I really admire Charles Dowding. It is not about the money. It is not about ego. It is not even only about no dig. I remember Geoff Hamilton, another down to earth enthusiast I still admire, being intrigued by Charles' innovative initiative. For me it is his love for his subject. His desire to pass on his enthusiasm and skill to old and new gardeners alike. And most of all his appetite for hard work. The hours it takes to run a market garden such as his are beyond many a person of his age. He says 'we turn that compost'. Have you tried turning a compost? Two seconds to say, but backbreaking to achieve. Sincere thanks for the videos - a real labour of love but much appreciated.
Thanks Charles. I have gone into my tiny garden every day in 2020 and harvested something. I grew up with gardening but you have taken my knowledge to an entirely different level. My neighbors think I'm a magician. The amount of food is shocking to even me. Soil is lush. No dig works!
In life, if we are lucky we have a series of teachers. All my past learning makes more sense now. And I feel confident. I am fortunate to have made your acquaintance Charles!
At this time of year it is gratifying to see the benefits of no dig. My wife and I started our veg. plot at the end of last March and by following your advice have been well rewarded. We have our seeds ordered for next year and until we start next year we can merrily eat our way through lots of leeks, several cabbages, a couple of cauliflowers, carrots, brussels, parsnips, kale and winter lettuce. We started with 65sq.feet and in August added another 70sq.feet. Next season we will have 200sq.feet in total and hope to be more or less self sufficient for most vegetables. Thank you for your inspiration.
Mr. Dowding, you have the most beautiful vegetable garden I have ever seen. Hands down 👍 It's incredible how many plants you are able to grow in such "small" space. It's not small, but for that amount of vegetables? Awesome 🍀
Every time I see large kale plants I get a little chuckle because of how few people actually know what a real kale plant looks like. So many people just have this idea in their head that they look like lettuce or spinach.
Another fantastic video, and again I am amazed how you did that all in one take, wow. Even though I would consider myself a true no dig/Charles Dowding fan I still learn different things every time I watch your new videos. Anyone reading this comment I would urge you to either buy the diary or look up the sowing timelines on Charles‘s website which I refer to every month. This has been a total game changer for me, and he is right because he has such a vast experience in knowing when to sow each vegetable to get the maximum amount of benefit from it, not just from the seasons, but avoiding the pests and diseases each plant can get throughout the year. Thank you again Charles if you read this you are such an inspiration to so many thousands of people all over the world.
Hi Charles.... I watched and learnt from your videos during your summer (our NZ winter). Prepared my no dig garden over this time with home made compost. Got vege seedlings in and flower plants. We are now almost into our summer and my garden is thriving!! I have never seen so many worms! And big ones at that! Thanks for the videos and advice 👍
The actual answer is usually bots. There are a tonne of bots that just go around an down vote everything. Sometimes a video is up for 2 seconds and it gets a downvote.
What a wonderful twenty minutes. Every year, you show the reliable, repeatable results of no dig. A peaceful lifetime dedicated to the art and science of growing.
With my health, and conditions the way they are, I really couldn't manage my garden if I had to dig it. I received my calendar a couple of weeks ago, thank you, and it really is beautiful. I was sent a copy of your Veg Journal a few years ago, which I also love, and have been using consistently since to keep notes (quite unusual for me, but much needed these days), so I now get to tie the two together over the Winter ready for next year 🙂
Oh my word😳 never seen carrots like that in my life‼️🥕 I have serious compost envy now after seeing how much & how great it looks. My radicchio has got to tennis ball size, & I swear its stopped growing 🤨 Thanks Charles, fab vid as always 💜
I Love your method of gardening. Abundance is a reward for the process. I am learning how to apply it in my own garden . You inspired me to grow dinsour kale and it is holding up in my city cottage garden.
I love you, Charles, and your wonderful no-dig gardening beds. Thanks so much for sharing your very wise and great fund of knowledge with us. I love it because you're always "up" and smiling while you're in your happy place, your gardens.
