I seriously love your videos of gardening information Mr Dowding. You are wisely seasoned, & such a treasure to listen to. Deeply appreciate your information, & embraced "no dig" 6-7 yrs ago, thanks to you
Living close to nature is always the best. The days I cannot get away from the tedious tasks of life I come here and experience the splendor through Charles. Thank you ❤️
Mr. Dowding, Last year I implemented your methods in my 15 x 25 foot Garden, as of today, I have harvested 192 lbs. so far this season and I anticipate come fall I should be close to 300 lbs. Thank You for your wisdom. South Central Pennsylvania, US Zone 7.
Hello Sir I had NEVER grown a thing in my life before I came across your video 3yrs ago..... It gave me the mojo to TRY .... I now have 5 raised beds and have grown runners...tomatoes....cucumber.....potatoes....carrots....bell pepper and cabbage.... I'm still learning and fresh vegetables are fantastic and I'm really thankful to you..... Thanks so much and love lots xx ❤
We use organic soap so we can use bath, dish and laundry water for the flowers and grass . That way we have plenty of clean water for the veggies. Just a way we try to conserve
You have such a fantastic relaxing voice, and every word is useful knowledge. A truly great teacher. Listening to this while doing the weekly garden harvest. Green beans, peas, radish, tomatoes, cucumber and lots of herbs and various lettuces. Thank you Charles(the true king of the garden)
The details about Swiss chard was very helpful - I also love this plant because of its versatility. I guess it is drought tolerant. It’s especially useful because it is not chewed up by so many pests and it is so prolific. I’m glad it’s getting the attention it deserves.
Love to see the garden thriving. In arizona we are thankful plants are still alive in the 110+ Fahrenheit weather I can’t wait for mid august to start planting againg
Always learning from you -thank you so much! AND thank you for mentioning we should take time to enjoy the beauty now, also. So easy to forget that when there is so much hard work to complete that isn't fun. But we CAN make it enjoyable!
I moved into a new house (and therefore new garden) last september, so this year has been my first growing season. Not really much went to plan, it isn't very far from the old house so I assumed much the same would happen as it did in the old garden, lets just say I have been humbled. The old house was a tiny garden in a stack of terraced houses, so there wasn't much wildlife and it was quite sheltered from pests because there was just nothing but grass in every direction. The new house is higher on a hill, it is enclosed by a very old woodland/marshland and it is at least 3 times the size of the last garden, we have had blackbirds digging up seedlings, squirels stealing everything they could, the slug onslaught was unstoppable and a bad storm snapped most of my garlic stalks so they all had to be pulled early to mitagate damage... the only thing i successfully grew were peas that shot up too fast for the damage to stop them. I also managed to keep ONE pepper plant alive as its up on a table away from slugs. I'm not too disappointed as there is always next year, which is the best part of gardening.
I feel your pain in the Slug and General Varmints department!! I've never had to start my seeds indoors before, but due to my recent house move and the damper conditions,,,, ~ I can be seen in the wee small hours,,,in my garden, torch in hand.... Slug Hunting!! (*Should be a national sport!!) On the positive side, I'm developing quite a strong Throwing arm!!
Perfect timing for this video. We have been experiencing extremely dry weather and constant heat waves here on our homestead (in New York State in the U.S.), and we have had to decide what to water and what we just don't have the water for. We have a well, and it is getting low. With five small greenhouses, and a lot of outdoor plantings it has been tough to make those choices. I did build a greenhouse with a living roof this year (the roof is purple pole beans), and the tomatoes, peppers, and watermelons inside are doing well mostly because of the shade the living roof provides. I think we are all going to have to be more creative with our growing as we experience changes with our climate. Another great video, Charles. Always so much excellent information.
Absolutely agree! We're having the same type of weather out here in NW Washington State. We had only a ¼" of rain since June and about 3 weeks of 90°F. August is looking the same. Our well is ok only because the Pacific Northwest has just 2 seasons - autumn, winter and spring are our rainy season and summer is our dry season.
Can’t agree more about getting more creative growing in these climate changes. All this rain in WI has stunted the tomatoes and brought early mildew, rust and blight. We are about a foot over avg rainfall for this time of year so far. Last year was severe drought and had less wildlife pressure which is odd.
@@dustyflats3832 Wisconsin too has had really unusual weather? I've read that the further north you live, the faster the climate changes are occurring.
The sunflower at the beginning reminds me of the varieties that Sunflower Steve is developing here in the states. He has so many beautiful forms he’s working on.
Note to producer .. your skills over the years have become quite impressive, and I truly am appreciative of your work 🙏However, although the music used in this video and in many others is quite fitting with the tone of Charles videos, I found it distracting for the music to be constant behind his voice. Just my 2pence. Thanks for what you do for us.
Hi, Charles. Thank you for this beautiful video. I watch your UA-cam channel when I want to relax. My small rented garden in Sendai Japan is producing amazing vegetables this year. One of the prettiest is the bitter melon, which is creamy white. Also Okura that is pale green and round, not star-shaped. Thank you for continuing to inspire a novice farmer like me!
