Strong plant growth, thanks to warm weather and the no dig method. I maintain fertility through a 2.5cm / 1in compost mulch applied just once a year.
Many first plantings we make in early spring are now finishing their harvests. I show you my current succession sowings in the greenhouse, to keep beds full of vegetables.
Weather background
Just 28mm rain fell in June, compared to the average 65mm. Temperatures were day maxima 23.7C, nights 11.5C, warmer than usual, plus there was more sun than we normally see. We have watered a lot with the hose, mainly new plantings, lettuce, and plants that are fruiting.
I’m wearing one of my new t-shirts, designed by Nicola. They are available through Teemill,
https://charlesdowding.teemill.com
The Stihl hedge trimmer is an HLA56, and we use the two hour battery https://shop.stihl.co.uk/products/hla-56-cordless-long-reach-hedge-trimmer
Filmed by Nicola Smith 30th June in Homeacres no dig garden, Somerset UK, zone 8 climate.
My jade bracelet is from Julia at https://joodaboo.com
Cameo appearance by Adam Wood, his YouTube channel is @myco_ad
#nodig #successionplanting #marketgardening
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Melons and tomatoes in the greenhouse
01:07 Succession planting – examples
01:58 Small Garden with succession plantings
02:32 Strawberries, and I demonstrate adding compost after clearing
03:31 Purple cauliflower, and aphids
03:53 Seed saving – peas, carrots, beetroot, parsnip and lettuce
06:12 Zinnias, and French beans which followed broad beans and peas
06:48 Second planting of lettuce
07:03 Onions, and when to pull them
07:23 Dahlia, zinnia
08:15 Green cauliflower and runner/pole beans for harvests of dry beans (white beans and Borlotti)
09:30 Cos lettuce, and the first sunflower
10:08 Compost bays
11:23 A Sunberry bush, and some info on watering
11:51 Harvests of shallots and garlic (hardbacks and softnecks) and a word about rust
13:48 Squash growing through black plastic – no need to water
15:15 New plantings of multisown beetroot which followed garlic, and chard
15:36 Deer damage to beetroot plants
15:57 Carrots interplanted between lettuce
16:25 Potatoes Charlotte, some moisture shortage – storing, harvesting and keeping seed
18:23 Rye, with ears starting to ripen, and the dryness of the soil
18:58 Broad beans for seed
19:13 Beetroot eaten by rabbits – a thorough job!
20:15 Carrots, in a high bed against root fly
20:50 Piles of green waste and mushroom compost, and cow manure, with potatoes planted at the edge for a nutrition comparison
22:01 Harvesting a different variety of potato, Linzer Delikatess, to compare with Charlotte
23:40 New range of slogan t-shirts, available on Teemil website
23:59 A good tool for hedge strimming, with all the vegetation then going on the compost heap (link in description)
24:48 In the polytunnel, Little Darling watermelon, a small hanging variety – I cut it open to check for ripeness
26:47 A different variety of watermelon growing on the ground, Early Moonbeam
27:06 Loofa, and cordon cucumbers – how to harvest
27:59 How to harvest melons
28:35 Tomatoes – a black tomato variety with leaf roll
29:12 I demonstrate twisting a tomato stem around the string, and removing lower leaves
30:08 More melons, Emir – strong and quick growth
30:19 I explain the mulch used in the polytunnel – mushroom compost on top of horse manure
31:09 Some info on upcoming videos
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48 Comments
I grew very successfully with no dig for 3 years, but this year has been wet & cold then hot & dry & a knee injury has hampered every move. I had so many weeds Ive had to dig them out and have almost given up growing anything this year. Broad beans & strawberries have been the only crop so far
very informative, and helpful, thank you. looking forward to the video with Gaz!!
Please proceed with caution with "Dr" Berg. He doesn't fact check himself. I had to unsubscribe from him after continuously stating as fact what he pulled from his backside as plausible. He is really good when it comes to keto. He is the type of person who thinks his expertise in one area makes him an expert in all areas
Wonderful tour yet again, Thank you Charles and team! Just continuous fantastic sharing of knowledge, much appreciated. Cheers 🌱❤
Love from Morocco 🇲🇦
Reassuring to see your Nicola potatoes also smaller this year. We had very little rain here in London, UK and assume that is the main cause for smallness of mine. This year, I planted lettuce in between the potatoes. That worked well, helped cover the developing spuds and the potatoes helped shade the lettuce as they developed. Though, maybe there was too much competition for water. I love the “What would Charles do” tee shirt. But the thought that someone might mistake me for a royalist will probably stop me buying one!!
yeaaaaa Charles, whoop whoop. Its been pouring down in my hood but with no dig plants arent getting too waterlogged. All thanks to you Booooiiiiiiii. Charles is NUMBER 1
Just great.. You always give me hope!
Hi charles, potato question. Can i plant my NEWLY HARVESTED Charlotte potatoes for a second crop this year? Maybe around October? Thanks
Great video as always! Do you have a link to the mesh and metal hoops for your lettuce? And is there anything else that’s worth covering from pests? Thanks
Hi Charles, I am from Toronto, and follow your methodology and
I am into my 5th year in backyard gardening. Its been great these past years. Recently I stumbled upon a method called electroculture to enrich the soil. If you get time can you shed some light into that. Thanks
-Lobsang B
I love your very informative videos, but I cannot support anything with Eric Berg. I will not be watching that video. I will not support anyone who is in the Cult of Scientology
How interesting you are meeting with Dr Berg. Hope you two have a great time.
Charles is King—of no till. Thank you. Lovely gardens. Love your work.
