childoftheinternet

[childoftheinternet]

“How to Build a Straw Bale Garden“ by Nicole Jolly

(via Modern Farmer)

Faced with the expense of building raised beds, I decided instead to go cheap and easy: a straw bale garden. So I called up Joel Karsten, author of Straw Bale Gardens, and lead authority on all things straw. Karsten argues that straw is an ideal “container” for growing vegetables. “The hollow tubes are designed by Mother Nature to suck up and hold moisture,” he told me. And as the insides of the bales decompose, they provide a rich medium for vegetable growth. You can put together a straw bale garden right on your lawn, your driveway (oh yes, your neighbors will love you) or anywhere that gets at least six to eight hours of sun. It’s especially good for growers who live in northern climes with shorter growing seasons — the bales heat up much quicker than soil, stimulating early-season root growth.

1. Source your straw You can toss the dice like I did and purchase straw bales from your local garden center, but it’s best to source them direct from the farm. If you want to garden organically, the person at the garden center won’t likely know how the straw was grown. To help connect farmers with growers, Karsten has set up a user-generated marketplace, but it’s still too small to be useful to most gardeners. Remember, straw is easiest to come by in the fall. If you arrange your straw bale garden before the winter, you’ll be all set to plant when springtime comes.

2. Position your bales Before you set up your bales, lay down landscape fabric to prevent weeds from growing up through the bales. Arrange the bales side by side in rows, with their cut sides up. The strings that bind the bales should run across the sides, not across the planting surface. The strings will help keep the shape of the bales as they start to soften and decompose.

3. Condition the bales Two weeks before you plant, you have to get the bales cooking. This means wetting and fertilizing the bales for roughly 10 days to start composting the inner straw. For the first six days, put down 3 cups of organic fertilizer per bale every other day, and water the bales to push the fertilizer down and thoroughly saturate the straw. On the off days, simply water the bales. (Tip: try to ignore the neighbors staring suspiciously from their windows.) Days 7 through 9, lay down 1.5 cups of organic fertilizer each day and water. Day 10 put down 3 cups with phosphorus and potassium (bone or fish meal mixed with 50% wood ash works like a charm). If you stick your finger into your bales, they’ll be hot and moist. You’ll start to see some “peppering” — black soil-like clumps that signal the beginning of the composting that will continue through the growing season. If mushrooms sprout up, rejoice — they won’t harm your plants; it means the straw is decomposing as it should.

4. Build a trellis and greenhouse in one One of the coolest things about straw bale gardening is that it combines the best of container gardening with vertical gardening. Karsten recommends erecting seven-foot-tall posts at the end of each row of bales, and running wire between them at intervals of 10 inches from the tops of the bales. As your seeds sprout, you can use the bottom wire to drape a plastic tarp to create an instant greenhouse for those chilly early-season nights. And as the plants begin to grow, the wire works like a vertical trellis, supporting your cucumbers, squash and assorted viney vegetables.

5. Time to plant If you’re planting seedlings, use your trowel to separate the straw in the shape of a hole and add some sterile planting mix to help cover the exposed roots. If you’re planting seeds, then cover the bales with a one to two-inch layer of planting mix and sew into this seedbed. As the seeds germinate, they’ll grow roots down into the bale itself. While you’re at it, plant some annual flowers into the sides of the bales, or some herbs — it’s otherwise underutilized growing space, and will make the garden a whole lot lovelier.

6. Look, ma — no weeding If you lay a soaker hose over your bales, you’ve pretty much eliminated all your work until harvest. That’s because your “soil” doesn’t contain weed seeds. There’s one caveat, though — if you didn’t get your straw from a farmer (guilty as charged), there’s a chance your straw (or, worse, hay that was sold as straw) contains its own seed. If your bales start to sprout what looks like grass, you can beat back the Chia pet effect by washing the sprouts with diluted vinegar. If you don’t mind the look though, the grass shouldn’t harm your plants, and will likely die off from the heat produced by the bale’s decomposition.

7. The harvest after the harvest When the harvest season ends, the bales will be soft, saggy and gray — but that’s exactly what you want. Because when you pile the straw together and leave it to compost over winter, you’ll have a mound of beautiful compost to fill all your pots and planters in the spring.

[childoftheinternet]

Watch: Kristen Bell opens up about the mental health double standard and how she manages her own struggle.

Follow @this-is-life-actually

[childoftheinternet]

American Shorthair Knight

Abyssinian Bard

Norwegian Forest Cat Shaman

Persian Scholar

Bombay Assassin

Sphynx Fighter

Scottish Fold Warrior

Bengal Archer

Turkish Angora Healer

Maine Coon Berserker

Siamese Magician

Russian Blue Thief

Kyoung Hwan Kim - Army of Wool

more by Kyoung Hwan Kim

[childoftheinternet]

“Dear 1037148,” wrote one admirer to a golden elm in May. “You deserve to be known by more than a number. I love you. Always and forever.”

