Straw Bale Solutions

Creative Tips for Growing Vegetables in Bales at Home, in Community Gardens, and around the World

by Joel Karsten

Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press

Cool Springs Press

Pub Date

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

Buy this Book on

Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press

Cool Springs Press

Pub Date

Talking about this book? Be sure to tag it using #StrawBalePlanet #NetGalley

Description

Half a Million Straw Bale Gardeners Can’t Be Wrong

From Australia to France to the UK and far beyond, Straw Bale Gardening is making an impact. The revolutionary method of growing food in bales has been on the scene for just a few years, but in that time it has spread across the world with unprecedented speed. The reason? In any climate and on any continent you can grow beautiful, fresh vegetables in environments where no food has grown before.

In Straw Bale Solutions you will find over two dozen stories of SBG gardens that inspire as much as they educate. You will recognize in them many of the challenges any gardener faces, and you will see how you can use the experiences of others to write your own SBG success story.

Since he created Straw Bale Gardening in his home in the Midwestern US, author Joel Karsten has talked to thousands of gardeners and traveled to dozens of countries to spread the SBG word. Here, in Joel’s own words, is a collection of fascinating illustrated stories that you can enjoy and learn from. For example:

• Cambodian SBGs grow food during Monsoon season- for the first time
• SBGs sprout fresh veggies in the rocky Swiss Alps
• A community garden in New Jersey turns an EPA site into a food haven
• An SBG in the lowlands of the Netherlands rises above constant floods
• And many more stories of SBG success that have lessons just for you

Marketing Plan

Campaign Focus:
Since the first book, Straw Bale Gardens, was published in 2013, this method of growing vegetables has exploded in popularity and is now being practiced across the world. By coming along on this guided tour of the Straw Bale Planet, you are sure to find many situations that match yours, and that you can learn from when planning and starting your very own SBG. Straw Bale Planet doesn't just teach from example, it also traces the evolution of the SBG movement from its inception on a small tree farm in Minnesota. This is more than just a home gardening phenomenon; it’s an institution that is being employed to combat world hunger in countries like Cambodia, Argentina, and Costa Rica. This guidebook is filled with practical information for home gardeners who want to adopt the method. You'll see the countless iterations of the method in a huge variety of climates and situations, giving you the best road map to adapting the method to make their own gardens even more successful.

Key Selling Points:

Straw Bale Gardening has been the most popular new gardening method the past four yearsKarsten has a very large online following with over 106,000 followers; very aggressive and active at communicating with this audience.Big budget advertising at Facebook to drive book sales via authorA show-by-example guide for solving any vegetable gardening challenge with your own Straw Bale Garden.The collective wisdom and ingenuity of the more than 500,000 gardeners who have begun growing in straw bales worldwide in just the past three years.A behind-the-scenes look at the biggest home gardening phenomenon in the past generation.

Key Campaign Activity

Pre-order email and social media campaign; social media advertising via the authorGiveaways at Goodreads and gardening and rural living outletsFull-scale national publicity campaign at gardening,lifestyle, green and rural living outletsPromoted Facebook posts, social media campaign via Quarto KnowsHighlight in B2B and B2C email campaignsFeature at Mother Earth News Fairs

Publicity/Media

Local Minnesota media including TV and print, in Twin Cities and rural MN; newspapers to include Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Duluth News-Tribune, Rochester Post-BulletinNational gardening and related media: Horticulture Magazine, Garden Design, American Gardener, Coastal Living Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living, Nature’s Garden, Birds & Blooms, Country Woman, Fine Gardening, Mother Earth Living, Sunset Magazine, Living the Country Life, Garden Gate, Organic Life, Garden Design,Daily Newspapers with home & gardening coverage – Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Arizona Star, Denver Post, Atlanta Journal ConstitutionRegional Magazines with Gardening Coverage: Midwest Living, Southern Living, Sunset, Northern GardenerSyndication and wire services: Associated Press, Knight Ridder, Tribune Media Services,Rural Living-related outlets: Green Craft Magazine Backwoods Home, Capper’s Farmer, Colorado Country Life, Cottage Life, Country, Country Line, Country Living, Country Roads, Country Woman, Farm & Ranch Living, Grit, Living the Country Life, Modern Farmer, Mary Jane’s Farm Mother Earth News, Rural Delivery, Rural Mom, Rustik Magazine, Simplify Live Love, Southern Lady, Texas Farmer’s DaughterGreen Living/Sustainability outlets including, Green Life, Earth911.com, Greenability, Crunchy Green Mom, Eco DaddyO, Green Phone BoothGarden Center/Wholesalers media: Green Profit, Grower Talks, Nursery Management, Floral Management Blogs and Websites: Garden Therapy, GreenGirls, GardenRant, Dallas Life Blog, Empress of Dirt (Canada), In the Garden, Gardenista, Garden Therapy, Kiss The Earth, Penn Live Blog, Diggin’ In, HGTV Garden Blog, Life on the Balcony, Let's Get Dirty, Gardening Gone WildBook Trade: Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Bookish, Shelf AwarenessRadio – Local & Syndicated Programs: You Bet Your Garden/Philadelphia (and national NPR syndication), Bob Tanem In the Garden/ San Francisco, Garden Talk/San Francisco, Joy In the Garden/Vermont, In the Garden/Memphis, Mike Nowak/Chicago, Garden Life RadioTrade Review: Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Bookish, Shelf Awareness, Kirkus, BookTrib

