Joel Karsten

I grew up on a crop and dairy farm in Southwestern Minnesota, and started gardening as a kid with my Grandma Josephine. She was really my first "professor" of horticulture, but I rounded out my education with a BS in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota a few years later. Farming and caring for livestock is much more than a full time job. My dad always joked when I complained, "you can take a vacation anytime you want, as long as you're back in three hours!" I decided farming wouldn't be for me, so I became an entrepreneur starting a business while I was still a Junior at the University. I have owned a number of businesses over the years, but have always maintained my passion for gardening. I want to help you discover the greatest way ever to grow vegetables, a method of gardening I have perfected over the years, a method I call Straw Bale Gardening. If you've ever thought growing vegetables was difficult, time consuming, and hard on your knees and back, I will change your mind completely. My method eliminates weeding, and bending, making it so much easier. This method allows anyone, anywhere to grow a successful garden with a very small investment regardless of whether you even have soil in your yard at all.