We have both noticed how much healthier we are, now we grow 60% of our veg (100% during July, August & Sept), per annum, all no dig. Our additional allotment (recently taken on) is partially covered in landscaping fabric as it was a forest of docks and nettles🙄) and should fill the remaining % gap. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Charles. If anyone wants more info I can throughly recommend Charles’s books, they are packed with all you need to know to grow healthy fruit, herbs and veg.
I have been veg growing for as long as you, but now most of my plot is covered in brambles! How would you recommend getting rid of them? I think they would be through cardboard in a flash. I have bindweed and couch as well and just feel like giving up! Then I watch you and Huw and you both inspire me to get on with it until I get outside….help please!
@marilynstanbury5098 I would imagine removing as much as you can of the bramble roots. With bindweed, I've noticed 2nd year into my plot that was really bad with it, had calmed down after growing potatoes, squash and pumpkins, which compete aggressively for that soil space -weakening all weeds growth. First year I covered a lot of the areas of the bed with black tarp. I carefully removed as much of the bindweed by hand, their roots grow horizontally in the soil. I hoed as much as possible whilst weed growth was in seedling stage during the spring to stop them establishing themselves and becoming a nuisance for the rest of the growing season. My view on it as eventually it will become easier to manage. For me it's been worthwhile as the veg grown is of much better quality then what I can buy from the shops. If you're short on time, cover with a weed suppressing cover with cardboard/compost underneath, cut slits into to grow your veg in and then you don't have to keep weeding but you can still grow produce whilst weeds weaken and die off underneath.
I love this time of year. I went to the grocery store yesterday and for the most part I could pass by the veg because it is still all growing in the garden. We have had a few little snows already but it all seems just fine out there so far. Many of the no dig beds I have are cleaned up and amended, all ready for the spring. The frost makes them look so pretty. My husband is finally starting to understand just what you are saying today. We see others our age struggling with some health issues while we are still ok. I truly believe it is because of what we eat and don't eat that keeps us in a healthier state or at least a large part of why. Diversity in fruits and vegetables along with diversity of herbs and spices is a preventative medicine cabinet in essence. You are what you eat has never been more evident. ☺ I just love channels like this, that give us the tools and support for the gardening journey. Your enthusiasm is contagious. I think it will get many of us through the quiet times of the deep winter and help us to dream up the next seasons efforts. Again, thanks to the whole team, for all their hard work and contributions that make this channel amazing.
The evolution in the quality of your videos over the years is astounding and inspiring, such an inspiration and motivator. No Dig just makes sense! Thank you Charles and team.
Love this video! Years ago I started studying our living soil, even to the extent that I bought a microscope so I could evaluate the compost and soil, and that led to studying the gut microbiome. We're all connected! Not only has the health of our vegetable plants greatly improved, but our human health has greatly improved as well. The last section of this video alone makes watching the video worth it.
Ah so good to hear, thanks for sharing that. Excited that more people are considering these points now, beautiful shortcuts to better health in every way
Here in Texas, the best time to have things growing is in fall. I always have something in the ground. Winter only lasts about 2 1/2 to 3 months, and then it's on to spring starting with my starts in February. Because by mid-May, the temperatures get up to the nineties and possibly one hundreds and the insect pressure begins. As the years go by, I find my no dig garden becoming more resilient. Thanks again for another wonderful video.
My dear Charles, I find you and your information irresistible! Since I created a new garden bed with cardboard and yard waste, I wouldn't garden any other way! Peace and Blessings to you and everyone 🌻🍂
Charles your lovely book for children inspired my son who planted his first seeds last spring. He got them in late, but whatever he did he impressed everyone! Managed to grow 9 beautiful sugar baby pumpkins and we honestly owe it to your writing and the gorgeous illustrations. Hes 5 now and already growing better than me haha! Thank you thank you thank you!
I switched to a plant based diet about 7 years ago and eat no added sugar or salt. I agree with the statement that the mind is clearer (no brain fog) and my ability to solve problems or understand complicated subjects is tremendously improved. I'm 64 and hope to have a healthy and sound mind for a long time. It's been explained to me that the brain receives the most blood flow with each heart pump (the eyes being second most) so it makes sense that lower cholesterol and less restrictive blood flow would improve the brain function. I've had a big no-dig garden for 8 or 9 years now and love the results. Keep up the great work Charles!
Hi Charles I've added compost to my beds 3 times this year, it keeps disappearing 😂. I'm on track to make 4 tonnes of compost this year, already used 2 but still got lots of leaves and grass to compost down for next year. Thanks for the inspiration.👍🤠💚
Change your food change your mood! An u say this is a term the Montana guy uses?! Wonderful. I love that saying. Charles this was an EXCELLENT video. U did a great job my friend.
Thank You so much for Your motivating videos! I have just built my first garden bed in my life (54), using the "no dig" method. I'm here in Australia, rented a little house with a big garden area where there is a lot of lawn...I can't even imagine how long it would have taken me to dig out all the lawn. I saw Your short video from today, growing melons in a growing house with consideration of the moon phases and its energies. I cannot wait to hear more of this very soon. Thanks a lot ❣for Your videos which show how much You love gardening. Keep on doing the good work :) Sue
Again! such an inspiring lesson to watch and learn from "Mr Charles and Team" I started "No Dig" last year, and am still building more beds, composting area etc. As a trial, i mulched rose beds for the 1st time last November with compost made previously, following years of feeding pelleted products. WOW!!! what a transformation, "Best Display this summer i have ever seen" By a country mile!!! NO more shop bought feeds for me. Particularly enjoyed the Food/Gut healthy eating section, it's the way forward.😉🙂👍
Great teaching info. I know your fertility levels are obviously very good, but it would be very interesting if you did a soil test on those two beds or at least the no till bed. Maybe you have and I've missed them. Thanks again for a great video!
Your information is really helpful for beginner gardeners like me. Actually fertilizing is also a process that needs to be learned. It's worth learning.
Thanks a lot. Be careful if you use synthetic fertilisers because they kill soil microbes. I prefer not to use them at all, see this study about it www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/fertilisers-reduce-plant-beneficial-bacteria-found-around-roots
Thank you Charles for another great video. I've been practicing no dig gardening for a few years. I found the only thing I did not have enough was compost. Good compost is key for good results.
Yes exactly, and I reckon whether you are dig or no dig, good compost is key. It's just more obvious with no dig because it's on the surface, and enables us to grow so much more food.
Charles - Love your work ! :) Your mention of food and mood reminded me of the book I have by Prof Felice Jacka here in Australia -called Brain Changer - supporting exactly what you're saying - that healthy unprocessed food can be a treatment for depression and anxiety - she done some research and is doing more... its very exciting ... you're helping get the word out :) ... P.s. Thanks for the gardening tips ( I need them ) .. ! 🥦🥦
Thanks so much Lizzie. I have just contacted her on Instagram, thanks to you suggesting because her work does look amazing and there could be some good leads for me. 😊
I used the cardboard and compost mulch to completely transform my front lawn, including dandelions and clover, into a lovely annual, perennial and shrub garden. It was such a quick job, and 1 year later it's looking and feeling great. 1 issue I did find is, the cardboard under the woodchip paths did retain extra water and made the paths a bit squishy. Not that the cardboard has completely degraded, I'm about to lay down another top dressing of woodchip to help the paths over the winter. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Thanks for your helpful feedback Steve, that is correct - pathway cardboard can go slippy. It is something that you won't have to contend with again and the new wood chips will help as well.
Since watching your channel early this year I've got no dig beds now so thank you makes life so much easier I wouldn't have done so much on the garden you give great advice and it's tried and tested 👍❤️
Thanking you Charles again for the most inspiring no dig videos. Im on my 5th year of no dig and seeing the benefits in healthy plants. My neighbouring allotment older farmer who rotivates his plot yearly has started using cardboard no dig in some of his plots, we have a laugh about this as he was sceptical to begin with. The proof is in the pudding so to speak
Uwielbiam pana i pańskie filmy, są bardzo pouczające. Oglądam pana około 3 lata i wiele zmieniłam na działce jeżeli chodzi o grządki, kompost i uprawę. Bardzo dziękuję za wiedzę którą się Pan dzieli. Rzycze udanych zbiorów. Pozdrawiam z Polski.
I have eaten primarily from my garden for the last year and I have noticed the weight isn’t fluctuating as much, I’m calmer and my health has overall been improved.