Having watched your videos, this is our first year of no-dig. I have been combing the neighbours bins or cardboard and at every trip to the supermarket I ask if I can have some of their old boxes. They are always happy to give me. Now I am looking forward to black Friday as that means even more cardboard becomes available! One thing I notice is that we will need a lot of compost and I'm not sure if we will be able to make enough, at least in the short term. I have been collecting all the leaf mould I can find plus adding household scraps and sourced some horse manure. We are very excited for the coming season and looking forward to our first dig results
😆I just replied to another viewer. Grow some things like sunflowers, beans, peas for vertical biomass, radish for fast growth. Local coffee shops may let you have coffee grounds, a fantastic source of nitrogen. Don’t forget cardboard can be composted (though avoid putting tape and plastic coated cardboard in). You may have a municipal program or three in your area as well. (Ours is called poo for you!)
Wish I was ur neighbor Charles would love to work in ur garden !!!! What I have here in northern New York keeps me so busy during our growing season....by fall in ready for a break😊 as always excellent to see home acres👍
Thank you for another well made, informative, and encouraging gardening video. I received a garden allotment in April and I have learned much from watching your channel. May God bless you and your team.
I enjoyed this video! We're winding down in NY but still like to see your gardening! I bought the book and calendar combo. They just arrived! Putting on my coffee table for some warm winter reading next to 'Crockett's Victory Garden'. - Ken
Think this is my favourite video so far. Really puts into perspective what you are doing at homeacres, I sometimes find it difficult to join the dots as a relatively new grower. Have got your book and calender so hope next year I can be more productive
You mentioned there the Treviso chicory. I wondered in your experience how many frosts they need to turn sweeter? We got some this year and they established well, here in Latvia our first frosts are much sooner and after a few we picked some but they were extremely bitter. There's still a few out there that we're going to leave as long as possible. Ironically they were popular with a deer that broke in and thankfully didn't do much damage. Thanks for your videos and hard work they have been a great help, hope to be able to do a course over winter to plug a few gaps.
Superb work Charles, I've been growing no dig for the last 18 months and pretty much following you to the letter but your veg is sooo much bigger than mine xxx I'm in Bristol.
Hello again, lovely to take another tour. Everything is looking marvelous. Very impressive (especially compared to mine 😉). I wanted to thank you again for advising I go 8” deep with the new beds. The paths flooded with our last few storms and I was able to drain them this afternoon with no damage to the veg. Of course I had to dig a bit but so far all is draining well. You are a gem.
When you were at the woodchip I thot 'I wonder if he grows shrooms' 30 seconds later your pointing them out 😂👍🏻 synchronicites everytime I watch your vids x
Your garden look like Bangladeshi village... I love this...i love gardening.... you can cook this Bangladeshi cooking style..because Bangladeshi food is very delicious...
Compost is so lovely. Your garden and your method is my favorite! Because of your videos I began with cardboard and a rug and I have a large no dig garden now from doing that for a few years! You must get a lot of rain I noticed that your compost bins have a roof. Your bins make me want to enclose my compost bins a little more (I use pallets) Big FAN!
Great video. November is the real start of the gardening year- thinking, plotting, planning, sorting and buying seed. Thank you Charles for your continuing enthusiasm and inspiration.
Such a Beautiful healthy garden. Thank you so much for the tour. In late winter, here in NZ, I bought a truckload of soil for new raised beds. The soil was from a local garden supplies centre, and is made up of garden mix and mushroom compost. Down went the cardboard followed by around 6 to 8 inches of the soil mix - into 5, 4 metre long beds of around 1.2 metres across. So quite an investment in energy and money - and an attempt to make gardening a bit easier as I grow older. I grow from seed mainly, and so filled my beds with tomatoes, capsicums, pumpkins, cucumber, kumara, corn and more. Lovely. But I noticed the tops of the tomato plants twisting and curling, plus some curling in the capsicum bed. Growth slowed right down. Some of the potatoes had twisted leaves but still produced. The kale, courgettes and pumpkins are growing normally. Well, to my great dismay, research and discussion has shown that the soil I purchased is probably contaminated with pesticide - probably the mushroom compost. Others in my small seaside town who have purchased the compost from the same place are having the same issue. The supplier denies everything. So i'm reading far and wide and trying to put together a plan of detoxification (or removal). Heartbreaking really - and sad to think that this is an increasing problem across the planet. Sorry to be so long winded but I'm just wondering if you have any input that may help me to regain the health of my (previously) organic garden.
