I'm so glad you dropped the music some time in the last seven years. Your videos are so much more peaceful with just your relaxed cadence and the outdoors for noise.
I've only seriously gotten into gardening within the past 2 years, but in that short time, your channel has been a treasure. Incidentally I started learning about composting prior to gardening. With an abundance of yard waste and a lack of options for removing it, I started researching composting. During my research, I stumbled across your channel and the no dig approach. Your videos are a breath of fresh air in an environment overrun with loud and boisterous RUclipsrs. Many thanks for your work and dedication to teaching the craft. I look forward to reading your books very soon!
I love gardening but certain disabilities have made growing veg very painful and exhausting. I began watching your videos last autumn after starting to work with quite a long strip of garden which had become waste ground over the past few years. It’s looking very different now! I have left areas for natural wild flowers and grasses the fruit bushes are now together in a no dig bed and I am preparing no dig manageable side beds for veg. Thank you so much these videos and your books have transformed the way I now garden into something I can manage and enjoy without being in agony.
I just took on an allotment 10 days ago Got quite a bit of horsetail and some other weeds I have removed what I can from 2 beds now and covered in cardboard One of the beds is smaller and I covered in compost and planted herbs The bigger bed hasn’t got compost yet but I wanted to plant salads in there , am I best waiting a few months though until the weeds are all dead ?? Or should I just start growing now?
Charles Dowding... greetings. Thank you for giving of yourself. Your warmth, kindness and sincerity towards helpful others is a beautiful attribute. I kindly put my hands out towards you. Embrace you with brotherly love and kindness. You're a gentleman...thank you Mr Charles Dowding. May there be many fruitful and happy growing seasons ahead. A friend in Australia.
I had a back injury 10 months ago - decided not to dig- discovered Charles Dowding - garden now ten times the size--it works it really does! Thanks Charles Dowding.
No Dig... depends on the situation. Very example you still have to initially prepare the soil: if it is clay, heavy or heavily compacted. Also if you have terrible bind weed it needs digging out, I assume.
Thanks for all of your comments and questions too. Would this method work in different climates? Not exactly, for example Ruth Stout's version was a mulch of hay to suppress weeds and add fertility - but here in England that causes too many slugs to breed and vegetables to disappear! (I know from trying it in 1983) The principle is the same though and I am sure you can work out ways to "no dig" (is there a better word?!!) in your climate, for your soil and with whatever mulching materials are to hand; good luck.
+Charles Dowding - so glad you said that, about different specific methods for different climates. I was going to try Ruth Stout's exact method in the pacific northwest of the U.S. (very moist) but now I know I don't have to do it exactly that way. Thanks!
try mosquito net cages for the slug problem. Also try putting broken eggshells sharp side up . It will be like the slugs and snails will be crawling on broken glass. Let me know if you have success with this method. All the nest from Bulgaria
Charles Dowding In my experience in the uk if you have just fruit and veg the slugs will easily find and eat the lot, so I leave the weeds all growing and the slugs struggle to find the fruit and veg because they are slowed down by the blessid weeds. I also coppice the weeds doing chop and drop so again the slugs take longer to find my fruit and veg giving me time to go out with my solar torch and knife and kill the slugs providing my plants more nutrients!
You Are so beryktede inspiring and likeable. I used to have a circular patch , dug , with vegetables an mostly edible flowers. It has become unmanagable , since i i have had illness in the , which demanded my attention. The dig method seems totally overwhelming to me. I am now really inspired to get going with the carpet method. Vant express my deep gratitude enough really. YOU deserve a major MEDAL !!! Thank you !!!!
Although I am more of a cottage flower gardener, I am thrilled to have found Charles great videos. This inspires me to build compost bins, use the no dig garden method AND grow some veges for a change!