All my raised beds no dig, it was the easiest to do for me at the time I didn't know it was a thing I was just doing what I thought best. I'm growing all my veg this was the first year and the garden did well. Making my own compost too, I grew a lot of herbs to tincture up for immune support throughout the winter months. I ordered the book and calendar it will help so much as I am dyslexic. I was looking for something like this to hang on the wall and help me remember dates. Thank you for the teaching, I enjoy learning.
Great video this one Charles, covered a lot of areas and a great snap shot of all things no dig and the amazing benefits of it. Thank you so much for sharing your very considerable knowledge on the subject, you are really the messiah / chosen one, to explain the amazing overall benefits of no dig gardening & vegetable growing. I applaud you, thank you again😀👏
I wonder if the dig bed would explode with growth if it were treated as no dig from now on? Allowed to settle its structure. I've had a great year, Charles, and a lot of it is due to your advice. I'll be getting the, No Dig, book as a gift this December. And, I'm sure, have an even better season next year 😊 Cheers.
That's nice to hear. I think it would take a year or two before growth might catch up. For now I want to continue as I am with the annual dig, it's so revealing!
I love the microbiome talk. I became very sick with Long COVID and when the garden started producing in the summer I noticed some health benefits immediately. Combined with the research about Alzheimers linked to the glyphosate in store bought produce, I figure I have to grow more of my own food.. Thank you for always sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge continually. Always some point or difference to try in our challenging environment. Ending spring here and we are now looking at fuller beds with happiness. Getting my compost hotter will be very helpful. Thanks again!
What a great video I am sharing it with my community garden. Thank you! Just perfect.. I find the interplanting with succession cropping the most exciting when you only have one plot and trying to optimize the year round yield.🌿
Trying something different Charles....mulched a bed deeply with leaves......going to plant thru the leaves in the spring and see how it goes.......I know anytime I have mulched with leaves to retain moisture the plants in that area are much stronger and produce evenly and more produce.
Very good advices, thank You very much, Mr Dowding. However, from my experience, it is advisable to use crop rotation, especially in the context of cruciferous vegetables. I also strongly advise against growing brassicas after a mustard cover crop, because the pest pressure will be difficult to control.
Thanks, and that's interesting because it contradicts my experience! Partly, it depends on time of year, and I find that when winter has killed the mustard, that leaves no extra amount of flea beetles, for example. I run a trial of growing cabbages every year, in the same soil, and in year eight they were exceptionally healthy, as good as ever.
Charles: podria escribir en inglés pero lo voy a hacer en mi lengua natal. Soy nacida en el departamento de Treinta y Tres, Uruguay. Vivo en Montevideo su capital. Amo tu trabajo, tus espacios y la pasión que muestras en cada vídeo. Te agradezco tanto que compartas tus experiencias de vida en relación a las hortalizas y su crecimiento. ❤ Estoy convencida de que la salud está ligada principalmente a lo que entra en nuestro organismo. Creo que la vida vegetal fue creada por Dios para nuestro beneficio y en el principio no iban a ser necesarios los medicamentos. Y te repito lo que una vez te comenté, enseño a mis alumnos y compañeras de trabajo todo lo que puedo sobre éste tema. Practico en la huerta de mi jardín el "no dig". ¡MIL GRACIAS!🌱🍄🌻🐞🐝
Muchas gracias Patricia. Me parece increíble que con Internet pueda llegar a personas como tú, tan lejos. Es maravilloso. Y es fantástico que estés enseñando a la gente estas importantes verdades, tan importantes ahora. 💚
Es cierto ,internet puede ser usado para crecer. Mis alumnos tienen entre 3 y 5 años. En cada jardín de Infantes que trabajo inicio una huerta y he cambiado mi manera de sembrar por lo aprendido.🤎 Trataré de comprar uno de tus libros . ¿Cuál me recomendarías? Un saludo fraterno desde Uruguay.
Gracias Patricia. Le sugiero que compre mi libro infantil sin excavaciones este fin de semana, porque tenemos un descuento del 50% cuando ingresa 50GREEN23 al finalizar la compra. Además, es un libro bastante delgado y su envío es menos costoso.
Como siempre, una clase magistral. ¡Bravo! Me ha resultado llamativa su referencia a la diabetes, dolencia que compartimos. ¿Podría dedicar un vídeo a la huerta para diabéticos? Creo que podría resultar muy estimulante y beneficiosa. Sea como sea, agradezco su labor pedagógica. Soy un verdadero "creyente" en el método "no dig". Saludos desde Madrid. ❤👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Charles, were you really born with type 1 diabetes or did some autoimmune event cause it later in life. If you have had it since birth, you appear to be in astoundingly good health! No doubt a result of you lifelong diet of garden fresh, whole food diet!
Thanks, Carole and I was lucky, at least to suffer it only since age 30, and I suspect it's a result of vaccinations. A friend of 15 years old who had never been jabbed went down with it two weeks after having injections so that she could travel to Africa.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Wow...that's unusual. Since you weren't born with it, something definitely triggered an autoimmune event or condition that destroyed or disabled the beta cells in your pancreas. Whatever caused it, that is SUCH a bummer. The greatest challenge with DM is compliance with a diet and lifestyle that maintains health and minimizes the dosage of insulin one requires to maintain blood sugar balance. It's so fortunate that you were a gardener/farmer already thoroughly educated in nutrition and soil health's impact on crops (and hence human health), as well as an established dietary habit of organic whole foods. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. People who are unwilling to receive vaccinations, for whatever reason, are often treated as deranged zealots who ignore "the science" of vaccines and are not respected and taken seriously for their unwillingness to risk potential impacts to their health and immune systems vaccines might cause. Of course there can be serious public health ramifications when one refuses vaccinations too, but there ARE other means of avoiding infections and/or transmission to others, and we only have our one precious body in this life. It's a conundrum, with potentially serious or even fatal ramifications.
Therein I‘m greatly interested, the connections between the soil and human body biom. Being also an healthcare professional, I‘m convinced our creator has been intetional about combining them to eachother to benefit both of them and make a healthy circle. … Until people had some harmful ideas that partly continue to the present days. I‘m not convinced either that compagnion planting makes such a huge difference. Some might do like carrots and onions, but in my garden a lot of vegetables and flowers grow close side by side and are happy. The distinction in needs of watering are really important in my beds, especially in the last pretty warm and dry years, rather than the more wet ones, for not wasting water without running water at my plot.
What would you say to a no dig detractor whos main argument is that annuals in nature are always or most often found in recently disturbed ground? You covered a lot of the high points here, I especially like how you delved even deeper into the health aspect. 🙏💚
Thanks Ted, and yes but... they need to be complete and say "Annual pioneer weeds" like chickweed and goosegrass. Fair enough if that is your intended harvest, but we want vegetables. And they grow superbly with no dig. In fact, I see a lot of complaints from people who dig, that they struggle with germination of parsnips. Whereas I have never once suffered that, so those seeds germinate much better in the compost mulch of undisturbed soil.
I didn't realise you're T1D, my 3 year old got diagnosed this year and I've been watching your channel since he was born. Feels like such a coincidence! We've been learning about nutrition and gut microbiome etc to help manage his sugar levels. Any chance you could talk about T1D a bit in your videos? Many thanks and best wishes!
I really have to go out to the back garden. Lots of cat poo to clear out but am posting to say I'm now the proud owner of real worms. I got boxes built but really need rid of them to give more ground for growing.
Nice explanation. What do you advise about allium leaf miner? My leeks growing in my allotment plot were hit by them late summer/early autumn, so I had to salvage as much of the leeks- harvesting all and freezing most to save at a later date. Is it better to rotate them the following year to a bed not exposed to any veg crop from the allium family? And is it necessary to cover them around that time and during spring and autumn to protect them from the allium fly if growing on a different bed? Thanks.
Hello Mr Charles! This year was I've created the first few beds in my garden and the results have been absolutely amazing! I was wondering if we could implement this method with planting trees with no dig method aswell? Perhaps using a few old tires stacked ontop of each other? I'm thinking of trying to plant at least 1 year and 1 vine like this to see how it goess as an experiment.. 🙂
Nice to hear and yes that sounds good. Trees don't need loads of compost. However, a little will be beneficial, say 1 inch/3 cm. Woody mulches are good as well.
No dig closer resembles what a forest does - nobody digs the forest, the leaves turn to mulch come spring, and the seeds start germinating. Charles does a tiny bit of disturbance when he transplants, because the natural place of roots is in the ground. And, in my opinion, it stays true for the trees as well. Digging a hole ONCE to plant a tree is not the same as disturbing the whole bed year after year.
