There's something about growing potatoes. I don't know what it is. They're not the money makers, they're not a high value crop, but somehow I don't feel I'm a gardener if I'm not growing them. They're perhaps my favourite crop to grow. They are beautiful plants, and it feels really good to do some potato harvesting - or watch some as well.
Yeah they’re my favourite too, along with onions and tomatoes…. For us in the North (Canada) they are also the main sustenance calorie crop available, for homesteaders. We can also grow sweet potatoes in our season too, barely.
I think the big difference for me is just how much better home-grown potatoes taste - I went my whole life thinking potatoes were much of a muchness because I'd only had supermarket ones, trying my own was a real eye-opener!
I would say they're pretty high value (for my family at least) because they're so versatile! We eat a lot of potatoes in our house so they always get used 👍
I recently bought a pocket knife as a Christmas gift for a young man. I just noticed that you use the same knife, and I’m so pleased to know that my gift will be as useful and hardworking as yours is. And as always, beautiful potatoes.
i would to thank you charles. this year i have grown potatoes using your method, and the crop was amazing. in the years of growing them, the tradional way, i had struggled to get a decent amount per plant, despite my efforts. this year with a little effort, they have been amazing and the replanting into another crop is so much faster than before. thank you
What i loved about this particular video(besides Charles) is the bugs. When the plastic was removed, i enjoyed seeing the bugs scurry. And watching a bug climb up Charles hand was awesome. Thank you
Honestly, I've always been watching all your videos and whenever I watch, it's giving me a calm and relaxing vibes and a positive energy. Also, your videos help me relieve my stress. Always take care and so is your family. Thank you for always giving us these wonderful videos ❤
One potato has a 1000% return in a few months. What investment can do that other then gardening? And has many other benefits as well. Blessed days everybody.
Here in Belgium we wait till the plant is fully dried before harvesting the potatoe. You got me thinking. That's probably cause the farmers are doing it like that, we just copy. I'll follow your advice this year to harvest when the leaves turn yellow. I'm planting Obama potatoes since a few years keeping the small ones from last year's harvest. Works well.
Great to hear. For lunch today we had roast potatoes from these ones, harvested 10 months ago! My son commented how tasty they are, and a lovely texture, stored in paper sacks in a building near the house
Charles many times in your videos I have to pause to admire the beautiful garden and/or scenery ... If I commented each time I'm afraid I'd spam up your comment section.
I love learning what plants will grow with little or no help lol. My okra plants and sweet potatoes pretty much took care of themselves. I will give potatoes a go this spring!
❤️👍 I’m going to try a small row of Charlotte’s this coming spring! Thanks for a really interesting video Charles! And I received your calendar a few days ago and I’m very pleased that I purchased it ! Highly recommended! Once again Thanks Charles! 👍
I did no dig potatoes for the first time last year.......fantastic!!! Will be doing the same again this year, but will try the black polythene too......thanks Charles 🙏😁🥔🥔🥔🥔
Great video! That makes sense. a little mounding to prevent greening. Cool to see the transformation of your pastures; killing off weeds while providing food!
Lovely, Charles! We've here in the NW Arizona desert have mild rains this time of year, sparse, but good for the water acquifer in this valley; and we just harvested our potatoes and the first frost occurred about a week ago. I have a supply of good manure from our goat pen, always oncoming, so that goes IN the soil this time of year, plus when we prune the orchard we run the uneaten branches the goat has finished with, through the mulcher, and put it right back where it came from, the soil. And yes, plastic is a huge HELP...thanks for your timely info on potatoes.🌵
This is a great video with lots of useful information. The solanine in potatoes IS mild but gets stronger as they become greener and for some people who may be allergic, they can become ill. You should never eat the the rest of the plant because it will poison you. Potatoes are related to deadly nightshade. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are not a potato and all of the plant can be eaten, as well you can eat the tuber raw. Thanks Charles.
Thanks for the video, this is my first season growing no dig in South Africa so learning tonnes and continuously inspired by Charles' videos. I was just wondering when to harvest my potatoes, well now I know! Thanks 👌
They say that the smallest potatoes are ready when the plant first blooms, but...it can disturb the soil for future larger potatoes if you dig them up...
Watching from South Africa. Thank you for another wonderful informative video. Your gardening knowledge is so sensible and wise from a long and successful gardening career. God bless!