So sorry to read this Annie. The supplier may as well agree and it is not their fault, but yes it's pyralid probably from hay fen to horses, aminopyralid herbicide, a revolting and invisible poison. See my video here ua-cam.com/video/2D1idnMNKng/v-deo.html and the one preceding it. Best is to leave your beds untouched, because soil microbes are already 'dissipating' or decomposing the poison. It's odd that compost microbes do not. So next year your plants should be good. Check with broad beans sown early autumn. Tell the compost supplier about it, he just does not know and is scared like everyone.
Thank you for replying with this very helpful information and I'll watch the video you mention. I'm not sure whether I should eat the food that is growing well in the soil such as the kale, potatoes, cucumbers etc. I have read that the consensus is that food that will grow in such soil isnt toxic to humans which I'd like to believe but somehow can't quite. Thanks heaps!!
Hi Annie, I'm also in NZ and having the same issues (twice in one season actually!). Be good to talk directly with you. I think we all have to stick together. Kelly
@@kellyterryhibbert4344 Hi Kelly - yes it would be really good to connect. I"ve since watched Charles' earlier videos on this which have been really informative. I will try to message you so we can share contact details.
I harvested the last of my Little Gem lettuce yesterday, November 20th (been pulling leaves off them for months). Cauliflowers & broccoli I planted late are big enough to harvest. Sadly, the DT Brown Boltardy has been dire - golfball size at best. :-) Late sown peas & broad beans are about ready to be planted out.
Mr. Dowding sir. During these cov-19 times I find myself pining about my garden i started last year and the lessons learned. As we are largely housebound I am looking for the weather to warm up to get back in the thick of the back yard garden. Thank you for the outstanding videos and the time you take to explain your methodology. I live in rural New Brunswick Canada I don't have a greenhouse (yet) so i am limited in what can be done with several feet of snow on the ground. Your videos offer me opportunity to sharpen my pencil. Thanks.
Mr Dowding, Amazing, all of it!!☺️ The small garden is still my favorite because it easily translates to someone’s small home garden. Thank you for sharing, much appreciated!! 😉
In March, with lockdown looming, we decided to grow our own. We rotavated a patch for potatoes but then I discovered no dig. All other beds have been made using cardboard, compost, grass clippings and manure. Most of the vegetables we eat come out of our garden. I am planning a food forest and will be getting a polytunnel after Christmas so I can grow even more. Thanks for the videos and inspiration.
I love the presprout method for carrots, it has worked great the last couple years to shorten the time to emergence. Pour simmering water over seeds, I use a sieve. Then tap out and spread out on damp paper towel. Put in a plastic bag and they should start sprouting in around 4-5 days.
I am sold on your gardening methods Sir Charles.😄 We moved into our new home in April 2020. By mid april the extent of the convulvulus was clear, almost the whole property! Undaunted...we chose to lay down cardboard and cover it with the only available compost. Slightly composted Horse Pucky.😁 Result? The cleanest most productive garden ever attempted! Yes, as you said, the bindweed did find its way through in places. I kept at it and it is evident, we are winning the battle! Already planning for even better in 2021 if at all possible. Thanks to YOU Connie🐝
Hi Connie and thanks for sharing, what a heartening result. I hope it will be alright for me to quote this comment to people who are sceptical? Good you kept at it but I still find it miraculous, compared to the harder work of digging out 😀
Just laid my first no dig bed on my lawn - hope to get results like Mr Dowding although my soil is very heavy so I may have to be careful what goes in it initially. I am thinking shallow rooted varieties initially
Best of luck and I would grow any vegetable, they root deep. Only the bulbous top of carrot may stop at soil level in year one, but the roots from it will go down
I've watched you for years (and bought every book and calendar!) and I'm always inspired to follow what you do but we cannot source enough material to produce the quantity of compost we would need for our plot of land. It is wonderful to see how well it works for others however.
There are plants you can grow that produce a lot of biomass for composting. Sunflowers and beans/peas are great - growing up so high, plus their roots don’t need a huge amount of space to grow and produce. Radish are also marvelous, they grow so fast. By the end of their next season you may have enough to start a 3’-3’-3’ compost pile. Good luck and happy growing!
