Category: Charles Dowding

The timings you need to make successful sowings from February until early November. Southern Hemisphere free download here https://charlesdowding.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/SH-Sowing-Guide-2023.pdf Every year I publish a Calendar of sowing dates. This is the 2023 version in my webshop: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/charles-dowdings-calendar-of-vegetable-sowing-dates-2023-signed/ This year I put extra dates in the calendar. Then in February I received this comment on Facebook…

YesI am that old! 64 in fact. Bruton Somerset is my local town and the museum requested this retrospective of my life. It runs until end of April.

We have had more frosts than usual, and this is a chance to see the effects. Together with a few signs of spring. I take you on the same path as two months ago, when we last visited my garden with its 1/3 acre / 1300m2 of no dig beds and paths. https://youtu.be/zCsZtoPfx-Y At least…

Four weeks since harvest, But it’s proving a difficult winter for storing vegetables, since the cold weather gave way to much warmer conditions. Nonetheless, no dig soil quality is helping storage potential because of healthy microbes in these plants. All of the stored vegetables are still alive and winter is their stage to be dormant…

This video is relevant to all gardeners, whether or not you dig/till the soil. There is no right / wrong amount of compost. My explanations are from 40 years of an organic approach, using no synthetic or artificially manufactured fertilisers or feeds. All fertility is from compost, with best results from leaving it on the…

The dib popper has two sides, one for making holes to sow, one with longer dowels for popping up the rootballs. It’s designed for use with my CD60 tray, available from Containerwise UK https://containerwise.co.uk/product/dib-popper-cd60/ The trays are available in North America from https://allaboutthegarden.com In Europe from https://thefarmdream.com The dibber is ash, varnished with Danish oil.…

Plants root deeply into this no dig soil. However the potato tubers we eat develop mostly near the surface. As they become numerous, they push upwards and into the light, which makes them green with solanine, which is slightly poisonous. That is the reason for what is called earthing up. You pull surrounding soil over…

See the results of growing these vegetables in the same beds, every year. I top up all my beds once a year, with about 2.5 cm/1″ or so of compost. I use no feeds or fertilisers. The no dig method means nutrients are more easily found for plant roots, by soil organism such as mycorrhizal…

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…

How to start a no dig bed and compost differences. I take you though the early stages of mulching/smothering weeds, so that they die in darkness while leaving soil in great condition for growing.. The how and why of no dig. You see examples of composts you can use, which serve to feed soil life…

This simple way to make cider vinegar needs few tools. A large bucket, hose, then bottles or demijohns (one gallon glass jars). We used a combination of cooking and cider apples. I show you the different colours. Adam (ads_wood on Instagram) and I crushed the apples 12th November, since when they have been in the…

Compost is a superb mulch for no dig beds, an inch or so / 2.5cm annually, for two crops. The compost feeds soil organisms, whose activity and excretions improve soil structure, and provide nutrition for plants. 00:00 Intro 00:25 How to assemble the pallets, very quick and easy 6:45 mid April to end of May…

See what has changed since we were last here in this 25sqm/270sqft no dig garden, mid October 2020. Autumn has changed to winter, and many of the same vegetables are still growing, very slowly now! This is Somerset in the UK. Climate zone 8 with winters mostly above freezing, damp air and little sunshine. The…

What started as a trial of three mulch materials became two fantastic harvests, all within the same year. And for remarkably little time needed Prerequisite to making beds like this is having access to materials, and finding or buying enough compost may be difficult. We used a tonne or more to make these beds, however…

I show you vegetables which will probably suffer a little damage. There is always uncertainty! It’s only seven weeks until winter Solstice, so there are no more tomatoes or squash to worry about – we cleared those plants in October. We are forecast -1C/39F, but for 3-4 hours duration, which makes it worse! So I…

Succession planting in summer is a rapid process with no dig. I show you the minimal bed prep. I explain how to assess readiness of garlic for pulling to eat and store. Also some multi sown onions which have been in the ground since autumn. It’s mid June and you see options for the new…

My “maximum compost” method for starting out. Add a lot to make new beds, then very little in subsequent years. See the sequel to how we grew potatoes and leeks, on the beds in this video’s thumbnail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhKxC7oZQuo The cardboard is only for this stage of smothering weeds – keep them in the dark and…

To help you make good choices about what to plant, where and when, through all the season. It’s easier with no dig, and when you understand parameters such as rotation. I explain examples from my intensive cropping and intercropping at Homeacres. From May to October all beds are full , and some are double cropped…