Upon retiring in June of last year, one goal was to plant a big, beautiful vegetable garden. With great enthusiasm, I set to work diligently rototilling, planting and fertilizing. Unfortunately, ...

As a little boy growing up on a Minnesota farm, Joel Karsten wondered why the healthiest weeds seemed to be ones growing out of broken down straw bales. Years later, after earning a degree in ...

If you’d like to install a raised bed but don’t have the resources to build one, you can achieve the same effect by growing your plants in straw bales. It’s also a great option for those with poor ...

Using T-posts and wire to support climbing plants such as tomatoes or cucumbers makes a straw bale garden more productive, says Joel Karsten, author of Straw Bale Gardens Complete. Much of the produce ...

Turn those straw bales from your fall decor into a budget-friendly raised garden bed with this simple method. Straw bale gardens work well for veggies, herbs, and flowers but not perennials or larger ...

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, ...

My sister Laura and Grandma Josephine tending the chickens on the family farm. Yes, that is a little genuine Minnesota straw in the foreground. Because the straw bale generates heat as the straw ...

If you’d like to install a raised bed but don’t have the resources to build one, you can achieve the same effect by growing your plants in straw bales. It’s also a great option for those with poor ...

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 ...