I just yesterday watched a girl here in the states, she did a trial dig...no dig...and no dig planted over winter with green manure, the green manure won that trail, she plants straight in the bed. I read about that some time ago, planned on using red clover, never got around to it tho. She mentioned not knowing what goes into cardboard, said she couldn't find info on it, but sounds like there is some listening to you. Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Charles, thank you so much for sharing all your findings. I'm about to set forth to create a no-dig bed as per your instructions. I'm just a little worried that the ground (currently weedy lawn) is really quite compacted - especially given the wet weather recently and I have quite a wet garden - the water table is high. I am, however, making the growing area in the better drained area, but should i be concerned about compacted soil under my new no dig beds? Thank you again, Beth
Hello. Charles! I’ve just started a no dig bed, and planted chard, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach and strawberries. All were in small containers from Lowe’s. We are expecting temps -40 F in Alabama zone 8a. for a few days. Should I cover with sheet or straw? I follow you regularly and I appreciate your wisdom and knowledge! Thank you!!!
Sounds great although it's very late to plant Brussels sprouts, for example, and in general plantings at this time of year, take a long time to establish, and are therefore vulnerable to winter weather before their roots have gone down. I hope it's a misprint when you say -40°F! That's worse than the ice age, and yes, I would cover with anything including straw, not ideal though! Good luck.
My dogs and I eat straight from the garden (when we can grow things). A lot of veg doesn’t even make it the house or get washed off. Just brush it off a little bit and enjoy. A little dirt never hurt anyone.
Living in Cork, Ireland I've been a big fan of yours for many years and wanted to thank you for your prolific & inspiring videos, so generously shared with the global community! I've recently joined a local Men's Sheds group who have set up a large polytunnel structure (currently without polythene cover) containing 26 raised beds, filled last year with topsoil, on a concrete base. We are covering these with cardboard & hope to import the compost shortly, to prepare them for spring. Given that they are effectively a series of isolated planters which will soon be under polythene, do you think is it still worth applying a no dig approach here?
Thank you Neil, and that sounds a fun adventure. I hope you get the polythene cover on before too long. I'm worried that you have filled beds with soil rather than compost, especially since they are on concrete. There is not going to be a huge amount of life and fertility in those ingredients, and I would dig out the soil and replace it with compost! And then continue no dig! Plus, you do not need to use cardboard on top, that might accumulate slugs in fact.
Hi Charles, thank you for the amazing content. I've been binge watching your videos for days now. Can I ask how regularly you water, and how often (if at all) you would apply an organic liquid seaweed fertiliser to your plants? Thanks in advance. :)
Thanks, and outside, I hardly ever water because it rains here, and at the moment we hardly ever see the Sun anyway! Undercover maybe twice a week. I never use liquid foods. If anything, it would be seaweed
Hello Charles, Robin here, love your videos. My question for you is,my husband is taking out trees so i have a place to make a foodforest with the three tree,two edible bush layer and edible ground covers. How would you suggest i start after trees are removed? Should we till,then use boxblade to level,then coltapact before adding the compost? Thank you
Nice to hear and maybe. It depends how level the ground is. Above all, I would work to make it level, and possibly you can do that by hand, just filling in any holes where the trees were, then no need to til. Best of luck!
❤ from Canada love watching your videos every day and thanks to you I learned so much by implementing your techniques and advice. Do you have a video on soaking seeds prior to planting them. Thanks again and wish you good health and success
What wants to grow in mild winter here in N. California is wild oxalis. It is everywhere during our rainy season/winter. I've debated if it amounts to a natural ground cover to leave in place or something I need to try and remove. It always dies back in late spring and does not seem to interfere with other plantings but does leave tiny bulbs that propagate every year. I do pull it out where I'm sowing or transplanting new plants in spring to give the new plants some space.
Have you ever used the plastic tarps from old billboards to cover the soil? It seems like it would be a good way to reuse plastic that would have been sent to the landfill anyway, and that plastic is made to be able to stand up to the sun/rain without disintegrating. I would love to see an example doing this!
We practice minimal disturbance gardening. We cannot make nor can we afford to buy enough compost to cover the beds annually. We do have access to as much hay as we want so that’s one soil cover we use a lot. We also practice polyculture growing where possible with a minimum of four different botanical families growing together (based on the work of Dr Christine Jones). They do not have to be planted randomly. Straight lines work just fine. In a garden bed things will be close enough that their roots can intermingle. This underground diversity gets the soil life pumping.
Thank you for your video, I found very interesting. I do feel that one cannot make or get too much compost and in fact I take great pride in making mine by including as much as I possibly I can into it, and find so much better quality overall then what I purchased, but have now found that I have a great many more earth worms and I just like to inquire with you, that do you go out of your way to keep earthworms as you do not seem to have the more closed compost bins to enable you to keep them but the more open type? I must say that this would enable your lovely cat to be occupied of course, although seen to be following you more and more and just so lovely in your video's.
Lovely comment Mike, thank you, and I wonder if you are confusing, the large pink earthworms or Lumbricus terrestris, with the small red compost worms Eisenia fetida. I see plenty of the latter in my compost heaps, but only if we leave them long enough because the worms at the last stage, after heat has subsided. In the soil, here are plenty of earthworms, but we don't see them very often!
Another great video Charles. The only annoying thing is they are always 100% counter seasonal for me. 😊I should delay watching them for 6 months, but I look forward to them too much. On micro biome, the pressure from industrial food corp is the exact opposite of what we are increasingly finding is important to health. Hydroponics, vertical farming, irradiation, chemically steralising soil and food, all actively working against human health and biosphere health. The worlds most used herbicide has been found to destroy microbial healh of soil, it's fair to say it does exactly the same to the gut biome.
Just taking over a new allotment and this episode is really helpful. Thanks. Our new plot comes with a patch of brambles. What would you advise please? Will cardboard be sufficient to stop them coming back once cut right down?
Great, and for brambles, I always advise to take a spade to all stems you see growing above ground, cut them about 10 cm below soil level to remove the main root-stem, but leaving most of the small roots, which do not regrow
Dear Charles, may your wise and peaceful words resonate around our world! I am very intrigued by the microbiome of the soil. Intuitively, no dig corresponds to SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) we find in ancestral fermentation processes. The soil hosts (or is itself) one sort natural SCOBY at different layers. So respecting the layers and just nourishing the top layer, refreshes the existing living community. I bet no dig soils installed progressively (to allow timely succession and positive selection of microorganisms) in different and unrelated parts of the world would develop an analogous SCOBY profile. Just as the sequence of bacteria on the surface of the vegetables produce constant and reliable fermentation process, anywhere in the world and since millennia. I wonder if you like and produce/eat fermented vegetables. Until this year I used to freeze excess vegetables in abundance periods. Next year I will switch to lactic fermentation as a conservation method. A sincere and profound thank you for your inspiring exemple. The truth is in the calm evidence of your wonderful reliable results, with bonus of less work and more yield! Respect from France!
Thankyou this is great to see, a fine analogy. It's illuminating to see the different aspects of life through a similar lens, like this. And yes, in the last three years only, I've started fermenting for sauerkraut, and kimchi. It's easier and more tasty than I had expected!
Thank you Charles for yet another wonderful video! Regarding companion planting, in your experience is there any truth to the adage that onions should not be grown with peas and beans as they supposedly stunt the growth of legumes? An idea for a future trial, perhaps?
Ha ha, maybe and I think the reason is because they are both growing strongly at the same time, therefore in some competition for moisture. It's not the same as liking or disliking - and so I'm not sure I want to do a trial of that!
I am now on my 3rd year of no dig (thank you for your valuable guidance) and I can certainly testify to the endless benefits of growing this way. I would be interested to know your thoughts on when to reapply compost mulch on new beds created in July/August. I added 4 new beds in Jul/Aug last year which had a lot of manure & compost when I made them. These beds have grown leeks, tomatoes & squash but I am curious as to when I should reapply compost mulch. Should I do it ahead of this years planting or wait until the autumn? Any advice appreciated. I planted out last year’s strawberry runners into 2 of these beds in October, which have taken well & overwintered, inter planted with garlic. Interested to know how & when to reapply compost mulch to these too? Many thanks 🌱💚
Nice to hear. Your plants will grow without adding any more compost until late autumn 2024. However, I suspect that the height of your beds has diminished a fair amount, and if you have the chance I would spread 2 - 3 cm now or in early spring. That could be difficult around garlic and strawberries, just a little perhaps
Thank you very much, the beds haven’t dropped too much height but I will go ahead and spread 2/3cm within the next few weeks as advised. Wishing you a blessed and productive year ahead 🌱💚
🙏 I’ve been trying to improve my garden soil and at the same save myself from working so hard. I do add my own compost, & I always feel like I need to cover it up in order to preserve nutrients and prevent weeds. I placed large pieces of cardboard on top of my compost in my garden in a few places as sort of cover. I also use cardboard in my compost pile as a brown. Now I’m wondering….is it bad? I do try and use plain cardboard w/o any tape or glue. Would I be better off to let the soil be soil and then cover in early spring with dark plastic? I do have some cover crops growing, and some straw and leaves to cover my beds. I’m trying to stop using straw as a soil cover during the winter. It’s a beautiful blessing to be able to grow our own food. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season.
