A walk around my 3000sqm no dig market garden in late spring. All beds receive a mulch of compost once a year and I use no feeds or fertilisers.
I show you some succession plantings, which continue until October, with a range of seasonal vegetables. No dig makes it quick to re-plant and keep beds full throughout the year.
I use no slug pellets, and occasionally see slug and snail damage. Usually where I have allowed too much habitat nearby, as you see. Edges are a pest and weed issue issue.
A different problem happened in the poly tunnel, where I had overwatered small cucumber plants. I replant in the video, and explain how it’s best to underwater cucumber and melon plants when they are small.
Spring has been a little warmer than usual. Even before summer, broad beans and beetroot are coming ready, plus I show you how we harvest wild rocket, and how to judge the readiness of early cabbage.
Then we look at slow growth of potatoes, caused by nutrient loss resulting from a thick layer of woodchip on the soil.
I give you hints for timing your garlic and potato harvests, and ideas for interplanting. We finish at the dig – no dig trial beds where some differences are intriguingly strong. Harvests so far are 8.39kg from the dig bed, and 10.56kg from the no dig bed, same compost used.
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My Skills for Growing book explains my methods https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/charles-dowdings-skills-for-growing/ and it’s an online course too https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/skills-for-growing-online-course/
00:00 Introduction
00:18 A look at the Small Garden, and a prime habitat for slugs – I show you some damage to cabbage plants
00:31 A look at some lettuce, and more slug damage, and I give some tips on how to keep them at bay
02:49 Some info on Homeacres course vacancies
02:56 I talk about succession plantings/croppings – French beans after purple sprouting broccoli
03:21 A look inside the polytunnel, and some overwatered cucumbers!
03:45 I show you how to transplant a cordon cucumber with string under the rootball
04:43 I show you the tomatoes, and I talk about side-shooting
05:52 Many flowers!
05:46 Another example of succession – climbing beans after broccoli
06:07 A look at the apple trees, and mulch used
06:35 I explain my method for mulching with cardboard after planting lupins
07:09 Using wood chip as mulch, and also topsoil
07:38 I show you broad bean plants, and give some ideas of readiness for harvest
08:09 A look at beetroot, and I explain how we deal with bindweed
09:07 I demonstrate how to harvest wild rocket
10:49 I show you cabbage plants of different varieties and explain how to tell when they are ready
12:01 A look at a bed of potatoes being used for a trial of wood chip
12:42 I show you asparagus plantings from two different suppliers, and demonstrate transplanting one I have sowed
15:04 I show you some flowers, then a bed of calabrese, and explain removing lower leaves to help prevent against slug damage
16:06 Another bed of potatoes, second earlies, and more pest damage – slugs and wood lice
17:13 More about slugs and their habitat, and I show you more damage
18:22 I show you covers against insects over a newly transplanted cabbage bed
19:20 A look at the pond…
20:31…and the bees
21:28 I show you two types of cropping peas
21:58 I show you garlic plants, and some rust on the leaves, and explain readiness for harvest
23:12 A look at another bed of potatoes, and I show you how you know when they are ready, and what to do if you see them near the surface
24:12 A look at spinach, soon to finish
24:25 I show you an example of interplanting, and explain the benefits of this method
25:20 Lastly, a look at my dig/no dig trial beds, and some more examples of interplanting
See this video for more on pest prevention: https://youtu.be/Nbf7D80j5os
More details on my dig/no dig trial beds on this page of my website: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/category/trials/
Filmed at Homeacres 19th May 2022 by Nicola Smith, Somerset UK with maritime temperate climate, zone 8 but with cool summers.
Page edits Anna Maskell. Thumbnail photo 18th May 2022 by Charles Dowding.
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Thank you for this! Thank you for sharing!
I wasn’t going to do a veggie garden this year as I’m recovering from spinal fusion surgery I recently had but, alas, I was yearning for my garden! To remedy the situation I’m having a local college student help me do the heavy lifting. Todays task was topping off the rows with mushroom compost. As I explained the method to the madness with no dig, I realized I enjoyed passing on this knowledge to a younger generation. My summer just went from grim, boring, staring at an empty garden to sunny, educational and sharing in the joy of gardening with someone else. Thanks for all you do in passing on your wealth of knowledge Charles and know that it is paid forward.
Dear Charles, amazing view of home acres as usual. I have noticed, purely by accident, that white butterflies do not lay eggs on my romensco planted next to onions but are laying eggs on some romensco planted elsewhere next to grapes. I am just wondering if this onions maybe a natural deterrent and removes the need to cover some brassicas…. have you ever noticed something similar or is it still too early for the white butterfly to do damage?
Laughing at your own gardening in-jokes without explaining them to your audience is becoming really irritating. This is a no dig comment on presentation skills and the improvement there of.
It looked like Dutch Flat cabbage?
