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Minimal Disturbance Gardening (MDG) is a balanced and practical growing approach that equally prioritises nutritious food production and long-term garden health. One of the biggest challenges gardeners face on their self-sufficiency journey is having access to enough compost. It is either expensive, or you always need to be on top of making it. MDG recognises this, and opens up a whole suite of alternative ways of building garden fertility using natural resources.
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47 Comments
Maybe the guilt comment comes from the "not in my back yard" viewpoint.
When people buy their food at a store, they don't get to see the effect the production of that food has.
When growing your own, all the effects, positive or negative, is right there, in your face!
Home garden or small market gardens will always be better than industrial style production. But, when doing the work, many people don't add that reasoning in their reactions.
I don’t tend to comment on videos, but I have been watching your YouTube channel for several years and really enjoy your content and presentation style. The idea that guilt is a part of gardening is very strange to me. I planted my first vegetable garden with my father, when I was five, and although over the years growing my own food has taken on additional meanings, gardening is for me first and foremost an act filled with joy and wonder. In my 55 years of gardening, I have never felt guilty about growing my own food or growing flowers, or about my current adventure, which is growing natural dye plants. I feel sad for anyone who equates gardening with guilt, or feels that the two are inextricably linked.
I knew you were going to mention the words "Beneficials" and "Pests". I don't use those words. In a complete ecosystem, there is no such thing.
There are, however, imbalances that restricts the growth of the plants you are trying to grow.
God bless you mate. Have a great Christmas and be happy everyone. By the way I pocket mulch and am a level four vegan.
Watching this video in the new garden made me realize this is the time of year to build that bench for sitting in the garden.
Huw, always the student. This is a great approach to gardening.
When you mention that there are ecosystems in the whole garden, it reminds me that my garden is different from your garden but many principles are the same – just as you are saying here.
It would be interesting to swap for a year. Zone 5 in the Midwest US. haha…
The only thing I feel guilty about is not growing more! 🍅
We can not collect seaweed in our area, could we use freash water Hornwort instead?
I'm going to try this with nettles and potatoes 🥔 🌱 I'm using them 🌱 already for tomatoes 🍅 and they grow very nicely. Have a nice weekend 🌞
I think it's super handy to adopt a 'grey' attitude to growing wherever possible .
If someone is starting on new build soil they will need to adapt accordingly for the first few years.
LIkewise if someone has inherited an overgrown plot with a well established native seed bed, they will also need to hold space whilst things come around.
We can do everything correctly and something can still f*ck up, it's ok, we win or we learn x
Worst comes to the worst, we can always go put the kettle on and have a cogitate.
Hello Huw any advice as to what to do with loads of couch grass. Does the dig a hole and cover work with couch grass. Love your enthusiasm ! 🤗
Thank you for making things accessible and helping people to start just practising!
But I'd like to point out that most vegetables we grow are in fact bi-annuals which partly explains why they don't thrive so much in really bacterial dominated soils. The other part of the explanation is that even for annuals there are very different kinds: If a tree falls in the forest a bacterial push results in a still heavily fungal dominateds soil, annuals filling the gap in a grassland like more balanced soils and then there are the 'weeds' that kick start life again after heavy disturbance like erosion.
Most vegetables like more or less a 1:1 ratio of fungi and bacteria. The disturbance of harvesting and having quite wide spacings in the beginning when plants are small already pushes bacteria. So getting more fungi into the system does usually make a lot of sense.
I'm always unhappily surprised about how many "garden police" there are in comment sections. I watched a video last spring where comments were filled with people talking about how many "pests" they'd killed and how much they enjoyed it. I get it. No one wants their hard work and time all eaten by animals. But to gleefully brag about how many and how cruelly they'd killed squirrels, rabbits, birds, chipmunks, etc. thoroughly disgusted me. I've been living in my house for almost 20 years. I've been gardening here for 14 of them. I have shared this land with birds, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, a couple groundhogs, the occasional skunk, and until recently due to too much building in the surrounding area, deer. All of them have been welcome and enjoyed in my garden. Sure they eat a little of what I plant, but I also provide them with other food so they don't eat too much. I love to sit out in the garden and watch the chipmunks running under a cabbage leaf to hide from a hawk, a rabbit having a few lettuce leaves, a squirrel burying a peanut here and there. They don't cause too much damage and the joy they give me far outweighs it anyway. When I mentioned that fact, I got some of the most vile replies imaginable. Over 100 of them! Including from the channel owner, who I stopped following.Who would think a bunch of gardeners would be like that to a total stranger over enjoying ALL of nature on her own property?
Really excited to read the new book, I live the approach of seeing how much food you can grow per square metre. I'm really interestedto know though, did you keep track of how much time you invested in the garden over the year? I have a small garden, but always feel that lack of time rather than lack of space is whar hokds me back.