I would simplify things, and save time by using less covers! Nutrients, do not wash out of compost, that's a common misstatement, and if by any chance it was true, my gardening would never be so successful! Cover soil with compost/organic matter in late autumn and that's sufficient cover. I never use cardboard after the initial application on weeds, where necessary.
hello, I have a question about low beds. I plan to plant beds in my garden in February or March without digging, so I wanted to ask you what you think about this composition of the soil - in the first place, I would put cardboard on the 2nd, I would spread partially decomposed tree leaves on the 3rd place, I would spread decomposed animal manure and other decomposed organic waste, and on the 4th place, at the very top, I would spread my father's 10-year-old corn silage compost, which is really nicely decomposed, thanks for your opinion
Hi Charles! Thanks for this video. Question. I’ve been using no till raised beds for 3 years now. I recently had my soil tested. Every year I add compost to fill back beds. I was advised to not add anymore compost for 2 years and refill instead with top soil so that my levels will rebalance out. I apparently have too much compost. What’s your take on this?
My take, would be to ignore that comment, but look instead at your plants and how they are growing, whether you are noticing problems. That's really all I can say because I don't know the details of what you are cropping, how it is growing, the compost you have used and what depth you used to fill those beds. Hope that helps!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks for your quick response! It was a soil scientist that tested it. My crops have been growing great. The only problem are my squash plants constantly encounter squash borers and bugs. However, I did notice too many pill bugs starting to chew my young brassica plant leaves which may possibly indicate that my compost is not fully broken down yet in the soil, giving them organic matter to feed on. That’s my hypothesis😃 Thanks for your feedback.
Yes, good point, I get pillbugs sometimes if there's too much wood in the compost, but plants then grow away once they're bigger. And the wood is mostly beneficial because of the micelial networks it helps to promote.
Thanks for addressing the microbiotics and the immune system. Of course, for a starter, people with a suburban lifestyle really do need to filter the municipal water from chlorine, which also kills the good bacteria. We feed these little guys, the micro organisms, in the soil as well as in the guts, and they seem to have their favorites, as artichokes, walnuts, avacado, kefir et c.; you can find the "top ten" list on TH-cam. It´s a two way strategy: one have to reduce the intake of toxins in all forms, as well as feeding the microbiotics with the food we eat and what we drink. Simultaneously one can boost the immun system with a highly concentrated "tea", permanently being placed on ones kitchen counter: discards from garlic, sage, tarragon, and for an extra boost put some turneric into the blend, it will make your guts work regularely and smothly, for sure, especially if you in your ordinary tea use honey; it seems like these two work very well together, as a team.
Thanks for all your advice Charles. I've taken over an allotment with substantial old compost heaps but they are covered in grass and weeds. I was thinking of digging out the compost to mulch the empty beds, but will it be a weed nightmare next year? Should I use a plastic mulch on top once the weeds start to germinate in the spring? Something else? Thanks in advance!
Hi Dave, and I would definitely use that compost. As you observe, it will have loads of weed seeds and I would use it in new beds if possible, with say 5 cm weed free, purchased compost on top. Otherwise, be prepared to scuff the tiny weed seedlings in early spring.
My allotment do not like cardboard being used. It’s so frustrating, I’ve had to use black plastic and some digging. Is your compost home made. I’ve found the quality of bought compost is not great.
I want to get rid of boxes. If I take the wood away and spread the compost gently will it kill off the worm life which is thriving? The boxes were built on someone else's advice. He said you need depth of soft soil to grow potatoes. I don't agree.
That will be fine if you do it gently! Make sure that your pathways are clear of weeds, if not lay some thick cardboard on the weeds right up to the wood edges, before you remove them
Hi Charles. Really love your videos and reading your books. I have a quick question about compost. I read that spent compost can be revitalised for use in a second season or beyond, or for it to be used as a mulch etc. Can I use last season's old used compost, from my potato tubs and/or tomato grow bags, as the compost/mulch for the first layer on a new No Dig bed? If so I'm guessing it won't be as productive as brand new more fertile compost but it seems a shame to get rid of it especially as spent compost is meant to be good as a mulch. If usable would feeding or mixing it with new compost help?
Hi Stephen. You most certainly can use that compost again, and ongoing. As a filling, even as mulch on top of a bed, it will serve very well. Compost does not get empty or infertile in the same way that happens with synthetic fertilisers. When in contact with soil, it's food for organisms which can then enable release of nutrients already present.
We have both noticed how much healthier we are, now we grow 60% of our veg (100% during July, August & Sept), per annum, all no dig. Our additional allotment (recently taken on) is partially covered in landscaping fabric as it was a forest of docks and nettles🙄) and should fill the remaining % gap. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Charles. If anyone wants more info I can throughly recommend Charles’s books, they are packed with all you need to know to grow healthy fruit, herbs and veg.
Thanks so much, and that is wonderful to hear
I have been veg growing for as long as you, but now most of my plot is covered in brambles! How would you recommend getting rid of them? I think they would be through cardboard in a flash. I have bindweed and couch as well and just feel like giving up!
Then I watch you and Huw and you both inspire me to get on with it until I get outside….help please!
@marilynstanbury5098 I would imagine removing as much as you can of the bramble roots. With bindweed, I've noticed 2nd year into my plot that was really bad with it, had calmed down after growing potatoes, squash and pumpkins, which compete aggressively for that soil space -weakening all weeds growth. First year I covered a lot of the areas of the bed with black tarp. I carefully removed as much of the bindweed by hand, their roots grow horizontally in the soil. I hoed as much as possible whilst weed growth was in seedling stage during the spring to stop them establishing themselves and becoming a nuisance for the rest of the growing season. My view on it as eventually it will become easier to manage. For me it's been worthwhile as the veg grown is of much better quality then what I can buy from the shops. If you're short on time, cover with a weed suppressing cover with cardboard/compost underneath, cut slits into to grow your veg in and then you don't have to keep weeding but you can still grow produce whilst weeds weaken and die off underneath.
Great job, keep it up!!!
@@greenfingers359 Thankyou
I love this time of year. I went to the grocery store yesterday and for the most part I could pass by the veg because it is still all growing in the garden. We have had a few little snows already but it all seems just fine out there so far. Many of the no dig beds I have are cleaned up and amended, all ready for the spring. The frost makes them look so pretty.
My husband is finally starting to understand just what you are saying today. We see others our age struggling with some health issues while we are still ok. I truly believe it is because of what we eat and don't eat that keeps us in a healthier state or at least a large part of why. Diversity in fruits and vegetables along with diversity of herbs and spices is a preventative medicine cabinet in essence. You are what you eat has never been more evident. ☺
I just love channels like this, that give us the tools and support for the gardening journey. Your enthusiasm is contagious. I think it will get many of us through the quiet times of the deep winter and help us to dream up the next seasons efforts. Again, thanks to the whole team, for all their hard work and contributions that make this channel amazing.
This warms my heart, thanks and I shall pass on your comments to the team.
My dad always said a weed is simply a plant in the wrong place.
He even kept a nettle patch for red admiral & tortoiseshell caterpillars.
I am terrible at gardening but I've lots of nettles and blackberries so when I pick them I can kid myself that I am not that bad!
Stinging nettle that grows in the US is super nutritious, if a bit high maintenance to harvest.
The evolution in the quality of your videos over the years is astounding and inspiring, such an inspiration and motivator.
No Dig just makes sense! Thank you Charles and team.
Glad you like them Nicholas, this is Edward quality
Love this video! Years ago I started studying our living soil, even to the extent that I bought a microscope so I could evaluate the compost and soil, and that led to studying the gut microbiome. We're all connected! Not only has the health of our vegetable plants greatly improved, but our human health has greatly improved as well. The last section of this video alone makes watching the video worth it.