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9780760357392
PRICE	US$24.99 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

Download (EPUB)

Additional Information

Average rating from 7 members

See all member reviews

Featured Reviews

Gaby F, Reviewer

My Recommendation

Hello to Straw Bale Gardening and Goodbye to Weeds!
 I have a weedy  patch in my backyard where I desperately would like to plant some vegetables.
So far I have been scratching my head how I would be able to do that on a very tight budget and with the little time I have during the week to actually tend to my garden. 
Straw bale gardening is a new and fascinating concept for me. With Joel Karsten's valuable instructions, straw bale gardens are very easy to set up and it does not need much maintenance to produce a home grown crop of vegetables and even to feature some flowers. And, most importantly, I can basically forget about the weeds! All I need to do is to put some kind of weed barrier on the ground between the bales, plant my vegetable plants on the bales, keep them moist, and watch them grow. 
I love that Joel Karsten gives many examples of people from all over the globe who have had a lot of success with straw bale gardening. Often these people have faced less than ideal conditions in their gardens, like hard to work and unfertile soil, uneven terrain, or  seasonal flooding. The photographs of their straw bale gardens showing lush plants growing on them are a testimony to how well the concept seems to work. The book also shows examples of community gardens with straw bales that can be set up in all kinds of spaces. I cannot wait to buy a couple of straw bales and see how it goes.

My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

Kristin C, Reviewer

My Recommendation

This book has a ton of great ideas with helpful advice from a lot of seasoned straw bale gardeners so I don’t think I will have any problems with this one and it is a good way to garden without digging up the yard or even if you only have a small outdoor space. I had never heard of this style of gardening, I knew you could use straw bales as walls to make a temporary cold frame but never tried to use them as the “raised bed”. It’s still winter here so I can’t try it out yet but I already have a couple of bales of horse hay that I can’t use for feed so I have followed the easy instructions on how to prep them to so they will be ready to plant in the spring

My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

Melinda S, Reviewer

My Recommendation

Wow! I really enjoyed this book! I have heard about straw bale gardening but didn't know too much about it. I enjoyed the way this book is organized. It gives you the information you need to get started and then also shares stories of people around the world with all different kinds of challenges they have faced with gardening and how straw bale gardening has allowed them to be successful. The pictures of people's straw bale gardens are really something. I will be getting started on my own garden soon!

My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

Leyla J, Reviewer

My Recommendation

This book takes me back to the 1970s when we had our first garden, we grew vegetables  based on the same principal, where we were living then was cold, and wet and the straw bales offered warmth and protection.
Reading this book just reminded me  again about this process, and how well it will work where we live now, which is  very hot, dry with very cold winters.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that want to grow fresh vegetables in a multitude of climates, organically and little effort. This book offers examples of various people, in  various parts of the world using this method of growing. Stood the test of time.

My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

Catlin P, Reviewer

My Recommendation

This book is a successor to Karsten's first book that describes HOW to do Straw Bale Gardening.  Though this book also has a brief introduction, it focuses primarily on stories of people who have successfully used Straw Bale Gardening throughout the world.  It's truly inspirational to see that this can be a real solution to difficult growing areas.  The multitude of illustrations show that it doesn't have to look ugly, either!  In fact, it's convinced me to try it also, instead of building raised beds.  I may have to get his first book!

My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

Jo M, Reviewer

My Recommendation

#StrawBalePlanet #NetGalley

A very good reference about Straw Bale Gardening Concept. The books explores the strategies around the world using Straw Bale Gardening specially in cold zones as the American Northwest, Switzerland and Canada,

My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

Janette F, Educator

My Recommendation
This is such an interesting idea! I'd really like to try this type of gardening, but I need a different yard.....	My Recommendation

Was this review helpful?

We Help Books Succeed.