Local gardeners are experimenting with straw bales, taking advantage of the internal composting to help their garden grow. As a little boy growing up on a Minnesota farm, Joel Karsten wondered why the ...

Straw bale gardening? What will they think of next? Actually, straw bale/mortar home construction is a big industry. In the garden, straw bales are big, too. Straw (not hay) bale gardening is a ...

Straw bale gardens are becoming popular with growers plagued with poor soil or limited garden space, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein. Straw bale gardening combines ...

For about $5 to $10 you can pick up a bale of straw at your local hardware store or nursery. That means you can have a lot of fun without threshing your wallet. Once your bale has served its purpose, ...

Do you want to grow your own vegetables, but have minimal garden space, poor or heavy clay soil, or limited financial resources? Do you manage or want to begin a school or community garden, but need ...

CORVALLIS – A lack of space needn’t keep you from a bounty of fresh produce if you turn to straw bales for planting edible gardens. Straw bales take up little space and produce almost anything you can ...

Skip the ground and try planting fruits and vegetables in straw bales instead, suggests Joel Karsten, author of "Straw Bale Gardens" (Cool Springs Press, 2013) and guru of one of this year's gardening ...

Gardening in straw bales is a flexible, waterwise way to plant a garden. Photo courtesy of strawbalegardens.com Is there any gardener who hasn’t fallen for a marketing claim that sounds too good to be ...

Mesophilic bacteria release heat within the bale and cause the internal bale temperature to rise between 130ºF and 140ºF. At this temperature range, bacteria die and bale temperature decreases. Fire ...

Joel Karsten grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm. After earning a horticulture degree at the University of Minnesota, he bought his first house and could hardly wait to sink a tiller into the soil to ...

Straw bale gardens work well for veggies, herbs, and flowers but not perennials or larger plants. Bales need to be conditions for at least 12 days with water and fertilizer before planting. Plant ...