@@Lauradicus Thank you for trying to help :) I've been an amateur gardener for over 30 years and I've grown my own for 15 years; having 1 1/2 allotments for most of that time. I also have a 20x14 polytunnel and two greenhouses. I compost everything at home and on the plots in 2, 3'x3'x3' bays and 3 "daleks". I'm always begging for compostable stuff (grass clippings etc), have tried unsuccessfully to get manure etc delivered and have grown green manures and other plants for biomass. As we slowly add to our pile and it's never the correct ratio as we can only add what we have available, it tends to take longer to produce useable compost and once each year, we probably have a cubic meter of compost which is not enough.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you. Even if I could find it (which I've struggled to do) we would have to find the time to collect it and a suitable vehicle to do so :)
Another amazing tour Charles, I have been incredibly impressed with my first year. I have never grown such big sprouts, in fact all of the brassicas have been good but I do agree with you regarding Greyhound cabbage. I have just received the calendar. Take care.
Nothing relaxes me more after work than arriving home and finding a new Charles Dowding video waiting in my UA-cam queue.
Cheers Clint
Oh yesss.
totally agree
I really admire Charles Dowding. It is not about the money. It is not about ego. It is not even only about no dig. I remember Geoff Hamilton, another down to earth enthusiast I still admire, being intrigued by Charles' innovative initiative. For me it is his love for his subject. His desire to pass on his enthusiasm and skill to old and new gardeners alike. And most of all his appetite for hard work. The hours it takes to run a market garden such as his are beyond many a person of his age. He says 'we turn that compost'. Have you tried turning a compost? Two seconds to say, but backbreaking to achieve. Sincere thanks for the videos - a real labour of love but much appreciated.
I appreciate this Alan, and mention of Geoff, who I admire also
Ah yes Geoff Hamilton and Barnsdale. Gardeners World just wasn't the same without him.
Charles. Just another 10 thumbs up for your gardens, lessons and your gentle, manner of teaching by showing. You are a jewel.
Thank you kindly Jim and 10 as you predicted!
Your lad has a real talent for film making.
Edward says thanks!
I can't. I just can't watch you. I am in Minnesota, US and I am so envious.....the beets about killed me. So beautful.
You love the garden, and the garden loves you!👍👍👍
great video
That beetroots are HUGE!!!!! Not to mention the other vegetables. Watching your video really motivate me to do gardening more
Thanks Charles. I have gone into my tiny garden every day in 2020 and harvested something. I grew up with gardening but you have taken my knowledge to an entirely different level. My neighbors think I'm a magician. The amount of food is shocking to even me. Soil is lush. No dig works!
How wonderful, and you have a green thumb too! Am v happy to read this
In life, if we are lucky we have a series of teachers. All my past learning makes more sense now. And I feel confident. I am fortunate to have made your acquaintance Charles!
At this time of year it is gratifying to see the benefits of no dig. My wife and I started our veg. plot at the end of last March and by following your advice have been well rewarded. We have our seeds ordered for next year and until we start next year we can merrily eat our way through lots of leeks, several cabbages, a couple of cauliflowers, carrots, brussels, parsnips, kale and winter lettuce. We started with 65sq.feet and in August added another 70sq.feet. Next season we will have 200sq.feet in total and hope to be more or less self sufficient for most vegetables. Thank you for your inspiration.
Lovely to hear, well done!
Mr. Dowding, you have the most beautiful vegetable garden I have ever seen. Hands down 👍 It's incredible how many plants you are able to grow in such "small" space. It's not small, but for that amount of vegetables? Awesome 🍀
Thanks 💚
Every time I see large kale plants I get a little chuckle because of how few people actually know what a real kale plant looks like. So many people just have this idea in their head that they look like lettuce or spinach.
Another fantastic video, and again I am amazed how you did that all in one take, wow. Even though I would consider myself a true no dig/Charles Dowding fan I still learn different things every time I watch your new videos. Anyone reading this comment I would urge you to either buy the diary or look up the sowing timelines on Charles‘s website which I refer to every month. This has been a total game changer for me, and he is right because he has such a vast experience in knowing when to sow each vegetable to get the maximum amount of benefit from it, not just from the seasons, but avoiding the pests and diseases each plant can get throughout the year. Thank you again Charles if you read this you are such an inspiration to so many thousands of people all over the world.
He’s our guru!