You're the man Charles! I've dabbled with your no dig method in the past, but this is the first growing season I've gone all out ( Australia ) It was a bit of work in the beginning... I grow on sloping land, so there was a lot of labour getting all the compost down to my beds, also a bit of cost to buy the compost... but the benefits far out way the initial cost/labour. I've hardly had to do any weeding, and that was always a constant battle for me in the past, taking up so much time, and I still could never really keep on top of it. I also notice that the drainage has been so much better, despite having a really wet season here. On top of that, I've had minimal pest damage, compared to an old garden a few meters away that is getting smashed by slugs. And yeah, all my veg are growing like crazy, best results I've ever had. So yeah, I'm fully converted now, mate! I'm working on setting up some compost bays close to the beds to cut down further on cost/labour in the future. Thanks for all the knowledge you've shared.
I'm in New Brunswick. Hardly any snow and only -4! Sandal weather still. Forecast next week is mild and just a few flurries. It's usually -15 and a couple nor'easters by December's end. We've traded climates I guess. El Nino?
Morning Charles, boy it’s cold and rainy here in Arkansas today. Won’t be going out in the garden today. Got a bunch stuff out there growing though for the winter. I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to start a gardening class for my church in March and I’d like to mention you and your channel a lot. I have some of your books as reference guides for them. Thanks for your time and sharing. Love watching your harvest. (Old guy from Arkansas)🇺🇸
Hello Steven, and Happy New Year. I am delighted to hear that and appreciate you asking. I'm really keen to get this wonderful information out there and I'm sure that your church members will be delighted to know that there are ways of looking after Creation that are kind to soil organisms.
I just harvested my first for this year grown in 30L pots in our wee garden the best Dutch Cream potatoes to date and 4.3kg from 2 pots, good size ones and so tasty, making Christmas dinner special this year. More to harvest in the coming weeks after a horrid spring early summer growing weather mist plants not doing well so cheered me up no end.
You're not wrong. We've had crazy weather in the UK too. This week for instance, the temp has been around 4°C today, and we're forecast a whopping 14°C on Thursday! Then it'll drop right back down again on New Year's Day! Really strange weather all year this year!
Fantastic harvest!! We were able to harvest (in the snow) and have for Christmas dinner last night;) Thanks for everything, looking forward to putting you're calendar to good use !! Cheers
Yey Charles gives us a masterclass on growing the good old Spud = Potato. Charles they look great. A neighbour use to grow them in Plastic fertiliser bags he use to get a good crop out of them might try that next year. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and i wish you a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Wasn't their a problem with a new dangerous fungicide in a lot of compost, straw, hay etc recently that kills home gardens? I noticed you used some store bought in one of your earlier videos. I can't have a compost pile here. How do I know which one to buy?
I didn't have any luck with potatoes this year, first time trying, planted in long deep containers. Not giving up tho, I'll try again. 25 July, now I know what you were doing the day before my birthday =^)
Hello. My name is Anastasia. I am from Russia. I also work in the garden. I love to grow everything without chemicals. I am glad that I found you that you love all ecological vegetables and fruits. The same person as I want to apply your method on my site and in our climate I have been making an experiment for a long time. I make compost but I haven’t used it yet using compost and animal fertilizers for digging I will try to make a video about the experiment and show my site Please write the address where to send the video Thank you for your experience advice patience This is a great work of health for you and your loved ones I don’t know if your method will suit me without digging, our groundwater is very close to the surface and after precipitation or after winter, we have water on the surface in the middle of the garden.
Hi Anastasia Thanks for writing and I look forward to seeing more. Water near the surface is a question of site or land drainage, as opposed to soil aeration. No dig should help is all I can say, because it maintains a better vertical structure of air passages, without the breakages from digging. Perhaps when you have a video, send us an email to admin@charlesdowding.co.uk and we shall see how to proceed.
This is so timely, thank you. I've grown my little garden for years now but I've never planted potatoes. They are cheap and abundant in Atlantic Canada 🇨🇦 but the province of Prince Edward Island is having troubles with their potatoes. I decided to grow potatoes in one of my large raised beds this year. I ordered seed potatoes on December 5th! I'm a potato noob! I ordered 4 each of: Alta Blush, Bintje, Bridget, Chieftain and All Blue. Coming from Alberta and arriving in April. Time to binge all things potato 🥔 🥔🥔🥔🥔!
Lovely harvest and great timing information. We had such a disappointing potato harvest this past summer. Come to find out that was pretty much the case in much of the country. I’ve been sitting for several months trying to decide where to put the potatoes this coming spring. They are fantastic for erasing lawn.
