Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales

Straw bale gardening is an inexpensive, low-maintenance way to grow a bounty of food in a small space. All you need is a bale of straw, some fertilizer, and your favorite vegetable seeds! Craig LeHoullier's step-by-step instructions show you how to do everything from sourcing the straw and setting up your bale to planting, dealing with weeds and pests, and harvesting. All that's required is a bale of straw, some fertilizer, and some vegetable seeds to take advantage of this innovative low-cost, low-maintenance way to grow a bounty of food in a small space while simultaneously improving the soil.
Craig LeHoullier is the author of Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales and Epic Tomatoes and the tomato adviser for Seed Savers Exchange. In the last 30 years, he has trialed more than 1,200 tomato varieties and has introduced more than 100 varieties to the trade. He lectures widely, from local Master Gardener groups to Monticello, the Philadelphia and Northwest Flower Shows, and Seed Savers Exchange.  Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One: Getting Started

Chapter Two: Gathering Your Materials

Chapter Three: Planning for Success

Chapter Four: Caring for Your Bale Garden

Chapter Six: What to Grow and How to Grow It

Chapter Seven: Problem Solving

Chapter Eight: What Remains

References

Metric Conversion Charts

Index The Easiest Garden Ever!

Straw bales make perfect beds for your plants – they are inexpensive, provide an ideal growing medium for roots, have few weeds, and are easy to maintain. Gardening expert Craig LeHoullier walks you through the process of selecting straw bales and fertilizer, preparing bales for planting, choosing the best vegetables to grow, and caring for your straw bale garden. The warm beds produce earlier harvests, and after the season is over, you can use the broken-down straw for mulching or adding structure to soil.