@@Lauradicus he is ❤️
Thanks so much Tina 🌷
Hi Charles.... I watched and learnt from your videos during your summer (our NZ winter). Prepared my no dig garden over this time with home made compost. Got vege seedlings in and flower plants. We are now almost into our summer and my garden is thriving!! I have never seen so many worms! And big ones at that! Thanks for the videos and advice 👍
Nice work Cherie, thanks for feedback
Thanks for the video. Really informative. I’m currently transforming our 5 acre plot into edible acres.
Wow big project Joy
How does anyone give this a thumbs down??? This is gorgeous. I'm going to attribute that to those who love bindweed, thistles and dandelions.
Jealousy.
The actual answer is usually bots. There are a tonne of bots that just go around an down vote everything. Sometimes a video is up for 2 seconds and it gets a downvote.
Thanks, kind of reassuring!
What a joy! The more I watch your videos the more my enthusiasm grows.
Such a nice, tidy and productive garden!
I have access to free city wood chips piles of
What a wonderful twenty minutes. Every year, you show the reliable, repeatable results of no dig. A peaceful lifetime dedicated to the art and science of growing.
Thankyou
Amazing how the grass doesn't go in and how weeds don't develop, it's immaculate. This was one of the best videos I've seen form the channel so far
Glad you enjoyed it Carmelo
With my health, and conditions the way they are, I really couldn't manage my garden if I had to dig it. I received my calendar a couple of weeks ago, thank you, and it really is beautiful. I was sent a copy of your Veg Journal a few years ago, which I also love, and have been using consistently since to keep notes (quite unusual for me, but much needed these days), so I now get to tie the two together over the Winter ready for next year 🙂
Oh my word😳 never seen carrots like that in my life‼️🥕
I have serious compost envy now after seeing how much & how great it looks.
My radicchio has got to tennis ball size, & I swear its stopped growing 🤨
Thanks Charles, fab vid as always 💜
The British gardeners are missing out. Due to you not broadcasting on main stream television???
Just fantastic
I hope they come here 😀 thanks, spread the word!
I Love your method of gardening. Abundance is a reward for the process. I am learning how to apply it in my own garden . You inspired me to grow dinsour kale and it is holding up in my city cottage garden.
So interesting! Unfortunately don’t have a garden, just pots on a strip of concrete! Thank you for showing! 🌿
I love you, Charles, and your wonderful no-dig gardening beds. Thanks so much for sharing your very wise and great fund of knowledge with us. I love it because you're always "up" and smiling while you're in your happy place, your gardens.
Ah thanks Antionette, I am indeed fortunate and want to share that!
Having watched your videos, this is our first year of no-dig. I have been combing the neighbours bins or cardboard and at every trip to the supermarket I ask if I can have some of their old boxes. They are always happy to give me. Now I am looking forward to black Friday as that means even more cardboard becomes available! One thing I notice is that we will need a lot of compost and I'm not sure if we will be able to make enough, at least in the short term. I have been collecting all the leaf mould I can find plus adding household scraps and sourced some horse manure. We are very excited for the coming season and looking forward to our first dig results
😆I just replied to another viewer. Grow some things like sunflowers, beans, peas for vertical biomass, radish for fast growth. Local coffee shops may let you have coffee grounds, a fantastic source of nitrogen. Don’t forget cardboard can be composted (though avoid putting tape and plastic coated cardboard in). You may have a municipal program or three in your area as well. (Ours is called poo for you!)
@@Lauradicus Thanks, Laura. Fantastic advice!
@@beestonbump1106 Any time! Have fun.
Wish I was ur neighbor Charles would love to work in ur garden !!!! What I have here in northern New York keeps me so busy during our growing season....by fall in ready for a break😊 as always excellent to see home acres👍
Sounds great! enjoy your rest
These garden tour videos are so inspirational AND educational I really enjoy.
Greetings from Germany, I appreciate so much what you are doing, will start a few no dig beds right this weekend, best Thomas
Fantastic!
Charles love your garden and your simplicity in explaining. Subscribed.
Thanks and welcome
Charles, you are actually so cool.
Thank you for another well made, informative, and encouraging gardening video. I received a garden allotment in April and I have learned much from watching your channel. May God bless you and your team.
I enjoyed this video! We're winding down in NY but still like to see your gardening! I bought the book and calendar combo. They just arrived! Putting on my coffee table for some warm winter reading next to 'Crockett's Victory Garden'. - Ken
Sounds great Ken!
