Long ago, in a January, far, far away… I posted on my melon pit experiment.

Now it’s coming to fruition. Literally.

Watermelons love growing in melon pits

Nice, eh?

Of course, the original idea was that the rotting wood would provide moisture, while the manure and compost provided nutrition for the growing vines.

The nutrition part has worked out well. I’ve got about 8 watermelon vines sprawling across the front yard quite happily. However, the moisture part can’t be figured out. I haven’t watered this summer since we’ve had more rain than I ever remember seeing. The “hugelkultur” bit of this experiment is therefore inconclusive.

Another thing: the weeds got away from me on the melon pits. The bare, richly fertilized ground was too much for the grass. It jumped in a little while after the melons sprung out, and now thanks to the rambling vines, weeding is almost impossible. Oh well – looks like we’re still going to have some great melons. We’ve already eaten one (it was a delicious 6.5 lb baby), and there are at least six more in the yard right now, growing on top of the “lawn.”

Now that’s the way a front yard should be!

Pick up a copy of my book COMPOST EVERYTHING: THE GOOD GUIDE TO EXTREME COMPOSTING for an in-depth look at melon pits and reusing every bit of organic material that passes through your life!