Like always a pleasure to watch your videos,,even more when i saw minty 🐈😺 fluttering around you while removing/tidying the lower leaves 🌿 🍀 of your plants ,,thats super cute ,,,inspired,, and i am off to my terrace garden to start weeding 👍🇮🇳😊
I think there is always a bright side to the weather being so changeable when it comes to the garden. (Not that I am a fan of climate change at all) Where some crops fail, others excel. Not great for the market gardener for sure but like you showed with the extra beets, we just have to see what is doing well and plant more of it for the second part of the growing season. While my Nightshades (eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes) are not liking the excessive heat we are having, there is still something there to harvest. I planted less bush beans this year but we have had a bumper crop of green, yellow and purple varieties. My cucumbers seem really happy but I planted them in part shade to shield them from too much heat and that has been quite successful. My cabbages were also planted in part shade and are early and abundant. I am making some sauerkraut today. I just wanted to give people hope and leave some positive encouragement to off set the despair. Take heart people, the garden can be forgiving and there is food to be found when you least expect it. ☺
Dont wanna occupy your time but plz, friend, edit the typo of the 'missing space between a bracket and a word'. It doesnt just look awful, it trigers something deep inside my autistic brain. This one specific particular typo acts as a stressfactor for some branhes of disabled people. Sounds trivial to you, im sure, but its not to me
@@slevinchannel7589 You should edit your comment you've written tyoo and sapace when you should have written typo and space. Trigger is also spelled wrong in your comment. 😊
Hello Charles, Les blettes c'est trop bon 😋 Cette année j'ai mus 17 blettes à cardes blanches et 13 blettes à cardes rouges. Les blanches donnent énormément mais les rouges sont vite montées en fleurs avant que j'ai le temps d'en prélever ! Je pense que les semenciers ont prélevé les graines sur des blettes à cardes rouges qui ont monté en fleurs sur leur première année et c'est pour celà que les miennes sont montées aussi tout de suite Qu'en penses-tu charles? En août on peut semer aussi de la mâche, des navets ,des radis noir d'hiver,salades d'automne voire d'hiver 😉 Demain il va faire 35°, ça va chauffer 🥵 J'ai arrosé tous mes légumes en prévision ! Bonne semaine Charles Pépé JP de ch'nord de la France
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Merci Charles Le problème est que je ne pourrais pas prendre ces graines là car si je les sème l'année prochaine,elles montront de nouveau en graines ! 😡
So glad I discovered your channel. Like many I grew up gardening in the conventional way but over time have adopted many of the same habits that you have. Lots of trial and error with seed selection and saving, companion and succession planting in my small but highly productive backyard garden. I like especially how you share your experience and encourage us to experiment. I pick up a little wisdom in each of your videos. I started recently in a new location ( urban southern california) in terrible sterile sandy ground but within 2 years there is an amazing amount of life in my garden, including the usual pests although I enjoy observing the interaction with their natural predators I still take some action. Thanks for who you are. Curt
Ah how fast time flies! We are already planting seeds in trays for our autumn/winter garden! Its fascinating how there is always something cool to do in the garden! 🙂
Gearing up and preparing for spring here! Still waiting on winter to arrive! Feeling like its going to be a challenging season but with your sharing of knowledge and our trialling amd practices we will thrive! Thank you and always an amazing garden you have! Kia ora
Praying for the people of the UK those children 😢hope you're government wakes up. Will be doing a small garden this coming summer. I have tried the no till must say it was the easiest garden I've ever had ❤❤❤
Always a great pleasure watching your content. Going to search your channel. Hoping you have a video of your compost set up. I've retired this year and have settled into my forever home. I'm also learning to garden with my husbands help. I need a good compost area set up. Thank you
Hi Tammy, Thank you for your kind words. You can find my latest video on compost here ua-cam.com/video/MCftXbye1AA/v-deo.html I look forward to hearing your progress
I love in South Wales and had a family occasion in July so had to leave my garden to its own devices. I had someone go and water for me if the weather was too hot but that only happened twice. When I returned after 3 weeks I was amazed at how well everything had done, my beans, peas, mange tout, courgettes/marrows and especially the spinach beet and lettuce. My tomatoes are slower as they are outside as I have no room for a greenhouse,but seems stronger and more flowers than last year. This does puzzle me. On the whole very happy with how nature has helped my garden.
Nice to see you again after a while. I take more care of watering pots and boxes particularly, and of course recently planted seeds and plantlets. Most of my garden is weeds this year and they survive very well. 😂 Maybe next year I’ll spend more time on the garden and have an enviable one like yours. Mine never looked better than during the COVID years.
I'm not done with my garden and already looking forward to doing things differently according to what I've learned from your channel, plus with all the insane news I pay attention to it's calming to watch your podcasts.
Thanks for the interesting update, as always. Given the issues so many of us have had with slugs and snails this year it would be really useful to get some guidance possibly in a future short on what damage is terminal and what plants can recover from please e.g. all my runner beans are munched mid-stem, will they reshoot? Can 4-5 month old brassicas recover from the loss of all outer leaves?
Another lovely video, thank you Charles for all the valuable information you share with us. My allotment has become so lush over the past month, plants are now producing and thriving not too badly when i thought it would be a poor year. Just shows you what a bit of sunshine and some warmth does for the garden and its insects which im happy to report have returned.
J'adore vraiment vos vidéos. Je suis en reconversion j'étais entraîneur de natation ( formation et haut niveau ) mais lire votre livre, ainsi que ceux du potager d'olivier me réconforte dans mes choix. Je vous conseille de regarder sur youtube ou les livres de Joseph chauffray. Encore merci
Always a joy to watch your videos. I actually found out recently whilst creating an art project that chia sees from the supermarket are from salvia... I'm not sure what variety but I grew some for the project and now I am trying to continue growing some of the spares. I'm in Australia so I'm not sure it's quite the best season to getting them going but I have some in my greenhouse and I can always sow some more later if they don't work out... the joy of gardening :D
4:20 Yes in your climate along with considering the amount of cloudy days you've said you have then bare soil that's already a good percentage of organic material drying out is a non-issue and frankly I'd want it to dry out some. Context is everything. When we have a string of 100 F days and clouds are sparse and the air dries out and the organic material in the soil isn't as high that's a very different context and I'm going to have everything covered with straw which is very effective in this environment.