Gracias a usted por enseñar y explicar su experiencia en el huerto. ... Estoy feliz por colocar subtitulos. Lo que hace es magnifico. Saludos desde Venezuela
Its pleasing to find a gardener with a vast knowlege of growing vegetables, most of the one`s i have come across at my allotment tend not too want to tell you their secrets of how to grow vegetables probably so you dont beat them in the local shows but still it is frustrating when all you want is a little guidance. Thankyou for sharing Charles i look forward to watching your other video`s witha nice brew and a note book :)
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing. Born and raised in Iowa where the soil is dark and rich gardening was easy, but after moving to Texas a few years ago, gardening has been one disaster after another. I am going to try your approach. A home just isn't a home without a garden and yours is absolutely stunning! God Bless you.
So funny! I moved from Texas to Idaho and I’m having a hard time gardening! There’s tons of rocks here, so much so that I can’t use a tiller! Also, I’ve never in my 67 years had to start veggies from seed in the house! That’s crazy! I’m finally going to try it this year. But, the start up cost is terrible. I need shelves, heat mats, trays, heat lamps... ugh. Once you get your soil in good shape it’ll be a piece of cake down there in Texas. I was near the Dallas area almost all my life until I moved up here about ten years ago. I guess it’s just all a matter of what you’re used to.
Jules Sand I like the no-prattle approach too! The message gets through much more effectively. He's very calm and serene. I'll bet he talks to his vegetables too to grow that big
You are inspiring me daily as I watch your wonderful videos. I love to grow veggies and have lived on an acre where I had huge gardens full of “dug beds” and I fought bugs and disease for years. Very lucky I discovered you and your channel!! Appreciate your deep knowledge of living organisms and grateful for your caring, soothing delivery of this knowledge. You help my soul as well as my acquisition of ideas and strategies. Unfortunately I live in a townhouse now in Colorado, but I have a large patio and a small greenhouse where I manage to raise a few vegetables and flowers. Please continue to reach out to people such as myself, who have been through some troubled times and seek gardening as food for our souls. You are doing a wonderful service for so many people. God bless you, Charles. 🌷😎
I’ve been gardening for about 25 years and have read many gardening books. You are by far the best I have witnessed. Thank you Mr. Dowding for sharing your experience!
I remember my father he is like you ....hardworking..... Everyday in the farm planting all that we can benefits after all.....good exercise with benefits.... More power....
I moved into France in september 2015. My garden has always been a garden for more than a hundred years. I have to honour this heritage.The earth is fertile. I appreciate very much this approach of 'no dig' and I have applied it already more or less. But I see now that I need more compost. And what a lovely garden!
I came across your latest video and was enthralled! I then looked for older ones so I can watch them all. Thank you for teaching us how to grow smarter.
I am really happy I found this video today. I started a hay-mulch garden last year and the slugs are a major problem (I'm in Belgium). For this year I already have prepared my beds with hay and I probably won't find a big amount of compost/well rotted manure before springtime, so I'll have to go with the hay method for 2015. I will however work towards mulching with compost and rotted manure in the future and it excites me to know that there are better no dig methods for our climate than the one I currently use. I subscribed and ordered the book 'organic gardening' today. Please do make more videos cause I enjoy them alot. Thanks!
Good to see the weedy field transformed in fertile garden.Mulching the ground is certainly the best way to take care of many problems. Thanks for sharing your video.
From watching your videos, I have learned as much about diff things a person can grow, as much as how to grow them!😃 I plan to try a few things next year that I had never thought to grow.😊
We're absolutely hooked my husband is addicted to making compost because of you !! Thanks for sharing your observations and experiences!! We purchased the calendar tonight!!
So enthusiastic! It shows a love for what you are doing. Incredible job and a well done video. TY for sharing.I work with wool carpets and now I have another idea for its waste. I have been saving scraps of wool carpet for shaving and adding to my compost pile, excited!
Thankyou sir. For quickly showing me where to see this. I've been fighting yellow clay for years and gave up. Been growing in pots. Been looking into hugelcultur. I like what your doing. Beautiful garden. My mind was warped when I saw what you are doing. I love your dibble. I'm in north Alabama, USA.