This past year our potatoes were just ready to harvest...and then it rained for two weeks. I should have gone out in the rain to harvest, but didn't. Voles and deer enjoyed some, though. We still got a good harvest in, but not what it could have been.
Charlotte is my favourite to grow too, but I keep mine in buckets. The smallest amount left behind can take two years to grow back too. Fascinating how tenacious these plants are, but also shows how great as a repetitively free food supply they are!
Hi Charles! Just incredible that the crop of potatoes you pulled wasn't watered at all!! That is BRILLIANT in an era when we need to conserve water as much as possible. I was just wondering if from your experience, that practice of growing vegetables (i.e. with ground covered with plastic) could be extended to other crops (if not all crops!)?? Happy 2022 to you!!
Thanks Susan and in principle yes, but many vegetables go at closer spacing which would make it not practical with plastic. It's more about choosing your moment and your harvest, and the weed pressure which was the main factor for me here
Always happy to watch your videos. Getting excited here in the US waiting for a few more weeks to start my seeds as usual. Charles and team, Hope you have a wonderful new year and a very prosperous garden with many more videos to come.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig wow! It was 4 degrees here on the East coast of Lincolnshire! And, windy, wet and altogether horrible! Not gardening weather, let alone having lunch in the garden!
@@gypsygem9395 ooo... that sounds unpleasant. You should try a summer Christmas, we had a cool 23c and a light breeze, had the leftovers from the 25 and fruits and ice-cream for dinner. Respect from Africa 🇿🇦
Im really interested to hear how your trial with the sheeps wool mulch pans out. Farmers are really struggling to find a viable outlet for their wool, and if it turns out to be good growing/mulching medium, Id be happy to support that.
It's too early to conclude. Definitely it adds nutrients, but is suited mostly to wide-spaced plants because for example it's harder to transplant through the fibres, and they would get in salad leaves! The brassicas grew very well.
Can I recommend a video on container potatoes using just compost/compost + soil vs no dig in the ground? Seen a lot of videos showing them to be far more effective and theyre much easier to harvest.
As some of my saved potatoes have started sprouting all ready yesterday I set up 4 old compost bags turned inside out as the black side is probably more UV resistant and 1/3 filled with verve potting compost I got cheap at £2.50 a bag a few months back. placed 1 potato in each and left in my greenhouse. Not growing any in the ground next year as something in the ground likes to riddle 80% with little holes.
I was thinking last night how without bacteria and fungi life as we know it probably wouldn't be possible because our digestive system wouldn't work without them, the decay of dead organic matter would cease and nutrients in the soil would plummet and/or become inaccessible and eventually plants would struggle to grow at all. If you think about it a compost heap is probably a very similar biological process to our own digestion, nothing would decay without the bacteria and fungi present all around us (it would just dry out, crumble and turn into dust). Since the start of covid I have been careful keeping my hands, clothes and body clean but I think people need to remember that over sanitation can actually lead to allot of health problems which why I think getting out in the garden and getting your hands dirty is more important then ever!
Yes Michael, these are great comparisons and for myself, I always look to have my hands not too clean! As you say, the microbes from the soil and compost are vital for our own ecosystem and are similar to the microbes in a healthy human gut. We need gut feelings!
Thank you for sharing your experience! I live in South Africa and has planted 3 potatoes a month ago. Looking forward to my harvest maybe in Febr-March. May I ask how you store so many potatoes to last a few months? Or do you sell off your beautiful harvest?
Thanks, and I rarely sell potatoes because quite a few people here like to eat them. They are simply in paper sacks in a brick shed which is not especially cool nor especially dry, but they keep well and are only just beginning to sprout now, I'm about to roast some
I'm trying an experiment. I've already planted some Casablanca using tubers from some of this years harvest. I had some woodchip available for free and decided to just dump it on the ground to kill the weeds. It is a thick layer. I had to grab it while I could, as it was dumped in the allotment area by someone, for anyone to get, and it's first in first serve, and I'm not passing up that opportunity. I buried the tubers in the woodchip right at the soil level, which is quiet deep. I'm going to see how that goes next year. I'm a bit concerned the tubers might rrot, or that the woodchip will stop the potato shoots from getting through. As I said before, it's quiet deep which is to protect from the cold. We'll see, as not much to lose from this after all and a lot to gain. I mean I've had volunteers from previous years grow successfully, so there's no reason I can't get away with this, maybe. Thanks for the tips by the way. It's always a pleasure to watch your videos. Very informative.