Email-a-Tree Service Doesn’t Go As Planned in the Best Possible Way - The Atlantic

Melbourne gave their trees ID numbers and email addresses so residents could report downed branches or other problems. Instead, people starting writing their trees love letters. 

Sometimes, the trees even write back: 

To: Green Leaf Elm, Tree ID 1022165   29 May 2015   Dear Green Leaf Elm, I hope you like living at St. Mary’s. Most of the time I like it too. I have exams coming up and I should be busy studying. You do not have exams because you are a tree. I don’t think that there is much more to talk about as we don’t have a lot in common, you being a tree and such. But I’m glad we’re in this together. Cheers, F”

29 May 2015  Hello F, I do like living here. I hope you do well in your exams. Research has shown that nature can influence the way people learn in a positive way, so I hope I inspire your learning. Best wishes, Green Leaf Elm, Tree ID 1022165

I am so completely charmed by this. 

(via chels)

THIS IS MISSING THE BEST ONE

To: Willow Leaf Peppermint, Tree ID 1357982 29 January 2015 Willow Leaf Peppermint, Tree ID 1357982 Hello Mr Willow Leaf Peppermint, or should I say Mrs Willow Leaf Peppermint? Do trees have genders? I hope you’ve had some nice sun today. Regards, L

30 January 2015 Hello, I am not a Mr or a Mrs, as I have what’s called perfect flowers that include both genders in my flower structure, the term for this is Monoicous. Some trees species have only male or female flowers on individual plants and therefore do have genders, the term for this is Dioecious. Some other trees have male flowers and female flowers on the same tree. It is all very confusing and quite amazing how diverse and complex trees can be. Kind regards, Mr and Mrs Willow Leaf Peppermint (same Tree)

this is correct

i am at peace

(via sleepysamurai)

I hope the botanist who answers these emails loves their job as much as I love them.

(via teapotsahoy)

AMAZING

(via tehnakki)

paging @editorincreeps and other Tree Thinkers

(via little-miss-spooky)

Haha woo boy (gets out the handkerchief) 

(via editorincreeps)

[childoftheinternet]

being a female means needing to see 10 different doctors to get a proper diagnosis because they always think you’re exaggerating and/or lying

[childoftheinternet]

neurowall

[childoftheinternet]

Oversized sweaters bisexual all the way

are you an oversized sweater bisexual or an oversized flannel shirt bisexual

[childoftheinternet]

The National Aviary in Pittsburgh

[childoftheinternet]

SCIENCE HAS CONFIRMED THAT DOGS LOVE US BACK BECAUSE THEY GET THE SAME RUSH OF OXYTOCIN WHEN THEY LOOK AT US THAT WE GET WHEN WE LOOK AT THEM

[childoftheinternet]

Not complaining to bidiverseed. Just wanting to share.

 I didn’t receive mine either. I’m also a little upset because, I’ve been unemployed this winter and spent what little money I had to send a nice package to my seedcret santa recipient.  I read in the original email that my person liked native trees, so I collected the seeds of some of my favorite seeds at my parents house and my local park.  I sent the last of my black walnut seeds I had collected in fall with european beech,sugar gum and ohio buckeye seed.  I really hope my recipient enjoyed them.  I really loved collecting them. 

 I’m sorry basically no one donated, I couldn’t but would have.  I was so excited to read and sign up for it.  I guess regardless of me getting a package, it really did cheer me up when I really needed it.  I hand wrote the letter and lovingly packaged it.  I hope the circumstances change and it will happen again next year.  If it doesn’t I’m going to try to recreate this with my coworkers. 

maybe mine was just lost in the mail.

Thank you biodiverseed, for trying to plan such a nice thoughtful gesture.

I hoping when I get back on my feet that I can afford to buy something wonderful from your store.

I’m still bummed I didn’t get my Seedcret Santa gift.

#biodiverseed #seedcret santa

[childoftheinternet]

Because finding new BFFs is just as important as finding a date.

[childoftheinternet]

[childoftheinternet]

I want it

via

[childoftheinternet]

[childoftheinternet]

Being called an ‘angel’ is actually a nice compliment if you interpret it as ‘you divine tool of righteous vengeance and wrath.’

[childoftheinternet]

I do not understand this “male privilege" bullshit.

What. Fucking. Privileges. Do. Men. Have.???????

Name them. I swear, I challenge you to name these “male privileges" and be able to prove them. 

Come on, I fucking dare you. 

Name them!

[childoftheinternet]

*cracks neck* my time has come