then the fan was keeping the windows clear so the short trip back to the parking place was less traumatic.
Since we were in the vicinity we made another stop and got a few other things. I picked up another little round washtub for the other half of the geraniums I'd gotten, and a five gallon pail since I can't find the one I just got not that long ago.
I'll get the bedding plants I need in a few days when it stops raining, but I did get seeds for carrots and beets. If I end up with any kind of crop at all I'll be able to make borscht. That's like a vegetable soup that's a purple-red because of the beets. Unless you're a very careful eater, don't eat it when you're wearing white. You have been warned.
By the time we got home the rain was in abeyance for a bit so we unloaded the bales, which weren't as heavy as I was afraid they would be. Either that or I'm stronger than I thought I was. Whichever, they're lined up in my back yard along the fenceline between my house and Bill's.
They're plenty soggy, but might be still dry inside so tomorrow I'll put a hose on them to make sure they're thoroughly soaked all the way through.
Then I'll sprinkle them with a nutrition mix and get more water on them to spread it down through the straw. Until that straw begins to break down it needs a bit of a boost on the nutrition end of things or my plants aren't going to be much to write home about. They might not be anyway, but I'll give them the best shot I can.
For the next few days that's what I'll be doing with my straw bale garden - getting it wet and getting the nutrients distributed through them as best I can.
Then I'll get on with the rest of it.
That would be digging holes in the straw, putting in some potting soil, and planting the seeds and bedding plants.
Part of the reason I'm hoping this works is that it keeps my garden up where I can reach it more easily.
Another part, of course, is that I want to make that borscht.
Yet another part is the ease of harvesting the root crops. When that time comes, the rebuttable presumption being that there are going to be potatoes, onions, carrots, and beets to harvest, all I'll have to do is knock the straw off.
It's an experiment for me.
Everything is hypothetical and Bill is skeptical but keeping an open mind.
Another benefit, if it works right, is that the straw bales will break down and can be tilled into the ground right where they now stand, making for some good mulch for next year.
So we shall see what we shall see.
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