It’s a solid start thanks to dry conditions, and I’ve even planted tomatoes. No dig makes it easier, see my Beginner’s Guide https://shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/products/no-dig-growing-for-beginners-online-course
Three 4 m beds fill a space of around 25 m²/270 ft² and harvests impress me, even compared to bountiful springs before. We had a decent amount of broccoli and the first pick of lettuce in late April was 470 g, more than 1lb.
The copper trowel I use, and other copper tools, from Implementations website: https://implementations.co.uk/?ref=2001
Filming Carly Dutton-Edwards 25th April 2025
Music by: @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic
00:00 Introduction
00:47 Broccoli, coming to the end, and deciding on second planting
01:51 Perennial strawberries, Florence variety
02:13 Interplant of lamb’s lettuce, now cleared
02:37 Deleafing strawberry plants
02:55 Cucumber seedlings, Tanja variety, potting on
04:41 Peas, first earlies
05:20 Broad beans Aquadulce Claudia, overwintered, removing tops
06:42 Options for second planting
06:58 Planting tomatoes, fleece over against frost
09:13 Lettuce, little slug damage
10:02 Tree weeds
10:44 Compost and woodchip to feed soil
11:41 3rd bed, issues with tree roots
11:56 Jostaberry, and when to water strawberries
12:59 Roscoff cauliflowers, overwintered, no curds yet
13:50 Courgette as interplant with strawberries
14:27 Sweet peas, and clearing neighbouring cauliflower
15:54 Outro
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[Music] Look how much has changed in six weeks only since we were last here. This is small garden, Somerset, UK. Mild oceanic, temperate climate. We’ve been having pleasant days but not warm, 17°, say 63 fah, and quite a few frost at night. But everything that’s growing here at the moment is frost hardy. But we’re going to have a look in this video at planting some of the summer vegetables which need warmth. So there’s a lot to say at this time of year. There’s a lot going on. Uh like for example this broccoli which we’ve been taking fantastic picks from these lovely shoots but they’re coming to an end now and I’m not seeing many more like that. One or two small ones and I’m thinking it’s probably worth taking them out at this point. With sprouting broccoli, you can leave it in for longer, but the harvest keep getting smaller and they’re big plants and they’re pumping out a lot of moisture and goodness from the ground while they’re producing not much towards the end. So, I’m thinking we’ll just cut them off at the base off to the compost heap and then spread some compost before planting. Could be French beans. And yeah, I’m not a brilliant planner, so I can’t be 100% sure. And if I just did an energy course with Alana Moore and she was saying how it’s actually sometimes good just to feel a space and plants before you pop them in. You know, some of us can do it in a more abstract way, a plan, a design if you like. Uh I find I really struggle with that. But once I get in the greenhouse, see the plants, see a bit of space, right? That can work. I don’t have that issue here because this is perennial strawberries and this variety Florence is just starting to flower. Now, I’m considering taking these flowers out actually cuz it’s still pretty early. And that will push the fruitting back a bit cuz we’ll see in a minute. There’s some marshmallow over there, strawberries, and that would help to not have them all at once. And this had lamb’s lettuce between as a winter salad, which I’ve now finally twisted out. It was starting to rise to flour. I want to keep some seed, but I’ve got a little bit over there. So, uh, that was actually make it easier for the strawberries cuz last year I let the lamb’s lettuce flower and seed here and it did affect the strawberries and also harbors a lot of slugs hiding onto those leaves. So, it’s good actually with strawberries, I feel, to have it quite nice and open and tidy. I’ve removed some of the lower leaves at the bottom of the strawberries, the ones going yellow and brown. Uh, again, less luck habitat and keep it clean. Uh, pulling any weeds you see. And these might fruit in early July. Now we have a little gap here. This was um all empty uh in March when we were last here. The peas were germinating. So I planted peas there. But here there’s a gap. And this is what I’m thinking to put in. And I brought these out to show you where they’re at at the moment. Not that I’m going to plant them today cuz this is cucumbers. And cucumbers I would never dream of planting outside in April here. uh even if there wasn’t going to be a frost, the nights are still pretty cold, you know, high 30s, three or four degrees, that kind of thing. Uh they don’t like that. So, they’re better off in the greenhouse. We sew them 10 days ago. And it works really well in these little module trays, the ones I use for pretty much starting everything. So, one seed per cell. These are my CD30s, the ones I designed. And this is variety called