Charles, next year i'm starting to sell vegetables to my local market! They are interested in my products, which is unbeleivable to me because only 6 years ago I was so depressed and drowning in anxiety that I could not even cook my own food, now i'm growing it and distributing it soon! It all started when I watched your channel, literally. It really is a big dream come true, I was watching you in the past years thinking ''This is the best job in the world'' and i'm incredibly excited for the years to come which i'm sure will be full of challenges, but even bigger rewards. Your channel has an incredible impact in the world, because you plant seeds in the mind of people, and sometimes, a forest grow. When I changed my diet from very bad to very good 6 years ago, my body responsded in ways I could not even imagine possible. Chronic diseases, anxiety and depression vanished without a trace. I want people to experience the same thing I did, and its all starting next years, 100% thanks to you. YOU ARE AMAZING! Cheers.
We did the farmers market to provide some money for my daughters college. She’s going to be a nurse soon. We grew a lot of produce using Mr. Dowding’s examples. We’ve moved and I no longer have the farmers market but I did build two more greenhouses, and I am planning on growing much more than I need to give to friends and neighbors. So satisfying and was very satisfying on Saturday morning to watch the people come to my stand and lineup to get vegetables and they did lineup. It was amazingly rewarding. Good luck, and inspire those who come to your stand to look up Mr. Dowding, and start growing their own produce.
Charles and your associates, I really appreciate your work. Besides supporting your channel here I bought your books and calendar. Thanks for your efforts. On my part I recommend everyone to turn their grass into a place where you can find something to eat. I have a very relaxed approach to gardening, if a plant that bees like wants to grow in a place where I don't want it I let it be. I care for the bees as much as for my harvest.
PULLED A TURNIP STRAIGHT OUT OF THE GROUND ON NOVEMBER 8th AND ATE IT WITH SUCH JOY !!!!! ONLY NO DIG KEEPS THE GROWING GOING YEAR ROUND !!!!! WELL…….GUESS MOTHER NATURE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT TOO!!!!! SO THANKS SIR CHARLES, NO DIG, AND MOTHER NATURE !!!!!! ROCK ON NOVEMBER TURNIPS !!!!!!
Your garden my friend, is the most incredible i have seen in all of them. Cause of you I appreciated nature more and more. Good health to you and bless you always. Let's keep growing! 🥦🥬🫛🥕🥔🍆🌽 😀👍
I am so grateful for your work you have done - treasure with priceless knowledge supported by practice and your experience. I take it wholeheartedly and apply it in my Polish conditions. Heartly Thank You and greet!
Never knew you could grow so much over winter until I started watching your videos about 5 years ago. Now the veg plot, poly tunnel and green house are full of crops for Autumn and Winter. All no dig and started off in modules. You have changed the way I garden for the better, thank you. I read that carrot fly can stay in the soil over winter and infest the next seasons crop, I used to get it every year but now grow in a 3 metre long high bed with mesh cover and had good rresults with no fly for two years, probably not very practical for your scale of production.
Hi Vikkie, this is lovely to hear. And thanks for the tip on carrot root fly, which never used to be so significant here in autumn, as it is now. So I need a different approach next year.
Yeeey 😍 this year, my 3rd #NoDig, I was a little behind & always late with being ready with spare seedlings & next seedlings, yet my little ca. 3x4 m patch has grown 57 kgs of food 🎉🤯 lots of tomato but a bunch of other things too (small place but I like to try different things as a "learning curve" haha so I even had a jar of peanutbutter from 4 plants 😋)
Charles, fascinating video again and I'm now a convert to no dig completely. I do still think a rotation is important, although it can be done flexibly. I'm struggling with historic club root, which is a result of poor rotation and low pH. Carrots are becoming tough to grow in a garden situation now, will you go back to a raised bed, the fly flies very low. My biggest tip...grow what you use a lot of and can fit in multi-sow ie, potatoes, onions, garlic, spring onions, brassica, peas, beans, beetroot etc In Aberdeenshire I plant mustard and buckwheat cover crop in Sept and plant onion and garlic sets in Oct The garden productivity is now immense, thanks for all the tips 😊
Thanks for sharing this David, and I'm happy that you are fully no dig nnow. And I agree about what one might call less rotation. The point I'm trying to make that rotation is not obligatory, but I would not saying never to rotate!
Es magnífico ver tú suelo lleno de hortalizas.Siempre ocupado y productivo.Voy a intentar cultivar la colinabo a ver qué tal se me da 😂🤙🏻Saludos desde Tenerife !! 👌🏻👏🌸🥦🥬☔️🌿🐈
@ Si.El clima en mi zona a 500 m de altitud en Enero es de 6 a 11ºC de mínima y en la noche solamente.Si acompaña la humedad y algo de lluvia ,sería magnífico.
Your very lucky there Charles, garden looks amazing. I'm in a zone 4b Canadian climate and frost to frost is 120 days but some of that is still cold so not much growth occurs. I get one chance at growing enough food for the year so I always plant double what I need and go from there. This year was good, my root cellar and freezers are full and got about 40/50 jars on the shelf, mostly tomatoes but also a variety of pickles. Cheers and happy gardening everyone.
Wonderful video Charles, I am getting right into 2nd, and even 3rd plantings of the same crops here in Thailand, as we don't suffer the cold like in the far Northern hemispheres.
I love seeing the interplanting. Your fennel bulbs are nice. I grew a lot in the spring and summer. I let a bunch go to flower. The bees love the flowers. I put the entire plant in a salad. I used some of the seed to grow more and I just harvested one the other day. I love the way Brussels sprouts look. Minty is so cute. Thank you. 😊
Lovely, informative video Charles. Even though I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa & our seasons and climates are so different, I still always learn so much from your videos. Thank you!
Your videos are so enjoyable and full of knowledge😊 Do you eat dandelions? Tender ones are excellent with vinaigrette, I learnt when playing farmer as a child. Later, traveling in Greece, I was often served a similar, but bigger bitter plant boiled with lemon and the spring green sort of olive oil that smells of freshly cut grass. The dish was served after the main course and aids digestion, a similar effect as the French bitter liquors used as a "digestif". I assume one could prepare the same dish using dandelions. Well, just a thought. Thank you very much for all the teaching work you do💐 Greetings from Sweden
I think it would be wonderful to see Charles Dowding show how to sow dandelions as a cover crop to harvest early spring for his local restaurants. 😃 Your recipes sound delicious! Hashtag No Dig Dandies Hashtag set a trend. 😁
I popped some peas in next to the broad beans, so I have pea shoots in November! Nice surprise along with late globe artichokes. My carrots are doing rather well in my little raised bed, not seen any root fly damage, my kale sprouts are already producing and the radicchio is hearting up nicely. Along with the chard, which has slowed down a bit now, I'm still eating homegrown veg, so thank you ever so much for your help and inspiration! On the carrot front I have noticed my neighbours using an old metal trough, which the slugs don't like and it's too high for carrot fly, so they seem to do well with no other protection.
