Who is reading this book?
My mom loaned me her copy. THe basic premise is that you get straw bales, condition them in a 10 day routine of applying water and fertilizer to accelerate composting, then plant in them. The bonus is supposed to be no weeds and no soil bourn diseases. Heat from microbial action jump starts your plant growth. All you need is straw bales, water and sun.
Sun? Count me out, I live and garden (cough) in a forest. No sun.
I suppose if soil and a permanent garden were not possible this might be a viable temporary alternative. But for all the prep, 10 days to 2 weeks of it before planting, it is still a one use garden. At end of year the bales are finished, composted to mush. You have to scrape them up and haul them away. You start over from scratch the next year.
I think this would also not be cheap. You have to buy bales, bags of fertilizer (not manure) and soil-less potting mix to spread on top for seeds crops. So, what is the advantage? There might be some, I'm just not seeing them.
However, since I do not have soil that can grow potatoes very well, nothing that deep, I might try this for potato production. Just for the heck of it. Sunless potatoes.
My mom loaned me her copy. THe basic premise is that you get straw bales, condition them in a 10 day routine of applying water and fertilizer to accelerate composting, then plant in them. The bonus is supposed to be no weeds and no soil bourn diseases. Heat from microbial action jump starts your plant growth. All you need is straw bales, water and sun.
Sun? Count me out, I live and garden (cough) in a forest. No sun.
I suppose if soil and a permanent garden were not possible this might be a viable temporary alternative. But for all the prep, 10 days to 2 weeks of it before planting, it is still a one use garden. At end of year the bales are finished, composted to mush. You have to scrape them up and haul them away. You start over from scratch the next year.
I think this would also not be cheap. You have to buy bales, bags of fertilizer (not manure) and soil-less potting mix to spread on top for seeds crops. So, what is the advantage? There might be some, I'm just not seeing them.
However, since I do not have soil that can grow potatoes very well, nothing that deep, I might try this for potato production. Just for the heck of it. Sunless potatoes.