Ah so good to hear, thanks for sharing that. Excited that more people are considering these points now, beautiful shortcuts to better health in every way
Here in Texas, the best time to have things growing is in fall. I always have something in the ground. Winter only lasts about 2 1/2 to 3 months, and then it's on to spring starting with my starts in February. Because by mid-May, the temperatures get up to the nineties and possibly one hundreds and the insect pressure begins. As the years go by, I find my no dig garden becoming more resilient. Thanks again for another wonderful video.
Great to hear James!
My dear Charles, I find you and your information irresistible! Since I created a new garden bed with cardboard and yard waste, I wouldn't garden any other way! Peace and Blessings to you and everyone 🌻🍂
Thank you🙂 and lovely to hear of your success
Growing your own food is the way it is supposed to be, blessings to you as well
Charles your lovely book for children inspired my son who planted his first seeds last spring. He got them in late, but whatever he did he impressed everyone! Managed to grow 9 beautiful sugar baby pumpkins and we honestly owe it to your writing and the gorgeous illustrations. Hes 5 now and already growing better than me haha! Thank you thank you thank you!
This is wonderful to hear, and you are so welcome 🌱
I switched to a plant based diet about 7 years ago and eat no added sugar or salt. I agree with the statement that the mind is clearer (no brain fog) and my ability to solve problems or understand complicated subjects is tremendously improved. I'm 64 and hope to have a healthy and sound mind for a long time. It's been explained to me that the brain receives the most blood flow with each heart pump (the eyes being second most) so it makes sense that lower cholesterol and less restrictive blood flow would improve the brain function.
I've had a big no-dig garden for 8 or 9 years now and love the results. Keep up the great work Charles!
This is wonderful feedback, thank you Tim, and you are the same age as me!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
You're so young Charles!!
Thanks for your sweet spirit. Your more casual approach makes the garden free to flourish.
Thank you for your kind words Janet
No dig is an amazing way of growing veg. I'm just so proud of my healthy worms.
Fab!
So much experience and knowledge in one person. AMAZING!!!!!
Thank you Donna
Hi Charles I've added compost to my beds 3 times this year, it keeps disappearing 😂. I'm on track to make 4 tonnes of compost this year, already used 2 but still got lots of leaves and grass to compost down for next year. Thanks for the inspiration.👍🤠💚
It sounds like your soil is hungry! Maybe sandy and light texture. You should notice over the years that the compost will disappear less quickly!
Charles! Your videos serve as a grounding respite from the survival scramble that is NYC.
Thank you Charles!
I am glad and my pleasure
Change your food change your mood!
An u say this is a term the Montana guy uses?!
Wonderful. I love that saying. Charles this was an EXCELLENT video. U did a great job my friend.
Yes, from Wayne Burleson and thanks
Thank you!
Always looking for a glimpse for your beautiful cat too.
Thank You so much for Your motivating videos! I have just built my first garden bed in my life (54), using the "no dig" method. I'm here in Australia, rented a little house with a big garden area where there is a lot of lawn...I can't even imagine how long it would have taken me to dig out all the lawn. I saw Your short video from today, growing melons in a growing house with consideration of the moon phases and its energies. I cannot wait to hear more of this very soon. Thanks a lot ❣for Your videos which show how much You love gardening. Keep on doing the good work :) Sue
Lovely to hear Sue and grow well!
Nevermind me teasing you about your socks. It's just that you're SO adorable.
Again! such an inspiring lesson to watch and learn from "Mr Charles and Team" I started "No Dig" last year, and am still building more beds, composting area etc.
As a trial, i mulched rose beds for the 1st time last November with compost made previously, following years of feeding pelleted products.
WOW!!! what a transformation, "Best Display this summer i have ever seen" By a country mile!!!
NO more shop bought feeds for me.
Particularly enjoyed the Food/Gut healthy eating section, it's the way forward.😉🙂👍
Hello John, nice transformation! I am delighted to read this.
How wonderful to hear you talk about the connections between vegetable gardening and health. It rings so true ❤
It encapsulates the deeper weed seeds that would be turned up and grow year after year. Sterilizing the weed seed bank.
Great teaching info. I know your fertility levels are obviously very good, but it would be very interesting if you did a soil test on those two beds or at least the no till bed. Maybe you have and I've missed them. Thanks again for a great video!
I plan a video on this :)
Your information is really helpful for beginner gardeners like me. Actually fertilizing is also a process that needs to be learned. It's worth learning.
Thanks a lot. Be careful if you use synthetic fertilisers because they kill soil microbes. I prefer not to use them at all, see this study about it www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/fertilisers-reduce-plant-beneficial-bacteria-found-around-roots
Thank you Charles for another great video. I've been practicing no dig gardening for a few years. I found the only thing I did not have enough was compost. Good compost is key for good results.
Yes exactly, and I reckon whether you are dig or no dig, good compost is key. It's just more obvious with no dig because it's on the surface, and enables us to grow so much more food.
Thank you Charles for your beautiful NoDig videos. Healthy soil life creates healthy food and people.
Thank you Robert, I am glad you enjoy them and I agree!
Charles - Love your work ! :) Your mention of food and mood reminded me of the book I have by Prof Felice Jacka here in Australia -called Brain Changer - supporting exactly what you're saying - that healthy unprocessed food can be a treatment for depression and anxiety - she done some research and is doing more... its very exciting ... you're helping get the word out :) ... P.s. Thanks for the gardening tips ( I need them ) .. ! 🥦🥦
Thanks so much Lizzie. I have just contacted her on Instagram, thanks to you suggesting because her work does look amazing and there could be some good leads for me. 😊
Спасибо, сэр Чарльз, за ваши интересные видео❤❤❤!
Не за что
Well done Charles X
I used the cardboard and compost mulch to completely transform my front lawn, including dandelions and clover, into a lovely annual, perennial and shrub garden. It was such a quick job, and 1 year later it's looking and feeling great. 1 issue I did find is, the cardboard under the woodchip paths did retain extra water and made the paths a bit squishy. Not that the cardboard has completely degraded, I'm about to lay down another top dressing of woodchip to help the paths over the winter. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Thanks for your helpful feedback Steve, that is correct - pathway cardboard can go slippy. It is something that you won't have to contend with again and the new wood chips will help as well.
Since watching your channel early this year I've got no dig beds now so thank you makes life so much easier I wouldn't have done so much on the garden you give great advice and it's tried and tested 👍❤️
Great to hear of your success Loraine and glad that is easier for you now.
Thanking you Charles again for the most inspiring no dig videos. Im on my 5th year of no dig and seeing the benefits in healthy plants. My neighbouring allotment older farmer who rotivates his plot yearly has started using cardboard no dig in some of his plots, we have a laugh about this as he was sceptical to begin with. The proof is in the pudding so to speak
Lovely to hear your feedback and that is a big shift for him, lifelong habits changing
Ooooleee,me quito el sombrero señor!!!
Gracias
Чарльз, видео очень понравилось! Несколько идей возьму на заметку и применю в моем саду!
💚 great
So much information soil health=plant health=our health. Sure do need to get a better understanding, I feel closer. Thank you
You are very welcome
@@CharlesDowding1nodigvery glad to watch this video again. Marked out six beds today. 4x12 ft each. Plus a few other beds. Been busy .
Uwielbiam pana i pańskie filmy, są bardzo pouczające. Oglądam pana około 3 lata i wiele zmieniłam na działce jeżeli chodzi o grządki, kompost i uprawę. Bardzo dziękuję za wiedzę którą się Pan dzieli. Rzycze udanych zbiorów. Pozdrawiam z Polski.
dziękuję za miłe słowa, miło jest słyszeć o Twoim sukcesie i życzę udanych zbiorów
Just wanted to say Thank You Charles for all your video's this year, learnt so much.
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed them
I have eaten primarily from my garden for the last year and I have noticed the weight isn’t fluctuating as much, I’m calmer and my health has overall been improved.
How wonderful Catie
Excellent video Charles thank you for all your hard work and wonderful gardening knowledge and great videos happy holidays to everyone ❤
Thank you Troy, happy holidays to you also 🙂
Thanks. Great to hear that my 2 two gurus - Charles Dowding and Tim Spector - are singing from the same hymn sheet.
I actually grow fennel close to beets and some green onions. I haven’t had any problems. Thanks for the tip.
That's great!
Charles Dowding rulez!
Always enjoy your videos, your enthusiasm is contagious and I learn so much.. Thank you.