Hi Charles and crew. Great to keep us updated. We appreciate you. Thanks. Zone 6b. Our growing season is short compared to yours. It's a big year of tomatoes and cucumbers in our garden. Tomatoes from transplants all in the ground. No dig of course. Hubby with green thumbs. His success with tomatoes I'll share.>>>>>>> Putting garden to "bed". He put down compost then covered with 3x's chopped brown leaves. Before planting he temporarily moved the leaves that weren't completely decomposed. He prunes very little. You can experiment by top dressing tomatoes and less pruning for outdoor tomatoes. (hubby does not take chances depending on his compost so he adds slow release fertilizer when transplanting.) Enjoying life. The good. The bad and the ugly. lol
I have chickens and sheep. I grow extra to feed them in the summer when things get brown and dry. They love it. I can't free range my chickens because of the bald eagles snatching them. I only let them out in the field and animal pens when I'm out there with them cleaning up the pens for the compost pile. So, they love the greens and extras from the garden 😊
Thank you for sharing call your vast knowledge with us.....I'm in Australia and have many seeds germinated ready to plant out ... we've had some really cold (for us) nights/mornings this winter 0°C or their abouts on many nights.....I'm excited to plant out more fruits and veggies .......and the more you grow the more compost you can make 😊😊😊
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you for your kind reply, i live sub-tropical so not used to this cold we've had this winter the days are beautiful usually around 22°C (not bad for winter) I've never had a frost where I live so did plant out some seedlings today, with more to do tomorrow....I've even managed to germinate my watermelon and rockmelon seeds, I have already got several volunteer tomato plants that have done well over winter now to protect from the parrots
Such valued advice, thank you Charles! Here we have drought and record heat challenges (MD, USA). The benefit of gray water irrigation, vegetable plants survive while the weeds thrive. Peace and Blessings 🌱🌻🐈⬛
Just love how everything looks so lush and healthy with hardly any pest damage, I need to get on top of my game! For starters how do you stop cats from pooping in your soil where the veggies are growing Charles please?
I put up with it because I have a large garden and only one cat. However you could use bird netting to deter them. That worked for me when I had two cats.
Yes some plants I had no hope for have suddenly recovered. Tomatoes not ripening though, but more beans I know what to do with! Not sure what the pumpkins are doing to be honest. Some seem OK, others not doing much other than producing fungus leaves. I do remove them. Celeriac, swede and leeks OK (I think!) I've shoved in some globe artichokes in a bed that seems to kill everything I put in it. Perhaps because under pear trees. Anyway, the chokes seem happy under there (for now!). The sweet corn has gone jurassic. Hope I can get to it before the rats, mice, squirrels, and flying rabbits! 😂😊 By the way, chopping back the strawberries worked like magic. Oh...and thank you!
Exactly the same here. Some squash really prolific others have done nothing in the same bed. Sweet corn plants and cobs huge. Hoping for a prize in this weeks local produce show!
August may be a lovely month for you, BUT my garden in the low AZ, U.S.A. desert, EVERYTHING IS BURNED UP! Our temps run 110 to 117. Enjoying your beautiful garden!
Hi Charles, I met you at Hampton court, please could you tell me what the pink flower is in the small garden and elsewhere? I have some but can’t remember what they are! Thanks, Jo
Chickens absolutely love chard and beet tops. Thanks for your lovely video, you've inspired me to get busy in the garden. My pumkins have taken off in the humanure, incredible, I think they are going to take over the whole garden 😂
Hi Charles. Whilst I wouldn't wish ongoing bad weather to anyone it is a small comfort that it is not only us over here that are suffering. We've had the wettest summer I've ever known, last month alone saw a cyclone that dropped 100ml of rain in one day beating all records and leaving many cities flooded and we've had rain pretty much everyday since. Last year there was a 6 week drought so I invested in 200m hoses and a pump to pump up from the lake! I've grown the best potato plants ever this year by covering the beds over winter killing off all weeds (ruth stout method 4 years) and now blight is rampaging through them, they did flower so I'm hoping there will be some harvest. The rain does seem to have caused nutrient washing in some beds as I've relied more on liquid fertilisers this year. Sadly as Latvia is still a world leader in peat production/exports getting any other type of compost is extremely hard and we can't produce enough ourselves (currently). But as I keep saying with positive optimism 'there's always next year' :)
Oh no, I'm so sorry to see this. That sounds truly horrible. And yet in the Balkans they have extreme drought. I hope that you get your potatoes out okay, that's a key crop
Hahah love the cover pic! ❤ and thank you for saying “Little and Often” again - I was just thinking abt it for something else I need to do - so timely! Thank you lots ❤
❤ Dankeschön. I had to harvest my potatoes early because of sudden blight. BUT the harvest was great, even double compared to last years dry season!😊 So nothing is so bad that it cannot be good for something, my grandma used to say. Hope this makes sense in English😅
Great info, I'm being driven mad at my plot by voles, every day having to go up and tread plants back in , any advice would be helpful, I simply don't know what to do and can't devote the time to go everyday
Sorry to hear that. Any outdoor cat would help, but maybe you are close to water or fields where there are many of them. Probably too many to trap and that also is not easy so I'm afraid, I cannot help!
Just bought your knife I can't wait for it to come can we have a masterclass in making miso? Pluss cant wait for you to cook with charles dowding video again lol 😊 hope you are well
Watering here in the states has been demanding too. A lot of sun, low humidity and high temps 90F+. I don’t have enough compost yet to get away with conserving water, even with my clay soil. I found relying on some ground cover weeds like Purslane really helps retain soil moisture. They are succulent like plants so probably do suck up a lot of water but the shade they provide from the unrelenting sunshine I think outweighs their impact. At least for this year anyways. It also discourages the deer from jumping the fence. And less work for me!
Hey Charles have you heard this one farmer down in the states growing sunflowers and the sunflowers are not following the Sun, they appear to be turning away.
Thanks for sharing this Mike, and goodness me, that is strange and worrying. I have not noticed with mine and shall check today. However, we have so little sunshine, but I shall find some at some point!
I read somewhere that ice/rats carry disease and slugs eat their droppings leave residue on greens which poses health risk to humans (something to do with spine/back, can’t remember).
Thanks, I'm inclined not to believe that because otherwise we'd all be pretty ill! I feel that's another kind of scary story to put us off homegrown food and get us into the supermarket! Also, I must say that I do not like the phrase, I read somewhere!
I potted on my seedlings and they all died off - worst year ever! Spuds are good - blighted but still OK underneath. Tomatoes all shrivelled. A lot stunted with the cold and never seemed to recover regarding squash. And the most weird thing I've ever seen - I still have one apple tree producing blossom! I did have another tree with one little clump of blossom last month, but that one apple tree that still has blossom has been consistent with it's flowering! It does have apples, although immature - the squirrels are chewing them and spitting out the unripe bits of apples! Some are chewed like you see in a cartoon! That was when it was wet, so I can understand it while the weather is hot, but this is bonkers!
