Winter veg in straw bales

[emmapeapod]

Hi all,

My first post - be kind to me

I'm doing a foundation degree in horticulture and for my 2nd year dissertation have decided to look at using straw bales to grow winter veg crops in a polytunnel or outside. However I'm not sure what crops would be most suitable - brassicas? Broad beans? Winter peas? Potatoes?

Has anyone done anything like this before? I've been reading up on Skotch's experiments from a year or two ago and it sounds like it could work, and I'm hoping the heat from the decomposing straw might help boost growth and lengthen the growing season. I have until April next year to complete my trials (completely the wrong time of year to be growing anything, I know.

Anyway I'd appreciate any dos or don'ts you might be able to send my way!

Cheers
Emma

[snohare]

I remember reading up on this quite a few moons ago, and it was very much more an American thing.
I doubt if brassicas would appreciate the extra warmth though, they are cold climate plants - above a certain temperature (about 68 degrees) they actually stop growing. That is why they tend to take longer to mature, and are often grown over winter.
At a guess, you'd do better with leaf crops like lettuce, swiss chard, spinach (is that a brassica ? I'm sure someone will be along soon who knows) and the chinese leaf crops like mizuna, pak choi et al, which are not brassicas (although they look like them); the latter like to have a fair bit of heat when grown in late summer, but are winter hardy, so you have an ability to survive well under a wide range of temperatures there.
I seem to remember looking at straw bale growing in Australia on YouTube, so maybe that will help.
Fascinating topic, good luck with it !

[Snadger]

I've had some success growing Spring Cabbage and kales indoors over winter.
Broad beans or peas will also survive indoors or outdoors over winter if you choose the right varieties.
Problems I could forsee with growing in straw is that it 'sweats' causing condensation and fungal problems.
Day length is more important during the winter than heat so to maximise growth you would need to have daylight electric bulbs installed.

I've heard of people growing tomato's in straw bales during the summer but never heard of growing in them during the winter.

Good luck with your experiment!

[salilah]

I'd second the idea of trying lettuces / salad leaves, chard, spinach, pak choi
You need to get things sown quickly as (also as mentioned) once daylight reduces to around 10 hours a day, things stop growing I believe, so you need good strong young plants by then
Also think about cover - either a polytunnel or cold frame / cloche - to ensure they don't get too chilled / blown about - I'm experimenting (I hope) with a double cover this year of plastic with fleece inside
Research on the Paris Market Gardeners (maraichers?) of the late 1800s - they grew a lot over winter, but I think they used horse manure with straw rather than just straw
The other thing I read was that you are not really "growing" over winter, but you are extending the "harvest" - so you might want to think how you are going to harvest and when, that might be something to measure (e.g. broad beans, don't think they would be ready for harvest by April?)
Check out Charles Dowding (?) book on salad leaves - he includes things that can be grown late autumn into winter - might give some more ideas. Also if you can get hold of them, 2 books by Eliot Coleman
Four-season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long: Amazon.co.uk: Eliot Coleman: Books
or
The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year-round Vegetable Production Using Deep-organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses: Amazon.co.uk: Eliot Coleman, Barbara Damrosch: Books
he does a lot of winter gardening, with much colder winters (but also more daylight) - don't remember straw bales in there though...

HTH
S

[emmapeapod]

Many thanks to you all for your responses - plenty of food for thought (sorry) there, and some very interesting potential tangents to investigate too.

Now to investigate the rest of the forum...