Straw bale gardening

Now more than ever home gardening is a better option for a healthy source of food. Concerns about food supplies being exposed to chemical fertilizers and pesticides have become major topics surrounding the future of food. Many are interested in starting their own home garden to raise food crops but don't know how to start.
A typical misconception is that large areas of outdoor real estate are needed to grow high yields of crops. Another concern is that the quality of available soil is not healthy enough to grow anything. Well here is a gardening method that will overcome these serious obstacles. What's better is this gardening method is easy to learn and weed free. Straw Bale gardening is a breakthrough gardening method that can be done anywhere. Nevermind poor soil conditions or space limitations the straw bale method is flexible and can be done in both rural and urban settings.

Joel Karsten is a lifelong gardening expert who has innovated the straw bale method and shared it with the masses, helping thousands. Karsten developed the straw bale method after buying his first home. Faced with a challenging site that did not facilitate healthy plant growth he conducted his own research and found a better way. Straw bales as a tool are perfect for this purpose especially for home use as the straw bales can produce higher yields and longer growing seasons. Best of all this method produces a harvest that is 100% organic.

How do we get started with straw bale gardening? For a start the straw bale itself is easy to obtain. Straw is a waste product of the agriculture industry so this method is also a means of recycling. A primary resource of straw bales is farming supply retail stores. These stores often have straw bales available for sale and if they don't they can provide information about where to find them elsewhere. Also if you are concerned feel free to ask about the source of the straw, like if it is organic or not and what sort of crop it comes from. Another great place is Craigslist, there are a lot of sources under the For Sale option, simply search Straw Bale and see for yourself.

  

The first step to straw bale gardening is a conditioning process. This is where the straw bales are soaked with water and fed a mix of nitrogen rich nutrients to feed naturally occurring micro-organisms over the course of 10 days. Over this period of time the micro-organisms are able to rapidly multiply and saturate the bales with their colonies. Now the straw bales are a perfect nutrient rich medium for plants to thrive. This new fertile soil should be free of diseases and insect infestations which is a common problem for traditional ground soil gardening.

If gardening on yard space place the soaked straw bale on a section of flat cardboard boxes or wooden palettes to cover any ground growth. The straw bale naturally prevents the growth of weeds but placing cardboard down ensures that weeds will never be able to grow up into the straw bale. Also never remove the string from the bale, this will keep it secured.

There is a wide range of crops that grow perfectly with this method. A brief sampling is leafy greens, root vegetables, squashes and melons, herbs and even flowers. For vine grown plants simply add a preferred lattice to the straw bale. 

If you have an apartment with a terrace or porch with at least 6 square feet of available space you can do this. Try making this portable by setting up on a wheeled platform. Also make sure that you are looking for STRAW and not hay, because hay is  full of seeds and grain and can interfere with the crop growth.

This can be a great family activity for children as it gets them outside and teaches a great new skill. Enjoy fresh organic produce literally right from your backyard. The perfect full guide is Joel Karsten's book. Here he goes into full detail about Straw Bale Gardening. So go ahead and get started. It is a worthwhile read that could change your home life and health for the better.