I started conditioning another batch of straw bales on Sunday. Temperatures went below freezing the Monday and Tuesday night. Not much, about 30F.
I checked on them this morning around 9 AM. There was frost on the bales. But that did not discourage the community within from actively working on turning our bales into planters.
The photos show different bales, with a meat thermometer so we can see the temperature inside of the bales.
This experiment isn’t very controlled – the bales did get different amounts of fertilizer, and some received both blood meal and a commercial lawn fertilizer. Some bales are under a cover. They do get different sun exposure during the day.
But one thing is clear – more nitrogen = more activity! Even with less sun/heat!