Thanks, and no dig is the perfect method for clay. Clay soils hold food and moisture, so they are good, but are best left undisturbed! I am sure you will grow some great crops.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you for all of your wonderful videos! I have been learning about no dig and preparing the garden for spring planting with cardboard sheet mulch. I also have clay soil, growing in zone 5b. The only quality compost i will have access to for now is very expensive and i will have to use it sparingly. Can you please tell me, would you leave the cardboard in place and plant through it with a dribble in that case? And perhaps just add compost to the hole/around the plant? Or just a thin layer on top of or below the cardboard? Will the ground be softened enough to plant in just 2-3 months like this, starting with a lawn? Should i consider broadforking this once due to the short time before planting? Thank you so Very much for your help!!
Wow after watching your videos most of the morning you answered my next question and that was HOW CAN I START A GARDEN WITHOUT A SURPLUS OF MULCH! The carpet idea is genius and I have already invested in old boxes that work wonderfully as I found out a few years back when I started a straw bale garden and harvested two of the sweet potatoes in fall weighing in at almost five pounds INCREDIBLE...FROM ONE GARDENER TO ANOTHER THANK YOU SO MUCH,
Charles ,I have visited your gardens read your books and have been practicing your methods for the last three years . and they really work. I can tell from your books that you are a gardener who does a bit of writing and not a writer (or TV presenter) who tries to be a gardener . You are better than all of them put together!
barkershill thanks! I do feel that having a lot of direct experience helps to see through the conflicting advice which abounds, and you are right, I am off to pick basil for salad bags!
After over a decade of severe neglect, I want to get my yard turned back into a garden this year! I have a lot of weeds and grass to kill though. It's winter, I'm doing research right now and recently discovered Charles and his no-dig method. But being very organic and wanting to be sure cardboard isn't toxic in any way, I Googled it. I've decided against using cardboard (it likely has glue in it and possibly synthetic components).
@smart viewer I couldn't possibly get enough newspaper, not clean, dye free newspaper anyway. I've been looking into hay/straw bale gardening and might try that.......or lay a tarp down and kill all the weeds and grass that way? I'm still not sure, lol. It's going to be a massive job. There's no rush with 3 feet of snow still on the ground. I'm experimenting with indoor gardening right now. Microgreens, baby greens, radishes, potatoes, lol
SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL ❤️ WELL DONE !! A ENCOURAGEMENT TO US ALL WHO LOVE OUR GARDENS ! I MOVED TO THE FORREST 1 .5 YRS AGO & WE LIVE FEAST OUT OF OUR GARDEN
Yes it is exciting, glad you like it. I remember your question about my site not loading well on iPad and it will improve soon when it upgrades to the new Drupal 7, from Drupal 6, fingers crossed. Steph's lunches continue to amaze on my courses, it is wonderful what you can do with vegetables.
Thank you Mr Dowding, your video presentation has kick started my horticultural endeavours on my lifestyle block. Whilst I've studied a lot I've been unsure and procrastinating until now.....
Makes so much sense I have been mulching for years, and slowly turning it into compost but always protecting my soil and not digging it because of the mycellium networks - love all your videos, had to find your very first one, just to say thankyou for all the inspiration :)
I love the music, I will come here often . Thank you for sharing all the information for growing wonderful plants. I collect egg shells, dry them in the oven, crush them and sprinkle them around especially seedling lettuce, chard, and plants that slugs & snails destroy. This keeps the slugs and snails away. The beds look a little messy, but will look better as the plants grow... From Canada - our climate is much colder
I live in Singapore and land is scarce. I have done a no dig garden because I was inspired by what I saw on your video. I now have several vegetables and root crops. I love your presentation which was to the point and your explanations are so clear. Keep up the good work.
