Mr. Toad Discovers Straw Bale Gardening

The Wind in the Willows features Mr. Toad of Toad Hall,
who could not resist fads, such as the lure of motorcar,
so he engaged in grand theft auto.

Doubtless other gardeners enjoy pursuing the newest theories, which are variations on the same themes of composting and earthworms.

1. French intensive gardening.
2. Vertical gardening.
3. Water gardening.
4. Wide row gardening.
5. Square foot gardening.
6. Organic gardening.

I check out gardening books when I am expanding the family farm. Today, after doing some pruning of trees, I found Straw Bale Gardens, by Joel Karsten at the bookstore. This was not a new concept to me, but it was one I had not tried yet. I even bought the book.

I pictured 50 bales of straw being delivered to our house, addressed Wormhaven IV - Mrs. I in tears of joy.

The concept is simple. A bale of straw (leftover from the wheat harvest, normally) is watered and left to start composting, above ground, for two weeks. After that, with some fertilizer added or some other amendments, anything can be planted in the straw. The bale will hold water, decompose, and draw soil creatures into it as it decomposes.

Advantages:

1. No digging is required.
2. The bales can be set on really rough ground or even in places without soil underneath. 
3. Overwatering is not likely.
4. This could minimize soil and other diseases.
5. A crop like carrots or potatoes would be easily harvested.
6. The leftover straw can be used twice a season and composted over the winter.
7. This is a fast, inexpensive way to create raised beds for those with limited movement.

Disadvantages:

1. Heaps of straw do not make an attractive flower garden.
2. Obtaining straw bales is not easy in these days of large-scale farming.
3. Farm materials have brought farm weeds into the yard in the past - mallows and deadly nightshade.

One of the "best" photos published in the book was a front yard with bales of straw leaning this way and that, with various plants and sunflowers growing out of them. North Hollywood - need I say more? The gardener's rule is: Flowers in the front yard, vegetables in the backyard.

I can see using straw bales for strawberries, which have always defeated me (lots of work, ants, and bird predation). They would also be ideal for potatoes.

I am definitely going to try this. Hardware store bales are about $6, so 50 bales are not going to be delivered to Wormhaven IV, unless I want wipe away tears of shock from Mrs. I.

I might be able to make arrangements with a faculty member who is living the Wilderness Family experience.

The New York Times ran a story on the author.

This straw bale method encapsulates,  above ground, what normally happens below the surface. People do not think of the vast ocean of life beneath the surface. That carefully organized and managed system - created and sustained by the Lord of Creation - is the foundation of all life on dry land. An equally complex system is at work in fresh and salt water, and all parts of Creation relate to one another.

Human managers say, "You have to follow all our directions to equal our success. If you violate one of the rules, everything is doomed."

But this gardener, who grew up with hard-working grandma gardener, took a degree in this field and broke the old rules. The only reason that works is the intricate, created arrangement of decomposition that simply must take place with a few simple steps - organic material, moisture, and waiting. That decomposition ensures the health of the plants and decreases man's labor.