Thanks Jackie
All my raised beds no dig, it was the easiest to do for me at the time I didn't know it was a thing I was just doing what I thought best. I'm growing all my veg this was the first year and the garden did well. Making my own compost too, I grew a lot of herbs to tincture up for immune support throughout the winter months. I ordered the book and calendar it will help so much as I am dyslexic. I was looking for something like this to hang on the wall and help me remember dates. Thank you for the teaching, I enjoy learning.
Lovely to hear, nice work you are doing there 💚
Great video this one Charles, covered a lot of areas and a great snap shot of all things no dig and the amazing benefits of it. Thank you so much for sharing your very considerable knowledge on the subject, you are really the messiah / chosen one, to explain the amazing overall benefits of no dig gardening & vegetable growing. I applaud you, thank you again😀👏
Cheers Dale!
I wonder if the dig bed would explode with growth if it were treated as no dig from now on? Allowed to settle its structure.
I've had a great year, Charles, and a lot of it is due to your advice.
I'll be getting the, No Dig, book as a gift this December. And, I'm sure, have an even better season next year 😊 Cheers.
That's nice to hear.
I think it would take a year or two before growth might catch up. For now I want to continue as I am with the annual dig, it's so revealing!
Hermoso y completo video!!! Gracias Charles Dowing 😊
💚
I love the microbiome talk. I became very sick with Long COVID and when the garden started producing in the summer I noticed some health benefits immediately. Combined with the research about Alzheimers linked to the glyphosate in store bought produce, I figure I have to grow more of my own food.. Thank you for always sharing your knowledge.
That sounds difficult for you, and it's my pleasure to be able to help, good luck with your growing 🌱
Your Videos are so encouraging, thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge
I am glad you are encouraged and my pleasure
Beautiful ❤
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Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge continually. Always some point or difference to try in our challenging environment. Ending spring here and we are now looking at fuller beds with happiness. Getting my compost hotter will be very helpful. Thanks again!
My pleasure Renata, you will surely get it hot
What a great video I am sharing it with my community garden. Thank you! Just perfect.. I find the interplanting with succession cropping the most exciting when you only have one plot and trying to optimize the year round yield.🌿
Thanks for sharing Valeria
Trying something different Charles....mulched a bed deeply with leaves......going to plant thru the leaves in the spring and see how it goes.......I know anytime I have mulched with leaves to retain moisture the plants in that area are much stronger and produce evenly and more produce.
Good luck with that!
Me ha encantado, toda la explicacion, realmente fabuloso.
Y por supuesto totalmente de acuerdo.
Muchas gracias.❤
Me alegro que lo hayas disfrutado y gracias Maria
Very good advices, thank You very much, Mr Dowding. However, from my experience, it is advisable to use crop rotation, especially in the context of cruciferous vegetables. I also strongly advise against growing brassicas after a mustard cover crop, because the pest pressure will be difficult to control.
Thanks, and that's interesting because it contradicts my experience! Partly, it depends on time of year, and I find that when winter has killed the mustard, that leaves no extra amount of flea beetles, for example.
I run a trial of growing cabbages every year, in the same soil, and in year eight they were exceptionally healthy, as good as ever.
Fantastic info, thank you.
My pleasure Susan
Charles:
podria escribir en inglés pero lo voy a hacer en mi lengua natal. Soy nacida en el departamento de Treinta y Tres, Uruguay. Vivo en Montevideo su capital.
Amo tu trabajo, tus espacios y la pasión que muestras en cada vídeo.
Te agradezco tanto que compartas tus experiencias de vida en relación a las hortalizas y su crecimiento. ❤
Estoy convencida de que la salud está ligada principalmente a lo que entra en nuestro organismo. Creo que la vida vegetal fue creada por Dios para nuestro beneficio y en el principio no iban a ser necesarios los medicamentos.
Y te repito lo que una vez te comenté, enseño a mis alumnos y compañeras de trabajo todo lo que puedo sobre éste tema. Practico en la huerta de mi jardín el "no dig".
¡MIL GRACIAS!🌱🍄🌻🐞🐝
Muchas gracias Patricia. Me parece increíble que con Internet pueda llegar a personas como tú, tan lejos. Es maravilloso. Y es fantástico que estés enseñando a la gente estas importantes verdades, tan importantes ahora. 💚
Es cierto ,internet puede ser usado para crecer.
Mis alumnos tienen entre 3 y 5 años.
En cada jardín de Infantes que trabajo inicio una huerta y he cambiado mi manera de sembrar por lo aprendido.🤎
Trataré de comprar uno de tus libros . ¿Cuál me recomendarías?
Un saludo fraterno desde Uruguay.
Gracias Patricia. Le sugiero que compre mi libro infantil sin excavaciones este fin de semana, porque tenemos un descuento del 50% cuando ingresa 50GREEN23 al finalizar la compra. Además, es un libro bastante delgado y su envío es menos costoso.
I use cardboard every year in some beds as the bind weed and other pereenials overtake if not thickly covered.
I love you mate. I love your atitude
Thank you Alexander
Como siempre, una clase magistral. ¡Bravo! Me ha resultado llamativa su referencia a la diabetes, dolencia que compartimos. ¿Podría dedicar un vídeo a la huerta para diabéticos? Creo que podría resultar muy estimulante y beneficiosa.
Sea como sea, agradezco su labor pedagógica. Soy un verdadero "creyente" en el método "no dig".
Saludos desde Madrid. ❤👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Gracias.
Afortunadamente, mi diabetes tipo 1 no afecta mucho a la jardinería, ¡aunque siempre estoy atento a los niveles de azúcar en sangre!
Charles, were you really born with type 1 diabetes or did some autoimmune event cause it later in life. If you have had it since birth, you appear to be in astoundingly good health! No doubt a result of you lifelong diet of garden fresh, whole food diet!
Thanks, Carole and I was lucky, at least to suffer it only since age 30, and I suspect it's a result of vaccinations. A friend of 15 years old who had never been jabbed went down with it two weeks after having injections so that she could travel to Africa.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Wow...that's unusual. Since you weren't born with it, something definitely triggered an autoimmune event or condition that destroyed or disabled the beta cells in your pancreas. Whatever caused it, that is SUCH a bummer. The greatest challenge with DM is compliance with a diet and lifestyle that maintains health and minimizes the dosage of insulin one requires to maintain blood sugar balance. It's so fortunate that you were a gardener/farmer already thoroughly educated in nutrition and soil health's impact on crops (and hence human health), as well as an established dietary habit of organic whole foods.
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. People who are unwilling to receive vaccinations, for whatever reason, are often treated as deranged zealots who ignore "the science" of vaccines and are not respected and taken seriously for their unwillingness to risk potential impacts to their health and immune systems vaccines might cause. Of course there can be serious public health ramifications when one refuses vaccinations too, but there ARE other means of avoiding infections and/or transmission to others, and we only have our one precious body in this life. It's a conundrum, with potentially serious or even fatal ramifications.
me gusta tu chamarra mister charly .. 😎
😊
Therein I‘m greatly interested, the connections between the soil and human body biom. Being also an healthcare professional, I‘m convinced our creator has been intetional about combining them to eachother to benefit both of them and make a healthy circle.
… Until people had some harmful ideas that partly continue to the present days.
I‘m not convinced either that compagnion planting makes such a huge difference.
Some might do like carrots and onions, but in my garden a lot of vegetables and flowers grow close side by side and are happy.
The distinction in needs of watering are really important in my beds, especially in the last pretty warm and dry years, rather than the more wet ones, for not wasting water without running water at my plot.
Nice to see this Daniela, I'm glad that you feel that way
Thank you 😇
What would you say to a no dig detractor whos main argument is that annuals in nature are always or most often found in recently disturbed ground?
You covered a lot of the high points here, I especially like how you delved even deeper into the health aspect.
🙏💚
Thanks Ted, and yes but... they need to be complete and say "Annual pioneer weeds" like chickweed and goosegrass. Fair enough if that is your intended harvest, but we want vegetables. And they grow superbly with no dig.
In fact, I see a lot of complaints from people who dig, that they struggle with germination of parsnips. Whereas I have never once suffered that, so those seeds germinate much better in the compost mulch of undisturbed soil.
A great members video Charles!
Thanks Caitlin, I must admit it was a mistake because it's meant to be public! Glad you enjoy it anyway
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Even better, more for everyone
I didn't realise you're T1D, my 3 year old got diagnosed this year and I've been watching your channel since he was born. Feels like such a coincidence! We've been learning about nutrition and gut microbiome etc to help manage his sugar levels.