It has begun. Central US in Oklahoma. Long hot summers where the last two months are a qasi desert-like environment and deep cold snaps in winter. Your composting method words EXACTLY the same here only I need add more moisture. The kitchen compost bucket reveals indoor cardboard soaking in potato water, pasta water and liquid coffee. That is all the additional moisture it needs. The rest is 50:50 approximately with some items cut down to compost better like large fruit and sweet potatoes or turnips. Closed bin. We're windy and do not need open slats! Thank you! I no longer water the stupid compost pile. I even have a polythene tarp to put atop very much like yours. It's all about keeping the moisture *in*. At exactly 7 to 8 weeks, it needs to be turned for air and it looks just as dark, moist and alive as yours! Last week I laid my first 4" compost atop a small portion of the garden bed! My 11 yo said, "Nice dirt." Even she knows. I cannot import compost, but have only mine and it's progressing faster than expected. It looks beautiful, Mr. Dowding! I've card-boarded 2 whole feet around the outer edge of the garden because our version of the couch grass (Bermuda) has adapted to the harsh climate and is very aggressive. Bermuda does NOT grow in shade. Light exclusion does work, but the stolons can be difficult. 2 foot should keep it out of the garden until I can tend to the edges. I will bring in 4" wood chips for the walkways until such time that the fundamental compost has been laid. Afterwards I will begin building the walk ways with compost as the wood chips decompose. For our quasi desert summer time: Top all beds with leaves and leaf mold to reduce evaporation. This has worked well for me in the past and is a local resource. You had me at "fertile clay with 6" loam" as this is close to what I have. Gave me reason to believe I could do it!
I had a real problem with slugs too, one day I decide to hang a bird feeder in my yard, I kept it full of molasses soaked sun flower seeds (their fav) Before long I had 100's of little birds in my yard forging in the garden rooting around garden beds, I never had a slug problem since..
From Joanne in Cape Town. I love your passion, your soul. Fresh air, fresh organic produce, excercise, all important sunlight and the interest and involvement. Excellent.
You are truly inspiring. I’m miserably waiting in frozen pa January and salivating about my dream garden in summer. Thanks for your wonderful video😊🍀🌿🌱☘️
You give so much hope. I’m recovering from surgery. I’ll be probably physically disabled for the rest of my life, because of the car accident, not the surgery. But you give hope. You don’t have to break your back to do farming. Your videos are therapy, also. Thank you!!!
Charles Dowding thank you for being a teacher. And giving hope. And your kind words. Today a beekeeper friend installed two families of bees. The whole neighborhood will have plenty of fruit this year.
I don't understand why there's so many dislikes on this gentlemans videos.. his garden is absolutely beautiful. .he knows what his doing.. I'm amazed. . Good job.. keep up the good work..
Ugh!! I need to fly to the UK, stuff you in my backpack, and haul you back to Louisiana!! Why can't I get mine to look like this? If only I could get my neighbors to let me follow behind their cows and collect all the goodies... I did just make the decision to buy a leaf shredder/wood chipper. We'll see. Hopefully soon my garden will look like yours! Yours is just beautiful...
thesupermom1975 I'm in South MS.. What works well for us is Newspaper printer remnants (ask your local paper for them) topped with year old hay (the seeds die so you don't have weeds from it) or old oak leaves my my mom is friends with the city gardener.. so she gives me BAGS of them. Make sure when you add cow manure it isn't fresh.. or you will have a caterpillar issue.. If you can lay it out in the winter and wait till spring to plant in.. it will work better.. or compost it is best.
Its so funny how you can forget how simple things can be. Thank you for these tips it will save me breaking my back digging. I love the carpet Idea its so good to encourage worms.....and slugs, into the garden but that will make it a healthy plot of soil full of living organisms. Brilliant.