Love the 20min+ videos ! A great way to wind down after a long day ! Thank u always Charles 👍🏻
Think this is my favourite video so far. Really puts into perspective what you are doing at homeacres, I sometimes find it difficult to join the dots as a relatively new grower. Have got your book and calender so hope next year I can be more productive
I'm so glad Erika, wish you success
You mentioned there the Treviso chicory. I wondered in your experience how many frosts they need to turn sweeter? We got some this year and they established well, here in Latvia our first frosts are much sooner and after a few we picked some but they were extremely bitter. There's still a few out there that we're going to leave as long as possible. Ironically they were popular with a deer that broke in and thankfully didn't do much damage. Thanks for your videos and hard work they have been a great help, hope to be able to do a course over winter to plug a few gaps.
These 206TT are not too bitter. It is freezing now so I can check tomorrow!
Yes deer love them, I had that once.
Nice feedback thanks
Really enjoyed this presentation. Thank you, Charles!
Superb work Charles, I've been growing no dig for the last 18 months and pretty much following you to the letter but your veg is sooo much bigger than mine xxx I'm in Bristol.
You and Edward do a fantastic job. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
talented is a understatement!! just looking at that foliage will heal you, let alone consuming it!! bless !! keep it up!!!
Thank you so much 😀
Thank you Charles, nice update.
Looks so good! Have a great weekend!
A calendar ! Great someone's Christmas present sorted.
A perfect way to start the morning, thank you!
A
True
Hello again, lovely to take another tour. Everything is looking marvelous. Very impressive (especially compared to mine 😉). I wanted to thank you again for advising I go 8” deep with the new beds. The paths flooded with our last few storms and I was able to drain them this afternoon with no damage to the veg. Of course I had to dig a bit but so far all is draining well. You are a gem.
Cheers Laura, wow flooding
When you were at the woodchip I thot 'I wonder if he grows shrooms' 30 seconds later your pointing them out 😂👍🏻 synchronicites everytime I watch your vids x
That is nice!
Thank you Charles, feels like ages since your last video... oh only a couple weeks 😁😁👍
Welcome back!
Meu que sonho !não passa um dia sequer, que eu não assista esses vídeos maravilhosos .Que trabalho incrível!
Que encantadora deseo que tu sueño se haga realidad 🌈
Hayyyy no sabes con qué ganas vi el video.muchas gracias por pensar en nosotros la comunidad de habla hispana
Vales oro 🥰🥰💕😍
¡El gusto es mio!
Your garden look like Bangladeshi village... I love this...i love gardening.... you can cook this Bangladeshi cooking style..because Bangladeshi food is very delicious...
So nice of you Eyenun, sounds delicious :)
Lovely as always, I love this method it’s all I use now
Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge and experience so modestly.
Glad it was helpful!
thank you for sharing
blessings to you
Very nice production, fine camera work. Throw in a warm-hearted lover of the other kingdom and it’s wonderful to watch.
Thank you kindly Keith, Edward will be happy to hear this
Excellent Charles.. So much thought put into your lovely garden.
Sir Charles I just finished your latest book and you are a genius of gardening common sense.
Thanks and wonderful!
Thank you, Charles, I find your videos are best served on a Sunday morning.
Awesome garden . Very inspiring. Love it .
Thanks for visiting
Always look forward to Charles' new videos.
Compost is so lovely. Your garden and your method is my favorite! Because of your videos I began with cardboard and a rug and I have a large no dig garden now from doing that for a few years!
You must get a lot of rain I noticed that your compost bins have a roof. Your bins make me want to enclose my compost bins a little more (I use pallets)
Big FAN!
You are so welcome! Hope you manage a roof :)
This dude knows his garden so well!
I love how similar your weather is to my growing season in Oregon.
Yes I feel a kinship with Oregon!
Great video. November is the real start of the gardening year- thinking, plotting, planning, sorting and buying seed. Thank you Charles for your continuing enthusiasm and inspiration.
Love seeing the small garden also the nodig vs dug comparison.