Thank you, Huw you always have some really great ideas. Have a great weekend.
The debate over stringent ideologies within gardening is such an interesting meta topic. Presumably we're all on the same page to produce flourishing gardens and acknowledge how drastically two gardens can vary even within the same neighborhood. Yet, the ideological debate remains. I'm glad people like Huw can be so positive. That's the kind of mentality we should culturally champion.
We also do a low-dig type of approach. I never embraced the no-dig method because the logic of it never washed with me. Everything from animals to rodents to earthworms to roots themselves disturb the soil. Here in the northern climates you also have to factor in the winter freeze which can heave the soil up as much as a foot in some places almost like a broadfork, and when you do get that the plants really respond to the soft soil bed. The no-dig also talks about soil structure, which is correct, but in winter there is no structure. It's pretty much just a mudball – unless – you dig in organic matter in the top couple of inches which helps the soil greatly in setting up faster when the capillary action starts when it begins to warm up leading to a nice but not overly compact structure. That to me is much better than a 'lasagna' arrangement or just dumping finished compost on top of the soil as it is loose and doesn't have that structure itself and seems contradictory to what it's supposed to be.
Bacterial action also goes dormant in the cold climates, so very late or early tillage or broadforking will not hurt that. It revolves around the plant roots and breakdown of organic matter anyway, and bacteria multiply quickly as it warms, so I'm not worried about some disturbance in the top couple of inches in the dormant months. People also forget that plant roots take up oxygen, and compaction works against that greatly, which is my biggest objection to no-dig because aeration has given me better plants. They will say you can go out in the woods and see why no-dig is superior, but you're dealing with trees, shrubs, bushes, and brambles. If you look close you'll see that the annual plants tend to be overcrowded and deficient and not exactly the food forest it's claimed to be. I've had far better success with an organized low-dig strategy in the garden as what is grown there are annuals without the ability to deeply subsoil like a tree or bush. [add: I see we are on the same page, stopped the video a couple of minutes in and wrote this]
Carbon is the building block of life as we know it. Yes. Therefore carbon is not an environmental issue. It's literally plant food.
good show, cheers Huw
Thank you Huw! You’ve put in so much work into gardening and sharing your experience and knowledge. I’ve been keeping a garden for decades and it’s not a competition! At first I loved picking something outside my door to put on my plate, then I wanted my growing children to experience this and learn to be capable stewards of earth. Now the nest is empty and I’m still able to find something for my plate at any time of year even if it’s just herbs or a leftover squash! Being outside in a garden is nourishing at every level… it brings and gives life…whether it’s a couple of plastic pots on the step or a box on the lawn or an acre! Cheers!🐇
Keep up the good vibes Huw, your work and attitude is inspirational. In times of misinformation and big changes I can understand how easy it is to have black and white thinking. I agree that gardening is an evolution of learning. It’s great to watch different gardening channels to gain a more wide understanding and choose the processes we as individuals feel connected to the most. For me it’s permaculture.
Thank you. I have a new goal after your vlog tonight. Find some horse manure. I live in a autocamper, in a caravan park. My allotment is in the shade, it floods, I cannot drive onto it in winter. If I start composting on top, the damaged surface, from to many ground sheets ,it should recover, and it should absorb flood water better. Right?
Whoever said nature doesn't dig itself up hasn't seen the aftermath of a hurricane. I live in Florida, so I obviously have to grow different vegetables than you, but I do enjoy watching your content, especially something like this. Thank you.
Great presentation Huw! I garden for my mental health but use no dig or minimal disturbance, whichever is appropriate, because it's easier! LOL
Where did you get the raised bed hoop system.
I’d love for you to come here (Shetland) and help me not lose my mind with the weather (rain rain glorious fuckton of rain) and 😂😂
I hope this doesn’t sound mean…but looking forward to you sharing your failures.
If I observe the neighbor's garden who do not do much vegetables, just weeds and some fruit trees, the grass and weeds do not grow all that fast. So if I want to have a rich garden, I need to do something. A bad concious in the garden I would have if I did not fight the "invasive neophytes". There is a list of the most damaging one on a government web site.
Dear Huw, do you plan to bring your book on the German market too? Best regards from Bavaria!
No-dig did not work for me in my raised beds. The weight of snow for 4 to 5 months causes too much compaction.
I dont think that seeds sprouting after soil disturbance is due to there being more nutrients, it seems to be more about temperature and sunlight. This is important because if your digging it up to unlock nutrients and dealing with weeds thinking its a tradeoff, it might just be negative all around. That being said some peoples soils are quite compacted and could use being tilled up and amended.