My apple trees in the US have very few apples this year. My tree is usually loaded. I attributed it to our exceptionally hot dry spring. Where I live we had 90° weather in June and it has continued straight on through August. I believe it's from the geoengineering.
Ive just given up on any veg this year [the slugs and snails have won the battle] but am just starting some late autumn and over wintering veg and hoping for the best
I went on vacation and returned to all my brassicas eaten by worms. I neglected to cover them. Should I cut stalks to the ground and see if I get new growth? Or pull them and reseed with other plants?
They can recover if you remove any caterpillars/worms you see, and give them a good dose of water. They grow a lot in the autumn. See this video about controlling them ua-cam.com/video/Nbf7D80j5os/v-deo.html
Hi Charles, your advice is to get rid of weeds when they’re still small. As a beginner gardener, I often don’t know if something is a weed or a flower which sowed itself from a neighboring flower bed. Any advice on how to spot actual weeds? Thanks!
Yes, weeds are distinctive once you do this enough to recognise their first leaves. It should not be difficult for you, also because there's only so many flowers can grow in any one location, so if you happened to pull out one or two, that's probably a good effect in the end.
My brand new garden is looking less so! Compost bin half full. Broadcasting salt granules before my holiday meant I came back to carrots 🥕 growing ( 3rd time lucky) and my brassicas in tact 😂. Your videos are so valuable. Please could you produce an ornament for our ‘no dig’ gardens like the one your son made for you. Now onto the postage stamp front garden. Fruit bushes and trees. Thank you so much for sharing your method and knowledge. 🥰. Ps. Have you never been asked to go on Gardeners Question Time?
Hi Charles, I am having bad results with my tomatoes. New seed. lots of flowers but no fruit forming. A mate who usually grows toms really well is also affected. I saw a gentleman allotment holder on 27th July saying that nobody on his allotment was having success with toms. His chillies, in the same greenhouse were doing well. He also complained about his runner beans, mine have been great although I am now having plants die on me. Thanks for your podcasts and advice. Peter from Newton Abbot
Oh dear, that sounds sad. It's very hard to offer advice I'm afraid without knowing all the details but it's worrying that so many people are having the tomato problem. And your runner beans, that sounds odd
I have a single clump of wild rocket sown last august, still growing strong! It's in a shady bed, so I managed to prevent it bolting. Woody stems but it tastes great!
With tomatoes there is something called steering the growth. Eg too much vegetative growth as in your case - remove the leafs opposite the fruit clusters. That will direct the plant energy from leaf to fruit. Works surprisingly well.
Pickle Worms and Army worms have been hard to deal with. Even with spraying often they have caused so much damage. Didn't see any last year. I'm hopeful late Summer and Fall will be less challenging.
The problem in my garden for fall planting is we get those cold nights but days are still hot. The frost in early morning is the problem without a low tunnel. It’s a lot of work covering and uncovering. Last year I could have grown into Christmas as the temps went from 37 at Halloween to 52 at Christmas in Wisconsin, US. Totally weird.
I seriously love your videos of gardening information Mr Dowding. You are wisely seasoned, & such a treasure to listen to. Deeply appreciate your information, & embraced "no dig" 6-7 yrs ago, thanks to you
So nice of you to say, happy you garden no dig
Living close to nature is always the best. The days I cannot get away from the tedious tasks of life I come here and experience the splendor through Charles. Thank you ❤️
How lovely!
Mr. Dowding, Last year I implemented your methods in my 15 x 25 foot Garden, as of today, I have harvested 192 lbs. so far this season and I anticipate come fall I should be close to 300 lbs. Thank You for your wisdom. South Central Pennsylvania, US Zone 7.
Lovely to hear of your success 🌱
Hello Sir I had NEVER grown a thing in my life before I came across your video 3yrs ago.....
It gave me the mojo to TRY ....
I now have 5 raised beds and have grown runners...tomatoes....cucumber.....potatoes....carrots....bell pepper and cabbage....
I'm still learning and fresh vegetables are fantastic and I'm really thankful to you.....
Thanks so much and love lots xx ❤
That is great to hear of your success Theresa 🙂
That greenhouse is so pretty.
💚
Is true! 12 years old
We use organic soap so we can use bath, dish and laundry water for the flowers and grass . That way we have plenty of clean water for the veggies. Just a way we try to conserve
Great tip 😊
You have such a fantastic relaxing voice, and every word is useful knowledge.
A truly great teacher.
Listening to this while doing the weekly garden harvest. Green beans, peas, radish, tomatoes, cucumber and lots of herbs and various lettuces.
Thank you Charles(the true king of the garden)
Thank you! 😃
The details about Swiss chard was very helpful - I also love this plant because of its versatility. I guess it is drought tolerant. It’s especially useful because it is not chewed up by so many pests and it is so prolific. I’m glad it’s getting the attention it deserves.
Love to see the garden thriving. In arizona we are thankful plants are still alive in the 110+ Fahrenheit weather
I can’t wait for mid august to start planting againg
Oh wow! May fall be good
North Texas is crazy hot also
Thank you Charles for another inspiring videos. Your passion for gardening is contagious and your charm makes me look forward to the next posts!
I am glad you enjoyed it 🙂
It was 82 degrees here today, zone 6 in New England. I think I’ll throw in some Swiss Chard seeds now. Thank you so much!
Always learning from you -thank you so much! AND thank you for mentioning we should take time to enjoy the beauty now, also. So easy to forget that when there is so much hard work to complete that isn't fun. But we CAN make it enjoyable!
You are so welcome
Thanks! Very helpful - as usual !!!❤
I moved into a new house (and therefore new garden) last september, so this year has been my first growing season. Not really much went to plan, it isn't very far from the old house so I assumed much the same would happen as it did in the old garden, lets just say I have been humbled. The old house was a tiny garden in a stack of terraced houses, so there wasn't much wildlife and it was quite sheltered from pests because there was just nothing but grass in every direction. The new house is higher on a hill, it is enclosed by a very old woodland/marshland and it is at least 3 times the size of the last garden, we have had blackbirds digging up seedlings, squirels stealing everything they could, the slug onslaught was unstoppable and a bad storm snapped most of my garlic stalks so they all had to be pulled early to mitagate damage... the only thing i successfully grew were peas that shot up too fast for the damage to stop them. I also managed to keep ONE pepper plant alive as its up on a table away from slugs. I'm not too disappointed as there is always next year, which is the best part of gardening.