Thank you for the interesting video, we are moving in a year`s time into our new house, where there is grass and woodland, and I will try your method for sure. Only one thing about the video: I wish you would either turn down the volume of the music or skip the music. I found it to be competing with your voice and it made it hard to concentrate on what you are saying. Your video, your voice is just fine! Greetings from Sweden.
If only gardeners ruled the world!Totally inspiring.Thank you.(Gardening in the Mediterranean where I live-Greece-is different than in 'wet' Britain but the british methodical and practical spirit make a good 'teacher' to many,I suppose.By the way,could flags be used the way you used the old blanket?).
I don't even use compost any more. I have a lot of grass and weeds (dandelion, clover, you name it) that grow side by side with my vegetables. I use my grass and weeds to fix carbon to increase organic matters in my garden so that when I cut them back and throw them onto the soil, the microorganisms, worms, and finally my vegetables are all benefited. I do random planting, rotation, perennial + biennials + annuals, with many many varieties. I use wood poles (to section my garden) to attract slugs so that I can pick them up in the morning to feed my chickens. We DO NOT need a "clean" garden, we need an efficient and healthy ecosystem in our garden. BTW, this is my second year as a serious gardener. I was inspired by Fukuoka's natural farming philosophy.
I like the idea of your description, how do you control the height of the grass to stop it shading out the veg? My grass reaches 4 feet if left alone, but I can't mow through veggies? Dandelions are a herb/root veg, you can make tea/salad with the leaves, and use the roots like spring onions :). My free range chickens turned up their beaks completely at slugs, though they loved worms. Sadly lost to a fox a month ago, my garden is very quiet now...
You may not need compost, but adding compost to depleted soil will bring it into production way faster. Charles shows us this when he imported lots of compost. Unless you are planting into already fertile soil you will have to wait a while chopping and dropping as you are doing. I used lots of leaves to beef up my soil and now am importing free compost into the vegetable plot.
Thanks Mr Dowding for an inspiring video. I used this method just before leaving our home land of Australia to come to the UK 17 years ago. I used purely organic mushroom compost, about 3 cubic metres, to create a test plot. Hay as mulch and then began making my own compost using near by horse manure and waste from a near by commercial flower garden. Well, as you say, the abundance was amazing. I was sold on no dig completely. Do you use any Aerated Compost Teas to help the soil? I like the way you do successional planting. This is something I've never really understood or worked into a system. Do I understand it correctly, that you sell some of your produce too? I ask as your web site mentions a market gardening course. Do you do this on your current home site? I might pay you a visit to do that weekend market gardening course before we return as when sell our home in Manchester we are returning to Australia and we want to move completely toward being self sufficient for our produce and meat. Is there any way to find out if a spot becomes available for the March 29th course as I notice it's free. Thanks so much again for a really nicely made video Sir. Cheers David
David Trees Google Lacto, it's made from rice sugar and salt. Dilute with molasses.1/2 and 1/2. Use 1 T in gallon of water and water plants. It's like EM. Brings good bacteria for soil. Also good for health your gi, and cleaning with...etc
Jason Cook its because some people like working. Tilling the soil isn't that a big deal unless you have a huge garden. I till the ground to smell the good soil.
+UtopianDr3ams Well good luck then cos I know what you mean , but no dig is about more than just saving time and avoiding an aching back , and arguably all the compost making could take up as much time as the digging anyway . However, I have just completed my third summer on a no dig system and am convinced that yields are higher and plants are healthier . I suspect that in undisturbed soil "anti -pathogens" (cant think what else to call them) build up and give a natural disease protection to the plants
+barkershill we are all different and that means we do things different in our own way. No tilling are for lazy don't get mad at me because I don't have a huge garden or a farm. I have a small back yard and I can till my soil and I get the same good result. I think people wants to do thier own way just cuase... yes, we see that no tilling work. On this video you can see how big his garden maybe he lives alone and wants to save a lot of time doing something else. Tilling or no tilling kudos to you for growing your own food. I do too grow my own and I have videos to prove it.
