Whizbang Gardening

08/30/2026

Watermelon Minibed Success—
I've never grown watermelons. I live in New York State. I didn't think watermelons of any significance grew here. But a friend at my church gave me two sad looking watermelon plants he started from seed in the spring. So I planted them both in one Minibed in the far corner of my Minibed Experimental Garden. I didn't expect much. But I was wrong. The plants eventually took off and have produced 4 nice looking melons, as this picture shows.
The Minibed system came through here... The plants had plenty of root space and no w**d competition. They were able to get all the water they needed from captured subsoil moisture under the plastic mulch. I did not water the bed at all after the initial watering when I set the plants. Fact is, I pretty much neglected the bed, with the exception of puling a few w**ds early on. The plant's foliage, now dying down was lush. No fertilizer was used.
The only problem we're having with these melons is figuring out when to harvest. My wife read that when the spot on the ground turns yellow and the vine connection dries, that's the time to harvest. Any advice from watermelon growers reading this would be appreciated. Thank you.

08/17/2026

Grocery Store Potato Seed Results—
I made a post back in the spring about these small potatoes from Trader Joe's. My wife had purchased a bag and we liked them a lot. But after awhile some started sprouting in the bag and I got the idea that they might be good to plant. They were organic and evidently had not been sprayed with a sprout inhibitor. Better yet, they were just the right size for planting without cutting. So I placed them in egg trays and put them on a windowsill in a cool room so they "greensprouted," which they did very nicely. We also purchased a couple more bags, just for planting. ... Well, the end result is pictured here. Those potatoes grew remarkably well and produced a very satisfying crop. There is no scab to speak of on them, which is not the case with another variety of certified potato seed I also planted this year. The Trader Joe potatoes were a whole lot cheaper than certified seed potatoes from any mail order source. I grew a 25-foot row of these. Next year, if Trader Joe still sells these potatoes, I'll grow 2 rows!

08/16/2026

Minibed Onion Harvest 2026—
It has been a very productive and satisfying growing season in my experimental Minibed garden. I harvested onions yesterday. See commentary with photos for insights.

07/07/2026

❤️Growing Weeds in Minibeds ❤️
I used to hate w**ds in my garden, but with the Minibed gardening system, w**ds are less of a problem and more of a useful asset to gardening success. Sometimes (not always, but sometimes) when I don't get to planting a crop in a Minibed in the spring, I just let the w**ds naturally grow, as you can see in the one photo here. They grow very well! — Then, sometime before they go to seed, I pull them and use them for mulching the plantings in other Minibeds. — We had rain last night. The soil was soft, the bucket of w**ds you see was easy to pick. — Those w**ds put roots in the soil, which is always best for soil health and tilth. The green top-growth, with some attached roots, will be a beneficial mulch for another bed. — I have mulched my Minibeds with w**ds for the past nine years. There is no downside to it that I can see. It's all good. So good, in fact, that I will often "harvest" w**ds from outside my Minibed garden to use as mulch! — The third picture here shows a partial bed of onions that I have just mulched with w**ds and some corn thinnings. Cilantro seeds were planted on one open corner. — I. made a YouTube video about mulching with w**ds 7 years ago. Link: https://youtu.be/hQofJYjGb_U?si=HOucAanGLfN5aDzp

07/06/2026

Zucchini Decisions—
These three photos show one of the hard things that gardeners have to do to get a good yield. The Minibed started out with three seedlings. I pruned away one very early. The two remaining plants both grew strong and healthy. I could have left two in the bed but squashes yield better if there is just one. So I made the decision to cut one out. Then I mulched the bed with pulled w**ds (more about w**ds as mulch later). It didn't look all that great when I first pruned and mulched, but a week later, as you can see in the photo, everything is looking very fine. That one plant has what it needs as far as root space, soil moisture to draw from (no irrigation needed), and no w**d competition. Insect damage for such a healthy plant should be minimal. 👍 (click on photos to see full views)

07/04/2026

Long Live The Republic!—
I graduated high school on July 4, 1976. Fifty Years ago today! I wasn't into the public school thing back then so it was a relief to be out of there. That has nothing to do with gardening, except maybe I can connect it by telling you that I was gardening as a teenager, and I much preferred it over going to school. — Today I'm presenting a YouTube video I made 7 years ago about my Minibed Gardening experiment. It's only 11 minutes long and probably the best summation of my Minibed concept. I'm now 10 years into the project. If you haven't yet watched this video I think you will find it interesting, and maybe even inspiring...

