Using Bales of Straw to Grow a Garden

Did you know that you can create a garden with a bale of straw? I would not believe it either had I not read the latest article in the New York Times about a man who is already doing this. Not only is he doing this in his spare time he wrote a book about it.

It was Mr. Karsten’s clever notion to condition the bale with a little fertilizer and water, creating a kind of instant compost pile. “The crust of the bale decomposes slowly,” he said. This is the vessel. The inside, which decays faster, “is our potting mix.” Stick a soaker hose on top, then plug some tomato seedlings into a hole gouged out of the straw. Time to wash the taint of barnyard off your hands: you’ve got a vegetable garden.

Check out the the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/garden/grasping-at-straw-a-foolproof-vegetable-plot.html