From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Hinckley MN

I'm going to grow some AGs just for livestock feed next year. I have room for 8 plants in 4 back to back hills.

I am thinking of testing a combination of manure hot beds and straw bale gardening. One double hill will have a 2x2x 1.5 ft manure hotbed under each plant covered by a foot of soil. One double hill will be a raised bed, walled by hay bales with the bales "activated" with blood meal. the third will combine the 2 techniques and the 4th double bed will be a control with no hot bed and no hay bales. These will be at my new patch and will get minimal care and will be grown for total pounds of fruit, not single largest.

11/26/2012 12:42:45 PM

Colorado

Hi Ben, should be a interesting experiment.If my memory is correct-there was some mention of that type of manure warming technique in langevins first HGWCGP book.I think he quoated a new england or eastern canadian growers technique.

11/26/2012 1:13:04 PM

Hinckley MN

big moon had diary posts on it in 2010. the 2ft x 2ft x 18 inch pit is the size he used. basically I'll have a 3x3 raised bed walled with hay bales for each plant. The planting mound for the hills without haybales will be the same volume as the 3x3 beds as measured by 5 gallon buckets.

11/26/2012 1:42:34 PM