Five years and 15 cubic meters of municipal compost later, the No-Dig Garden is finally doing well, with rich dark soil and undisturbed soil life, which should sustain significantly healthier plants and better crops, in theory. But I have not been able to see that yet, and I wonder why?
0:00 Delayed Benefit
0:46 From Lasagne to Dowding
1:53 Amount of Compost Added
3:32 Where Did All the Compost Go
5:45 Poor Quality Compost
6:56 Needed More To Start
8:27 Or Amend With Concentrates
9:48 Good But Not Great
11:57 Why Not Better?
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21 Comments
Thank you. I have often wondered how far down the benefits of the compost travels over time. I have deep birdie-raised beds, so it was basically all compost, however, I wonder how you feel about composts such as 6X for an annual boost? Or maybe just for a mulch around plants or in plant holes. It would mean a lot of buying for your garden, but I wonder what you think about the product in general as mine is a relatively new growing space where the soil was pretty poor in 2020. Thanks again!
Excellent video. Lot to learns
In what way is your locally sourced farm manure no good?
Paraphrasing Charles Dowding when talking about his dig vs no-dig trial beds: there isn't a huge difference in yield, but there is a massive difference in the amount of work preparing and maintaining the beds. Why dig if the yields are equal?
All of my heavily mulched no dig areas in my food forest really hit stride about 3 years in. First year was definitely poor, second was drastically improved, and last year was unbelievable. I have very high hopes for the continued improvement of my soil.
I love this channel so much. Especially for the candid, no-hype real numbers you provide.
Vital to add a dampening of water between layers to speed up the process if you have it or layer after a rain if possible. Looked like you were pouring that compost over dry soil.
that's false. after so many years, you will have to replace the screws on roof or you will get leaks.
Makes me wonder how those wood chip(back to Eden?) gardens would compare 🤔
I think you lack soil life (Fungi bacteria and worms etc.) You can get it from the soil in the woods.
We started a community garden filling the beds with 50/50 compost and loam. There is no microbiome in that newly delivered truckload of soil. We headed to amend heavily with organic fertilizers through the first season and half way into the second when the microbiome was starting to gel. It's critically important in developing the microbiome quickly was that the soil was never left bare or unplanted. That's a critical component in getting the soil fertile quickly.
We had success with putting just a small handful of manure pellets in the hole before transplanting, but just for heavy feeders such as brassicas and tomatoes.
are you using cover crops in the winter?
Key in no-dig gardens as it protects soil during winter and is good for soil life. Great way of putting nitrogen back into the soil when you use mustard/Broad beans etc.
I use grass clipping as a top mulch in summer to keep soil moist and to break down, not had any issues with slugs.
I wish you had a pond!
I think it could be a renewable source of nitrogenous material to supplement the high carbon compost.
Have you tried a water infiltration test on the different beds? I would love to know if the capacity for absorbing pulses of rain (and avoiding runoff) varies significantly in the family scale plots.
Hi,I had same situation,I think the problem is to much input, doing. Time is fundamental for a good outcome,the plants themselves make the miracle. Covering is the best beneficial advice I can get you.
Great info as usual. I noticed you haven’t tried or mention compost teas into your arsenal of techniques. Verimiheavy compost tea will do wonders to low quality compost and also help break down any woody material quicker. I’m sure you have large water containers, just need to purchase a high quality pump (areomixer) and skip the air stones.
Over here in Cape Town, South Africa I have Kikuyu grass that is tough so I have to dig it out. I put in concrete barriers to try and stop it invading my veggie patches, but it finds a way through. I am doing experiments to curb it's growth and eventually I will go no dig when I get rid of this grass. I also try to have a water smart garden as we almost ran out 3 years ago.
You could have put more compost in just part of the garden, a test bed. There is so much data you are collecting, so not sure if more complexity is feasible though..
Thanks 👌
I really enjoy how you breakdown and explain your gardening methods and comparison beds. Really interesting. Greetings from Australia.🙂🙂🦘🦘Cher