I’m not sure if the warmer temperatures yesterday were the main factor or if decomposition is afoot, but my straw bales garden is starting to heat up. Yesterday, I detected definite heat from the bales and one of the bales registered nearly 100 degrees F on the old meat thermometer I am using to check the temps. That was a…
Read More
We’ve had an early spring this year, and I’ve been noticing more weeds and more unusual weeds in my yard as a result. I hope others are not having this problem, but in case you are, I’m going to do a weekly feature on the weeds I’m finding — this could take all summer! Let me know if you have…
Read More
I have been checking the internal temperature of my straw bales to see if they are starting to decompose inside. According to the information from Joel Karsten at strawbalegardens.com, the bales should start to heat up about now. I checked yesterday — in the 40-degree cold rain — and found that most of the bales were only about 60 degrees…
Read More
Last week, I attended a presentation on straw bale gardening with my friend, Penny. We both left Joel Karsten’s talk very excited to try this new type of container gardening. So over the weekend, I located a farmer near New Trier who had some big, beautiful bales of wheat straw that I used to set up my straw bale gardens….
Read More
I first noticed the tell-tale tents of eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) in the nature area near our house about a week ago. Sure enough, when I did my post-freeze assessment of the backyard, a tiny nest was clinging to one of the apple trees — although it looked like no one was home. These caterpillars have been regular visitors…
Read More