Tanya, which I really like. So, I’m just going to show you what I would do. I’m going to pot it on. So, you see how easily that lifts out. And then I have a pot here of my homemade mix, which is mostly worm class with a bit of um purchased urban worm uh multi-purpose. None of this is seed compost, by the way. That’s a bit of a myth. You don’t need special seed compost for ra for sewing seeds. It’s just the same multi-purpose compost. I made a little hole in my finger. Push it in. Not too hard. Give that bit of water. That cucumber is now in what we call a 7 cm pot. And probably that will get it big enough to go in the ground. But I won’t want to plant it here until roughly the middle of May. Last year it was early June because we had unusual cold weather. Every year is different. So that’s another issue about making plans and being too precise. You don’t know what the weather’s going to do in advance. So you have to stay a bit flexible and think on your feet, but have a rough idea of of your overall intentions. These peas. So, I was given the seeds by a friend and they’re first earies which I’ve not grown for a very long time. Felt first is the main one here and the other one is a kind of rose petal colored one. We’ll see. Adam’s just done a great job of um staking them. And the fact that they’re not flowering soon is good. I’m happy with that. I want them to grow before they flower. Same with broad beans. We’ll see in a minute. And these could crop pee pods. These are peas for shelling sometime in June. So, that’s the end of bed one. We’re going to have a look at bed two [Music] next. So, these broad beans I sewed 5 months ago. This is a long-term project and it’s because they overwinter and they’re not growing much. But the fact that they overwinter and they’re putting their roots down means that come the spring, like now, they grow surprisingly fast, or at least surprisingly for me in this climate. So, you know, we not had any really hot days yet, but even so, this is looking promising. And they’ve even got little pods on the bottom. Sometimes those fall off. It depends how the weather goes. But we could have a a slightly smaller crop of really early beans, or they might have a bit of inclement weather, even a late frost, and that can sometimes um take off some of the lower flowers or whatever, and then they crop a bit later. when they get this high. This is a variety called Aquedi Claudia which will go up to here if you let it. I’m not wanting that. And I’m thinking to take the top out at this point. So that will keep them a bit shorter. Uh you can eat this. That’s a nice green taste of broad bean. And it also encourages the fruing rather than making more stem. Cuz part of the value of of an overwintered broad bean is the eariness. you know, having pods of beans in late May, even in in this climate, that’s something to relish. I I certainly love it more than anything. And then also, it means that these will finish sooner. So, for example, I could follow them with broccoli, which I’ll sew in June and transplant uh even late June, might be early July sometime then. Now, in this space, this very unusually for me, I’ve not cropped anything yet this year. I’ve kept it open. And look what’s here is tomato plants which I’ve been raising in the greenhouse. And these were only sewn on the 10th of March. And we’re now the 25th of April. So that’s 7 weeks. 6 and a half weeks is pretty I’m very happy with that. Um I’m not looking to get monster plants. This is big enough. Uh means you can I’m going to set them in deep. Uh so when when I plant these I I make a hole quite carefully. Uh so that the I’m not trying to upheave all the soil. But using this sharp copper trail. The copper trails are brilliant cuz they uh keep keep their sharpness. They don’t rust. And I’ll put a link to where you can buy them in the UK in the video description. So, here we go. Nice deep hole cuz I actually want to bury the stem of it. And then I’m not putting any any support in at this point. It’s just going in there. And what I’m going to do, the reason I’m not going to support it at the moment is I’ll plant all six and then put a fleece over the top probably with a little hoop. and that that will protect them enough. Here we’re sheltered in the main garden. I wouldn’t do this yet cuz there’s probably going to be another frost and so it would be risky. But here I’m I’m pretty confident that this will work. And it also saves a bit of a job which is potting on the tomato cuz you can see how the root system of these plants is quite well developed. It’s kind of running out of rooting space and feed even. I haven’t fed them. This is all the growth has come out of the compost which is one half homemade and that’s why it’s got some wheaties in stinger nettles coming up there. Uh and one half the urban worm. Otherwise I’d put them into 9 cm pots with twice the volume of compost. That’s another job. So sometimes if you can get them in like that is good. And lastly in this middle bed we have