The Deliberate Agrarian 2.0

I have blogged on this Blogger format for 14 years. Blogger was a good place for me for most of those years. But it has become so problematic that I've been forced leave. My new blogging home is now at WordPress. Seeing as I had to move to a new blogging format, I've taken the opportunity to create a new blog name. Heavenstretch is now my place on the web. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Heavenstretch will be my "last" blog and testament. Please stop on over and see what Heavenstretch is all about... It was late in 2016 when, after decades of trying so many other gardening methods, I developed a new system for gardening. At first, I called it Minibeds-on-Plastic. I now call it Minibed Gardening. At first glance, Minibed gardening doesn't look like anything all that unique. The casual observer would only see plastic mulch and some small beds. So, what's the big deal? Well, the big deal is in how the beds are laid out and managed. I call it high-culture. High culture is all about focused attention on the health of the soil, and providing optimum conditions for plants to thrive. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye. For the past two years I have had a Minibed experimental garden. I have put my initial ideas into practice. I've seen them prove to be sound, productive, and profoundly satisfying. But what is even more satisfying to me is seeing others take the Minibed gardening idea and put it to good use. Such is the case with the garden in the photo above. Becky M. lives in northern Illinois, about an hour southwest of Chicago (zone 5). She sent me that beautiful photo above with the following comment... "I bought your garden book and the first update and last year I converted my garden to minibeds. Wow. I had a few bumps along the road and I learned from them but for the most part, my 45 mini-beds were a huge success. I'm 66 with bad knees and the weeding my traditional row garden required almost made me give up gardening completely. I'm so glad I got your book and took the plunge!"