+UtopianDr3ams I grew up reading gardening books that told you that you HAD to thoroughly loosen the soil so roots could penetrate it and also bury the compost a foot down "so the roots could feed on it". and obviously you CAN grow stuff like this and folk have done so for generations . but both these theories have now been disproven . One further advantage of No Dig is that where I live the ground was often too wet to dig at the appropriate time of year and would throw out the schedule for the whole year.
+UtopianDr3ams Well sometimes tilling doesn't work for everyone. Like for me, I live in Florida so we have very sandy soil. So the no dig method works best for me.
Mr. Dowding, Thank you for the amazing knowledge you have passed. I will be applying your technique to my gardens in San Pedro De Los Milagros, Antioquia, Colombia, Much Gratitud.
***** Thanks for your comment Dave, its exciting. Also I am creating an online course in no dig gardening, see the outline here ruclips.net/video/oJlgphnFfBg/видео.html
I'm so glad you dropped the music some time in the last seven years. Your videos are so much more peaceful with just your relaxed cadence and the outdoors for noise.
I've only seriously gotten into gardening within the past 2 years, but in that short time, your channel has been a treasure. Incidentally I started learning about composting prior to gardening. With an abundance of yard waste and a lack of options for removing it, I started researching composting. During my research, I stumbled across your channel and the no dig approach. Your videos are a breath of fresh air in an environment overrun with loud and boisterous RUclipsrs. Many thanks for your work and dedication to teaching the craft. I look forward to reading your books very soon!
Lovely to hear Michael and I wish you even more success 🥕
My thoughts & experience exactly! What a treasure indeed! I told my daughter that I found the video that I was searching for! 🙏🏻😇
Your videos have gone from VHS to HD in 7 years thank you
I love gardening but certain disabilities have made growing veg very painful and exhausting. I began watching your videos last autumn after starting to work with quite a long strip of garden which had become waste ground over the past few years. It’s looking very different now! I have left areas for natural wild flowers and grasses the fruit bushes are now together in a no dig bed and I am preparing no dig manageable side beds for veg. Thank you so much these videos and your books have transformed the way I now garden into something I can manage and enjoy without being in agony.
I am happy to hear this Eliza, thanks for sharing the good news
I got an allotment last year and did no dig - surrounded by people digging. Won 5 prizes in the show so may be some converts.
Lovely to hear this and it will be fascinating to see what happens next
Wow! This gives me hope!
I just took on an allotment 10 days ago
Got quite a bit of horsetail and some other weeds
I have removed what I can from 2 beds now and covered in cardboard
One of the beds is smaller and I covered in compost and planted herbs
The bigger bed hasn’t got compost yet but I wanted to plant salads in there , am I best waiting a few months though until the weeds are all dead ?? Or should I just start growing now?
Sean Dyer
If it was me I’d plant salads provided your compost is deep enough. You could make one part deeper then spread it out later.
Sean Dyer
That horsetail is a bugger though.
“Gardening abundance” that’s the goal! Thank you Charles for educating us! Stay safe and healthy!
Look how happy you are , and its infecting me :)
Thankyou Mohd, I feel blessed to work with compost and plants, I am so pleased its infectious!
Charles Dowding... greetings.
Thank you for giving of yourself.
Your warmth, kindness and sincerity towards helpful others is a beautiful attribute.
I kindly put my hands out towards you.
Embrace you with brotherly love and kindness.
You're a gentleman...thank you Mr Charles Dowding.
May there be many fruitful and happy growing seasons ahead.
A friend in Australia.
And me . Hope you are all good Charles 🙏💚
That's what I noticed. Someone who looks so happy with what they are doing, and who they are.
I had a back injury 10 months ago - decided not to dig- discovered Charles Dowding - garden now ten times the size--it works it really does! Thanks Charles Dowding.
Lovely result Charles and thanks for the feedback.
