In this episode of Still Growing…(SG 515), I feature life-long entrepreneur and Straw Bale Gardening pioneer Joel Karsten.

Twenty years ago, Joel Karsten had a brilliant idea.

When he could find no academic support for his idea of using straw bales as a substrate to grow vegetables, he returned to his childhood home on a farm in Southwestern Minnesota. In a show of support, Joel's Dad welcomed him home with a whole hayrack full of 50 straw bales.