Wonderful harvests Charles. Zone 6b. Growing, carrots, beets, turnips, scallions, Swiss chard and Brussel sprouts. Sweet Alyssum flowers for the honey bees. Can't get much better than that. Moon rising at 2pm awesome during the daytime. Even got a little rain this evening. Cheers.
Sounds great! So good ahead of winter. I'm jealous that you saw the moon. We have had constant cloud cover since 31st October, not a chink! Today was forecast sunshine but none has appeared yet.
Brilliant as always! Thank you Charles. Your calendar is on my Xmas list every year 🎉 it’s our first year on the allotment and we have held back many weeds by broadcast seeding mustard this autumn in one bed and sunflowers in late July in another
Hi Charles, I love your videos. I want to ask you if you harvest the spinach full out if you want them (the plant) to come back in the spring..or Do you leave the leaves over winter on the plants. Do you cover them. I have always problem to make them survive and grow again in the spring. Helene in Stockholm Sweden
Hi Helene I always leave a few leaves on the plants because that helps them to survive better, and it's not often I cover them, but if you do, using hoops and you can manage to stop the cover blowing away or squashing the plants, that might be worthwhile, not easy!
Hi Charles. Thanks for turning the back ground music down a peg or two 😜. I have a trick that seems to work well for carrot fly. I have an enviromesh curtain about one and a half metres high around them with the top half metre turned over to the outside so any insect climbing up will get stuck under the flap. Tuck the enviromesh in the ground! Also I sprinkle granulated garlic all round and about to mask the scent of carrots. This may work with just putting the mesh over your crop.Keep the videos coming they are great.
I have grown florence fennel for the first time this year. I got a reasonable harvest but mine don't look as big and fat as yours. I will certainly grow them again. They add a really nice flavour to soup.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I sowed the fennel on July 4th this year and they didn't swell like yours, they remained very small. Last year sown on July 8th, I harvested some decent fennel at the beginning of November. I'm thinking I didn't put the compost under the crop like last year, I hope it's just for this reason we'll see next year
Love these videos! Charles, I live a dessert climate which has average 90F highs in July and August. So, whenever I start crops in may, june, july, they tend to go to seed from all that heat. But, i know there must be a way to do it because the central valley in CA can grow so many things and they're even hotter. Could you reveal the secret of how to do it?
I can't speak from experience, but I would not attempt to sow in July, or even before about 10th August, then start seedlings in a shaded place, also protected from insects. So that you are transplanting in slightly less hot conditions, possibly still with shade, cloth over. Or sow first September!
RIGHT! It's late spring here in cool southern Aus. I'm going to not miss those summer sowings you have to do in order for this autumn growing and harvest!!! This year is the year!!! (I may have said that before!)... but no.. this year is IT!
5:36 I've never actually grown fennel, but I sometimes buy it from a market stall that sell it complete with the top growth, and I use that in place of dill, when making borsch.
Thank you again for a very informative video. I have just ordered your calendar, so looking forward to receiving it. Please would you happen to have a link for Granat cabbage seeds? All my fennel bolted this year but will follow your advice to plant out in July. Thank you so much once again.🙂🙂
Hello Charles. Thank you for your inspiring videos. One question please: My own compost only contains the „good stuff“. What I dispose of in the organic waste bin: plants with mould, rot, old bread, etc. When you buy so much compost, how do you make sure it's „good compost“ and not the kind with all the waste you don't want to have in your own garden? Is there anything to watch out for when purchasing compost? Regards from Germany, Cologne-Rhine-area, Melanie
Hello Emm I would not worry at all about what you call the 'bad stuff' because all of that is good to compost, I know from experience. Many composts you buy will have some of those materials in, except for mushroom compost which is mostly straw and old animal manure.
Ah sorry to hear that Charles, sometimes you just cannot win!, however after 10 years of root fly free carrots in the polytunnel it may be that the 2" raised beds are helping because I do get infestation outside most years. Anyway better luck next year!
Have you tried inter cropping carrots in with your garlic.....garlic may keep away the root fly maggots.....maybe .....most bugs don't like strong smelling things....
Yes, but… The timings are not quite right because carrots are at seedling stage while the garlic is maturing, then the garlic is harvested before carrots root flies arrive. Shall have a look - it's the autumn root flies here which are troublesome
Charles, the hardest part of having seedlings ready for fall is getting them to germinate in extreme summer heat. Getting lettuce to germinate in 40°+ Celsius is no mean feat😂. Plus the cabbage moths are absolutely brutal in the middle of summer and will destroy Brassica seedlings in mere hours. I also found out that birds can eviscerate tiny seedlings. You think I'd know all these things but even though I've been gardening for over 25 years, this setup that I started this spring is completely different. I have learned quite a bit through these mistakes and am prepared for 2025... You know the mantra, "there's always next year."
Yes, and it's true: mistakes keep me enthusiastic for next year, to do better! Extreme weather is not helping and those temperatures sound challenging to say the least. I would definitely use Bacillus thuringiensis on Brassica seedlings. Good luck in 2025!
Love this video, Charles! Comes at a very good moment too, as I am busy making plans for next year. I would very much appreciate a video on same kind of veggies that come with different sowing times, like spring and autumn endive/kale. I find that very confusing: how to fit that into what you say on your sowing calendar? (Yes, I bought the 2025 edition. Love it! Your book about compost too.) 🙏
Thank you, and I'm impressed by your diligence. This video could help you which were published in February 2023 ua-cam.com/video/1HtBMfbJ_nY/v-deo.html. I think also you want more understanding about why certain vegetables grow best at certain times, I do explain that in this video, but shall have a think about how to cover it more specifically
That would be an incredible amount of work for Mr. Dowding hahaha. North America is so diverse. There is an amazing book which I think you would like, called '''Seeds to seeds'' by Suzanne Ashworth. There you have calendar for every states of the USA, for all vegetables. I live in Canada and still its my most valuable book. It really is a brick of informations.
I think it is written in the calendars hiw to use it if in different climate, sg like do things a week or too earlier if in a warmer climate up until midsommer,, sg like this. Also checking how hardy your varieties are
@Im-just-Stardust I agree it would be a lot to do, but the info is available from sources like you mentioned , farmers almanac or seed suppliers like burpee or Johnny's. I will check out the book you mentioned. Thanks
Thanks Charles! You are an inspiration! When do you plant and harvest parsnips? I direct sowed seeds May 1 and harvested on yesterday and parts of it were a bit woody. I like to leave them in the ground for late fall and winter when they sweeten up but may have to plant a little later so they're not in the ground so long.
