AKRON, Ohio - When Joel Karsten was growing up on a farm in Minnesota, he noticed how lushly weeds grew from rotting bales of straw.

That made him wonder: If straw worked so well for growing weeds, wouldn’t it work just as well for vegetables?

Karsten’s question eventually led him to devise a method for growing plants directly in straw bales. His idea is gaining momentum among gardeners with the release last month of his book, Straw Bale Gardens (Cool Springs Press, $19.99).

In Karsten’s method, the bale is used as both a container and a growing medium. The straw decomposes over the growing season, producing compost that feeds the plants. The twine around the bale holds the straw together and contains what is essentially a small compost pile.

The method reduces disease problems, practically eliminates weeding and gives plants a jump start on those grown with traditional methods, he said. It also puts plants within easy reach of people who have trouble bending or kneeling, and it does so more cheaply than creating raised beds.

Karsten said straw bale gardening is also a good option for gardeners with poor soil - or no soil, for that matter. Straw bales can even be used to grow gardens on hard surfaces such as parking lots, he notes in his book.

And at the end of the season, the bales can just go into the compost pile.

Karsten developed his method when he bought his first house and discovered the soil was mostly fill dirt poorly suited for gardening. He remembered those discarded straw bales on the farm, left behind when they would fall off the bale rack on the way to the barn. They were useless once they got wet, so they were just ignored.

Karsten has refined his method over the years and until recently has been spreading the word mostly through a Facebook page and a website he initially threw together to handle the response from a local TV station’s story about his method.

Now you can read more about his method at strawbalegardens.com or Karsten’s Facebook page, facebook.com/learntogrowastrawbalegarden.

GETTING STARTED

Part of the success of straw bale gardening lies in a process Karsten calls conditioning the bales. His soil science classes had taught him that bacteria need nitrogen and water to start the composting process, so he developed a method of preparing the bales so the straw would start to break down before planting time.

He starts with common bales of straw, approximately 2 feet by 1 ½ feet by 3 ½ feet, an agricultural leftover that’s used mainly for animal bedding and mulch. Some people confuse straw with hay, but they’re different things. Straw is the dead stems of cereal grains, left behind after threshing. Hay is a crop grown for animal feed.

Karsten places the bales so the cut end of the straw faces up and the twine is around the sides, not on the top and bottom surfaces. Then, starting a couple of weeks before planting time, he follows a regimen of watering the bales daily and sprinkling them with fertilizer on specific days and in prescribed amounts.

The conditioning system starts the composting process enough that nutrients can be made available to the plants. Heat is produced as the straw decomposes, so transplants and seeds planted in the bales have a warm environment for root development.

SEEDS OR TRANSPLANTS

Planting in bales isn’t too different from planting in the ground. For transplants, Karsten just opens up a hole in the straw, adds the plant and fills in the extra space with a little sterile potting mix. For seeds, he covers the top of the bale with a layer of potting mix and plants the seeds according to the packet directions.

As the plants grow, the straw continues to break down and supply the plants with nutrients.

“In a straw bale garden, we’re creating our own ‘soil,’ quote-unquote, in the bale,” he said. Unlike soil in the ground, though, the growing medium contains no weed seeds or disease-causing agents.

That doesn’t mean straw bale gardens are immune from weeds, insects and diseases, but Karsten contends his method significantly reduces those problems and makes them easier to deal with.

The bales do need regular watering, and Karsten recommends using a soaker hose and a timer to make watering automatic.

Bales must steep in water, fertilizer

Alexandria Straight, an agent with the West Virginia University Extension Service, recommends in an article on the service’s website the following method for conditioning straw bales for planting:

This process takes a few weeks, so you will want to plan ahead and do this before you plant. Bales held over from the year before will not need to go through this step.

To start the process, keep the straw bales wet for three to four weeks before planting. If you would like to speed up the process, here is a recipe that works well.

Days 1 to 3: Water the bales thoroughly and keep them damp.

Days 4 to 6: Sprinkle each bale with ½ cup urea (46-0-0) and water well into bales. You can substitute bone meal, fish meal, or compost for a more organic approach.

Days 7 to 9: Cut back to ¼ cup urea or substitute per bale per day and continue to water well.

Day 10: No more fertilizer is needed, but continue to keep bales damp.

Day 11: Stick your hand into the bales to see if they are still warm. If they have cooled to less than your body heat, you may safely begin planting after all danger of frost has passed.

For more details see the full article at anr.ext.wvu.edu/lawn_garden/straw_bale_gardening.

HomeStyle, Pages 38 on 05/04/2013