WEGENERCS   47,473
SparkPoints 		40,000-49,999 SparkPoints
 
 
Kitchen remodel from last summer. Hard to recognize the house as being the same place, inside or out





Celebrating sisterhood and friendship (11-2008)





Beautiful Ludington sunset



I have 12 pics in my gallery





Awards





 
My Journey--One Step at a Time

This is my story about a life long battle against obesity, and the journey taken toward better physical health and self awareness.

Favorite quotes:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

"To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it." Mother Teresa
This is my story about a life long battle against obesity, and the journey taken toward better physical health and self awareness.

Favorite quotes:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

"To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it." Mother Teresa


Current Status:
WEGENERCS Literally shopped until I dropped today. Did I mention that I hate shopping? Starting to really need new clothes that fit. Trouble is that I still see nothing but an overweight woman! Grrrrrrrrr.....
set 18 hours ago


SparkFriends



SparkTeams



My Ticker:

 Pounds lost: 61.0 
 
0
26.25
52.5
78.75
105


 
Interact with WEGENERCS

Send Member a Private Message




Recent Blogs:


This user doesn't have any public blog entries.







 
Profile

Member Since: 5/18/2009

SparkPoints: 47,473

Fitness Minutes: 43,947

My Goals:
1. Walk at least 7 miles/week; aiming for at least 1 mile/day.
2. Goal to lose 70 plus pounds. Aiming for 2 pounds/week
3. Drink more water (aiming for 8 glasses/day
4. Log in daily
5. Log food intake/exercise daily
6. Goal: consistency

My Program:
 Right now I'm walking about 2-3 miles a day, which is a huge change for me. It's been so helpful to log in what I eat and do, and then get immediate feedback on screen.

Personal Information:
I enjoy reading, knitting, volunteering time with local organizations (particularly in schools and art center), and church activities. I thrive when my world is filled with beautiful music, art. and the friendship of creative family and friends.

Other Information:
 Attitude is everything!!!

Profile Image
 
 


Give WEGENERCS a Goodie  |  See All of My Goodies SparkGoodies:

Workout Clothes
From:
CGG111
Flowers
From:
GLMOM2
Happy Face
From:
GLMOM2
Flower Pot
From:
KATER-C
Thank You Message
From:
BJPENNY70
Sunshine
From:
BJPENNY70




Member Comments:
BJPENNY70
5/21/2013 11:05:37 PM

Hey Cris how are you doing. How is your father doing? Is he any better? Are you were you can start working in your yard. Let me know how you are doing with everything. I pray for you, Cris. emoticon



Report Inappropriate Comment
BJPENNY70
5/19/2013 5:07:04 PM

There is a process of preparing the bales. It takes several days, but worth it. Cutting the holes proved to be labor intensive. I later found out by someone that using a sheet rock saw is the way to go. Next year we will do that. Don't cut all the way through. A hole about the size of a small coffee can. When it is time to plant, just mix your soil up with garden soil, manure (or compost of your choice), We add top soil as well. Put the plant of your choice in the dirt and cover around the plant. Plants need to be a little deeper planted then you would in the ground. Water the bales everyday as they tend to dry out. Well they do here in the south. I pasted the instructions for the prep of the bales. My Orthopedic Doctor told me about it. So I looked it up on the web. That is where I found planting potatoes in coffee sacks. I am so excited. I didn't take pictures of everything. There is to much to put on the page. I also have other pots planted with carrots, broccoli, oregano, Mellisa (for tea), Peppers, collard that I have got started from cuttings, and more Roma tomatoes. I prayed over our little garden. I pray GOD blesses it and makes it productive for us. We are planning on putting two more kiddie pool out there for planting. With the straw bales we find mushrooms growing all over them everyday. We pick them out and put them in the compost box we made. Gardening is so much fun and a lot of work. My husband said if we had moved on a farm, I would have worked myself to death. lol emoticon

Straw Bale Gardening

As Gardeners we are often vexed by too small a growing space, less-than-desirable soil, too many weeds or a host of other problems. Many of us are also subject to the trials of the body, impeding our physical ability to garden. There are some options to help us with our gardening woes and here is an introduction to one, Straw Bale Gardening.

This article will cover some of the benefits of straw bale gardening, what you can grow in the bales, and tips on how to grow in them.

Benefits
There are many good reasons to plant in straw bales. One is that plants in straw bales are reachable from a wheelchair or walker since they are up off the ground, easily accomplished without the enormous expense of building tall raised beds. Another boon is that a straw bale garden is very weed-free, something quite desirable for those of us who no longer bend or kneel as we once did, or just plain hate weeding!

A third benefit is the lovely compost that remains as the straw decomposes over one to two years. If you have poor soil, you can spread out the old bale remains, place new bales on top of them the following year, and eventually you will have some very good soil full of earthworms. If you choose , you can even slightly scatter the old bales into a thick but loose layer and plant directly in them in a no-till method. This works quite well for potatoes if you keep mounding up more old bale material around the potato plants as they grow.

Another advantage happens if you use bales on top of hard, rocky soil, or heavy clay soil with poor drainage that makes normal gardening difficult if not impossible. It is even possible to garden in straw bales placed directly on a concrete patio slab or an old asphalt parking area.

What You Can Grow
After following the experiences of many gardeners over the last 3 years in the Strawbale Gardening Forum, I found that growing almost everything has been tried. The most successful included tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, summer and winter squash, okra, broccoli, beans, herbs, and even corn. Annual flowers also did well. The least successful were root/underground crops like onions and potatoes.