I feel your pain in the Slug and General Varmints department!!
I've never had to start my seeds indoors before,
but due to my recent house move and the damper conditions,,,,
~ I can be seen in the wee small hours,,,in my garden, torch in hand....
Slug Hunting!!
(*Should be a national sport!!)
On the positive side, I'm developing quite a strong Throwing arm!!
Perfect timing for this video. We have been experiencing extremely dry weather and constant heat waves here on our homestead (in New York State in the U.S.), and we have had to decide what to water and what we just don't have the water for. We have a well, and it is getting low. With five small greenhouses, and a lot of outdoor plantings it has been tough to make those choices. I did build a greenhouse with a living roof this year (the roof is purple pole beans), and the tomatoes, peppers, and watermelons inside are doing well mostly because of the shade the living roof provides. I think we are all going to have to be more creative with our growing as we experience changes with our climate. Another great video, Charles. Always so much excellent information.
Absolutely agree! We're having the same type of weather out here in NW Washington State. We had only a ¼" of rain since June and about 3 weeks of 90°F. August is looking the same. Our well is ok only because the Pacific Northwest has just 2 seasons - autumn, winter and spring are our rainy season and summer is our dry season.
Can’t agree more about getting more creative growing in these climate changes. All this rain in WI has stunted the tomatoes and brought early mildew, rust and blight. We are about a foot over avg rainfall for this time of year so far. Last year was severe drought and had less wildlife pressure which is odd.
@@dustyflats3832 Wisconsin too has had really unusual weather? I've read that the further north you live, the faster the climate changes are occurring.
@@dustyflats3832so challenging when you don’t know the weather in advance
👍🙂❤️☀️
Dziękuję za film i za napisy w języku polskim😘
Nasza przyjemność
Beautiful! Over here is so hot and humid, I don't want to be outside I would gladly switch thetemperature with you!
Such a pity for you
Fantastic presentation, Charles. Thank you for your generosity.
I am glad you enjoyed it Mike
The sunflower at the beginning reminds me of the varieties that Sunflower Steve is developing here in the states. He has so many beautiful forms he’s working on.
Interesting! All of my sunflowers this year came from the seed of one orange flowered plant! It was growing close to different beauties
Nice one Charles, wonderful vid...
Glad you enjoyed it Ralph
Such a great teacher for quality gardening 😊
Many thanks
Note to producer .. your skills over the years have become quite impressive, and I truly am appreciative of your work 🙏However, although the music used in this video and in many others is quite fitting with the tone of Charles videos, I found it distracting for the music to be constant behind his voice. Just my 2pence. Thanks for what you do for us.
Working on it Ted. New producer!
Always helpful. Thank you 🐞🐜🐝🐛
You are welcome Tzipi
Hi, Charles. Thank you for this beautiful video. I watch your UA-cam channel when I want to relax. My small rented garden in Sendai Japan is producing amazing vegetables this year. One of the prettiest is the bitter melon, which is creamy white. Also Okura that is pale green and round, not star-shaped. Thank you for continuing to inspire a novice farmer like me!
Lovely to hear of your successes Eriko 🙂
what a great lot of produce well done charles
Cheers Steven
What an encouragement it was to watch this video. Thank you very much.
I am glad and you are welcome Dwight 🙂
Thanks!
Happy
Like always a pleasure to watch your videos,,even more when i saw minty 🐈😺 fluttering around you while removing/tidying the lower leaves 🌿 🍀 of your plants ,,thats super cute ,,,inspired,, and i am off to my terrace garden to start weeding 👍🇮🇳😊
Lovely to hear Azam
I think there is always a bright side to the weather being so changeable when it comes to the garden. (Not that I am a fan of climate change at all) Where some crops fail, others excel. Not great for the market gardener for sure but like you showed with the extra beets, we just have to see what is doing well and plant more of it for the second part of the growing season. While my Nightshades (eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes) are not liking the excessive heat we are having, there is still something there to harvest. I planted less bush beans this year but we have had a bumper crop of green, yellow and purple varieties. My cucumbers seem really happy but I planted them in part shade to shield them from too much heat and that has been quite successful. My cabbages were also planted in part shade and are early and abundant. I am making some sauerkraut today.
I just wanted to give people hope and leave some positive encouragement to off set the despair. Take heart people, the garden can be forgiving and there is food to be found when you least expect it. ☺
Dont wanna occupy your time but plz, friend, edit the typo of the 'missing space between a bracket and a word'. It doesnt just look awful, it trigers something deep inside my autistic brain. This one specific particular typo acts as a stressfactor for some branhes of disabled people. Sounds trivial to you, im sure, but its not to me
@@slevinchannel7589
You should edit your comment you've written tyoo and sapace when you should have written typo and space. Trigger is also spelled wrong in your comment. 😊
@@slevinchannel7589 Hopefully I corrected the right thing. ☺ Respect. 👊
@@angelad.8944 One last thing: between "garden." and "(Not that) there is a space missing
Hello Charles,
Les blettes c'est trop bon 😋
Cette année j'ai mus 17 blettes à cardes blanches et 13 blettes à cardes rouges.
Les blanches donnent énormément mais les rouges sont vite montées en fleurs avant que j'ai le temps d'en prélever !
Je pense que les semenciers ont prélevé les graines sur des blettes à cardes rouges qui ont monté en fleurs sur leur première année et c'est pour celà que les miennes sont montées aussi tout de suite
Qu'en penses-tu charles?
En août on peut semer aussi de la mâche, des navets ,des radis noir d'hiver,salades d'automne voire d'hiver 😉
Demain il va faire 35°, ça va chauffer 🥵
J'ai arrosé tous mes légumes en prévision !
Bonne semaine Charles
Pépé JP de ch'nord de la France
Oui c'est ca Pepe.
