Small garden 103kg harvests this year and and ideas for next year in this 25 m²/ 270 ft.² space. Filmed 20th November 2023, before the frosts.
Crop all year with no dig. The only soil preparation needed is application once a year of new compost, around an inch/2.5 cm. Then you keep filling gaps with new plantings whenever the season is right for them.
See my Sowing Calendar for 2024
https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/product/charles-dowdings-calendar-of-vegetable-sowing-dates
Check out previous 2023 videos in this series for a sense of the progression and succession:
September reflecting on summer https://youtu.be/GYgtwWVXuL8
July, being ready for summer https://youtu.be/OBW0omuC9Rw
May, after 8 weeks of fantastic spring growth https://youtu.be/UsIEGpSN3DQ
Spring plantings at Equinox https://youtu.be/1EPI96bK5I8
Monthly harvests this year have been May 7.4 kg, June 14 .8 kg, July 25.9 kg, August 15 .7 kg, September 12 .4 kg, October 5 .3 kg, and November 8.7 kg. Before that in spring, there was a harvest of winter parsnips and swedes, which make up the balance of 103 kg so far this year.
00:00 Introduction – the weather, plenty of rain
00:56 Damage to leeks from leaf miner
01:24 Followed by broad beans, not yet visible
01:40 Mustard seeds scattered on the surface
01:58 Lamb’s lettuce between strawberry plants
02:29 Chard – prolific growth
02:40 Savoy cabbage following onions – snail damage
03:31 Romanesco cauliflower – how to judge readiness
04:24 More snail damage, to spinach leaves – less birds
04:55 Spring cabbages and cauliflower under cover
05:37 Zinnias, and fennel
06:15 Harvest total from the Small Garden this year, and comparison with the dig bed of my trial
06:44 Chicories
07:16 Seaweed!
07:38 Sorrel, jostaberry, and a Malope flower at the end of its life
08:13 Planning for the year ahead – some advice
Filmed and edited by Edward Dowding, 20th November 2023 at Homeacres in Somerset, UK, zone 8 climate, oceanic and temperate.
Music by Rory Dinwoodie @rorydinwoodiemusic6884
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33 Comments
We have leek miner in Warwickshire which devastates leeks in October and November. I’ve tried growing them under fine mesh but they were still mined. Next year I’m going to try growing them singly (not multi sown) in the hope they will grow a bit bigger before the end of September which is when to harvest to avoid total loss of the crop. I’d be very interested to see what solutions you come up with, Charles, for this pesky pest
How do you keep your planting mojo? I have found this Yr I am really struggling to keep motivated. I still have asparagus seedlings in trays from the beginning of 2023 I have thrown away so many seedlings that withered because of being pot bound. My plot is 30m x 30m with 3 polytunnels each 6×3 and I am really struggling with motivation.
In the US some folk put out a dish of beer as a trap for slugs and snails. Can't prove it works
Give Charles a red and black Dennis the Menace tshirt and a Frank Spencer beret and hey presto you will have a Captain Sensible (the Damned) look-alike !
That’s a great harvest for a small area. Enough to keep anyone well fed.
It drains well but also retains water? I'd love to hear more about that
snails remind me of rabbits with shells, lol
On your leeks at the 1:00 mark, you don’t hill them with dirt, or decomposed wood chips maybe? That will allow them to blanch and stay white farther up the shoot. The white part is the more tender delicious part of the plant.
What about topping with wood chips (to lower the surface moisture) sprinkled with diatomaceous earth to kill the slugs/snails? You get slugs/snails because you are too wet too often.
Greetings, Charles, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA
We had 2 mornings at 46-48°F, now back to high 60's and 80's daytime. I'm trying to keep up with Weeding and ready the soil with a winter crop.
Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎅🎄🤶
❤Peggy❤
Thank you 😇
hi is this calendar ok for growing in northeast Scotland(Aberdeen) or do i need to adjust the timings..thanks
Hi Charles loves your video but why do your calendar start with Monday?
Maybe your cat is killing birds.A neighbour’s two cats kill many birds in my garden
I also have been having slug problem in my leafy greens all the way here in Oregon. As I cut off leaves starting from the bottom it seems to help. Keeping it tidy as you recommend. Thank you for all your great information.