Thanks, and that's a good point, but I do might not mind a little woodiness, because if you cut them vertically, it's possible to slice the woody centre out. And there's so much good flesh around it. I have sown them as late as the middle of June, which works as well
Thoughts??? Charles, I have a horse stable about 2 miles from me, they use saw dust for bedding, so your end product is sawdust, wasted hay, some urine and manure in their pile. Assuming there isn't any herbicides in the hay and if I got a load of this, either after it sat for a period of time over there or I left it sit, how would this be as an additive to my compost? Issue I was having this fall, I am still trying get head lettuce started to over-winter. I have been using Coast of Maine seed starting mix all year but this fall I was having issues with either no germination or very little. I use the pricking out method and I was covering less than a 1/4", which may have been too much. Some of my containers seem to turn into a cake. I have also been using my potting mix over after I pricked out the container, just mixing it back into my bin. So, this past weekend I re-watched one of your lettuce starting video and had notice you really don't cover, other than with Vermiculite. All I had was perlite, so I diluted my potting mix with that and covered with perlite and I am getting good germination 4 days later. I guess I kind of answered my own question, though I need to pickup some Vermiculite. 2 questions??? Do you use your potting mix over? Do you see any draw backs with Vermiculite? Thanks
Cheers Mark, and yes, you could add that to your compost heaps, maybe 20%, no more. Since that video, I have taken to not covering lettuce seed at all! It really does not like weight on top, but a little vermiculite is fine, I just don't use too much of that. I don't like the look of it in my garden, soil afterwards! And sometimes I do use my potting mix over the often it has seeds in which finally do germinate! So usually I'm spreading it on beds
Any news on whether you will be doing an electronic calendar this year? I find I rarely look at the paper calendar and would prefer it on my phone (in Microsoft Outlook format) as this is something that I see everyday.
There is another version of combining celeriac with garlic. That is summer sown celeriac. Sown in june and planted after garlic mine are now about half or one third of the size of those sown in febuary. I would recommend especially go those with limited space inside to grow seedlings. In june I germinated them inside and then propagated outside for a bit before planting them in the ground.
That's interesting, because I have a feeling you're losing quite a bit of crop there - my celeriac weigh average 1kg. I germinated them in a small tray on a windowsill, sown 22nd March, pricked tiny seedlings early April into small module cells which have 60 seedlings in a tray the size of an A4 sheet of paper. I feel that it's worth finding the space for that in order to transplant mid May because of the extra harvest and how they are not needing any extra space for that earlier transplanting, compared to July
@CharlesDowding1nodig Yes, I can see your point. And especially since we both in the end grew them with garlic. I will keep experimenting and have these options in mind.
That calendar seems like a great help, but I wonder: surely it’s only good for your zone? I live in Québec zone 5A, not sure I could use your calendar here 🤔
Hello from France Charles, I discovered your beautiful world through Olivier and absolutely love it ! I have decided to give No dig a try and your books are so helpful (Compost, No Dig and Skills for Growing so far). Ordered them in English (not my native tongue) but very easy to read and straight to the point. Such a treat ! I live in Eastern France, in the Champagne region. Would you please let me know how to find my precise area climate ? I grow my veggies and this year, applied the multi-sowing and planting for leeks and beets. Got great results. So encouraging ! Love your videos ! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise ! PS: Is your calendar for your area or can it be used in mine ?
Thanks Catherine, lovely to hear. You're clever is similar to here, I reckon so you're so win dates will be pretty much the same, that's what I hear from Northwest Germany, close to you. Bonnes recoltes!
Root fly I read to make a garlic spray to help and sow flowers within the carrots to bring in ladybugs. I did not see watering tubing, I’m curious how you water the root vegetable in those beds?❤ thank you for your advice and time creating this video for us 🥰
Interesting! I found the end of a row of carrots under some alyssum. The entire row was destroyed by carrot worm but those under the alyssum were perfect.. Fluke maybe?
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I'm not so sure lady beetles would counter carrot fly but ground beetles and spiders would. Perhaps scented flowers mask the smell of carrots to the flies?
Thanks, and no rush because of how they are still growing, and I hope to harvest more sprouts until February, so maybe late January harvest of tops, if we can manage to keep pigeons out of them
I’m coming up on my 4th year of no dig and even though I don’t use as much compost as Charles does, I’m beginning to notice that weed suppression is improving noticeably. (I’m working on making more compost which is tricky where I live because so many people use poison and herbicide on crops)
Thank you for video, we have been no dig with our own compost for past 6 years now our crops are much stronger but more flavoursome. Our celeriac had a lot of browning inside, is that normal?
Good to hear Lewis except for the brown celeriac. I'm not sure, it could be that Septoria disease if leaves had died off or, tunnels from woodlice, perhaps.
Regarding your calendar, the dates of sowing are for your southern area, how much earlier would you start sowing for the West of Ireland (similar climate to Cumbria)? That was the reason I followed the late Steve from Green Side Up. This year has been extremely challenging, weather wise, we've only had 7 days above 25 degrees all summer, with most days being cloudy, grey, and the temperatures only reaching the high teens
Yes I was in Leitrim recently and experienced that weather, the cool and darkness, as well as seeing the results, although many vegetables looked better than I had expected. The dates will not very a lot, but something like from July, I would sow a week earlier. And in March, a week later.
Great video Charles. I try to start seeds mid-summer and they so often get infested with aphids that stunts them so badly that they don't survive. I'm not sure how to combat it. I have plenty of hoverflies etc in the garden and the adult plants can withstand a few aphids but the seedlings can't. Would you have any tips on protecting seedlings?
This is one reason why I start all my seedlings in the greenhouse where there are fewer aphids and they start rapidly with little insect damage. Then straight after transplanting, they have a mesh cover over for five, maybe six weeks.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks Charles. I don't have a greenhouse but have been thinking of setting up some separate protected space (away from the polytunnel with the tomatoes) for starting seeds. Hopefully that will help.🙂
Any tips on dealing with Pumpkin beetle, Grasshopper, armyworm, and cutworms? I live in a tropical country, these pests are MASSIVE, I've practiced no dig and even companion planting along with some flowers and whatnot, but the insects just keep ravaging my crops. I haven't used any pesticide or any chemical in the same categories, but that option really starts to tempt me though
Nasiona potrzebują światła, aby wykiełkować, więc może to był twój błąd. Po prostu rozrzuć je na wierzchu kompostu w małej tacce, może z taflą szkła na wierzchu, na słonecznym parapecie pod koniec marca.
My fall garden is the fifth planting since we moved and a half years ago. It was said by MIGardener not to do mulch in the winter time. Since I have had three loads of tree mulch delivered over my time here this bothered me. We put the bigger “chunks.” in the isles and we chip up into smaller for around plants. We are in Florence South Carolina zone 8B it makes sense what MIGardener said about Mulch harboring bad insects/bugs. And I have had horrible times with bugs. Any suggestions?