You can check out all of my books and products for gardeners at thi...

07/03/2026

First Zephyrs—
If you have read my writings or watched my videos in the past you know that I'm fond of the Zephyr summer squash. So, this morning, as I was surveying my Minibed garden, you might imagine my pleasure at seeing a couple of little zephyr squashes starting to grow on my one Zephyr Minibed (look close in the picture to see the little beauties). —— If past performance repeats, that single squash plant in one Minibed will grow very large and produce an abundance of squashes until the frost comes. —— The "trick" to having a season-long squash supply is to keep the fruits picked. And, as the plant grows huge, I will cut away the old, dying leaves. The plant will grow well beyond the border of the Minibed. —— One healthy plant, well cared for, will produce more squash than several plants that are not well cared for. That has been my experience. I like to call it "high-culture." It's easily done with the Minibed system.

07/02/2026

The Joy of Weeding—
It's a wonder that I like gardening after my childhood experiences with picking w**ds in my family's garden as a youngster. My parents would plant the whole garden on Memorial Day weekend. Then, it would be neglected until the w**ds between the rows were several inches tall. That's when I would be tasked with pulling. It was time consuming and tedious work. — But these days, I actually enjoy picking w**ds in my Minibed garden! If mulched, w**d growth is minimal and the intruders can be picked out in less than a minute. The pepper Minibed shown here is an example... The bed was mulched with dry grass clippings shortly after the plants were set. But the mulch was thin in one corner. So I had a few w**ds. I picked them in seconds and you can see the pickings in the "after" photo. Weeds are no longer a dreaded part of gardening for me. More about w**ds, and how great they are, coming up...

06/30/2026

Heat Dome Watering—
A "massive and dangerous heat dome is currently gripping New York State." That's what the weather people are telling us folks around here. So I decided I might better give my tomato plants some TLW (Tender Loving Water). — "Artificial" watering of Minibeds in my growing region is not absolutely necessary. That's because the Minibeds are surrounded by an "ocean" of sequestered subsoil moisture to draw from. There is an almost endless amount of moisture in the subsoil, and it comes to the surface by capillary action. The permanent 6-mil bunker cover plastic mulches 78% of the garden area. That's one of the great things about the Minibed system. — But during dry spells it doesn't hurt to add some water. I've come to that realization after a few years of Minibed experimntation, and I read the book in the photo, which was an encouragement to add some water... sometimes. — So, I do this with tomatoes, squashes, and cucumbers, using Whizbang Bucket Irrigation Kits (like you see in the photo). A full bucket of water, elevated, with the hose set to deliver a steady fast drip, at the base of the plant is the way to do it. — Sometimes I add liquid fertilizer to the bucket, in which case the act becomes "fertigation." — I put just a touch of the fertilizer you see in the photo into the buckets today. The plants don't appear to be malnourished, probably because I fertilized the soil at planting time. Water is the main objective now. — The book by Steve Solomon is worth reading. Published by fellow avid gardener, David The Good. Here's a link to the bucket irrigation kits: https://bucketirrigation.blogspot.com/

06/29/2026

Collapse Is Imminent…
There comes a point in the life of every mature, healthy potato plant when the upright top growth becomes more than the stems can support. Then comes the collapse; the stems flop over into the walkways. — Which brings me to the humbling thought that there are similarities between mature potato plants and mature humans… like me. — I happen to believe that God created the work of gardening to be a humbling exercise. And the metaphors, if seen and considered, can be equally humbling. — So it is the natural course for the potato plants you see in the picture (taken minutes ago) to experience their ordained fall, and I believe that event is close to happening. Thus, the photo, as a remembrance of their glory days.