One of the comments on the adaptive gardening article mentioned straw bale gardening, so I thought I'd write about my experiences.

Straw bale gardening can be considered a form of adaptive gardening. It's also a form of container gardening. One grows in a straw bale, and pretty much anything can be grown. Weeding is minimal, and there's no need to bend down much since the bales are a couple of feet high.

The big guru in this kind of gardening is Joel Karsten. His book Straw Bale Gardening Complete is considered seminal in the field and he even has a website.

Pros and cons of straw bale gardening

So what are the pros and cons? As stated above, it's easy on the back and much less physical than other forms of gardening. There's no digging, not even to harvest. Root crops such as potatoes don't have to be dug. Just kick the bale over and there you are!

If your soil isn't the greatest, straw bales can be an effective solution. No worries about endlessly amending your soil here! In fact, the used straw can be turned into other areas for use as organic matter, in time creating a healthy expansion of the garden. 

When I did this back in 2015 or so, bales of straw were $2-$6 per bale. I don't know what they're going for now but I'd suggest a local farmer if available. That's got to be cheaper than any store, assuming you can even find a store selling them. Decorative bales from craft stores may have been sprayed with a fire retardant. You don't want those! Those chemicals are toxic to plants.