Makes sense not to mulch as it is true that bugs can hide. If you have mulch already I would throw partly completed or actual home made compost on the mulch as top dressing. Mulch would decompose over time. If you use manure I would add that too as nitrogen to hasten decomposition of mulch
Do you mean mulch on beds? And if so are you wondering about putting woodchip on beds? That's something I would never do so I'm really not sure about answering your question! On my beds I mulch with compost while keeping any woodchip for paths only. Compost definitely does not harbour problems! So I have no hesitation in applying it at any time of year.
Great video Charles. Can I pick your brains please?! I know you are a rule breaker in the garden so I wanted to ask if you can add lime and manure to soil at the same time? my brassicas have had terrible club root this year so I need the lime but I also have a chance to get some manure. What are your thoughts please?😀
Are you going to be putting out a calendar for Australian people. It’s so up side down here. Very confusing when you say months. Words like spring or summer would be nice ❤
I often refer to the seasons, and you can find Southern Hemisphere months in this free calendar we offer you as a download from my website, drive.google.com/file/d/1D3wFqIl5WRV1m3iiLn82SdLvsj08YEfS/view
Hi Charles hope you are well I just had a question regarding acidiry im considering using pine tree based leaf mould or even pine needles as a soil improver fpr winter and was worried about the ph levels becoming too acidic. I know that you are overcoming alot of misinformation about gardening on our behalf. It was in my mind that the ph levels would naturally sort themselves out. But I'm still a beginner. Cheers
Yes, absolutely the soil does not become acid from adding a mulch of pine needles. Bottom line is that it's almost impossible to change soil, pH. Consider how rain is pH 5.6, acid, and yet soils do not suddenly all become acid because of that
@CharlesDowding1nodig amazing I knew you would have the answer! I'm adding it to my beds but also adding it to my compost piles along with my old soil from pots to see if it revitalised it together for next year.
Yes, we publish every year, a southern hemisphere timeline, and you can download it, it's free drive.google.com/file/d/1D3wFqIl5WRV1m3iiLn82SdLvsj08YEfS/view?usp=share_link
I am in Boston (USA), zone 6b, and my lettuce is bolting. Why? I thought it only happened in summer. Temperatures have been wild this fall (0 to 10 most nights, and 10 to 25°C during the day), but I am still surprised with lettuce bolting in November. Could there be another reason?
Yes, the other reason is plant age, because at a certain point, all lettuce plants switch from growing new leaves to their ultimate objective of flowering to grow seeds. Timing depends on the variety and sowing date, so maybe for you that was in July, whereas if it was early September, they would still be growing.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you! Now I understand that the plants were getting old (I transplanted them 3 months ago), but I thought they would just be there in the garden during cold weather until I need them, and I had no idea they could bolt in November. I always learn so much from you - thank you so so much!
Aphids are attracted to plants that are not in full strength, they are one of nature's ways of removing less healthy specimens! It's not always so black and white, but it's an indication, and I found since I added extra compost, brassicas in particular are stronger
@@CharlesDowding1nodig fair enough Charles, the problem I have is that F1 hybrid vegetables do not produce seeds that are true to type. F1 hybrids are the result of crossing two genetically distinct parent plants to produce offspring with specific desirable traits, such as disease resistance, uniformity, or higher yield. However, when seeds from F1 hybrids are planted, the resulting plants (F2 generation) will show a wide variety of traits due to genetic segregation. This means that the F2 generation may exhibit characteristics from either parent or combinations of both, leading to unpredictable and often less desirable traits. Therefore if we end up needing to keep seeds due to lack of supply…. Personally I think we mustn’t allow organic seeds to die out.
@@nineteenninetyfive I appreciate your point. I see f1 hybrids as a move by corporations to take complete control of the market. All I’m saying really is we must keep organic lines alive. Charles has a big following (me included) and I’ve been to his open day etc
Charles, next year i'm starting to sell vegetables to my local market! They are interested in my products, which is unbeleivable to me because only 6 years ago I was so depressed and drowning in anxiety that I could not even cook my own food, now i'm growing it and distributing it soon!
It all started when I watched your channel, literally. It really is a big dream come true, I was watching you in the past years thinking ''This is the best job in the world'' and i'm incredibly excited for the years to come which i'm sure will be full of challenges, but even bigger rewards.
Your channel has an incredible impact in the world, because you plant seeds in the mind of people, and sometimes, a forest grow. When I changed my diet from very bad to very good 6 years ago, my body responsded in ways I could not even imagine possible. Chronic diseases, anxiety and depression vanished without a trace. I want people to experience the same thing I did, and its all starting next years, 100% thanks to you.
YOU ARE AMAZING! Cheers.
We did the farmers market to provide some money for my daughters college. She’s going to be a nurse soon. We grew a lot of produce using Mr. Dowding’s examples. We’ve moved and I no longer have the farmers market but I did build two more greenhouses, and I am planning on growing much more than I need to give to friends and neighbors. So satisfying and was very satisfying on Saturday morning to watch the people come to my stand and lineup to get vegetables and they did lineup. It was amazingly rewarding. Good luck, and inspire those who come to your stand to look up Mr. Dowding, and start growing their own produce.
💚 How exciting! I'm touched you say this, and so happy the little mustard seed grew.
I cried when I read this. Well done to both you and Charles! I wonder how many institutions could benefit from a garden!
Delightful message you wrote here. All the best on your journey!
@Im-just-Stardust
Your answer is 🧡 . Thank you.
Life ist always learning , not depending on your age.
Whole life is a circle 💫🧡
Charles and your associates, I really appreciate your work. Besides supporting your channel here I bought your books and calendar. Thanks for your efforts. On my part I recommend everyone to turn their grass into a place where you can find something to eat. I have a very relaxed approach to gardening, if a plant that bees like wants to grow in a place where I don't want it I let it be. I care for the bees as much as for my harvest.
Lovely to hear, thank you for your support
PULLED A TURNIP STRAIGHT OUT OF THE GROUND ON NOVEMBER 8th AND ATE IT WITH SUCH JOY !!!!! ONLY NO DIG KEEPS THE GROWING GOING YEAR ROUND !!!!! WELL…….GUESS MOTHER NATURE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT TOO!!!!! SO THANKS SIR CHARLES, NO DIG, AND MOTHER NATURE !!!!!! ROCK ON NOVEMBER TURNIPS !!!!!!
Love the way you describe it, enthusiasm for a humble turnip 😀
Thank you for everything (especially your knowledge and wisdom) that you and your crew do!!! As always, seeing your beautiful garden makes me happy💜
Lovely to hear :)
Ukraine. Zaporozhye. Thank you for useful video. Weather is nice. Best wishes! Viktoria.
Very cool, peace is coming.
Amazing if you look, how far north you are on the planet how milder climate is. That is beautiful, celery root.
💚
Yep keeping in tune with your garden is a great tip ,,thanks for being ever so inspiring and guiding us in growing our own food 👍🇮🇳🙏
You are welcome Azam
Your garden my friend, is the most incredible i have seen in all of them. Cause of you I appreciated nature more and more. Good health to you and bless you always. Let's keep growing! 🥦🥬🫛🥕🥔🍆🌽 😀👍
Lovely to hear, thanks
I am envious of your celeriac!