Je fais ma propre semence de blettes rouges, sur deux ans
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
Merci Charles
Le problème est que je ne pourrais pas prendre ces graines là car si je les sème l'année prochaine,elles montront de nouveau en graines ! 😡
@@jean-pierregesquiere533 c’est sur!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
😥
Bonne semaine 😉
Wonderful. This video is really helpful. Thank you, Charles!
You are welcome
Glad to see the return of the nice 4k footage Charles
Always the best advice I find if I do things around the time you do I am more successful 👍
Perfect!
Thank you, Charles, for all your advice. What a gorgeous cat! ❤
Our pleasure, and she is Minty
Thank you Charles, enjoyed the visit.
Your garden is beautiful
Glad you enjoyed it Naomi
So glad I discovered your channel. Like many I grew up gardening in the conventional way but over time have adopted many of the same habits that you have. Lots of trial and error with seed selection and saving, companion and succession planting in my small but highly productive backyard garden. I like especially how you share your experience and encourage us to experiment. I pick up a little wisdom in each of your videos. I started recently in a new location ( urban southern california) in terrible sterile sandy ground but within 2 years there is an amazing amount of life in my garden, including the usual pests although I enjoy observing the interaction with their natural predators I still take some action. Thanks for who you are. Curt
I am happy to read this Curt, lovely success
Lovely to hear of your success and thank you for your kind words Curtis
Looks great, and yes! It seems the planning for next year never stops 😂
Ah how fast time flies! We are already planting seeds in trays for our autumn/winter garden! Its fascinating how there is always something cool to do in the garden! 🙂
I'm sowing seeds for spring harvest now! Spring cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflower 😁
@@jez-bird Hell yeah 😛
Great to hear
Gearing up and preparing for spring here! Still waiting on winter to arrive! Feeling like its going to be a challenging season but with your sharing of knowledge and our trialling amd practices we will thrive! Thank you and always an amazing garden you have! Kia ora
Thanks Renata and may spring be kind
Praying for the people of the UK those children 😢hope you're government wakes up. Will be doing a small garden this coming summer. I have tried the no till must say it was the easiest garden I've ever had ❤❤❤
Our government is awake, you clearly dont have a clue what is going on. How appropriate is this channel for your right wing nonsense?
Always a pleasure to see your videos Charles
Great to hear John 🙂
Always a great pleasure watching your content. Going to search your channel. Hoping you have a video of your compost set up. I've retired this year and have settled into my forever home. I'm also learning to garden with my husbands help. I need a good compost area set up. Thank you
Hi Tammy, Thank you for your kind words. You can find my latest video on compost here ua-cam.com/video/MCftXbye1AA/v-deo.html I look forward to hearing your progress
I love watching Charles. He gives me lots to aspire to with regard to my allotment, but hey, ho, I learn a lot and it certainly helps with stress.
Lovely to hear Becky, thank you
I love in South Wales and had a family occasion in July so had to leave my garden to its own devices. I had someone go and water for me if the weather was too hot but that only happened twice. When I returned after 3 weeks I was amazed at how well everything had done, my beans, peas, mange tout, courgettes/marrows and especially the spinach beet and lettuce. My tomatoes are slower as they are outside as I have no room for a greenhouse,but seems stronger and more flowers than last year. This does puzzle me. On the whole very happy with how nature has helped my garden.
Lovely to see this Sandra
Nice to see you again after a while. I take more care of watering pots and boxes particularly, and of course recently planted seeds and plantlets. Most of my garden is weeds this year and they survive very well. 😂 Maybe next year I’ll spend more time on the garden and have an enviable one like yours. Mine never looked better than during the COVID years.
Thanks Terry, go you in 2025!
I'm not done with my garden and already looking forward to doing things differently according to what I've learned from your channel, plus with all the insane news I pay attention to it's calming to watch your podcasts.
Wonderful!
Thanks for the interesting update, as always. Given the issues so many of us have had with slugs and snails this year it would be really useful to get some guidance possibly in a future short on what damage is terminal and what plants can recover from please e.g. all my runner beans are munched mid-stem, will they reshoot? Can 4-5 month old brassicas recover from the loss of all outer leaves?
Oh dear, both sound terminal. Thanks for suggestion.
Another lovely video, thank you Charles for all the valuable information you share with us. My allotment has become so lush over the past month, plants are now producing and thriving not too badly when i thought it would be a poor year. Just shows you what a bit of sunshine and some warmth does for the garden and its insects which im happy to report have returned.
I am glad to hear this Ona 🌱
"They're not concerned about that" 🌱❤
Very nice Charles. A real informative clip. Many Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it Jim
Lots of good advice , thankyou Charles . 💚
💚
A very interesting video as always. Thanks Mr. Dowding👏🏻💐
Glad you enjoyed it Maria
J'adore vraiment vos vidéos. Je suis en reconversion j'étais entraîneur de natation ( formation et haut niveau ) mais lire votre livre, ainsi que ceux du potager d'olivier me réconforte dans mes choix. Je vous conseille de regarder sur youtube ou les livres de Joseph chauffray.
Encore merci
Merci bien William!
Always a joy to watch your videos. I actually found out recently whilst creating an art project that chia sees from the supermarket are from salvia... I'm not sure what variety but I grew some for the project and now I am trying to continue growing some of the spares. I'm in Australia so I'm not sure it's quite the best season to getting them going but I have some in my greenhouse and I can always sow some more later if they don't work out... the joy of gardening :D
Interesting! Best of luck with it
4:20 Yes in your climate along with considering the amount of cloudy days you've said you have then bare soil that's already a good percentage of organic material drying out is a non-issue and frankly I'd want it to dry out some.
Context is everything. When we have a string of 100 F days and clouds are sparse and the air dries out and the organic material in the soil isn't as high that's a very different context and I'm going to have everything covered with straw which is very effective in this environment.
Hi Charles and crew. Great to keep us updated. We appreciate you. Thanks.
Zone 6b. Our growing season is short compared to yours.
It's a big year of tomatoes and cucumbers in our garden.
Tomatoes from transplants all in the ground. No dig of course.
