Here at Haven Homestead we are just starting out. We’ve been on our property for a year now and we have come a long way, but we have an even longer way to go! There are two different techniques for gardening that we have recently learned about and we are giving them a try to see how they work for us. The prospects are really exciting!
SPIN Farming is the technique of using an intensive crop rotation of a high value crop on a small plot. There are all kinds of tips and tricks that the developers have come up with. You can check it out at their website at www.spinfarming.com. This information is not only great for getting results from your garden, it’s also really great for designing a farm business to be successful from the get go.
Straw Bale Gardening is basically a container gardening method where the bales are the container AND the growing medium. It’s supposed to be a weed-free, easily accessible way to garden and you can do it anywhere! Even on concrete. Plus, since the bales start generating their own heat, you can start your garden up to two weeks before you normally would. At the end of a season or two, you are left with some really great compost, which is known amongst gardeners as black gold. Hence the spinning straw into gold!
We’ve started conditioning our bales according to Joel Karsten’s book, Straw Bale Gardens. The book is available at www.strawbalegardening.com or on Amazon.
The great thing is that we can still use our lasagna mulch garden bed in our “straw spinning” too! Just a different technique for different purposes.
We already have sprouts in our cold frame that we built on New Year’s Day. I think they are radishes. I can’t wait to start growing things in our bales!
Read about more of our adventures at Haven Homestead at www.havenhomestead.com!
