For about $5 to $10 you can pick up a bale of straw at your local hardware store or nursery. That means you can have a lot of fun without threshing your wallet. Once your bale has served its purpose, ...

My sister Laura and Grandma Josephine tending the chickens on the family farm. Yes, that is a little genuine Minnesota straw in the foreground. Because the straw bale generates heat as the straw ...

Michigan in spring is a bit of a tease. The first few days of warm weather has plant people champing at the bit to get out and start the garden. But we all know there’s still a few cold nights left ...

There are many ways to plant a garden. In-ground, raised beds, containers, there are choices that work for everyone. One unique type of gardening boasts many benefits and is easy to start and maintain ...

Local gardeners are experimenting with straw bales, taking advantage of the internal composting to help their garden grow. As a little boy growing up on a Minnesota farm, Joel Karsten wondered why the ...

Straw mulch is great for gardens. It locks in moisture, smothers weeds, and feeds plants. But it might also cause one of the ...

In this publicity photo provided by Cool Springs Press, Minnesota author and gardener, Joel Karsten, picks tomatoes from his straw bale garden. Karsten is the leading evangelist of a straw-bale ...

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MINNEAPOLIS - Joel Karsten has the seeds, fertilizer, soaker hose and straw bales ready to go. Karsten uses the straw instead of soil. He considers growing with straw a breakthrough vegetable growing ...

Joel Karsten grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm. After earning a horticulture degree at the University of Minnesota, he bought his first house and could hardly wait to sink a tiller into the soil to ...