I love it!
I am so grateful for your work you have done - treasure with priceless knowledge supported by practice and your experience. I take it wholeheartedly and apply it in my Polish conditions. Heartly Thank You and greet!
Wow, thank you!
Never knew you could grow so much over winter until I started watching your videos about 5 years ago. Now the veg plot, poly tunnel and green house are full of crops for Autumn and Winter. All no dig and started off in modules. You have changed the way I garden for the better, thank you.
I read that carrot fly can stay in the soil over winter and infest the next seasons crop, I used to get it every year but now grow in a 3 metre long high bed with mesh cover and had good rresults with no fly for two years, probably not very practical for your scale of production.
Hi Vikkie, this is lovely to hear. And thanks for the tip on carrot root fly, which never used to be so significant here in autumn, as it is now. So I need a different approach next year.
Yeeey 😍 this year, my 3rd #NoDig, I was a little behind & always late with being ready with spare seedlings & next seedlings, yet my little ca. 3x4 m patch has grown 57 kgs of food 🎉🤯 lots of tomato but a bunch of other things too (small place but I like to try different things as a "learning curve" haha so I even had a jar of peanutbutter from 4 plants 😋)
Wonderful amount of food from that small area 🏆 and learning curves are great!
Charles, fascinating video again and I'm now a convert to no dig completely. I do still think a rotation is important, although it can be done flexibly. I'm struggling with historic club root, which is a result of poor rotation and low pH. Carrots are becoming tough to grow in a garden situation now, will you go back to a raised bed, the fly flies very low.
My biggest tip...grow what you use a lot of and can fit in multi-sow ie, potatoes, onions, garlic, spring onions, brassica, peas, beans, beetroot etc
In Aberdeenshire I plant mustard and buckwheat cover crop in Sept and plant onion and garlic sets in Oct
The garden productivity is now immense, thanks for all the tips 😊
Thanks for sharing this David, and I'm happy that you are fully no dig nnow. And I agree about what one might call less rotation. The point I'm trying to make that rotation is not obligatory, but I would not saying never to rotate!
Es magnífico ver tú suelo lleno de hortalizas.Siempre ocupado y productivo.Voy a intentar cultivar la colinabo a ver qué tal se me da 😂🤙🏻Saludos desde Tenerife !! 👌🏻👏🌸🥦🥬☔️🌿🐈
Gracias Manuel, y mucha suerte con eso. Supongo que podrías sembrarla en enero antes de cosecharla en mayo.
@ Si.El clima en mi zona a 500 m de altitud en Enero es de 6 a 11ºC de mínima y en la noche solamente.Si acompaña la humedad y algo de lluvia ,sería magnífico.
Your very lucky there Charles, garden looks amazing. I'm in a zone 4b Canadian climate and frost to frost is 120 days but some of that is still cold so not much growth occurs. I get one chance at growing enough food for the year so I always plant double what I need and go from there. This year was good, my root cellar and freezers are full and got about 40/50 jars on the shelf, mostly tomatoes but also a variety of pickles. Cheers and happy gardening everyone.
Congratulations Doug, that sounds a wonderful result. And yes, we are fortunate to have long seasons.
Wonderful video Charles, I am getting right into 2nd, and even 3rd plantings of the same crops here in Thailand, as we don't suffer the cold like in the far Northern hemispheres.
Only 3rd? Joking :) sounds cool 😎
Thank you for such a happy and encouraging video, it gives us beginners such hope!
Nice to hear!
I love seeing the interplanting. Your fennel bulbs are nice. I grew a lot in the spring and summer. I let a bunch go to flower. The bees love the flowers. I put the entire plant in a salad. I used some of the seed to grow more and I just harvested one the other day.
I love the way Brussels sprouts look.
Minty is so cute.
Thank you. 😊
Thanks, and that is awesome to have seeds in one season and then another harvest!
Lovely, informative video Charles. Even though I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa & our seasons and climates are so different, I still always learn so much from your videos. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing that, I'm pleased to span in part the six month difference!
This is excellent information. Thank you.
You are welcome Michelle
Your videos are so enjoyable and full of knowledge😊
Do you eat dandelions? Tender ones are excellent with vinaigrette, I learnt when playing farmer as a child. Later, traveling in Greece, I was often served a similar, but bigger bitter plant boiled with lemon and the spring green sort of olive oil that smells of freshly cut grass. The dish was served after the main course and aids digestion, a similar effect as the French bitter liquors used as a "digestif". I assume one could prepare the same dish using dandelions. Well, just a thought.
Thank you very much for all the teaching work you do💐
Greetings from Sweden
I think it would be wonderful to see Charles Dowding show how to sow dandelions as a cover crop to harvest early spring for his local restaurants. 😃 Your recipes sound delicious! Hashtag No Dig Dandies Hashtag set a trend. 😁
I popped some peas in next to the broad beans, so I have pea shoots in November! Nice surprise along with late globe artichokes. My carrots are doing rather well in my little raised bed, not seen any root fly damage, my kale sprouts are already producing and the radicchio is hearting up nicely. Along with the chard, which has slowed down a bit now, I'm still eating homegrown veg, so thank you ever so much for your help and inspiration!
On the carrot front I have noticed my neighbours using an old metal trough, which the slugs don't like and it's too high for carrot fly, so they seem to do well with no other protection.
Nice work Tim, I'm happy to read this. And thanks for the trough idea! We shall see.
looks fantastic charles
👍
..yrs ago..Martha Stewart used to have your kind of calendars here in America..I sorta lived by them..that was a long time ago..
That's great to hear, and I'll see if I can find how they worked, to improve mine
Wonderful harvests Charles. Zone 6b. Growing, carrots, beets, turnips, scallions, Swiss chard and Brussel sprouts. Sweet Alyssum flowers for the honey bees. Can't get much better than that. Moon rising at 2pm awesome during the daytime. Even got a little rain this evening. Cheers.
Sounds great! So good ahead of winter.
I'm jealous that you saw the moon. We have had constant cloud cover since 31st October, not a chink! Today was forecast sunshine but none has appeared yet.
Brilliant as always! Thank you Charles. Your calendar is on my Xmas list every year 🎉 it’s our first year on the allotment and we have held back many weeds by broadcast seeding mustard this autumn in one bed and sunflowers in late July in another
Lovely to hear Jenny and thank you 🙂
That is cool Jenny and thanks
Thank you Charles, awesome as always!
💚
My pleasure Nicholas
I’ve asked my husband for your calendar for Christmas 🤞🏼
💚
These are so inspiring ❤ thank you
You are welcome
looking top your plot is as always. lovely veg for nippy conditions!
Thank you
Minty's a sweet cat :)
💚 She is, thank you 🙂
Hi Charles,
I love your videos.