Loving this. I struggled with No Dig myself purely due to the financial impact: I am time rich. I’ve pre-ordered your book, looking forward to it. I do have a quandary that I’m hoping to get your opinion on… feeding birds. Last year I had lots of feathered visitors to h the plot, this year not so much. I stopped feeding birds as we had a huge influx of rodents.. but if I want birds to help be pest predictors should I be feeding them again? I do have teasels and sea Holly with seeds for them.. just not much else. Suggestions please?!
We really need to start to just shrug off the grim saddos who enjoy trying to make us feel guily. I'm going to garden the way I want. They can go and preach and agonise to each other, if it eases their misery. But something drastic must be done to keep the alarmist fanatics away from children, to whom they have aleady done untold damage. That is a crime against humanity.
Every time Huw mentions his difficulty in obtaining compost, I wish we lived nearby. Four horses produce far more compost that I can use in the garden. I wish I could share it, instead of simply spreading it under the trees.
I love this video, Huw. On guilt, though. I recently planted a bunch of daffodils and I hate to tell you how many earthworms met their end at the edge of my trowel. I apologized to each and every one. The heart mourns. Sorrow.
Morning Huw and Sam, 1:10 I totally agree I say your garden your rules, sadly people watch YouTube and sometimes feel like total failures because their gardens don’t “live up to” other people’s gardens. I have also watched your channel for years and watch the young man grow into a fab man and gardener. Have a super week look forward to reading your new book, Ali 🤶🎄🇨🇦
Gardening is always a work in process. I remember years ago when a friend of mine saw one of my early gardens and began to laugh! I was puzzled. She said it was so orderly! It wasn't militarily set up, but it was neat and tidy. Another garden, and another friend couldn't understand why I didn't have a separate veggie garden & separate flower garden, but after explanning the need for beneficial insects & pollinators she got it. It was the same for those who didn't understand why I stopped tilling every year! Gardens, like gardeners, are all different.😊
I live in a fairly built up area and over the fours years I’ve been here I’ve been digging down and removing the general rubble and collective mass, that’s inherent with that form of dispersal, of the soil that’s unwittingly been disturbed, I’ve gradually introduced all of my kitchen scraps and hopefully replenished the ground around me.
As I love gardening, I’m happy to sit back and see how I can benefit not just my garden, but the surrounding area,
A neighbour of mine commented on my approach and for me, I was actually quite surprised, I think our emphasis on growth, is endemic of the area you happen to live in and enjoy the process as well as continuing our growth and understanding dependent on your current environment.
One thought that I don't hear mentioned on gardening channels is that when you cover your soil with cardboard or plastic (yuck), birds do not get the opportunity to dig for bugs or weed seeds. I personally think a cover crop of manageable weeds is better for the environment than cardboard, and actually takes less work. This was the first year I did not get as worked up about weeds and, even though my soil health has always been envious, I did see a major improvement in that I had next to no pest damage and birds were everywhere. It also turned out the weeds were not that bad, probably due to the high bird population. Entering 2024, I now consider weeds as a free, nutritious cover crop and any flowers they produce as free nutritious pollen for the bees and the seeds they produce as free nutritious food for the birds – within reason of course. The neighbours migrating bind weed, horsetail, brambles and ivy still get pulled up.
I have a very small garden and my composting is a little limited, but I know that within the next coming year,
It will most certainly become invaluable, for my future crops 👍
Great video. I would like to add that not everyone has a free intern army. I see so many beautiful gardens done that way. It's almost slave labor haha.
Thank you for this heart full and knowledge/ experience based lecture. I learned some things and I appreciate that you spoke to the dynamic relationship we cultivate with nature through growing food in a defined intensive space and also to the kindness we can extend to our self and each other and to nature by learning new things, forgiving mistakes and appreciating diverse ways to garden and ive.
when i heard Dowding talk about people liking the workout of digging, i thought maybe he was being faciscious but actually it would seem people really like it. personally, i like double digging my compost heap ;). in other words, turning it.
Is it my impression, or our precious, beautiful gardening community is being poisoned by fanatics? What ? They are already here???? HERE????? Huw, stop talking to these people. Plant your food and your flowers, and totally ignore them. Problem solved. Keep doing your great job, the results are in front of our eyes: a lush, prosperous food garden. End of the story. You do you.
Spot on!
Gardening has no absolutes. I love my wild and crazy garden and I just go with the flow. My food still tastes glorious. Each bed or patch is its own little world and the approach varies. Since I cannot get organic hay or mulch and wood chips are available once in a blue moon, I mulch with a chop and drop technique… Best potatoes ever. They seemed to love the yarrow and borage.
As always, we never cease to amaze ourselves by being smart, savvy and ingenious… And a little foolish!
Minimal Disturbance Gardening, bit of a mouth full. Couldn't we call it "Low Dig"? Thanks for another great video.
No dig fanatics are like the vegans of the horticultural world😂