Do you think we can generally save a few spuds as seed potatoes? I need to re-watch your seed-saving videos as I'd love to do more of that (seeds are expensive! :- ). Tried some seed saving in the past with mixed success. Thanks, Charles.
Hi, charles, what a beautiful crop of potatoes. A question, do you cover it with plastic to keep the soil moist or so that it doesn't eat the slug? Cheers
Thanks Bertha and the plastic is for neither of those reasons, but simply to smother the convolvulus by keeping it dark, so that it grows less strongly and the roots weaken
Amazing enough, I had grow bags, and we got a late frost. I covered the plants or hilled them up if you will before the frost came. Plant produced additional leaves, was insulated from the frost, and harvest was 2-3 lbs per chitted section (usually about four sections per seed potato. However, through the plant remnant into the compost pile, it started growing again and got another half pound of nice looking potatoes (Red skin white flesh).
There's something about growing potatoes. I don't know what it is. They're not the money makers, they're not a high value crop, but somehow I don't feel I'm a gardener if I'm not growing them. They're perhaps my favourite crop to grow. They are beautiful plants, and it feels really good to do some potato harvesting - or watch some as well.
Agreed. I maybe only grew a total of $20 worth of potatoes this year and each and every one l consider worth all the effort!
Yeah they’re my favourite too, along with onions and tomatoes…. For us in the North (Canada) they are also the main sustenance calorie crop available, for homesteaders. We can also grow sweet potatoes in our season too, barely.
I think the big difference for me is just how much better home-grown potatoes taste - I went my whole life thinking potatoes were much of a muchness because I'd only had supermarket ones, trying my own was a real eye-opener!
I would say they're pretty high value (for my family at least) because they're so versatile!
We eat a lot of potatoes in our house so they always get used 👍
Couldn’t agree more!
I recently bought a pocket knife as a Christmas gift for a young man. I just noticed that you use the same knife, and I’m so pleased to know that my gift will be as useful and hardworking as yours is. And as always, beautiful potatoes.
Nice present! Thanks Leslie
I find that absolutely amazing, with the black plastic. Loved seeing toady!
I just noticed your half million subscribers. Way to go Charles!
Thanks Frank
i would to thank you charles. this year i have grown potatoes using your method, and the crop was amazing. in the years of growing them, the tradional way, i had struggled to get a decent amount per plant, despite my efforts. this year with a little effort, they have been amazing and the replanting into another crop is so much faster than before. thank you
Fantastic! I love to make differences like this and congrats to you Lindor
That was fun to watch. Thanks Charles.
What i loved about this particular video(besides Charles) is the bugs. When the plastic was removed, i enjoyed seeing the bugs scurry. And watching a bug climb up Charles hand was awesome. Thank you
Cool, thanks 🐞!
I just noticed that you have crossed the half million subscribers mark! Congratulations Charles! And a blessed New Year to you!
Thank you Jules. I did not expect it :)
You too!
Honestly, I've always been watching all your videos and whenever I watch, it's giving me a calm and relaxing vibes and a positive energy. Also, your videos help me relieve my stress. Always take care and so is your family. Thank you for always giving us these wonderful videos ❤
Wow, thank you, happy to help you Sarah 😎
What an awesome harvest.
Lovely harvest, looking forward to the new year 😁
One potato has a 1000% return in a few months. What investment can do that other then gardening? And has many other benefits as well. Blessed days everybody.
Always a true pleasure to watch your videos Charles.
Glad you like them 💚
Thank you Charles. I hope you had a lovely Christmas!
I did, great food and family gave thanks
Looking forward to next year's planting!
Great, and working together
Dear Mr. Dowding,
Here's wishing you a very Happy New Year! 🌷 I enjoy your videos a lot! 😊
Greetings from India.
Many thanks Anakshi
Those Charlottes had me salivating .
Here in Belgium we wait till the plant is fully dried before harvesting the potatoe. You got me thinking. That's probably cause the farmers are doing it like that, we just copy. I'll follow your advice this year to harvest when the leaves turn yellow. I'm planting Obama potatoes since a few years keeping the small ones from last year's harvest. Works well.
Great to hear.
For lunch today we had roast potatoes from these ones, harvested 10 months ago! My son commented how tasty they are, and a lovely texture, stored in paper sacks in a building near the house
This is my first year growing potatoes so this is very helpfull!!
lovely video potatoes a must for me
You are a wonderful teacher ! Every question that comes to my mind as your explaining gets answered! I love to know the extras, the whys and why nots!