Hubby with green thumbs. His success with tomatoes I'll share.>>>>>>>
Putting garden to "bed". He put down compost then covered with 3x's chopped brown leaves. Before planting he temporarily moved the leaves that weren't completely decomposed. He prunes very little.
You can experiment by top dressing tomatoes and less pruning for outdoor tomatoes. (hubby does not take chances depending on his compost so he adds slow release fertilizer when transplanting.) Enjoying life. The good. The bad and the ugly. lol
So cool!
Very nice catch up. Thanks, Charles.
Glad you enjoyed it Matthew
👍thanks great video charles i always learn something from you 🍅🥒😊
You are welcome Loraine and I am glad 🌱
I have chickens and sheep. I grow extra to feed them in the summer when things get brown and dry. They love it. I can't free range my chickens because of the bald eagles snatching them. I only let them out in the field and animal pens when I'm out there with them cleaning up the pens for the compost pile. So, they love the greens and extras from the garden 😊
Great system!
Thank you Charles for valuable information. Wonderful garden full of flowers 💚
I am glad and thank you Marzena
Great video! 🌱 Everything is looking fantastic 🤩
Thank you Tommy
Очень полезное видео, спасибо!
Приятно слышать!
Thank you for sharing call your vast knowledge with us.....I'm in Australia and have many seeds germinated ready to plant out ... we've had some really cold (for us) nights/mornings this winter 0°C or their abouts on many nights.....I'm excited to plant out more fruits and veggies .......and the more you grow the more compost you can make 😊😊😊
Best of luck Melanie. That’s interesting about your unusually cold nights and I hope they don’t continue too long.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you for your kind reply, i live sub-tropical so not used to this cold we've had this winter the days are beautiful usually around 22°C (not bad for winter) I've never had a frost where I live so did plant out some seedlings today, with more to do tomorrow....I've even managed to germinate my watermelon and rockmelon seeds, I have already got several volunteer tomato plants that have done well over winter now to protect from the parrots
Bom dia Charles perfeito e adorável obrigado ❤
Obrigado Luisa!
great vid
Thanks
Hello charles I love sound of chard wonderful 💚
Such valued advice, thank you Charles! Here we have drought and record heat challenges (MD, USA). The benefit of gray water irrigation, vegetable plants survive while the weeds thrive. Peace and Blessings 🌱🌻🐈⬛
Oh wow!!
beautiful home garden
Thank you
Just love how everything looks so lush and healthy with hardly any pest damage, I need to get on top of my game!
For starters how do you stop cats from pooping in your soil where the veggies are growing Charles please?
I put up with it because I have a large garden and only one cat. However you could use bird netting to deter them. That worked for me when I had two cats.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you Charles 🙏
Thanks so much 🙏 💓
You are welcome Claire
Yes some plants I had no hope for have suddenly recovered. Tomatoes not ripening though, but more beans I know what to do with! Not sure what the pumpkins are doing to be honest. Some seem OK, others not doing much other than producing fungus leaves. I do remove them. Celeriac, swede and leeks OK (I think!) I've shoved in some globe artichokes in a bed that seems to kill everything I put in it. Perhaps because under pear trees. Anyway, the chokes seem happy under there (for now!). The sweet corn has gone jurassic. Hope I can get to it before the rats, mice, squirrels, and flying rabbits! 😂😊
By the way, chopping back the strawberries worked like magic. Oh...and thank you!
Nice to hear, recovery!!
Exactly the same here. Some squash really prolific others have done nothing in the same bed. Sweet corn plants and cobs huge. Hoping for a prize in this weeks local produce show!
Good Luck Christina
@@christinadowney42 best of luck in the show, Cristina!
August may be a lovely month for you, BUT my garden in the low AZ, U.S.A. desert, EVERYTHING IS BURNED UP! Our temps run 110 to 117. Enjoying your beautiful garden!
Oh wow, sorry to hear that
Hi Charles, I met you at Hampton court, please could you tell me what the pink flower is in the small garden and elsewhere? I have some but can’t remember what they are! Thanks, Jo
Hi Joanne,
Malope trifida Vulcan, the quite tall one
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you. I can never remember what I grow from seed!!
Chickens absolutely love chard and beet tops. Thanks for your lovely video, you've inspired me to get busy in the garden. My pumkins have taken off in the humanure, incredible, I think they are going to take over the whole garden 😂
Great to hear of your success Bernadette 🌱
Hi Charles. Whilst I wouldn't wish ongoing bad weather to anyone it is a small comfort that it is not only us over here that are suffering. We've had the wettest summer I've ever known, last month alone saw a cyclone that dropped 100ml of rain in one day beating all records and leaving many cities flooded and we've had rain pretty much everyday since. Last year there was a 6 week drought so I invested in 200m hoses and a pump to pump up from the lake! I've grown the best potato plants ever this year by covering the beds over winter killing off all weeds (ruth stout method 4 years) and now blight is rampaging through them, they did flower so I'm hoping there will be some harvest. The rain does seem to have caused nutrient washing in some beds as I've relied more on liquid fertilisers this year. Sadly as Latvia is still a world leader in peat production/exports getting any other type of compost is extremely hard and we can't produce enough ourselves (currently). But as I keep saying with positive optimism 'there's always next year' :)
Oh no, I'm so sorry to see this. That sounds truly horrible. And yet in the Balkans they have extreme drought. I hope that you get your potatoes out okay, that's a key crop
Hahah love the cover pic! ❤ and thank you for saying “Little and Often” again - I was just thinking abt it for something else I need to do - so timely! Thank you lots ❤
Thanks, and we had fun making that photo!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig more please!!!
❤ Dankeschön. I had to harvest my potatoes early because of sudden blight. BUT the harvest was great, even double compared to last years dry season!😊 So nothing is so bad that it cannot be good for something, my grandma used to say. Hope this makes sense in English😅
Fantastic saying. We say also that every cloud has a silver lining
Great info, I'm being driven mad at my plot by voles, every day having to go up and tread plants back in , any advice would be helpful, I simply don't know what to do and can't devote the time to go everyday
Sorry to hear that. Any outdoor cat would help, but maybe you are close to water or fields where there are many of them. Probably too many to trap and that also is not easy so I'm afraid, I cannot help!