No Dig... depends on the situation. Very example you still have to initially prepare the soil: if it is clay, heavy or heavily compacted. Also if you have terrible bind weed it needs digging out, I assume.
@@simeonbanner6204 you should watch some more of Charles's videos, where he explores/explains this in greater detail. It works.
So my newly acquired plot is covered in bindweed, would this no dig method still work or do I need to try and get all the bindweed out first?
@@lucycollins If u cover it with cardboard it will be shaded out and die.
Editing in this video is flawless. Congratulations on a wonderful garden.
Thanks for all of your comments and questions too. Would this method work in different climates? Not exactly, for example Ruth Stout's version was a mulch of hay to suppress weeds and add fertility - but here in England that causes too many slugs to breed and vegetables to disappear! (I know from trying it in 1983) The principle is the same though and I am sure you can work out ways to "no dig" (is there a better word?!!) in your climate, for your soil and with whatever mulching materials are to hand; good luck.
+Charles Dowding - so glad you said that, about different specific methods for different climates. I was going to try Ruth Stout's exact method in the pacific northwest of the U.S. (very moist) but now I know I don't have to do it exactly that way. Thanks!
try mosquito net cages for the slug problem. Also try putting broken eggshells sharp side up . It will be like the slugs and snails will be crawling on broken glass. Let me know if you have success with this method. All the nest from Bulgaria
Charles Dowding In my experience in the uk if you have just fruit and veg the slugs will easily find and eat the lot, so I leave the weeds all growing and the slugs struggle to find the fruit and veg because they are slowed down by the blessid weeds.
I also coppice the weeds doing chop and drop so again the slugs take longer to find my fruit and veg giving me time to go out with my solar torch and knife and kill the slugs providing my plants more nutrients!
Charles Dowding Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Hi.mr.charles ฉันชอบคลิปปลูกผัก สวน ของคุณมาก แต่ฉันไม่สามารถฟังมันได้เพราะฉันไม่รู้ภาษาของคุณค่ะ
You Are so beryktede inspiring and likeable. I used to have a circular patch , dug , with vegetables an mostly edible flowers. It has become unmanagable , since i i have had illness in the , which demanded my attention. The dig method seems totally overwhelming to me. I am now really inspired to get going with the carpet method. Vant express my deep gratitude enough really. YOU deserve a major MEDAL !!! Thank you !!!!
That is nice, thanks, I wish you happy growing
Watching you 8 years ago is a treat. But a huge heap of respect overwhels me.
Respect from Africa 🇿🇦
So nice, thanks Justus
I've never seen a happier Gardner. Nice. beautiful
Glad I found this. I am getting older and looking for an easier way to garden. Loved this!
This approach is so simple and your garden is inspiring.
Beware simple things!!! Look good just in movies!
Although I am more of a cottage flower gardener, I am thrilled to have found Charles great videos. This inspires me to build compost bins, use the no dig garden method AND grow some veges for a change!
Lovely comment thanks Jeri! May your veggies be good.
Just started this method, can't wait to fill the rest of the yard in.
Gracias a usted por enseñar y explicar su experiencia en el huerto. ...
Estoy feliz por colocar subtitulos.
Lo que hace es magnifico.
Saludos desde Venezuela
Muchas gracias 🍅
Its pleasing to find a gardener with a vast knowlege of growing vegetables, most of the one`s i have come across at my allotment tend not too want to tell you their secrets of how to grow vegetables probably so you dont beat them in the local shows but still it is frustrating when all you want is a little guidance. Thankyou for sharing Charles i look forward to watching your other video`s witha nice brew and a note book :)
what a honey of a man you are Sir,lovely advice,thankyou
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing. Born and raised in Iowa where the soil is dark and rich gardening was easy, but after moving to Texas a few years ago, gardening has been one disaster after another. I am going to try your approach. A home just isn't a home without a garden and yours is absolutely stunning! God Bless you.