the lettuce. So different to last year. very little slug damage except interestingly on these cos and they’re not close to anything in particular. I’ve noticed in other places that these these cos lettucees that slug holes um for some reason. Oh no, just seen it. This is why it’s good to a snail actually. Good to even do this checking. I have another look. Let’s see what else here. There it is. Just that one. But I’m taking off the damaged leaf and that there’s more damage leaf here. But I don’t think there’s a snail there. But it could be just that one snail doing all this damage. There’s another one, too. Right. Well, I’m going to squash that one. And then this spring, we’ve had a an epidemic of tree weeds, and that’s what’s coming up here. There’s a quite big one, or here’s a smaller one, for example. They’re quite long stems and it’s probably ashtree but often it can be sick and more popular. Good year for tree seeds last year it seems they blow in. You just need to pull them out. It’s not so effective hoing. So it’s a hand weeding job but pretty quick. So you know these beds I might have spent 10 minutes weeding them over the last 3 weeks. It’s absolutely not an honorous job with with no dig. You don’t get too many weeds. But I have run a hoe through between the lettuce cuz there were more just there. And a hoe is a quick way if the weeds are very small of dealing with it. So this no dig means the feeding of everything is through the compost which in lives the soil makes nutrients available, helps to make nutrients available. And then a tiny bit of wood chip. The pathway wood chip might look a lot but it’s not. You know that that’s how much fresh wood chip went on uh last December. You know, you can see it’s just a very thin layer, but it looks more because the rain washes the sort of black stuff through and you’re just left with the the yellow wood on top. And it’s not about smothering weeds cuz it wouldn’t be thick enough to do that, but it’s feeding the soil fungal life. And that helps to keep soil fertile and in good mood and not growing so many weeds. That might sound a bit odd, but that’s what I see working here because otherwise I can’t explain sometimes how few weeds there are. mainly the weed sees blowing in. And now we’ll have a look at the final [Music] bed. In this third bed, I felt a bit compromised last year by the tree roots growing in. We’re too close really to these trees. So that’s why we cut them out. You can see in the last video some of the roots. I think that it’s still affecting the soil and keeping it dry. But something like this jostberry, you see how much it’s grown since we were here in March. We’ve had a long run of dry weather. In the last 8 weeks, we have had 20 mm of rain. That’s less than an inch. So, you know, already the soil is looking dry, but once they’ve got their roots down, we’ll do better. And even the strawberries, actually, I will water these if need be. So, by the time you watch this, we got a bit of editing to do. It’s uh probably going to be quite hot and you might be thinking, should I water my strawberries at this point? I would say wait until you see small fruit. The closer you come to the point of harvest, the more effective it is. Also, at this time of year, after the hot weather, a few days ahead from me now, it’s going to turn cooler again, I’m sure. And you know, there’s still plenty of time for slugs to breed and develop and everything. So, I never mind seeing the surface dry. Actually, even there I’m seeing quite moist underneath. And so, yeah, go steady on the watering. And then this is intriguing me. These Roskoff cauliflowers, which went in the ground uh 1st of October, right in the middle of last autumn, and they’ve been here ever since, still not making a cauliflower. They are meant to do it in May. So I have a look in the right in the center here and I’m kind of always hopeful when they get to this big to see a tiny little curd developing but nothing yet. What I got in mind is last year I had some alals cauliflowers right there and they were looking great through May and really big and dark green leaves but nothing ever developed in the middle. I kept them even until very early June and then decided right they got to come out and sometimes that can happen. So they came out and I planted beetroot there instead. So that’s where it’s also useful to have little transplants ready uh to take over. And this this could be corette here probably too maximum. Uh and that could work actually partly because they need a lot of space around them. By the time they’re really growing big and grabbing lots of moisture and food from nearby, these strawberries should have finished. And with the strawberries, what I then do is cut them to the ground, put compost on them. They’re they’re in the kind of semi- dormant phase in the summer and then they spring up and grow again in the autumn. So when you’re deciding spacing and planting like that next to each other interplanting even it’s about just working