Straw Bale Gardens Complete, Updated Edition: Breakthrough Method for Growing Vegetables Anywhere, Earlier and with No Weeding

by Joel Karsten

Overview

This updated edition of Straw Bale Gardens Complete is the only book you need to get started with the revolutionary gardening method that has taken the world by storm.

Written by Joel Karsten, the originator of Straw Bale Gardening, this exciting update contains detailed, start-to-finish instructions for growing vegetables in straw anywhere, plus many new ideas and projects, including how to set up a greenhouse for less than $100 that allows you to start seeds on top of heat-generating straw bale benches.

Whatever your gardening challenge, Straw Bale Gardening holds the solution. Have a small or unusual space? Straw Bale Gardening is perfect for urban, rooftop, and balcony gardens. Contaminated soil? Planting in straw bales eliminates the problem. Are you inundated by weeds? With straw bales, there is no weeding. The advantages of growing a Straw Bale Garden go on and on: they require 75 percent less labor, their raised height makes planting easier, they extend the growing season, prevent disease and insect issues, are portable, hold water well but are impossible to overwater, they create excellent compost, and can be grown 100 percent organically.
 
Imagine building a simple shoulder season seed-starter greenhouse for under $100 and then heating it with six bales of straw. In this all-new section, Karsten explains how you can build his six-week greenhouse, and set all of your seed trays on the nice warm benches inside, made from straw bales. The heat generated during their early decomposition is the entire heat source for the tiny greenhouse.

Among the new subjects:
 

• Building and heating the six-week greenhouse for less than $100
• Cultivating mushrooms in straw bales
• Tips and ideas for making your straw bale garden more attractive
• How to make a cold frame with straw bales
• Trellising projects for growing vertically
• And much more

Assure your success with Straw Bale Gardening with instructions and advice direct from the pioneer of the method.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760365236
Publisher:	Cool Springs Press
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Edition description:	Updated
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	258,134
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Joel Karsten, author of Straw Bale Gardens, Straw Bale Solutions, and Straw Bale Gardens Complete, developed the straw bale gardening method more than 10 years ago. As interest grew, he became one of the most in-demand garden lecturers in the country. A pioneer and an entrepreneur, Karsten has been featured in the New York Times, national television and radio, and dozens of other major media outlets. Karsten has a degree in horticulture from the University of Minnesota, and currently resides in Roseville, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

SBGS in Small, Urban, and Unusual Spaces 28

Straw 34

Planning Your Straw Bale Garden 40

Organic Straw Bale Gardens 76

Bale Variations and Options 82

Conditioning the Bales 96

Planting Seeds and Seedlings 108

Growing Your Straw Bale Garden 120

SBGS and Water 132

Harvest Time 136

What Remains Is Gold 144

Straw Bale Structures 150

Growing Mushrooms In Straw 174

Plant Profiles 182

Photo Credits, Resources 204

Conversions 205

Index 206

Meet the Author 208