Conditioning the bales: Days 10-14

I watered on Friday, then on Saturday (Day 11) I added 1/4 cup of the 30-0-3 fertilizer and watered it in well.

The bales still have not heated up but they are starting to compost (decompose). There is evidence of some mold or fungus, there is growth from grass or some plant on them, and there are a lot of flying bugs and ladybugs on them.

I watered the bales on Sunday and Monday. Today (Tues) I added 1 cup of tomato fertilizer 9-12-12 to the first 5 bales starting from the alley (then I ran out) and I added 1 cup of general fertilizer 6-10-10 to the rest of the bales (because that's what I had).

I will water in the fertilizer in tonight with the hose nozzle on jet, and will test the bales to see if they heat up in the next few days. If they remain cool, I will be done with the conditioning process and will be ready to plant Friday!

On other website/blogs some people plant on multiple sides of their straw bales, so the other day I opened a pack of nasturtium seeds an just pushed a couple of seeds into the front of each bale without soil or anything. I hope the seeds germinate, we will see.