Wonderful! Yes, when we know the reasons, then we can do good things and adapt, such as to the weather…!
Merry Christmas and have a wonderful holidays Charles, thanks for spread your experience,you are a great great person!!!!!
Thanks Julian 🥤
Charles many times in your videos I have to pause to admire the beautiful garden and/or scenery ... If I commented each time I'm afraid I'd spam up your comment section.
Cheers Ted!
Good harvesting
Nice harvest 🥔🥔🥔👍
Very nice. Have a good new year
I love learning what plants will grow with little or no help lol. My okra plants and sweet potatoes pretty much took care of themselves. I will give potatoes a go this spring!
❤️👍 I’m going to try a small row of Charlotte’s this coming spring! Thanks for a really interesting video Charles! And I received your calendar a few days ago and I’m very pleased that I purchased it ! Highly recommended! Once again Thanks Charles! 👍
Cheers David
Happy and prosperous new year to you and yours
💚
Thank you, merry Christmas from Spain🇪🇸🇪🇸
Goodness Charles! I don't think there's anything you can't grow.🙂 Beautiful potatoes!
Happy New Year to you and yours!🙂
Same to you Valorie and thanks 🌺
I am very grateful for your work Thank you for teaching show us your work and skill
Many thanks
That's one heck of a crop off that first charlotte plant!
I did no dig potatoes for the first time last year.......fantastic!!! Will be doing the same again this year, but will try the black polythene too......thanks Charles 🙏😁🥔🥔🥔🥔
Great video! That makes sense. a little mounding to prevent greening. Cool to see the transformation of your pastures; killing off weeds while providing food!
Thanks Ken
Beautiful
Lovely, Charles! We've here in the NW Arizona desert have mild rains this time of year, sparse, but good for the water acquifer in this valley; and we just harvested our potatoes and the first frost occurred about a week ago. I have a supply of good manure from our goat pen, always oncoming, so that goes IN the soil this time of year, plus when we prune the orchard we run the uneaten branches the goat has finished with, through the mulcher, and put it right back where it came from, the soil. And yes, plastic is a huge HELP...thanks for your timely info on potatoes.🌵
Nice to read this Margaret and you are gardening as productively as ever, working with nature 💚
This is a great video with lots of useful information.
The solanine in potatoes IS mild but gets stronger as they become greener and for some people who may be allergic, they can become ill. You should never eat the the rest of the plant because it will poison you. Potatoes are related to deadly nightshade.
Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are not a potato and all of the plant can be eaten, as well you can eat the tuber raw.
Thanks Charles.
Cheers Ken, and thanks for the helpful information
You're my mentor. Wishing you and the world Happy Holidays 2021. Cheers.
Same to you!
I grew Lily Rose on my allotment in the Thames Valley this year. I had an excellent crop
Buenísimo gracias
Thanks for the video, this is my first season growing no dig in South Africa so learning tonnes and continuously inspired by Charles' videos. I was just wondering when to harvest my potatoes, well now I know! Thanks 👌
Nice to hear Marc!
They say that the smallest potatoes are ready when the plant first blooms, but...it can disturb the soil for future larger potatoes if you dig them up...
Great video…
Watching from South Africa. Thank you for another wonderful informative video. Your gardening knowledge is so sensible and wise from a long and successful gardening career. God bless!
Many thanks Daniel, and that is nice for you because the video is right in your summer season!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig wonderful 😁😁😁
Awesome video like 😊😘💖💖💖👋
You're the man Charles!
I've dabbled with your no dig method in the past, but this is the first growing season I've gone all out ( Australia )
It was a bit of work in the beginning... I grow on sloping land, so there was a lot of labour getting all the compost down to my beds, also a bit of cost to buy the compost... but the benefits far out way the initial cost/labour.
I've hardly had to do any weeding, and that was always a constant battle for me in the past, taking up so much time, and I still could never really keep on top of it.
I also notice that the drainage has been so much better, despite having a really wet season here.
On top of that, I've had minimal pest damage, compared to an old garden a few meters away that is getting smashed by slugs.
And yeah, all my veg are growing like crazy, best results I've ever had.
So yeah, I'm fully converted now, mate!
I'm working on setting up some compost bays close to the beds to cut down further on cost/labour in the future.
Thanks for all the knowledge you've shared.
Wonderful Paul and thanks for sharing, enjoy making compost 😀
did I really write " out way " ?! lol
-5 Celsius in British Columbia right now, howling artic winds, everything covered in snow; this video is much welcomed!