out ends and finishes. The coette will be small for quite a while while the strawberries are fruing. And then it’s a similar thing here actually with the sweet peas. Uh these came from Laura Honor who runs school beans. Brilliant schools a lotment project near Yovil. And if you’re nearby there do check it out. Great, great for kids. And she saved some sweet peas or rather the children did last um autumn seeds. So that’s what’s here. And I sewed them in December in the greenhouse in pot. So it was small small small all that time. But developing roots and I popped them in there in must have been roughly early March. And then this had fleece over for a while. And they’re looking good. But this cauliflower is too close. And I’m even thinking of twisting out this cauliflower plant in favor of the sweet peas because I’ve still got quite a few cauliflowers. That’s the kind of little decisions you make all the time when you’re managing a small space how to get the most from it. And I didn’t imagine when planting this cauliflower that I was going to plant sweet peas there. So there you go. In fact, do you know what? I’m going to do it right now just to give you that image. Uh and also getting out a big plant like this. I’m very sorry that I have to do it. But if you do a lot of rotation like that, you can get most of the root out. I’m leaving a lot of root in. I haven’t disturbed the soil too much. And then I’ll do that just to push it down again. So I want so to be firm with no dig. And you know, you don’t want to leave it loose and open. Also, you’re going to lose moisture if you do that. So there’s a lot going on here now. And I really look forward to welcoming you back in maybe 2 months. So, we’ll see how it goes. And I think that will be a pretty massive time of growth. And there should be a lot to see. [Music]
34 Comments
Really enjoy these videos as my veg patch is about this size; helps me plan mine a bit 😊
I've almost filled up my garden with beets, beans and brassicas, although I still have room for some tomatoes, courgettes and a few more brassicas. I'm trying out your modules for this month's sowings, so far it's all coming up nicely – I found a kitchen salad sprouter works well for germinating beans! This is the first year I'm watching your small garden and not thinking "wish mine looked as good as that"!
is it time to plant tomatoes
I’m not sure if it’s just me but when watching your videos on my TV I get terrible visual feedback from the white sky and white cover cloth and just background in general. Looks like a high frequency shimmering. I do not get this while on my phone. I think it may be a problem at the source of recording. Yours is the only YouTube channel I get this on. I feel like I’m going to have a seizure sometimes watching lol
More thanks Charles. I've a new modified plan. Your small garden x 10. And more flowers.
Great to see how you set up your hoops and fleece cover. I've seen your hoops source, thank you. Just wondering which fleece type you use?
I had a funny thing happening: Peas did sow themselves by accident inside my greenhouse, but I din't see any green sprouts in October. They never got watered because I am not around in winter time, but keep the door open. When I arrived back 19th March, they did flower already and I had my first harvest on 2nd May. Winter minimum temperature in there was -7° Celsius. Will try this again next winter, gardening is always full of surprises!
Can you provide your opinion about whether it is good or bad to have the garden soil covered in plants. I have heard that it is very beneficial to the soil and therefore all the plants in the bed and then I also hear that these other plants compete for nutrients needed by your vegetables. I don't know which is correct anymore.
i believe slugs and snails will one day be the death of me. I'll trip and fall in some overgrown corner of the yard searching for them with a flashlight and it will be days before someone finds me half-composted and overgrown with lupines.
I've decided to cheat death and get Indian runner ducks as soon as I build a coop. I'll still have to look for slugs, but I'll have company and I'll turn them into eggs instead of just squishing them.
It looks nice. I really like that garden. It has so much character. Thank you 😊
I'm.learning so much from you Charles. This year, im trying to not plant out later than need be, afraid of the weather. Thank you.
I hear you say you’re not a good planner but you’ve done this for years! I’m interested to know if you have a growing planner/ journal. I’d love to see a video on that.
P.s I love what you do, followed you for years and I follow your techniques. Thank you CD!
Is that the White Nine Star broccoli Charles. Mine has been gorgeous.
Para proteger las habas de las heladas las protejo con plástico en la parte superior, si cortas las puntas de las habas también es un método fácil y sencillo contra el pulgón, y funciona. El éxito de los espacios pequeños son la variedad e intersiembra. Enhorabuena!