I want to ask you if you harvest the spinach full out if you want them (the plant) to come back in the spring..or Do you leave the leaves over winter on the plants.
Do you cover them.
I have always problem to make them survive and grow again in the spring.
Helene in Stockholm Sweden
Hi Helene
I always leave a few leaves on the plants because that helps them to survive better, and it's not often I cover them, but if you do, using hoops and you can manage to stop the cover blowing away or squashing the plants, that might be worthwhile, not easy!
Hi Charles. Thanks for turning the back ground music down a peg or two 😜. I have a trick that seems to work well for carrot fly. I have an enviromesh curtain about one and a half metres high around them with the top half metre turned over to the outside so any insect climbing up will get stuck under the flap. Tuck the enviromesh in the ground! Also I sprinkle granulated garlic all round and about to mask the scent of carrots. This may work with just putting the mesh over your crop.Keep the videos coming they are great.
Thanks John, it seems we need to be more thorough! That's a nice trick about folding it down
Hello from in Istanbul
💚
Boa noite 🌙 sempre dando o melhor de si obrigado pela explicação ❤
💚
I have grown florence fennel for the first time this year. I got a reasonable harvest but mine don't look as big and fat as yours. I will certainly grow them again. They add a really nice flavour to soup.
Try sowing 10th July :)
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you I will
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I sowed the fennel on July 4th this year and they didn't swell like yours, they remained very small. Last year sown on July 8th, I harvested some decent fennel at the beginning of November. I'm thinking I didn't put the compost under the crop like last year, I hope it's just for this reason we'll see next year
That is probably it!
Love these videos! Charles, I live a dessert climate which has average 90F highs in July and August. So, whenever I start crops in may, june, july, they tend to go to seed from all that heat. But, i know there must be a way to do it because the central valley in CA can grow so many things and they're even hotter. Could you reveal the secret of how to do it?
I can't speak from experience, but I would not attempt to sow in July, or even before about 10th August, then start seedlings in a shaded place, also protected from insects. So that you are transplanting in slightly less hot conditions, possibly still with shade, cloth over. Or sow first September!
RIGHT! It's late spring here in cool southern Aus. I'm going to not miss those summer sowings you have to do in order for this autumn growing and harvest!!! This year is the year!!! (I may have said that before!)... but no.. this year is IT!
Fingers crossed, you will do it!
Thank you Charles❤
💚
5:36 I've never actually grown fennel, but I sometimes buy it from a market stall that sell it complete with the top growth, and I use that in place of dill, when making borsch.
Great plan, I need to make borscht, love it
Vraiment magnifique
Merci
Hello Charles, I mentioned you in one of my recent blog posts. 😊
Awesome thank you, good luck with it
Thank you again for a very informative video. I have just ordered your calendar, so looking forward to receiving it. Please would you happen to have a link for Granat cabbage seeds? All my fennel bolted this year but will follow your advice to plant out in July. Thank you so much once again.🙂🙂
Wonderful, and it's from Germany www.bingenheimersaatgut.de/en/organic-seeds/vegetables/cabbage/red-cabbage/granat-g209
Hello Charles. Thank you for your inspiring videos.
One question please: My own compost only contains the „good stuff“. What I dispose of in the organic waste bin: plants with mould, rot, old bread, etc.
When you buy so much compost, how do you make sure it's „good compost“ and not the kind with all the waste you don't want to have in your own garden? Is there anything to watch out for when purchasing compost?
Regards from Germany, Cologne-Rhine-area, Melanie
Hello Emm
I would not worry at all about what you call the 'bad stuff' because all of that is good to compost, I know from experience. Many composts you buy will have some of those materials in, except for mushroom compost which is mostly straw and old animal manure.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks.
Ive looked in my gardens and allotment seen lots worm castings so im going to bag some up as its expensive to buy
A great plan!
Charles grow your winter carrots in the polytunnel,I do and never get carrot fly,plus they come out clean and dry with no rot.
Thanks Brian, and as it happens, I did sow some in the polytunnel early July, and guess what, they got carrot, root fly damage!
Ah sorry to hear that Charles, sometimes you just cannot win!, however after 10 years of root fly free carrots in the polytunnel it may be that the 2" raised beds are helping because I do get infestation outside most years. Anyway better luck next year!
Have you tried inter cropping carrots in with your garlic.....garlic may keep away the root fly maggots.....maybe .....most bugs don't like strong smelling things....
Yes, but… The timings are not quite right because carrots are at seedling stage while the garlic is maturing, then the garlic is harvested before carrots root flies arrive. Shall have a look - it's the autumn root flies here which are troublesome
Charles, the hardest part of having seedlings ready for fall is getting them to germinate in extreme summer heat. Getting lettuce to germinate in 40°+ Celsius is no mean feat😂. Plus the cabbage moths are absolutely brutal in the middle of summer and will destroy Brassica seedlings in mere hours. I also found out that birds can eviscerate tiny seedlings. You think I'd know all these things but even though I've been gardening for over 25 years, this setup that I started this spring is completely different. I have learned quite a bit through these mistakes and am prepared for 2025... You know the mantra, "there's always next year."
Yes, and it's true: mistakes keep me enthusiastic for next year, to do better! Extreme weather is not helping and those temperatures sound challenging to say the least. I would definitely use Bacillus thuringiensis on Brassica seedlings. Good luck in 2025!
Love this video, Charles! Comes at a very good moment too, as I am busy making plans for next year.
I would very much appreciate a video on same kind of veggies that come with different sowing times, like spring and autumn endive/kale. I find that very confusing: how to fit that into what you say on your sowing calendar? (Yes, I bought the 2025 edition. Love it! Your book about compost too.) 🙏
Thank you, and I'm impressed by your diligence. This video could help you which were published in February 2023 ua-cam.com/video/1HtBMfbJ_nY/v-deo.html. I think also you want more understanding about why certain vegetables grow best at certain times, I do explain that in this video, but shall have a think about how to cover it more specifically
Upstaged by the cat once again! 🐈
She is weeding tomorrow :)
Hi Charles, do you think it would be possible to produce a sowing calendar for those of us in different climates other than yours?
Cheers Ben, and we are looking at it for 2026
I would love to see a calendar for different USA growing zones
That would be an incredible amount of work for Mr. Dowding hahaha. North America is so diverse. There is an amazing book which I think you would like, called '''Seeds to seeds'' by Suzanne Ashworth. There you have calendar for every states of the USA, for all vegetables.
I live in Canada and still its my most valuable book. It really is a brick of informations.
I think it is written in the calendars hiw to use it if in different climate, sg like do things a week or too earlier if in a warmer climate up until midsommer,, sg like this. Also checking how hardy your varieties are
@Im-just-Stardust I agree it would be a lot to do, but the info is available from sources like you mentioned , farmers almanac or seed suppliers like burpee or Johnny's. I will check out the book you mentioned. Thanks
@@livus3787 that would make sense that they would write it that way
Thanks Charles! You are an inspiration! When do you plant and harvest parsnips? I direct sowed seeds May 1 and harvested on yesterday and parts of it were a bit woody. I like to leave them in the ground for late fall and winter when they sweeten up but may have to plant a little later so they're not in the ground so long.
