Project 3: Herb Spiral, Part II

So N and I went out in search of straw to fill in the herb spiral. I found several feed and supply stores near our area, but some of them said "Coastal" in the name, which I didn't know anything about. I ended up selecting one near a library that N wanted to show me.

First off, make it your mission to visit a feed supply store sometime soon. The one we went to had a cat sunning itself on the porch, and we shouted for several minutes before someone made their way over to help us. Usually their dog alerts them to the potential customer, but apparently this dog could sniff out that we were not farmers and therefore paid us no mind. But anyway, feed stores are crazy. The place reminded me of west Texas towns with populations of 100 people; not for one moment could I believe we were in a huge metropolis. There weren't any other people at the place, which consisted of a lean-to and then several storage sheds where the goods were kept.

We say we need hay/straw and how much can we get, and what price. We bought one bale for $9.50 (which goes a long way), and then walked out of the dilapidated lean-to and over to a storage shed where there's hay/straw all baled up. The girl in charge (or whatever one is at a place like this) is very reminiscent of our next-door neighbor that I unfortunately spent my time gawking at her and left N to do the loading. The similarity is a compliment to neither of them.

Then home for the scattering of the hay/straw. I should say now that I think we bought a combination of straw and hay - there's definitely both in there, and if we end up with a hay field next summer (or whenever), we'll deal with it then.

The trunk full of straw:


The bale next to the spiral:


The spiral is full!


Wetting the spiral:


Re-planting my rosemary, mint, thyme, and oregano:



I've decided to wait a couple of months and in March will buy some new herbs to add to it. We scattered the remaining hay/straw over the rest of the cardboard. And then wetted the whole down again. It's been getting very cold at night here and I know the plants haven't liked it, so perhaps the spiral will protect them better from the elements. It hasn't rained here in a little while and I wish it would.

So until March comes, I am unofficially done with this project! Hurray! It was easier to finish than I expected!