I enjoy reading the comments nearly as much as watching your videos. So full of little tips & inspiration to try new things. Nice to catch up what's happening in the small garden too. Thanks Charles & your team. Also not to forget grateful community. 🌞
Does the lettuce not cross pollinate? I really don't know and if not this will be amazing to be able to save seed from more variety at the same time 😍. I always saved just from one variety at a time 😁😅
Thanks for another great video Charles, love learning from an expert like yourself.
Really appreciate you showing when it's not perfect, it's great to know it's not just me
I only have 1 raised bed about 5' square and 8" high, went no dig, thankfully I watched your video's before starting.
Used your cardboard method, soaked with molasses first, then garden centre organic manure, it's worm city compared to the rest of the garden.
Only second year, redid with cardboard and compost with loads of leaf mulch, as a disabled person im loving the lack of weeding.
Going much better this year, got smashed by the heat and aphids, on bug patrol more often now, live and learn
Following Tony from simplify gardening for spuds in buckets, going well.
Can’t wait for all those interviews. Love learning from you. Thank you.
Really enjoyed this video Charles, what’s the best month to sow main crop potatoes then ?, I want to learn from the best . Thanks in advance 😊
I was today years old when I finally fully understood what “go to seed” means!
Thank you for the lovely visual explanation.
Also agreed, the unexpected flowers are worth it even if you don't harvest the seeds.
Love the tours I can compare how my crops are doing and understand any issues that have arisen through the climate , I’m in Cornwall so not too different from you, I have learned everything from you over six years and I feel this year my no dig beds have been really healthy, just the drought to contend with caused some smaller harvests but still loads coming on. So once again thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.❤️
Hello Mr. Charles, I'm from Vietnam. His method is really great and in Vietnam is probably very new. I'm coming up with ideas and learning from you to apply to the place where I live, Vietnam, hot and humid tropical climate, with 4 springs, summer, autumn and winter. Your model is sustainable, and I am working towards that sustainability. Wishing him a lot of health. I love watching your videos. ❤❤❤
Hi Charles
When do you know if potatoes are bad I have Maris pipers some have a light brown skin on them is that ok ??
how the hell do you get those lettuces to grow so big without them being ambushed by beasties??? Very impressive….
Enjoing the tour! Thanks for de small garden too! From Buenos Aires, Argentina!
You live in England! Where are the apple trees? Amazing garden👍👋
I just bought your Skills for Growing book. I'm so glad that I got it. It's so wonderful to have your growing wisdom in print and with pictures.
Thanks!
Your winter squash is looking amazing!
Thnanks f lovely video, sadly I have to surrender my plot because of my health…
Do you have any experience of growing no dig in pots in a small scale. I won’t give up salads and herbs ,
Chili works just fine I found 👩🌾
Amazing gardening.
Hello Charles!
Thank you so much for inspiring me and my old dad, gardener through all of his life, to make no-dig beds. In april/may we turned probably 1/4th of our 550m2 kitchen garden into no-dig. We’ve already harvested wonderful potatoes, and wondering what to sow/plant now, or if it’s okay to just leave it bare until next season?
Several times I’ve crawled through the quite narrow paths, now covered by potatoes, digging/pulling bindweed and horsetail. They keep coming, both in beds and paths. Cardboard laid everywhere, and 15cm fresh green waste compost on the beds. I waited to cover the paths.
What should I do now and after harvesting the rest of the beds (all potatoes)? Just keep using a trowel to pull up bindweed and horsetail? There is so much and is keeps coming.. but your stories give me hope!!
Also, what about the paths? When should I put cardboard down again, and should I then cover it with woodchips?
Thank you so much!
Rumour has it that you’re a Tory voter. Is this true?
Great tour, thank you. Inspiring!
Hola, te pregunto si usas abonos artificiales, porque veo tus frutos muy grandes.
Well that has confused me with my onions! Mine have all fallen over but look nowhere near as big as yours!
Love your garden tours. The only way they could be improved would be by adding varieties on screen. ❤
My onions are still tiny (bulb the size of my pinky finger tip) and I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe I didn't feed them enough…? Hopefully I'll do better next year.
I click on the videos and i just wait for your smile, your aura is one of the most beautiful i have seen. I wish I was your neighbor so you could smile to me each day, but hey, Ive got you here, thanks for being who you are for each of us.
I never use manure in my garden! That way I can eat my produce while I’m in the garden!😊😅😮😢🎉😂❤
Dr Eric Berg? Isn’t he a Scientologist? SPTv such a terrible belief system where children aren’t children and all that that means.
I saved some seed from my carrots last year. Got some great growth from my saved ones. Very uniform and tasty so far. Also so so many seeds. Thanks charles
Is it smart to plant melons so close cucumbers? I was always told that they catch the taste of cucumbers.
Dear Charles,
All my compost is full with ant nests.
What ca-n i do?
So inspiring, I'm just about to make the new beds in my garden. The houses have a teeny tiny front garden, a strip really, so I have planted two dwarf fruit trees. Do i need to create a perimeter around the tree? I am thinking of planting another couple of trees in the blank canvas of a lawn in the back garden, should i just leave the size of the hole I dig for the root ball, free of grass or make the area bigger? Hope this makes sense
I like the 'no nonsense' approach and advice. I took on an allotment last year and we have a few rabbits. I lost a number of my beetroots to them, too! I found just sticking a square barrier of plastic/wood at either end of the row of beets seemed to deter them a little. I didn't have to completely fence them off.
Best to grow watermelons on a trellis or large cage so you can support the melons individually with pantyhose or strips of cloth tied around
Great video as always. Lots packed into such a short tour. Thanks to your videos and books, Im able to diversify what I plant, because my tiny garden plot is now growing more than I can eat. Harvest is now my most time consuming task. Im still working out the best process for compost but its getting there, and I love the cycle of food to compost and back to food. Its a very healthy mindset. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.