I'm in New Brunswick. Hardly any snow and only -4! Sandal weather still. Forecast next week is mild and just a few flurries. It's usually -15 and a couple nor'easters by December's end. We've traded climates I guess. El Nino?
Thanks Kyle and wow you have had quite a year of weather, have many more extremes than here and I wish you a better New Year!
Morning Charles, boy it’s cold and rainy here in Arkansas today. Won’t be going out in the garden today. Got a bunch stuff out there growing though for the winter. I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to start a gardening class for my church in March and I’d like to mention you and your channel a lot. I have some of your books as reference guides for them. Thanks for your time and sharing. Love watching your harvest. (Old guy from Arkansas)🇺🇸
Hello Steven, and Happy New Year.
I am delighted to hear that and appreciate you asking. I'm really keen to get this wonderful information out there and I'm sure that your church members will be delighted to know that there are ways of looking after Creation that are kind to soil organisms.
Those r beautiful
i very like you attitude !!!
also very good mic !!
thanks for your video !
Glad you enjoyed it Antonis
I just harvested my first for this year grown in 30L pots in our wee garden the best Dutch Cream potatoes to date and 4.3kg from 2 pots, good size ones and so tasty, making Christmas dinner special this year. More to harvest in the coming weeks after a horrid spring early summer growing weather mist plants not doing well so cheered me up no end.
Very nice! Thanks for sharing
High 60's here in Kentucky for Christmas ! Crazy weather. It will be interested to see what spring brings.
You're not wrong. We've had crazy weather in the UK too. This week for instance, the temp has been around 4°C today, and we're forecast a whopping 14°C on Thursday! Then it'll drop right back down again on New Year's Day! Really strange weather all year this year!
the toad is so cute :3
We are still harvesting our potatoes! [South of England] They taste great too.
Gracias por compartir tus conocimientos. Recibe saludos desea México
💚
Çok güzel beğendim; Türkiye Marmaris'ten sevgiler
harika ve teşekkür ederim
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Rica ederim efendim doğayla mutlu kalın
thích khu vườn của ông quá
🌱 Bạn là một người làm vườn tốt!
Merci beaucoup et Merry Christmas ! J'ai reçu ton livre "VEG journal" 2017 pour Noël, alors encore un grand merci !
Magnifique!
Fantastic harvest!! We were able to harvest (in the snow) and have for Christmas dinner last night;)
Thanks for everything, looking forward to putting you're calendar to good use !!
Cheers
Wonderful Clive, how amazing
Супер! Обязательно попробую в этом году! Спасибо
💚 Удачи!
Yey Charles gives us a masterclass on growing the good old Spud = Potato. Charles they look great. A neighbour use to grow them in Plastic fertiliser bags he use to get a good crop out of them might try that next year. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and i wish you a Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year
Thanks that is nice of you and that is worth a try, just be sure there are good drainage holes at the bottom of each sack, fill with compost not soil
Be careful you don't fall foul of the toxic plastic police.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Wasn't their a problem with a new dangerous fungicide in a lot of compost, straw, hay etc recently that kills home gardens?
I noticed you used some store bought in one of your earlier videos. I can't have a compost pile here. How do I know which one to buy?
Thank you for this video. Will be growing charlotte 2nd earlys and mccain royals as maincrop next year
Good luck!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you. Would love to visit homeacres to get some expert advice and ideas 💡
I didn't have any luck with potatoes this year, first time trying, planted in long deep containers. Not giving up tho, I'll try again. 25 July, now I know what you were doing the day before my birthday =^)
Ah shame, maybe you planted too deep.
Nice time of year for birthday :)
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
Thanks for the tip, I'm sure you're right, I put them near the bottom. Yes summer birthdays are nice =^)
Hello. My name is Anastasia. I am from Russia. I also work in the garden. I love to grow everything without chemicals. I am glad that I found you that you love all ecological vegetables and fruits. The same person as I want to apply your method on my site and in our climate I have been making an experiment for a long time. I make compost but I haven’t used it yet using compost and animal fertilizers for digging I will try to make a video about the experiment and show my site Please write the address where to send the video Thank you for your experience advice patience This is a great work of health for you and your loved ones I don’t know if your method will suit me without digging, our groundwater is very close to the surface and after precipitation or after winter, we have water on the surface in the middle of the garden.
Hi Anastasia
Thanks for writing and I look forward to seeing more.
Water near the surface is a question of site or land drainage, as opposed to soil aeration. No dig should help is all I can say, because it maintains a better vertical structure of air passages, without the breakages from digging.