Great channel Charles. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
Wonderful! Thank you!! I appreciate the longer videos! 🌱
Such a Beautiful healthy garden. Thank you so much for the tour. In late winter, here in NZ, I bought a truckload of soil for new raised beds. The soil was from a local garden supplies centre, and is made up of garden mix and mushroom compost. Down went the cardboard followed by around 6 to 8 inches of the soil mix - into 5, 4 metre long beds of around 1.2 metres across. So quite an investment in energy and money - and an attempt to make gardening a bit easier as I grow older. I grow from seed mainly, and so filled my beds with tomatoes, capsicums, pumpkins, cucumber, kumara, corn and more. Lovely. But I noticed the tops of the tomato plants twisting and curling, plus some curling in the capsicum bed. Growth slowed right down. Some of the potatoes had twisted leaves but still produced. The kale, courgettes and pumpkins are growing normally. Well, to my great dismay, research and discussion has shown that the soil I purchased is probably contaminated with pesticide - probably the mushroom compost. Others in my small seaside town who have purchased the compost from the same place are having the same issue. The supplier denies everything. So i'm reading far and wide and trying to put together a plan of detoxification (or removal). Heartbreaking really - and sad to think that this is an increasing problem across the planet. Sorry to be so long winded but I'm just wondering if you have any input that may help me to regain the health of my (previously) organic garden.
So sorry to read this Annie.
The supplier may as well agree and it is not their fault, but yes it's pyralid probably from hay fen to horses, aminopyralid herbicide, a revolting and invisible poison.
See my video here ua-cam.com/video/2D1idnMNKng/v-deo.html and the one preceding it.
Best is to leave your beds untouched, because soil microbes are already 'dissipating' or decomposing the poison. It's odd that compost microbes do not.
So next year your plants should be good. Check with broad beans sown early autumn.
Tell the compost supplier about it, he just does not know and is scared like everyone.
Thank you for replying with this very helpful information and I'll watch the video you mention. I'm not sure whether I should eat the food that is growing well in the soil such as the kale, potatoes, cucumbers etc. I have read that the consensus is that food that will grow in such soil isnt toxic to humans which I'd like to believe but somehow can't quite. Thanks heaps!!
@@anniecochrane3359 I so agree, we don't know and it does not feel right. It's a crime that this stuff is made and permitted.
Hi Annie, I'm also in NZ and having the same issues (twice in one season actually!). Be good to talk directly with you. I think we all have to stick together. Kelly
@@kellyterryhibbert4344 Hi Kelly - yes it would be really good to connect. I"ve since watched Charles' earlier videos on this which have been really informative. I will try to message you so we can share contact details.
I harvested the last of my Little Gem lettuce yesterday, November 20th (been pulling leaves off them for months).
Cauliflowers & broccoli I planted late are big enough to harvest.
Sadly, the DT Brown Boltardy has been dire - golfball size at best. :-)
Late sown peas & broad beans are about ready to be planted out.
Sounds great! Yes there is a Boltardy seed problem.
Mr. Dowding sir. During these cov-19 times I find myself pining about my garden i started last year and the lessons learned. As we are largely housebound I am looking for the weather to warm up to get back in the thick of the back yard garden. Thank you for the outstanding videos and the time you take to explain your methodology. I live in rural New Brunswick Canada I don't have a greenhouse (yet) so i am limited in what can be done with several feet of snow on the ground. Your videos offer me opportunity to sharpen my pencil. Thanks.
Me encanta sus videos.🙏🙏🙏 Gracias. 👍👍👍
I always enjoy your channel I have started some no dig beds that are doing very well!! Thanks for all your tips and information
Lovely that you still have flowers.
Mr Dowding, Amazing, all of it!!☺️ The small garden is still my favorite because it easily translates to someone’s small home garden. Thank you for sharing, much appreciated!! 😉
The more you say "compost" the more I like the sound of it.
😀
You have given me back my independent.Thanks! God bless you!
You are so welcome and I am more than happy to read this, I wish you well
love your work ! ...would love to see a timelaps over your garden in a month or so the changes would be great to see ! thanks
So would I 😀
In March, with lockdown looming, we decided to grow our own. We rotavated a patch for potatoes but then I discovered no dig. All other beds have been made using cardboard, compost, grass clippings and manure. Most of the vegetables we eat come out of our garden. I am planning a food forest and will be getting a polytunnel after Christmas so I can grow even more. Thanks for the videos and inspiration.
A wonderful result Emma! My pleasure.