Small garden! Woo!
I’ve really struggled with couch grass and bind weed in a bed that I covered in cardboard and compost. Mid potato season I put additional cardboard and wood chip to try and control the weeds but I kept loosing the battle. My Maris Pipers were only the size of hens eggs.
If you were me and really struggling in an area, would you dig out the roots and then do no dig moving forward?
Another great video! Love how organised and productive this little space is
Slugs have been a major problem for us this year – collected half a bucket full when we found their winter hiding place! We do have good bird numbers unlike you by what you were saying. I wonder if you have a lot of wind turbines near where you live?
Nice
Very enjoyable to watch Charles. Thank you for sharing. Best wishes Jason from Melbourne Australia.
I usually pick lamb's lettuce by harvesting the whole plant. Recently, I saw in a video by Jean-Martin Fortier that he only picks the outer leaves and and lets the plant grow on for more pickings, is that something you have ever tried? Yeah, only three weeks till days start getting longer.
Hello, what fascinates me the most is how – seemingly – all your sowing germinate and grow so regularly. I keep sowing in summer for autumn and winter harvest but for most of the plants (particularly salads) it is just to warm than and I have nowhere cooler to put the seed trays … Would you have any advice for this problem?
our no dig garden here in Denmark was attacked by the leaf minor fly in 2021 + 2022 and destryed all onions, leeks, before I found out about covering a new place in the kitchen garden with very fine mesh . it is covered all year round (also use to protect our cabbage plants at the same time) as the fly from last year has larvae in the ground which hatch in April and again in August. but it works. we have had the most beautiful leeks and onions from seed this year! Here i would say that one rotation is important to escape an effected area. Happy growing 🇩🇰🌱
Dear brother Charles,
Love the combinations between lamb's lettuce with strawberries and mustard with rye.
Do you treat the chard as a perenial, in case it survives the winter?
And about fennel… is it an annual or a perenial vegetable in your garden? (considering the climate) And also, when do you sow fennel?
Thank you !
We too have lost all our birds in North Hampshire. Even the pigeons have gone, so interested to hear yours are missing too
Hi, Charles, I follow you from Patagonia Chile, starting my no dig farming! Full of hope and joy. Thnks for all you share with us 😊
WELL… OUR NEW CHILDREN’S NO DIG GARDENING BOOK HAS ARRIVED AND SIR CHARLES EVEN SENT IT IN A STARTER PIECE OF CARDBOARD FOR THEIR FIRST NO DIG PLOT !!!!! HE CAN’T MAKE THIS ANY EASIER PEOPLE !!!!!!
Here in the Bay Area, its been cool, even cold some nights, but the average temperature has been higher than normal, as I can see by my outdoor tomatoes continuing to grow and set flowers. My runner beans died off a month ago, but some stragglers stayed green and even grew a bit and I had some fresh beans last week. My Japanese turnips are glowing nicely, if slowly, and with the rain, there's been some slug damage, so I put out beer. I also have sweet peas blooming. I couldnt say that I'm getting huge harvests at the moment or that the crops I have are summer sweet, but there's always something to nibble. So it looks like in general, we're having the same skew of the weather that you are… but the low light levels just slow everything down. The parsley is doing fantastic though!
Charles I write to you from NZ, I follow your instructional videos with enthusiasm and have converted to your no dig growing method. We are just entering our summer season and I want to grow sprouts for winter. Have you a video about wats to succeed? I've only ever managed 1 successful crop in the last 4 years and I do so love sprouts! 😢😢😢😢
Very inspiring, Charles! You've been big source of knowledge as I get my first garden off of the ground. I'm restoring some old land that belonged, at one point, to my grandfather. I'm documenting it on my own channel! Thanks for helping me during that process.
It's been a dark one, for sure. Your winter garden seems to be handling it better than mine, though. And thanks for showing off your the new challenges in the garden, Charles. We're always learning…
Im in Brooklyn NYC Worst slug damage to date. I mean at one point I went out and it was morning and they were just out eating my komatsuna.