Any chance you could talk about T1D a bit in your videos? Many thanks and best wishes!
Thanks for sharing, sorry to hear this, can do :)
I really have to go out to the back garden. Lots of cat poo to clear out but am posting to say I'm now the proud owner of real worms. I got boxes built but really need rid of them to give more ground for growing.
Nice work Ann
Nice explanation. What do you advise about allium leaf miner? My leeks growing in my allotment plot were hit by them late summer/early autumn, so I had to salvage as much of the leeks- harvesting all and freezing most to save at a later date. Is it better to rotate them the following year to a bed not exposed to any veg crop from the allium family? And is it necessary to cover them around that time and during spring and autumn to protect them from the allium fly if growing on a different bed? Thanks.
Thanks, Maria. You are right, with that horrible pest we need to rotate and probably cover with mesh, it's just arriving here.
Whenever I pick and use say, spinach, chard etc.from my garden I notice how much more energy and enthusiasm I have for life the following day. 😊😊
Great to hear Angie
Hello Mr Charles! This year was I've created the first few beds in my garden and the results have been absolutely amazing! I was wondering if we could implement this method with planting trees with no dig method aswell? Perhaps using a few old tires stacked ontop of each other? I'm thinking of trying to plant at least 1 year and 1 vine like this to see how it goess as an experiment.. 🙂
Nice to hear and yes that sounds good. Trees don't need loads of compost. However, a little will be beneficial, say 1 inch/3 cm. Woody mulches are good as well.
I think you need to be wary about using old tyres as they leech toxic chemicals into the soil and hence the plants..
No dig closer resembles what a forest does - nobody digs the forest, the leaves turn to mulch come spring, and the seeds start germinating. Charles does a tiny bit of disturbance when he transplants, because the natural place of roots is in the ground. And, in my opinion, it stays true for the trees as well. Digging a hole ONCE to plant a tree is not the same as disturbing the whole bed year after year.
Yeah absolutely! I'm just curious to see how my experiment will turn out. 😅@@doinacampean9132
@@doinacampean9132 Thankyou, that was a very thoughtful reply👍
15:47 bloody hell charles those courgette plants are enormous
Yes!
I just yesterday watched a girl here in the states, she did a trial dig...no dig...and no dig planted over winter with green manure, the green manure won that trail, she plants straight in the bed. I read about that some time ago, planned on using red clover, never got around to it tho. She mentioned not knowing what goes into cardboard, said she couldn't find info on it, but sounds like there is some listening to you. Have a wonderful weekend.
Interesting! Yes, the cardboard question is a big one - or not too big, I hope! We just can't be sure and that's why I use it only once.
Boa tarde Charles obrigado pela explicação adorei ❤
I am glad 🙂
Hi Charles, thank you so much for sharing all your findings. I'm about to set forth to create a no-dig bed as per your instructions. I'm just a little worried that the ground (currently weedy lawn) is really quite compacted - especially given the wet weather recently and I have quite a wet garden - the water table is high. I am, however, making the growing area in the better drained area, but should i be concerned about compacted soil under my new no dig beds? Thank you again, Beth
Best of luck Beth and I answered you on Instagram 😀
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Hello. Charles! I’ve just started a no dig bed, and planted chard, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach and strawberries. All were in small containers from Lowe’s. We are expecting temps -40 F in Alabama zone 8a. for a few days. Should I cover with sheet or straw? I follow you regularly and I appreciate your wisdom and knowledge!
Thank you!!!
Sounds great although it's very late to plant Brussels sprouts, for example, and in general plantings at this time of year, take a long time to establish, and are therefore vulnerable to winter weather before their roots have gone down. I hope it's a misprint when you say -40°F! That's worse than the ice age, and yes, I would cover with anything including straw, not ideal though! Good luck.
My dogs and I eat straight from the garden (when we can grow things). A lot of veg doesn’t even make it the house or get washed off. Just brush it off a little bit and enjoy. A little dirt never hurt anyone.
That is great!
Living in Cork, Ireland I've been a big fan of yours for many years and wanted to thank you for your prolific & inspiring videos, so generously shared with the global community!
I've recently joined a local Men's Sheds group who have set up a large polytunnel structure (currently without polythene cover) containing 26 raised beds, filled last year with topsoil, on a concrete base. We are covering these with cardboard & hope to import the compost shortly, to prepare them for spring. Given that they are effectively a series of isolated planters which will soon be under polythene, do you think is it still worth applying a no dig approach here?
Thank you Neil, and that sounds a fun adventure. I hope you get the polythene cover on before too long.
I'm worried that you have filled beds with soil rather than compost, especially since they are on concrete. There is not going to be a huge amount of life and fertility in those ingredients, and I would dig out the soil and replace it with compost! And then continue no dig!
Plus, you do not need to use cardboard on top, that might accumulate slugs in fact.
Hi Charles, thank you for the amazing content. I've been binge watching your videos for days now. Can I ask how regularly you water, and how often (if at all) you would apply an organic liquid seaweed fertiliser to your plants? Thanks in advance. :)
Thanks, and outside, I hardly ever water because it rains here, and at the moment we hardly ever see the Sun anyway! Undercover maybe twice a week. I never use liquid foods. If anything, it would be seaweed
Hello Charles, Robin here, love your videos. My question for you is,my husband is taking out trees so i have a place to make a foodforest with the three tree,two edible bush layer and edible ground covers. How would you suggest i start after trees are removed? Should we till,then use boxblade to level,then coltapact before adding the compost?
Thank you
Nice to hear and maybe. It depends how level the ground is. Above all, I would work to make it level, and possibly you can do that by hand, just filling in any holes where the trees were, then no need to til. Best of luck!
❤ from Canada love watching your videos every day and thanks to you I learned so much by implementing your techniques and advice. Do you have a video on soaking seeds prior to planting them. Thanks again and wish you good health and success
That's nice, and I don't have such a video, because I never advocate it. I do not see the benefit and it would be another job!!
What wants to grow in mild winter here in N. California is wild oxalis. It is everywhere during our rainy season/winter. I've debated if it amounts to a natural ground cover to leave in place or something I need to try and remove. It always dies back in late spring and does not seem to interfere with other plantings but does leave tiny bulbs that propagate every year. I do pull it out where I'm sowing or transplanting new plants in spring to give the new plants some space.
That's very interesting, and it sounds like you have worked out a good strategy. The main thing is that top growth dies off in late spring!
Have you ever used the plastic tarps from old billboards to cover the soil? It seems like it would be a good way to reuse plastic that would have been sent to the landfill anyway, and that plastic is made to be able to stand up to the sun/rain without disintegrating. I would love to see an example doing this!
Yes, it should be fine, but I don't have access to any such material. We have very few billboards around here!
We practice minimal disturbance gardening. We cannot make nor can we afford to buy enough compost to cover the beds annually. We do have access to as much hay as we want so that’s one soil cover we use a lot. We also practice polyculture growing where possible with a minimum of four different botanical families growing together (based on the work of Dr Christine Jones). They do not have to be planted randomly. Straight lines work just fine. In a garden bed things will be close enough that their roots can intermingle. This underground diversity gets the soil life pumping.
Sounds amazing!
Thank you for your video, I found very interesting. I do feel that one cannot make or get too much compost and in fact I take great pride in making mine by including as much as I possibly I can into it, and find so much better quality overall then what I purchased,
but have now found that I have a great many more earth worms and I just like to inquire with you, that do you go out of your way to keep earthworms as you do not seem to have the more closed compost bins to enable you to keep them but the more open type?
I must say that this would enable your lovely cat to be occupied of course, although seen to be following you more and more and just so lovely in your video's.
Lovely comment Mike, thank you, and I wonder if you are confusing, the large pink earthworms or Lumbricus terrestris, with the small red compost worms Eisenia fetida. I see plenty of the latter in my compost heaps, but only if we leave them long enough because the worms at the last stage, after heat has subsided. In the soil, here are plenty of earthworms, but we don't see them very often!
Another great video Charles. The only annoying thing is they are always 100% counter seasonal for me. 😊I should delay watching them for 6 months, but I look forward to them too much. On micro biome, the pressure from industrial food corp is the exact opposite of what we are increasingly finding is important to health. Hydroponics, vertical farming, irradiation, chemically steralising soil and food, all actively working against human health and biosphere health. The worlds most used herbicide has been found to destroy microbial healh of soil, it's fair to say it does exactly the same to the gut biome.
Not good indeed Keith.
I would not wait 6 months!!
Nice one Charles, gud vid...