I have the Charles Dowding cells, having slight issues with getting the rootball out without it crumbling. Could anyone advise? My differentials would be 1)using seed compost 2)under/overwatering 3)transplanting seedlings too early they havent developed a root network
Dear Mr. Dowding, I have wonderful no dig garden thanks to you here in Zagreb, Croatia. I see you as my mentor because I learned so much from you. I have a question for you if you'd be so kind: do you ever freeze your vegetables or do you think it's not healthy. Also, I was wondering, what is the effect of chemtrails on plants and our health in your opinion? Thank you so much. Best regards from Croatia
Charles, I recall you talking about the cauliflowers that wouldn't head up last spring. I had the same issue with one plant, in the ground from end of summer 2023 and didn't head up in the spring/summer of 2024. I did have space to leave it in though, so just ignored it, but was finally about to give up on it come this spring (2025) and compost it (after pigeons had had a go at it too), when I noticed that it was heading up ! By that point, the stem was the thickness of my underarm . I've had the same with a PSB once, didn't come to anything in its first spring but I left it and had a PSB tree the following spring instead. Plants are curious like that.
I’m starting on making a veg garden this spring, and am learning a lot from all your videos (I also have two of your books, including ‘The Natural No-Dig Way’ bought way back in 2008!).
I don’t suppose you have a link to the slip-on boots (with green lining) you’re wearing – they look like the type I’m searching for. A close-up at 16:29 shows the maker, but I can’t read the lettering!
Something so strange, I’m subscribed and should be getting alerts to your videos but, I’m not. YouTube isn’t showing me your videos. I’m going to just search for you when I think of it to see your videos!
Hope it’s not two months! Look forward to hearing your updates.
Thank you Charles for sharing…. so enjoy your videos. Have a great week!!!
Wow nice garden and thank you for sharing your tips. Cheers from your new friend. 👍👍👍
Hello again Charles, I have contacted youtube about my vanished comment, can I ask if it was you who deleted it please? They can't see a technical problem yet, and they suggested it may have been deleted by the channel owner.
Thanks.
Es un espectáculo magnifico ver tu pequeño huerto en ese rincón de tu terreno.Como siempre te digo,aprendo mucho de tu experiencia y acierto más en las decisiones que tomo.Saludos desde Tenerife !!
Hello Charles,
Ce n'est pas toujours évident avec les choux,jai toujours des problèmes avec une certaine variété de choux fleur 😟
Cette année, j'ai décidé d'utiliser 2 parcelles de 9 m2 afin d'y installer mes propres boutures de patates douces.
J'ai réussi à trouver près de chez moi,la variété Beauregard en bio qui est très prolifique.
Jeudi 1 mai, j'ai déjà planté 26 boutures que j'ai recouvert d'une toile de forcage P17.
Le 2 mai, j'ai refait 61 boutures et mises dans des godets de 7 x 7 ou 10 x 10 transparents comme celà je peux observer l'évolution des racines 😉
Je pourrais les implanter d'ici 3 semaines voire 1 mois.
En ce moment,il y a beaucoup de vent frais ( vent d'est, voire est-nord-est ) malgré le soleil donc il faut vraiment bien faire attention à ce que l'on plante et surtout de bien les protéger !
Bonne semaine Charles
Pépé JP du nord de la France
Charles, any idea what Jacks Magic compost is? it doesnt really give much info on the bag other than it says 'traditional compost' peat reduced, with seaweed.
I just picked my first small bowl of strawberries today in Virginia🇺🇸 delicious May 7th
When broccoli is old and thus you aren't worried about hurting their production, you can eat the leaves, preferably the younger ones (for taste). They will be indistinguishable from kale leaves. In fact, an untrained eye might mistakenly harvest your broccoli leaves and serve them to you as kale leaves … don't ask me how I know 😂
I’m sorry you didn’t get any cauliflower heads , but also quite pleased because I really struggle to get any cauliflowers to grow so I don’t feel such a failure now . If the gardening guru has failures too we mortals are not to blame 😂❤️
I used your seed trays for the first time this year, for my cucumbers and tomatoes, very pleased with them! 😊
I found last year the slugs and snails only ate my green lettuce and left any with red in them alone! I've been lucky so far this year and not had any damage on any of the plants outside.
No rain forecast in Sussex for 3 weeks, Just had a dry April. Having to water.
Really good to see how the small garden is going. Thank you for all these tips & updates, to keep small spaces productive. From little acorns.
I love to see all those green leafs.❤️ Can you eat the leafs from purple sprouting broccoli as a crop when you take them out?
What a delightful ending with tomatoes✌️👍