Thx for replying, spot on, plots are next to a river on fields so guess I'm going to have to keep pushing my veg back in 😊
Just bought your knife I can't wait for it to come can we have a masterclass in making miso? Pluss cant wait for you to cook with charles dowding video again lol 😊 hope you are well
Nice!
Looking great, if it grows wack it into the space😀🇦🇺
Watering here in the states has been demanding too. A lot of sun, low humidity and high temps 90F+. I don’t have enough compost yet to get away with conserving water, even with my clay soil. I found relying on some ground cover weeds like Purslane really helps retain soil moisture. They are succulent like plants so probably do suck up a lot of water but the shade they provide from the unrelenting sunshine I think outweighs their impact. At least for this year anyways. It also discourages the deer from jumping the fence. And less work for me!
Hey Charles have you heard this one farmer down in the states growing sunflowers and the sunflowers are not following the Sun, they appear to be turning away.
Thanks for sharing this Mike, and goodness me, that is strange and worrying. I have not noticed with mine and shall check today. However, we have so little sunshine, but I shall find some at some point!
I read somewhere that ice/rats carry disease and slugs eat their droppings leave residue on greens which poses health risk to humans (something to do with spine/back, can’t remember).
Thanks, I'm inclined not to believe that because otherwise we'd all be pretty ill! I feel that's another kind of scary story to put us off homegrown food and get us into the supermarket! Also, I must say that I do not like the phrase, I read somewhere!
Thank you 🙏 😊
I potted on my seedlings and they all died off - worst year ever! Spuds are good - blighted but still OK underneath. Tomatoes all shrivelled. A lot stunted with the cold and never seemed to recover regarding squash. And the most weird thing I've ever seen - I still have one apple tree producing blossom! I did have another tree with one little clump of blossom last month, but that one apple tree that still has blossom has been consistent with it's flowering! It does have apples, although immature - the squirrels are chewing them and spitting out the unripe bits of apples! Some are chewed like you see in a cartoon! That was when it was wet, so I can understand it while the weather is hot, but this is bonkers!
Flowering in August?! 😲Thats crazy!
My apple trees in the US have very few apples this year. My tree is usually loaded. I attributed it to our exceptionally hot dry spring. Where I live we had 90° weather in June and it has continued straight on through August. I believe it's from the geoengineering.
@@socloseagain4298 Yes - I can see there are still 3 sets of blossoms on there!
🌻 😊 Thank You 💚 🍃 Always a pleasure 🌞
You are welcome
Ive just given up on any veg this year [the slugs and snails have won the battle] but am just starting some late autumn and over wintering veg and hoping for the best
Go you, definitely worth it
Look very attractive, so meaningful, interesting, attractive, love it and want to watch more of your videos
Thank you so much
@@CharlesDowding1nodig love you. Wishing you luck and health, looking forward to your videos
Love the thumbnail!😂
I was about to mention that,, please don't do the 😮 route charles, it normally puts me off
I went on vacation and returned to all my brassicas eaten by worms. I neglected to cover them. Should I cut stalks to the ground and see if I get new growth? Or pull them and reseed with other plants?
They can recover if you remove any caterpillars/worms you see, and give them a good dose of water. They grow a lot in the autumn. See this video about controlling them ua-cam.com/video/Nbf7D80j5os/v-deo.html
Hi Charles, your advice is to get rid of weeds when they’re still small. As a beginner gardener, I often don’t know if something is a weed or a flower which sowed itself from a neighboring flower bed. Any advice on how to spot actual weeds? Thanks!
Yes, weeds are distinctive once you do this enough to recognise their first leaves. It should not be difficult for you, also because there's only so many flowers can grow in any one location, so if you happened to pull out one or two, that's probably a good effect in the end.
Love your cover photo, bout sums it up for 2024
My brand new garden is looking less so! Compost bin half full. Broadcasting salt granules before my holiday meant I came back to carrots 🥕 growing ( 3rd time lucky) and my brassicas in tact 😂. Your videos are so valuable. Please could you produce an ornament for our ‘no dig’ gardens like the one your son made for you. Now onto the postage stamp front garden. Fruit bushes and trees. Thank you so much for sharing your method and knowledge. 🥰. Ps. Have you never been asked to go on Gardeners Question Time?
Thank you for sharing and I’m glad you’ve had successes. I have been featured on that program, but not as a panelist. 
Hi Charles, I am having bad results with my tomatoes. New seed. lots of flowers but no fruit forming. A mate who usually grows toms really well is also affected. I saw a gentleman allotment holder on 27th July saying that nobody on his allotment was having success with toms. His chillies, in the same greenhouse were doing well. He also complained about his runner beans, mine have been great although I am now having plants die on me.
Thanks for your podcasts and advice.
Peter from Newton Abbot
Oh dear, that sounds sad. It's very hard to offer advice I'm afraid without knowing all the details but it's worrying that so many people are having the tomato problem. And your runner beans, that sounds odd
I have a single clump of wild rocket sown last august, still growing strong! It's in a shady bed, so I managed to prevent it bolting. Woody stems but it tastes great!
With tomatoes there is something called steering the growth. Eg too much vegetative growth as in your case - remove the leafs opposite the fruit clusters. That will direct the plant energy from leaf to fruit. Works surprisingly well.
Thanks, interesting
The Kale at around 6.45. Is it dazzling blue?
Yes you got it
Pickle Worms and Army worms have been hard to deal with. Even with spraying often they have caused so much damage. Didn't see any last year. I'm hopeful late Summer and Fall will be less challenging.
The problem in my garden for fall planting is we get those cold nights but days are still hot. The frost in early morning is the problem without a low tunnel. It’s a lot of work covering and uncovering. Last year I could have grown into Christmas as the temps went from 37 at Halloween to 52 at Christmas in Wisconsin, US. Totally weird.
That is wild!
Kind sir your country is in turmoil I wish you well no harm to you or your family ❤❤
It's not as bad as you hear on the media who would like to stoke fear and worry! Thank you anyway