Thank you Ralph, I am glad you enjoyed it
Just taking over a new allotment and this episode is really helpful. Thanks. Our new plot comes with a patch of brambles. What would you advise please? Will cardboard be sufficient to stop them coming back once cut right down?
Great, and for brambles, I always advise to take a spade to all stems you see growing above ground, cut them about 10 cm below soil level to remove the main root-stem, but leaving most of the small roots, which do not regrow
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I had the same question, super helpful thank you!
Your garden is so beautiful… I'd like to have a neighbour with such a garden, only to work in it and learn.
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Dear Charles, may your wise and peaceful words resonate around our world! I am very intrigued by the microbiome of the soil. Intuitively, no dig corresponds to SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) we find in ancestral fermentation processes. The soil hosts (or is itself) one sort natural SCOBY at different layers. So respecting the layers and just nourishing the top layer, refreshes the existing living community. I bet no dig soils installed progressively (to allow timely succession and positive selection of microorganisms) in different and unrelated parts of the world would develop an analogous SCOBY profile. Just as the sequence of bacteria on the surface of the vegetables produce constant and reliable fermentation process, anywhere in the world and since millennia.
I wonder if you like and produce/eat fermented vegetables. Until this year I used to freeze excess vegetables in abundance periods. Next year I will switch to lactic fermentation as a conservation method.
A sincere and profound thank you for your inspiring exemple. The truth is in the calm evidence of your wonderful reliable results, with bonus of less work and more yield! Respect from France!
Thankyou this is great to see, a fine analogy. It's illuminating to see the different aspects of life through a similar lens, like this. And yes, in the last three years only, I've started fermenting for sauerkraut, and kimchi. It's easier and more tasty than I had expected!
Thank you Charles for yet another wonderful video! Regarding companion planting, in your experience is there any truth to the adage that onions should not be grown with peas and beans as they supposedly stunt the growth of legumes? An idea for a future trial, perhaps?
Ha ha, maybe and I think the reason is because they are both growing strongly at the same time, therefore in some competition for moisture. It's not the same as liking or disliking - and so I'm not sure I want to do a trial of that!
Ah, that makes sense. Thank you. 😊
I am now on my 3rd year of no dig (thank you for your valuable guidance) and I can certainly testify to the endless benefits of growing this way. I would be interested to know your thoughts on when to reapply compost mulch on new beds created in July/August. I added 4 new beds in Jul/Aug last year which had a lot of manure & compost when I made them. These beds have grown leeks, tomatoes & squash but I am curious as to when I should reapply compost mulch. Should I do it ahead of this years planting or wait until the autumn? Any advice appreciated.
I planted out last year’s strawberry runners into 2 of these beds in October, which have taken well & overwintered, inter planted with garlic. Interested to know how & when to reapply compost mulch to these too?
Many thanks 🌱💚
Nice to hear. Your plants will grow without adding any more compost until late autumn 2024.
However, I suspect that the height of your beds has diminished a fair amount, and if you have the chance I would spread 2 - 3 cm now or in early spring. That could be difficult around garlic and strawberries, just a little perhaps
Thank you very much, the beds haven’t dropped too much height but I will go ahead and spread 2/3cm within the next few weeks as advised.
Wishing you a blessed and productive year ahead 🌱💚
Thank you and to you also
🙏 I’ve been trying to improve my garden soil and at the same save myself from working so hard. I do add my own compost, & I always feel like I need to cover it up in order to preserve nutrients and prevent weeds. I placed large pieces of cardboard on top of my compost in my garden in a few places as sort of cover. I also use cardboard in my compost pile as a brown. Now I’m wondering….is it bad? I do try and use plain cardboard w/o any tape or glue. Would I be better off to let the soil be soil and then cover in early spring with dark plastic? I do have some cover crops growing, and some straw and leaves to cover my beds. I’m trying to stop using straw as a soil cover during the winter. It’s a beautiful blessing to be able to grow our own food. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season.
I would simplify things, and save time by using less covers!
Nutrients, do not wash out of compost, that's a common misstatement, and if by any chance it was true, my gardening would never be so successful!
Cover soil with compost/organic matter in late autumn and that's sufficient cover. I never use cardboard after the initial application on weeds, where necessary.
hello,
I have a question about low beds. I plan to plant beds in my garden in February or March without digging, so I wanted to ask you what you think about this composition of the soil - in the first place, I would put cardboard
on the 2nd, I would spread partially decomposed tree leaves
on the 3rd place, I would spread decomposed animal manure and other decomposed organic waste, and on the 4th place, at the very top, I would spread my father's 10-year-old corn silage compost, which is really nicely decomposed, thanks for your opinion
Nicely thought through, all good
Hi Charles! Thanks for this video. Question. I’ve been using no till raised beds for 3 years now. I recently had my soil tested. Every year I add compost to fill back beds. I was advised to not add anymore compost for 2 years and refill instead with top soil so that my levels will rebalance out. I apparently have too much compost. What’s your take on this?
My take, would be to ignore that comment, but look instead at your plants and how they are growing, whether you are noticing problems. That's really all I can say because I don't know the details of what you are cropping, how it is growing, the compost you have used and what depth you used to fill those beds. Hope that helps!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks for your quick response! It was a soil scientist that tested it. My crops have been growing great. The only problem are my squash plants constantly encounter squash borers and bugs. However, I did notice too many pill bugs starting to chew my young brassica plant leaves which may possibly indicate that my compost is not fully broken down yet in the soil, giving them organic matter to feed on. That’s my hypothesis😃
Thanks for your feedback.
Yes, good point, I get pillbugs sometimes if there's too much wood in the compost, but plants then grow away once they're bigger. And the wood is mostly beneficial because of the micelial networks it helps to promote.
Thanks for addressing the microbiotics and the immune system. Of course, for a starter, people with a suburban lifestyle really do need to filter the municipal water from chlorine, which also kills the good bacteria. We feed these little guys, the micro organisms, in the soil as well as in the guts, and they seem to have their favorites, as artichokes, walnuts, avacado, kefir et c.; you can find the "top ten" list on TH-cam. It´s a two way strategy: one have to reduce the intake of toxins in all forms, as well as feeding the microbiotics with the food we eat and what we drink. Simultaneously one can boost the immun system with a highly concentrated "tea", permanently being placed on ones kitchen counter: discards from garlic, sage, tarragon, and for an extra boost put some turneric into the blend, it will make your guts work regularely and smothly, for sure, especially if you in your ordinary tea use honey; it seems like these two work very well together, as a team.
Lovely wisdom thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks for all your advice Charles. I've taken over an allotment with substantial old compost heaps but they are covered in grass and weeds. I was thinking of digging out the compost to mulch the empty beds, but will it be a weed nightmare next year? Should I use a plastic mulch on top once the weeds start to germinate in the spring? Something else? Thanks in advance!
Hi Dave, and I would definitely use that compost. As you observe, it will have loads of weed seeds and I would use it in new beds if possible, with say 5 cm weed free, purchased compost on top. Otherwise, be prepared to scuff the tiny weed seedlings in early spring.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thanks Charles!
My allotment do not like cardboard being used. It’s so frustrating, I’ve had to use black plastic and some digging.
Is your compost home made. I’ve found the quality of bought compost is not great.
Those committees can be so old-fashioned!
About 2/3 of the compost I use is homemade, some is old animal manure, and some I buy from local facilities
I want to get rid of boxes. If I take the wood away and spread the compost gently will it kill off the worm life which is thriving? The boxes were built on someone else's advice. He said you need depth of soft soil to grow potatoes. I don't agree.
That will be fine if you do it gently! Make sure that your pathways are clear of weeds, if not lay some thick cardboard on the weeds right up to the wood edges, before you remove them
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We are the soil after all
Hi Charles. Really love your videos and reading your books. I have a quick question about compost. I read that spent compost can be revitalised for use in a second season or beyond, or for it to be used as a mulch etc. Can I use last season's old used compost, from my potato tubs and/or tomato grow bags, as the compost/mulch for the first layer on a new No Dig bed? If so I'm guessing it won't be as productive as brand new more fertile compost but it seems a shame to get rid of it especially as spent compost is meant to be good as a mulch. If usable would feeding or mixing it with new compost help?
Hi Stephen. You most certainly can use that compost again, and ongoing. As a filling, even as mulch on top of a bed, it will serve very well. Compost does not get empty or infertile in the same way that happens with synthetic fertilisers. When in contact with soil, it's food for organisms which can then enable release of nutrients already present.
Fantastic, thank you very much :) @@CharlesDowding1nodig