Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Straw Bale Gardening – An Alternative to Raised Beds!

Presenter, Phil Roudebush, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer of Buncombe County will lead you through all aspects of Straw Bale Gardening. The presentation will cover how to select the straw bales, their placement at home, how to condition straw bales before planting, various types of planting techniques and how to maintain a straw bale garden throughout the growing season.
Table of Contents
If you would like to view a particular portion of the video, here is the Table of Contents for the program with links. The link will take you to the precise location in the YouTube video.
0:00 Introduction
2:20 Straw
3:35 Advantages of Straw Bales
5:03 Placement
8:00 Bale Conditioning
9:10 –Water
11:02 –Fertilizer
13:22 –Lime
13:45 –Bale Buster
15:30 –Temperature
16:25 Planting Strategies
20:26 Bale Management
22:35 Recycling and Re-use
23:15 Other configurations
For more detailed information on Straw Bale Gardening, click on the links below:
Clemson Cooperative Extension Factsheet HGIC 1264
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service PSS-2264
Washington State University Extension Fact Sheet FS109E
Other references:
Straw Bale Gardens Complete by author Joel Karsten