Skip to Main

Sightseeing in Northern Michigan: Straw Bale Gardening

A garden is one of those special gifts that summer brings to Northern Michigan.

A bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, oftentimes right outside your door, but they can also be a whole lot of work.

In today’s Sightseeing in Northern Michigan, we meet a woman who’s showing a lot of people how to make things much easier.  

So many sounds invite you into Carlleen Rose’s garden in Mecosta County.

Birds chirping, friends and family laughing and chatting.

But one thing you won’t hear? Carlleen hard at work on her hands and knees, pulling weeds.

"I have gotten to an age that I just don’t want to bend down, and so I can just go out there now and sip a little wine. I’m touting that you can sip wine instead of pull weeds, how good is that?" says Carlleen.

She is a straw bale gardener.

"Straw bale gardening is a gardening method where you actually plant your seeds and plants in straw bales and they grow beautifully, and you don’t have to weed," explains Carlleen.

A friend told her about it.

"He had a sneaking suspicion that if I saw that I would go crazy over it," says Carlleen.

He was right.

"I thought, oh my gosh, I have to do this! So I went to my husband and I said, ‘Brian, I want to start doing straw bale gardening,’ and he said, ‘O.K.’ so I said, ‘Get me some bales,’ and he goes, ‘Well, how many do you need?’ I said, ‘About 26.’ He says, ‘Carlleen, that is not an experiment,” explains Carlleen.

And it’s not quite as easy as throwing some seeds in and watching them grow. You have to condition the bales first.

"Basically, it’s fertilizing and taking that water and driving it down through the bale, and then at the end of 14-18 days you can see is your bale is starting to disintegrate a little bit, and it creates a wonderful place for your plants to grow," says Carlleen.

Then if you’re using seeds, you put down some potting soil first. Plants can go right in the bales.

"The roots of your plants dance. They don’t have stones or hard soil to battle against, and you’ll be amazed at all the angle worms, and organisms, including mushrooms that will grow and then decay to feed your plants. It’s really a perfect system,” explains Carlleen.

But, she says there is one big no-no.

"You don’t want to use hay. All you people out there that say ‘I’ve got hay, I’m going to use hay,’ don’t use hay. It will mold. It’s not the same animal it doesn’t have a wicking system, don’t use hay,” says Carlleen.

Whether it’s one bale or Carlleen’s massive set up, she says the time and effort pays off, all summer long.

"I love it, I love it! I love sharing, and I love eating fresh food, and I love watching my food grow," says Carlleen.