Thanks, and that's a good point, but I do might not mind a little woodiness, because if you cut them vertically, it's possible to slice the woody centre out. And there's so much good flesh around it. I have sown them as late as the middle of June, which works as well
Thoughts??? Charles, I have a horse stable about 2 miles from me, they use saw dust for bedding, so your end product is sawdust, wasted hay, some urine and manure in their pile. Assuming there isn't any herbicides in the hay and if I got a load of this, either after it sat for a period of time over there or I left it sit, how would this be as an additive to my compost?
Issue I was having this fall, I am still trying get head lettuce started to over-winter. I have been using Coast of Maine seed starting mix all year but this fall I was having issues with either no germination or very little. I use the pricking out method and I was covering less than a 1/4", which may have been too much. Some of my containers seem to turn into a cake. I have also been using my potting mix over after I pricked out the container, just mixing it back into my bin. So, this past weekend I re-watched one of your lettuce starting video and had notice you really don't cover, other than with Vermiculite. All I had was perlite, so I diluted my potting mix with that and covered with perlite and I am getting good germination 4 days later. I guess I kind of answered my own question, though I need to pickup some Vermiculite.
2 questions??? Do you use your potting mix over? Do you see any draw backs with Vermiculite? Thanks
Cheers Mark, and yes, you could add that to your compost heaps, maybe 20%, no more.
Since that video, I have taken to not covering lettuce seed at all! It really does not like weight on top, but a little vermiculite is fine, I just don't use too much of that. I don't like the look of it in my garden, soil afterwards! And sometimes I do use my potting mix over the often it has seeds in which finally do germinate! So usually I'm spreading it on beds
Any news on whether you will be doing an electronic calendar this year? I find I rarely look at the paper calendar and would prefer it on my phone (in Microsoft Outlook format) as this is something that I see everyday.
Here it is Maurice shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/products/charles-dowdings-calendar-of-vegetable-sowing-dates-2025-digital
There is another version of combining celeriac with garlic. That is summer sown celeriac. Sown in june and planted after garlic mine are now about half or one third of the size of those sown in febuary. I would recommend especially go those with limited space inside to grow seedlings. In june I germinated them inside and then propagated outside for a bit before planting them in the ground.
That's interesting, because I have a feeling you're losing quite a bit of crop there - my celeriac weigh average 1kg. I germinated them in a small tray on a windowsill, sown 22nd March, pricked tiny seedlings early April into small module cells which have 60 seedlings in a tray the size of an A4 sheet of paper. I feel that it's worth finding the space for that in order to transplant mid May because of the extra harvest and how they are not needing any extra space for that earlier transplanting, compared to July
@CharlesDowding1nodig Yes, I can see your point. And especially since we both in the end grew them with garlic. I will keep experimenting and have these options in mind.
That calendar seems like a great help, but I wonder: surely it’s only good for your zone? I live in Québec zone 5A, not sure I could use your calendar here 🤔
It works for approx 5B to 9 so you are somewhere outside that. You would need to sow maybe a month later in spring and 2 weeks earlier from mid-August
I am trying to get to the point where I'm better at changing the garden over! But it is hard
Hello from France Charles,
I discovered your beautiful world through Olivier and absolutely love it ! I have decided to give No dig a try and your books are so helpful (Compost, No Dig and Skills for Growing so far). Ordered them in English (not my native tongue) but very easy to read and straight to the point. Such a treat !
I live in Eastern France, in the Champagne region. Would you please let me know how to find my precise area climate ? I grow my veggies and this year, applied the multi-sowing and planting for leeks and beets. Got great results. So encouraging ! Love your videos ! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise !
PS: Is your calendar for your area or can it be used in mine ?
Thanks Catherine, lovely to hear.
You're clever is similar to here, I reckon so you're so win dates will be pretty much the same, that's what I hear from Northwest Germany, close to you.
Bonnes recoltes!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Say whaaat ? Are you okay, Charles ?
😂😂😂
Sorry, it's auto dictate. Going too fast. Your weather is similar to here, I reckon, so your sowing dates will be…
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you so much ! The very best of everything to you and your loved ones.
thank you and to you Catherine
Root fly I read to make a garlic spray to help and sow flowers within the carrots to bring in ladybugs. I did not see watering tubing, I’m curious how you water the root vegetable in those beds?❤ thank you for your advice and time creating this video for us 🥰
Interesting! I found the end of a row of carrots under some alyssum. The entire row was destroyed by carrot worm but those under the alyssum were perfect.. Fluke maybe?
Thanks for sharing and I have plenty of ladybirds everywhere
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I'm not so sure lady beetles would counter carrot fly but ground beetles and spiders would. Perhaps scented flowers mask the smell of carrots to the flies?
Lucky man I'm getting plagued with onion and garlic aphids black first time growing garlic any thing to get rid of them thanks Charles 😊
I am not sure Tracey!
15:49 Lovely looking sprouts Charles. When do you harvest the tops?
Thanks, and no rush because of how they are still growing, and I hope to harvest more sprouts until February, so maybe late January harvest of tops, if we can manage to keep pigeons out of them
I’m coming up on my 4th year of no dig and even though I don’t use as much compost as Charles does, I’m beginning to notice that weed suppression is improving noticeably.
(I’m working on making more compost which is tricky where I live because so many people use poison and herbicide on crops)
Great to hear Yvonne. There certainly a range of options, and I'm happy to hear about weeds being easier to manage
Good afternoon, I am interested in purchasing your book if it were provided in PDF format so that I could translate it. Thank you for your attention.
What then are you planning to do with the translation?
Thank you for video, we have been no dig with our own compost for past 6 years now our crops are much stronger but more flavoursome. Our celeriac had a lot of browning inside, is that normal?
Good to hear Lewis except for the brown celeriac. I'm not sure, it could be that Septoria disease if leaves had died off or, tunnels from woodlice, perhaps.
@ the leaves were perfect just the bulb in side had brown stripes going through it, no bug damage tho.
Not sure!
Regarding your calendar, the dates of sowing are for your southern area, how much earlier would you start sowing for the West of Ireland (similar climate to Cumbria)? That was the reason I followed the late Steve from Green Side Up. This year has been extremely challenging, weather wise, we've only had 7 days above 25 degrees all summer, with most days being cloudy, grey, and the temperatures only reaching the high teens
Yes I was in Leitrim recently and experienced that weather, the cool and darkness, as well as seeing the results, although many vegetables looked better than I had expected. The dates will not very a lot, but something like from July, I would sow a week earlier. And in March, a week later.