I love the presprout method for carrots, it has worked great the last couple years to shorten the time to emergence. Pour simmering water over seeds, I use a sieve. Then tap out and spread out on damp paper towel. Put in a plastic bag and they should start sprouting in around 4-5 days.
Great tip!
The calendar is on my Xmas list!
Your garden looks awesome
Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. You continue to inspire me every single day. Thank you
I'm so glad!
Every video is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Gracias Charly es un saludo de México gracias por tus vídeos y por hacerlos en español 🇲🇽🙋
superb garden sir. Thank you.
Si que he disfrutado mucho de ese paseo por Homeacres, me relaja lo bello de esa gran huerta entre tantas clases virtuales que estresan Gracias!!!!!!
Maraviloso!
Great harvest! Wonderful compost!
Thank you very much Charles and gang for the tour. Very impressive video and as always, very inspiring content. Thanks again.
I absolutely love these style videos but I love all your videos I’ve learned so much from you thanks for what you do
I am sold on your gardening methods Sir Charles.😄
We moved into our new home in April 2020.
By mid april the extent of the convulvulus was clear, almost the whole property!
Undaunted...we chose to lay down cardboard and cover it with the only available compost.
Slightly composted Horse Pucky.😁
Result? The cleanest most productive garden ever attempted!
Yes, as you said, the bindweed did find its way through in places. I kept at it and it is evident, we are winning the battle!
Already planning for even better in 2021 if at all possible.
Thanks to YOU
Connie🐝
Hi Connie and thanks for sharing, what a heartening result. I hope it will be alright for me to quote this comment to people who are sceptical?
Good you kept at it but I still find it miraculous, compared to the harder work of digging out 😀
Meant to ask as well Connie, you used fresh horse poo and at what depth roughly please?
Amazing! I am so jealous of your compost. Thank you for sharing your know how. Our weather here in Tennessee is a bit different but also good.
Cheers Edy. Your weather sounds ok, different!
Great video. Your garden and your vegetables are just amazing.
LOVE your videos!!
Thank you!
Loved it! Thank you☺.
Just laid my first no dig bed on my lawn - hope to get results like Mr Dowding although my soil is very heavy so I may have to be careful what goes in it initially. I am thinking shallow rooted varieties initially
Best of luck and I would grow any vegetable, they root deep. Only the bulbous top of carrot may stop at soil level in year one, but the roots from it will go down
Always very informational fantasic and amazing looking garden
Hola señor dowding que belleza de compos tiene .algún día quiero tener un lugar así como su huerto, todo muy lindo saludes ♥️
Gracias Sandra, y eso espero para ti
I've watched you for years (and bought every book and calendar!) and I'm always inspired to follow what you do but we cannot source enough material to produce the quantity of compost we would need for our plot of land. It is wonderful to see how well it works for others however.
Hope you might fine tree clippings or leaves or old manure etc. Thanks for following
There are plants you can grow that produce a lot of biomass for composting. Sunflowers and beans/peas are great - growing up so high, plus their roots don’t need a huge amount of space to grow and produce. Radish are also marvelous, they grow so fast. By the end of their next season you may have enough to start a 3’-3’-3’ compost pile. Good luck and happy growing!
@@Lauradicus Thank you for trying to help :) I've been an amateur gardener for over 30 years and I've grown my own for 15 years; having 1 1/2 allotments for most of that time. I also have a 20x14 polytunnel and two greenhouses. I compost everything at home and on the plots in 2, 3'x3'x3' bays and 3 "daleks". I'm always begging for compostable stuff (grass clippings etc), have tried unsuccessfully to get manure etc delivered and have grown green manures and other plants for biomass. As we slowly add to our pile and it's never the correct ratio as we can only add what we have available, it tends to take longer to produce useable compost and once each year, we probably have a cubic meter of compost which is not enough.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you. Even if I could find it (which I've struggled to do) we would have to find the time to collect it and a suitable vehicle to do so :)
@@twinsane1998 I hope you find what you need.
I wish I could travel these days and visit the lovely garden of yours. I hope 2021 will be more bright and makes travelling possible.,
Another amazing tour Charles, I have been incredibly impressed with my first year. I have never grown such big sprouts, in fact all of the brassicas have been good but I do agree with you regarding Greyhound cabbage. I have just received the calendar. Take care.
Sounds great Mark, thanks