Happy Day 11 of bale-prep for your Straw Bale Garden!
It’s a great day to go shopping for seedlings, because some of you will be able to plant tomorrow. The inside of your bale needs to be COOLER than 105 degrees before it’s safe to plant. (You don’t want to cook the roots of your seedlings before they’re able to grow.)
If you’ve been treating your bales organically (either with BaleBuster™ or some other type of organic fertilizers), then you will probably need to wait several more days before you can plant. On average, organic SBG conditioning takes an extra six days, because the nitrogen that feeds the bacteria is released more slowly than with NPK blends of fertilizers.
Day 17 is probably going to be planting day for organic Straw Bale Gardeners.
Just keep your bales moist until then, (don’t over-water!) and check the temperature inside your bales with your hand or with a meat thermometer from your kitchen.
If the inside of the bale feels cool to your hand, or the thermometer is cooler than 105 degrees, your bales are ready for seeds & seedlings.
Take more pictures after you plant, and share them with the other Straw Bale Garden Club members in the forum, too!
