Welcome Dave and thanks for the input.
Recent reading and video surfing has me very much interested in trying the straw bales. Lots of mixed info on the web so I'm trying to glean what I can wherever I can. I do have tillable garden space that's been amended but I have Johnson grass that just really takes over by late July. With that said I'm considering "burning" vegetation to the ground with a string trimmer and adding a length (or 2) of biodegradable weed fabric under the bales to try to keep that devil grass from up growing through the bales.
All I'm sure of at this point is that I'm at least going to experiment with straw bale gardening this year. If it's successful for large heirloom tomatoes? Well, my backyard will transform into a green and yellow Disneyland of food. Thinking ahead I could do a miniature "Strawhenge" with rebar out front.
Thinking waay ,waay too far ahead, LOL! I've got tree damage, wild roses, and all sorts of other soon to come misadventures to deal with in these weeks leading up to planting a vegetable garden. And of course paying work that comes first. So fun though. Bought a new blower, spooling the trimmer heads. It's my favorite time of year. New spark plugs and fresh gas to awaken my only helpers. It's fun!
Happy gardening 2016 to all! I'll do ATP blog posts on my straw bale efforts if the thread interest dies off. A few other ATP search results I want to view tonite.