How to Grow in Bales
Although this method is commonly called “Straw Bale Gardening” not everyone uses or has access to oat, wheat, rice or other straw. Pine straw will not work because it will not break down quickly. (Straw is the remains of cut stalks of grains after the seed hears are threshed out.) Some folks have used hay bales if they were more readily available. Whatever the type of bale used, there are certain steps that make planting in them easier.

First, consider layout. If you are going to place the bales on a grassy area, be sure to leave room to mow between rows (if you have rows). Or, you might put down a layer of cardboard or newspaper under the bales, extending out into a pathway area to keep down weeds and tall grass around the base of the bales. I didn’t do that step last year as I had winter squash vines eventually running at least 15 feet out from the bales.

At this stage, you want to consider which way to run the strings wrapping the bales. What worked best for me was with the strings on one side touching the ground, which meant the stalks in the bales ran horizontally across the bales rather than vertically. This had the benefit of making it easier for me to part the stalks to get the seedling roots down into the bale, plus my bales seemed to hold water better.

Next, some bale preparation. The goal is to get some straw breakdown starting so the bales are past the initial heat of decomposing before planting lest you burn the seedlings. (It’s the decomposition of the bales that makes them a good planting medium.) An easy way to do this is to water the new bales thoroughly and keep them wet for 2-3 days. For the following 3 days, spread ½ cup ammonium nitrate* (34-0-0 NPK, available at agriculture/ feed stores) on top of each bale and water it in. Keeping the bales moist is very important. The inside of the bales should start to warm up. Stick your hand down in the bales to check!

Some folks have used bone meal, blood meal, urea or compost tea rather than ammonium nitrate for this step; just be sure it is something high in nitrogen so decomposition begins. For another three days, add only ¼ cup ammonium nitrate per bale, again watering it in well. Caution: Be careful not to water so much that you wash the ammonium nitrate out of the bales!

The next day, discontinue the ammonium nitrate and add about a cup of 10-10-10 or some organic fertilizer of your choice. Water it in well, keeping the bales moist. The following day, stick your hand down in the bales again. If they have cooled down (to less than your body heat) you may safely begin planting in them. Depending on a variety of conditions (bales, weather, rain) it could take 2-3 more days for your bales to heat up and cool down again before planting. Just continue the ¼ cup ammonium nitrate/watering regime until they begin to cool down.

To Plant
Let me tell you some surprises you might have even before you begin to plant in your bales. Depending on the bale material, there may still be some grass or grain seeds remaining, in which case they may start to grow skinny green shoots. Just give them a haircut! Also, mushrooms may grow in the moist bales. They won’t hurt anything and will soon go away. But please do not eat them.
On to planting: I found just parting the stalks by hand or with a shovel to open up an area about the size of a 1 pound coffee can worked for me, but some folks cut out a small section instead. Add some potting soil to the opening and plant your seedlings a little deeper than in a regular dirt garden. Plant tomatoes deeply. I have seen people cover the whole top of the bales with 2-3 inches of compost, too. The idea is to build a good planting medium. You might plant only 2 summer squash, cucumbers or tomato plants in one bale, or 3 peppers, or fully cover an entire bale with lettuce or spinach. Just consider the mature size of the plants to decide spacing. Image

Fertilize and water as necessary, just do not let the bales dry out between waterings. The bales will dry out quickly in the beginning and may need watering twice a day, but as they decompose they will hold water longer. Soaker hoses work well and over-watering is difficult because the bales drain well.

Anything tall like tomatoes and peppers will require staking since the roots are anchored in loose straw rather than dirt. I built a long fence with very tall poles and stapled cattle panels (welded wire panels 16' x 50", available at farm supply stores for around $15) to it above the bale top height before placing a row of bales on each side. This gives me a permanent grid to tie up tomatoes, or for beans to climb. This year I will pile up the old bale remains on one side of the fencing and plant potatoes in it. The other side will have just one row of bales.

Some folks place straw bales in a rectangular shape with an open center space to use as a cold frame, covering the opening with an old window or plastic at night. I have also seen bales placed with a center opening where compost materials were placed in the center. And of course, we all have seen photos of houses built with straw bales.

The uses of straw bales are only limited by your imagination, but choosing to use them for gardening makes growing so much easier for many folks who might not garden otherwise. Try it, you might like it!

Read more: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/vie
w/1084/#ixzz2Tm2iAhyA

Comment edited on: 5/19/2013 5:09:23 PM

Report Inappropriate Comment
BJPENNY70
5/18/2013 4:24:53 PM

Thank you for all the encouragement. I appreciate it. Encouragement goes a long way in helping with losing weight. emoticon you are emoticon



Report Inappropriate Comment
PIXIE-LICIOUS
5/9/2013 10:54:29 AM

"I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step.
If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another.
In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.... I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking."
- Og Mandino
emoticon emoticon emoticon
Just stopping by to thank you for commenting on my "Be Your Own Hero" blog. I hope your week has been going great!



Report Inappropriate Comment
BJPENNY70
5/8/2013 3:56:07 PM

Hi Cris,

I wanted to catch up on how you dad is doing? How are you? emoticon



Report Inappropriate Comment
Member Comments Page (242 total):  123Next >Last >>

See My SparkFavorites
View My Food and Exercise Log 		Report Inappropriate Page