Perhaps when you have a video, send us an email to admin@charlesdowding.co.uk and we shall see how to proceed.
I grow Charlotte regularly and have managed to store them for the whole year.
Perfect!
Grata pela legenda 🇧🇷
Excelente! Diga aos seus amigos que nós fornecemos legendas em português
IT'S LIKE PULLING PURE GOLD STRAIGHT OUT OF DIRT HEAVEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hola querido Charles, feliz navidad 🤗🤗🇨🇱
Gracias!
Thanks so much Charles!!! I dont know what I would do without these videos! live in zone 7b, does anyone when I can put my potatoes in the ground?
Nice to hear Elisabeth, and my hunch would be two weeks or just before your last frost date
This is so timely, thank you. I've grown my little garden for years now but I've never planted potatoes. They are cheap and abundant in Atlantic Canada 🇨🇦 but the province of Prince Edward Island is having troubles with their potatoes. I decided to grow potatoes in one of my large raised beds this year. I ordered seed potatoes on December 5th! I'm a potato noob! I ordered 4 each of: Alta Blush, Bintje, Bridget, Chieftain and All Blue. Coming from Alberta and arriving in April. Time to binge all things potato 🥔 🥔🥔🥔🥔!
How lovely, happy planting in April
I planted Maris peer on 17 July. S/w Wales. They are the best potatoes I've grown to date.
Cant beat home grown spuds
Hi charles stopped to say hi and see how you doing i hope everything is ok with you and doing well,cheers Robert:)
All good thanks Robert!
Lovely harvest and great timing information. We had such a disappointing potato harvest this past summer. Come to find out that was pretty much the case in much of the country. I’ve been sitting for several months trying to decide where to put the potatoes this coming spring. They are fantastic for erasing lawn.
Fingers crossed for you next year, yes excellent for starting on new and weedy ground
I was the same this year, I got a minimal return for what I planted and was quite disappointed. But I'm hopeful for next year!
I'm a big fan of erasing grass. My garden doesn't have any now. Growing lawns in Central Texas is environmentally unsound, as well as frustrating.
This past year our potatoes were just ready to harvest...and then it rained for two weeks. I should have gone out in the rain to harvest, but didn't. Voles and deer enjoyed some, though. We still got a good harvest in, but not what it could have been.
Next year!!
Kestrel are also cracking good potatoes too tastiest I’ve ever had
Charlotte is my favourite to grow too, but I keep mine in buckets. The smallest amount left behind can take two years to grow back too. Fascinating how tenacious these plants are, but also shows how great as a repetitively free food supply they are!
Sounds great Suzanne
Hi Charles! Just incredible that the crop of potatoes you pulled wasn't watered at all!! That is BRILLIANT in an era when we need to conserve water as much as possible. I was just wondering if from your experience, that practice of growing vegetables (i.e. with ground covered with plastic) could be extended to other crops (if not all crops!)?? Happy 2022 to you!!
Thanks Susan and in principle yes, but many vegetables go at closer spacing which would make it not practical with plastic. It's more about choosing your moment and your harvest, and the weed pressure which was the main factor for me here
Always happy to watch your videos. Getting excited here in the US waiting for a few more weeks to start my seeds as usual. Charles and team, Hope you have a wonderful new year and a very prosperous garden with many more videos to come.
😀
Worth the elbow grease for sure. Love growing my own.
Hey Charles.
Trust your boxing day was laid back. Respect from Africa 🇿🇦
Yes it was thanks Justus!
And 11C, sun, no wind, lunch in the garden, amazing
@@CharlesDowding1nodig wow! It was 4 degrees here on the East coast of Lincolnshire! And, windy, wet and altogether horrible! Not gardening weather, let alone having lunch in the garden!
@@gypsygem9395 ooo... that sounds unpleasant. You should try a summer Christmas, we had a cool 23c and a light breeze, had the leftovers from the 25 and fruits and ice-cream for dinner.
Respect from Africa 🇿🇦
@@jeshurunfarm sounds so good!
Im really interested to hear how your trial with the sheeps wool mulch pans out. Farmers are really struggling to find a viable outlet for their wool, and if it turns out to be good growing/mulching medium, Id be happy to support that.
It's too early to conclude.
Definitely it adds nutrients, but is suited mostly to wide-spaced plants because for example it's harder to transplant through the fibres, and they would get in salad leaves!
The brassicas grew very well.