Great video Charles. I try to start seeds mid-summer and they so often get infested with aphids that stunts them so badly that they don't survive. I'm not sure how to combat it. I have plenty of hoverflies etc in the garden and the adult plants can withstand a few aphids but the seedlings can't. Would you have any tips on protecting seedlings?
This is one reason why I start all my seedlings in the greenhouse where there are fewer aphids and they start rapidly with little insect damage. Then straight after transplanting, they have a mesh cover over for five, maybe six weeks.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks Charles. I don't have a greenhouse but have been thinking of setting up some separate protected space (away from the polytunnel with the tomatoes) for starting seeds. Hopefully that will help.🙂
ยอดเยี่ยม
💚
👍
Any tips on dealing with Pumpkin beetle, Grasshopper, armyworm, and cutworms? I live in a tropical country, these pests are MASSIVE, I've practiced no dig and even companion planting along with some flowers and whatnot, but the insects just keep ravaging my crops. I haven't used any pesticide or any chemical in the same categories, but that option really starts to tempt me though
Oh dear, I do not have experience of those and cannot help. I'm afraid, those insects aren't hungry.
piękne selery. co robić żeby były takie piękne. pierwszy raz w tym roku wysiałam i w ogóle nie rosły. gdzie popełniłam błąd. pozdrawiam
Nasiona potrzebują światła, aby wykiełkować, więc może to był twój błąd. Po prostu rozrzuć je na wierzchu kompostu w małej tacce, może z taflą szkła na wierzchu, na słonecznym parapecie pod koniec marca.
My fall garden is the fifth planting since we moved and a half years ago. It was said by MIGardener not to do mulch in the winter time. Since I have had three loads of tree mulch delivered over my time here this bothered me. We put the bigger “chunks.” in the isles and we chip up into smaller for around plants. We are in Florence South Carolina zone 8B it makes sense what MIGardener said about Mulch harboring bad insects/bugs. And I have had horrible times with bugs. Any suggestions?
Makes sense not to mulch as it is true that bugs can hide. If you have mulch already I would throw partly completed or actual home made compost on the mulch as top dressing. Mulch would decompose over time. If you use manure I would add that too as nitrogen to hasten decomposition of mulch
Do you mean mulch on beds? And if so are you wondering about putting woodchip on beds? That's something I would never do so I'm really not sure about answering your question!
On my beds I mulch with compost while keeping any woodchip for paths only. Compost definitely does not harbour problems! So I have no hesitation in applying it at any time of year.
Great video Charles. Can I pick your brains please?! I know you are a rule breaker in the garden so I wanted to ask if you can add lime and manure to soil at the same time? my brassicas have had terrible club root this year so I need the lime but I also have a chance to get some manure. What are your thoughts please?😀
Yes I would spread some lime and then put the well rotted manure on top. Hopefully the clubroot will diminish as time passes in no dig soil.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you. Does there need to be a certain time between the applications?
No
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks
What month of the year does your summer planting start
Transplants of frost-sensitive plants go out towards the end of May
❤❤❤
😊
great vid but how on earth do you get celeriac and kohl rabi to grow that big on compost alone , mine are half that size .
They surprise me 😊. It's good soil here which helps
Are you going to be putting out a calendar for Australian people. It’s so up side down here. Very confusing when you say months. Words like spring or summer would be nice ❤
I often refer to the seasons, and you can find Southern Hemisphere months in this free calendar we offer you as a download from my website, drive.google.com/file/d/1D3wFqIl5WRV1m3iiLn82SdLvsj08YEfS/view
Charles, how do you eat your celerac?
Hi Jessi, check out my remoulade ua-cam.com/video/YsnaYn4dPEA/v-deo.html
Hi Charles hope you are well I just had a question regarding acidiry im considering using pine tree based leaf mould or even pine needles as a soil improver fpr winter and was worried about the ph levels becoming too acidic.
I know that you are overcoming alot of misinformation about gardening on our behalf. It was in my mind that the ph levels would naturally sort themselves out. But I'm still a beginner. Cheers
Yes, absolutely the soil does not become acid from adding a mulch of pine needles. Bottom line is that it's almost impossible to change soil, pH. Consider how rain is pH 5.6, acid, and yet soils do not suddenly all become acid because of that
@CharlesDowding1nodig amazing I knew you would have the answer! I'm adding it to my beds but also adding it to my compost piles along with my old soil from pots to see if it revitalised it together for next year.
Can you convert to southern hemisphere as I live in Australia
Yes, we publish every year, a southern hemisphere timeline, and you can download it, it's free drive.google.com/file/d/1D3wFqIl5WRV1m3iiLn82SdLvsj08YEfS/view?usp=share_link
❤❤❤😊😊😊
Gracias Elena
I am in Boston (USA), zone 6b, and my lettuce is bolting. Why? I thought it only happened in summer. Temperatures have been wild this fall (0 to 10 most nights, and 10 to 25°C during the day), but I am still surprised with lettuce bolting in November. Could there be another reason?
Yes, the other reason is plant age, because at a certain point, all lettuce plants switch from growing new leaves to their ultimate objective of flowering to grow seeds. Timing depends on the variety and sowing date, so maybe for you that was in July, whereas if it was early September, they would still be growing.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you! Now I understand that the plants were getting old (I transplanted them 3 months ago), but I thought they would just be there in the garden during cold weather until I need them, and I had no idea they could bolt in November. I always learn so much from you - thank you so so much!
How to you stop aphids on cabbage/ broccoli leafs?
Healthy soil i reckon
@CharlesDowding1nodig how does bad soil attract them? Thanks
Aphids are attracted to plants that are not in full strength, they are one of nature's ways of removing less healthy specimens! It's not always so black and white, but it's an indication, and I found since I added extra compost, brassicas in particular are stronger
❤😊
💚
You really have to stop planting F1 seeds Charles ! I see you do an organic teaching class. F1 is the devil! 😊
Your comment just shows, that u can Not differentiate. Get educated and see, where F1 have there place. :-)
Easy to say but I want decent Brussels!
It's about a balance. If you can avoid pesticides and fertilizer by growing more vigorous F1 hybrids it seems like a good thing to me.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig fair enough Charles, the problem I have is that F1 hybrid vegetables do not produce seeds that are true to type. F1 hybrids are the result of crossing two genetically distinct parent plants to produce offspring with specific desirable traits, such as disease resistance, uniformity, or higher yield. However, when seeds from F1 hybrids are planted, the resulting plants (F2 generation) will show a wide variety of traits due to genetic segregation.
This means that the F2 generation may exhibit characteristics from either parent or combinations of both, leading to unpredictable and often less desirable traits. Therefore if we end up needing to keep seeds due to lack of supply…. Personally I think we mustn’t allow organic seeds to die out.
@@nineteenninetyfive I appreciate your point. I see f1 hybrids as a move by corporations to take complete control of the market. All I’m saying really is we must keep organic lines alive. Charles has a big following (me included) and I’ve been to his open day etc