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

I did flip through the book and read a little and looked at the photos. What an amazing concept. I may try this next year because it is kind of too late now to start veggies where I live in Maine. You really need to do them as starter plants, or at least I think so. Not a long growing season. I now live in the rural city so it will be more challenging, but I'm up to that challenge. Prices are outrageous for good organic produce. Harder all the time to trust the stores and what they have. Today I ended up with a sunken in bottom ??? It was already bagged. My hand felt it as I brought it into the house. GROSS! Corn was tiny, I could go on, with the out of stock things like organic cucumbers. So I think it would be a worthwhile venture and I have fairly new neighbors that I could show them how to do it as well if things work out. She has all sorts of wooden boxes and containers. This looks so much easier. Using less soil etc.. Already nice and compact and yes, hay does hold the heat nicely along with moisture. So why not ? Bales are much cheaper than good soil and compost that is ify or just not ready. It will give me plenty of time to prepare having the book now. I think it was a great book for the money, lots of nice photos and diagrams. Will see how things progress, but nothing beats fresh veggies you have planted and grown yourself.

I learned so much from the very beginning. I garden. I quickly learned just how little I knew about watering. It’s a thing. I have more to read, more to learn.

I decided to start a garden. I was going to do a container garden when a friend suggested I try a straw bake garden. Although there are several videos on the internet, and a FB group, everyone suggested buying the book, so I did. The book thoroughly discusses everything about the straw bale method. How to find straw, how to arrange the bales in your garden, different arrangement ideas, how to get the bales ready for planting, watering, what plants well in the bales and what doesn’t, how to plant in the bale, how many plants to put per bale, etc. He discusses building trellises and how the trellis can serve multiple uses. In the beginning of the process, you can use the trellis to create a greenhouse, protect the plants from adverse weather, and train plants to grow up. All the information you need in in this book. If you are going to have a straw bale garden it’s a must have. If you are thinking about a straw bale garden, but you are not sure about it, buy this book. It has a lot of pictures of straw bale gardens in different configurations that look very pretty. He has a section where each vegetable (tomatoes, beans, lettuce etc) gets a discussion about how to plant it, recommended varieties that he likes, general plant care, harvesting info etc. He also has a section where he lays out planting schemes for one bale, two bale, three bale, five bale, ten bale etc gardens to give you ideas. Following his book, I have started my own six bale garden.

This book appears to be complete and concise with lots of photos. We are new to this community and I am trying to locate some straw bales. I do intend to garden this way this year. At 76 bending to pick fruit and hoeing weeds the traditional way would not be as easy as gardening this way! I like that they are a raised garden bed and weeds should be at a minimum. I plan to raise cucumbers and zucchini on the top of some bales and grow potatoes in the sides. I hope to get my grandsons to help me rig a climbing apparatus for the cucumbers and zucchini to use vertical height and make harvesting a lot easier on my body, from what I have read in this book, this new way to garden will be the way to go! I like the fact that once the straw breaks down it will improve the quality of our soil for a crop the following year! From everything that I have read, I highly recommend getting this book to see if this new style of gardening is for you too!***UPDATE: I have 17 bales currently planted and crops are looking nice so far. I am so happy that I plan to order more straw bales! Hard to believe that my garden looks so nice on 05/15/2022 and my friends and family haven’t been able to get their gardens started yet!!!

Great resource and complete guide. Have already shared the ideas withe several others.

It arrived at the last possible moment in the days of delivery with the package ripped to shreds and the back cover damaged. I've decided to keep it since it'll take to long to get a replacement and the pages are still intact.

The book was a gift from a friend and I finally decided to give a straw bale garden a try. The book gives detailed info and is easy to follow. My garden is a total success and I'll use this method for years to come! It's so simple - no weeds, no pests and a soaker hose does the watering for you, and it requires very little space. I highly recommend this book!

First time to try straw bale gardening and I've done as advised in this book. My garden looks great! It is wonderful not having to pull weeds like I do in my raised beds.

this is not the type of book you pick and read cover to cover! You should read bit, by bit as it is heavy to take in all at once. you Should take steady and take from what you want to know about growing plants on bales of straw instead of digging the garden, I think I will try to grow some crops this way as it looks easier for me being disabled.

A very interesting book especially if you are short of growing space. A few straw bales thoughtfully planted can extend the growing season keep you in veggies all summer

Excellent product in every way. No complaints or negative feedback at all... I would buy again.

All the info you need to have a successful straw bale gardenI like the quality of the book... it's a heavy paperback.. nice size and good pictures

Great book. Very helpful and I can’t wait to start a straw bale garden this year.