Charles, I realize your gardens are large but have you tried to lay a copper tape around your beds? I don’t know if your able to buy it in the UK?
Ive been enjoying your videos so much and my garden is mostly based on your experience and methods so many thanks
It's amazing that no-dig seems to bring broad bean harvests in late May regularly once the plot is established. Can't emphasise enough what great broad bean crops no-dig gardening brings. We will definitely be freezing some this year as eating them all will simply be impossible!
Wow, I'm not sure how I missed this one Charles but it was good to see the progress.
Pests are avoidable though. The method is easy, but applying it for all your veggies is hard. If you look at this fascinating web conference : "Why insects do not (and cannot) attack healthy plants | Dr. Thomas Dykstra" on John Kempf's channel, you'll understand that insects only come if your plant is weak. And that weakness usually comes from issues in your soil, which means issues in your gardening methods. Plant health is easy : it's mostly diversity. If you got diverse plant families in the garden, they connect through mycorrhizae (unless you use mineral fertilizers like ammonia, urine, nitrates, rock dust etc… in that case they can't form a rhizosphere anymore) and exchange nutrients. Some plants are good at phosphorus, some at nitrogen. And they exchange it through fungi, the conductors of this little orchestra. But when we do a veggie patch, we often do big blocks of the same thing. We also rarely have diverse hedges or flower beds right next to them, or even trees. And we also grow under a greenhouse, which often is made out of a UV filtering material. And plants need those UVs to be healthy. You can easily measure if your plant are healthy with the leaf Brix. Not the fruit or root brix, the leaf Brix, so you can compare plant to plant. If you got less than 12, Thomas Dykstra proved you'll likely have insects attacking your plants. It's great coz it's quite neat : all plants seem healthy above 12 and won't get attacked. If it's really bad, around 6, you'll have sucking insects like aphids attacking. This is why you often see aphids on fava beans at the end of their production : they're about to die, so aphids attack. Sometimes it's because it's fragile hybrids, like those weird roses you can buy, that'll always get attacked it seems, because they've been selected for flowers rather than health. And often aphids attack because of nitrogen excess, through fertilizing (I suspect it's the same with slugs but Thomas doesn't mention them). So any time you got an insect coming, you should ask yourself "what did I do wrong ? Not enough diversity here ? Too much manure ? Not enough light ? Too densely planted ? Not enough water ? Too much ? Is my soil too poor ? Too compacted ?" and then it becomes so much simpler… Coz instead of fighting the symptom (the insect attacking), you're fighting the cause (not providing the right growing conditions for your plant).
I followed your instructions with my new allotment plot last year with the cardboard and compost in raised beds that I made. On the pathways between the beds I used a woven weed fabric and woodchip. So disappointed that now the whole plot has Mares Tail growing though the weed fabric (double weed fabric and 6” of wood chip in one area) and seemingly loving the fresh nitrogen depleting wood chip. Cardboard does not seem enough to stop this ancient weed. Have you experienced this at all?
Theres no way I would compost bind weed, surely it will keep growing in the bins and then u transfer it back on your land.
Thank you so much for the tour Charles and nice camera work from? Really enjoyed the Farm Garden. And big thanks for all the tips.
How do you keep your edges to your paths so tidy? I've always got a problem with encroachment of grasses into my paths.
At 15:15 I think its Honey Garlic.
As usual Charles, a fabulous tour. I stumbled across your YouTube channel when looking how to get rid of vigorous ground elder. I am now a no dig addict and am into my fourth season. But why are you planting lupins into the garden? They are extremely invasive and here in the Nordics (I live in Sweden) are considered a threat to native plants. Seems a bit counterproductive.
in the future, you can use wild rocket stalks to make a delicious soup!
do you use the shade cloth over the arugula to keep it from going to seed?
А под картоном не заводятся муравьи? У меня в Беларуссии их много.
This is strange food. I eat cheeseburgers.
Richard Weatherill
I am a little concerned at the amount of wood chip you seem to use on your growing beds. The reason is, my understanding is that wood chip needs lots of nitrogen to decompose. Therefore, if it is not completely decomposed, it will, if i am correct, rob the plants of vital nitrogen. I would appreciate your view.
.micro bugs love the gaps in the cardboard, so the aerate the soil better.
what kind of lawn mower do you have
What are the brand of the small hoops with the netting?
I like how slim & inconspicuous they are. I would like to buy some for my garden.
Hi Charles, could the woodchip potato bed still benefit from 2-3" spread of homemade compost and a good shower ?
Hi Charles. I'm in Thailand I see your chanel first time and i love your works. …Do you have any problem with termite ,Because of I see srcap woods..wood shavings..maybe.. and cardboard for your bed .I 'm starting my organic plants.
I used to be a well driller if you use well grade bentonite it will hold in water very impressively