Can I recommend a video on container potatoes using just compost/compost + soil vs no dig in the ground? Seen a lot of videos showing them to be far more effective and theyre much easier to harvest.
Also more time, cost and effort to fill and water - yes an interesting comparison 😀
As some of my saved potatoes have started sprouting all ready yesterday I set up 4 old compost bags turned inside out as the black side is probably more UV resistant and 1/3 filled with verve potting compost I got cheap at £2.50 a bag a few months back. placed 1 potato in each and left in my greenhouse. Not growing any in the ground next year as something in the ground likes to riddle 80% with little holes.
That sounds a great move and good luck! It's some kind of eelworm probably and they are difficult to deal with.
Thank you! I thought you only grew Charlotte, but it’s very interesting to hear there are early and late varieties too.
I was thinking last night how without bacteria and fungi life as we know it probably wouldn't be possible because our digestive system wouldn't work without them, the decay of dead organic matter would cease and nutrients in the soil would plummet and/or become inaccessible and eventually plants would struggle to grow at all. If you think about it a compost heap is probably a very similar biological process to our own digestion, nothing would decay without the bacteria and fungi present all around us (it would just dry out, crumble and turn into dust). Since the start of covid I have been careful keeping my hands, clothes and body clean but I think people need to remember that over sanitation can actually lead to allot of health problems which why I think getting out in the garden and getting your hands dirty is more important then ever!
Yes Michael, these are great comparisons and for myself, I always look to have my hands not too clean! As you say, the microbes from the soil and compost are vital for our own ecosystem and are similar to the microbes in a healthy human gut. We need gut feelings!
Thank you for sharing your experience! I live in South Africa and has planted 3 potatoes a month ago. Looking forward to my harvest maybe in Febr-March. May I ask how you store so many potatoes to last a few months? Or do you sell off your beautiful harvest?
Thanks, and I rarely sell potatoes because quite a few people here like to eat them. They are simply in paper sacks in a brick shed which is not especially cool nor especially dry, but they keep well and are only just beginning to sprout now, I'm about to roast some
I tried growing potatoes in a bucket this year, but had a very hard time judging when they were harvestable because deer kept eating the foliage.
👍👌👏😊
A new CD video? Merry Christmas to me!
From the look of that frog's belly Charles, I'd say it's got a gutful of slugs! :)
😀!
I know the best hearts are farmers hearts.
A lovely saying!
Земля под картошкой хорошая!
Да ты прав 🥕!
I'm trying an experiment. I've already planted some Casablanca using tubers from some of this years harvest. I had some woodchip available for free and decided to just dump it on the ground to kill the weeds. It is a thick layer. I had to grab it while I could, as it was dumped in the allotment area by someone, for anyone to get, and it's first in first serve, and I'm not passing up that opportunity. I buried the tubers in the woodchip right at the soil level, which is quiet deep. I'm going to see how that goes next year. I'm a bit concerned the tubers might rrot, or that the woodchip will stop the potato shoots from getting through. As I said before, it's quiet deep which is to protect from the cold. We'll see, as not much to lose from this after all and a lot to gain. I mean I've had volunteers from previous years grow successfully, so there's no reason I can't get away with this, maybe.
Thanks for the tips by the way. It's always a pleasure to watch your videos. Very informative.
Nice to try that. If the shoots make it though, you may be surprised!
Merhaba çok şanslısınız orda olmak isterdim iyi akşamlar. .
In italianoooo. GRANDEEEEE 🤣🤣🤣
Do you think we can generally save a few spuds as seed potatoes? I need to re-watch your seed-saving videos as I'd love to do more of that (seeds are expensive! :- ). Tried some seed saving in the past with mixed success. Thanks, Charles.
Yes we can
Hi, charles, what a beautiful crop of potatoes. A question, do you cover it with plastic to keep the soil moist or so that it doesn't eat the slug? Cheers
Thanks Bertha and the plastic is for neither of those reasons, but simply to smother the convolvulus by keeping it dark, so that it grows less strongly and the roots weaken
Amazing enough, I had grow bags, and we got a late frost. I covered the plants or hilled them up if you will before the frost came. Plant produced additional leaves, was insulated from the frost, and harvest was 2-3 lbs per chitted section (usually about four sections per seed potato. However, through the plant remnant into the compost pile, it started growing again and got another half pound of nice looking potatoes (Red skin white flesh).
That is lovely, they just wanted to grow for you!
Спасибо за русские субтитры🙏🙏🙏
💚
Great idea to re-use silage as the farmers can’t use it as soon as holes appear.