Gardening is an art that demands a lot of patience. Master a few plants and then add more as you grow in confidence.

Organic gardening combines the best of traditional farming methods with modern scientific knowledge and techniques. This allows the farmer to use natural control methods, such as choosing crops that are naturally resistant to pests and diseases.

We are between garden types this year. We used to have a large in-ground garden, but the time and energy required to maintain it just became too much. Plus, our family shrank from four people to two, so food was literally rotting on the plants — how much okra can two people eat! We dismantled the garden with a plan to install a few raised beds to grow only our favorite veggies, but life happened and we did not get them built in time. Thus, the idea of the straw bale garden was born.

This experiment actually serves two purposes. First, we wanted to see if this kind of garden would thrive in our hot, dry Arkansas summers. Second, the location we put our bales is also where we want to install raised beds. Even if the straw bales do not succeed, all the weeds and grass in that area will be suffocated, and as the straw breaks down, it will condition the soil beneath, making it the perfect spot to build a raised garden bed.

Source: housedigest.com