So funny! I moved from Texas to Idaho and I’m having a hard time gardening! There’s tons of rocks here, so much so that I can’t use a tiller! Also, I’ve never in my 67 years had to start veggies from seed in the house! That’s crazy! I’m finally going to try it this year. But, the start up cost is terrible. I need shelves, heat mats, trays, heat lamps... ugh. Once you get your soil in good shape it’ll be a piece of cake down there in Texas. I was near the Dallas area almost all my life until I moved up here about ten years ago. I guess it’s just all a matter of what you’re used to.
@@Shanmammy really don't need all that I just use my garage and do seeds under the regular lamps we have in there works fine
This video is well done. You do not prattle on, the message is simple and clear.
Jules Sand I like the no-prattle approach too! The message gets through much more effectively. He's very calm and serene. I'll bet he talks to his vegetables too to grow that big
You are inspiring me daily as I watch your wonderful videos. I love to grow veggies and have lived on an acre where I had huge gardens full of “dug beds” and I fought bugs and disease for years. Very lucky I discovered you and your channel!! Appreciate your deep knowledge of living organisms and grateful for your caring, soothing delivery of this knowledge. You help my soul as well as my acquisition of ideas and strategies. Unfortunately I live in a townhouse now in Colorado, but I have a large patio and a small greenhouse where I manage to raise a few vegetables and flowers. Please continue to reach out to people such as myself, who have been through some troubled times and seek gardening as food for our souls. You are doing a wonderful service for so many people. God bless you, Charles. 🌷😎
How lovely, I'm delighted to help on levels other than gardening 😀 and I hope you can indeed grow a decent amount of food
I’ve been gardening for about 25 years and have read many gardening books. You are by far the best I have witnessed. Thank you Mr. Dowding for sharing your experience!
Thankyou Emestine
I remember my father he is like you
....hardworking..... Everyday in the farm planting all that we can benefits after all.....good exercise with benefits.... More power....
Thank you Charles...I’m a beginner gardener and this has been so inspiring 🌈👌🏽🥦🕊
I moved into France in september 2015. My garden has always been a garden for more than a hundred years. I have to honour this heritage.The earth is fertile. I appreciate very much this approach of 'no dig' and I have applied it already more or less. But I see now that I need more compost. And what a lovely garden!
I came across your latest video and was enthralled! I then looked for older ones so I can watch them all.
Thank you for teaching us how to grow smarter.
Cheers Sagir and that is my wish
I am really happy I found this video today. I started a hay-mulch garden last year and the slugs are a major problem (I'm in Belgium). For this year I already have prepared my beds with hay and I probably won't find a big amount of compost/well rotted manure before springtime, so I'll have to go with the hay method for 2015. I will however work towards mulching with compost and rotted manure in the future and it excites me to know that there are better no dig methods for our climate than the one I currently use. I subscribed and ordered the book 'organic gardening' today. Please do make more videos cause I enjoy them alot. Thanks!
I love to live in this kind of sustainable kind of living
Good to see the weedy field transformed in fertile garden.Mulching the ground is certainly the best way to take care of many problems.
Thanks for sharing your video.
Cheers Ravindra and yes, mulching ticks all boxes
From watching your videos, I have learned as much about diff things a person can grow, as much as how to grow them!😃 I plan to try a few things next year that I had never thought to grow.😊
Wonderful! It's fun
I really like the way you garden Charles! you are a genius!
Thank you for taking the time to share your method and clearly great success. Very inspiring.
We're absolutely hooked my husband is addicted to making compost because of you !! Thanks for sharing your observations and experiences!! We purchased the calendar tonight!!
Thankyou 😀 That is awesome!
I feel such peace from your videos
So enthusiastic! It shows a love for what you are doing. Incredible job and a well done video. TY for sharing.I work with wool carpets and now I have another idea for its waste. I have been saving scraps of wool carpet for shaving and adding to my compost pile, excited!
+LinnieRosa that is so good that you have plenty of wool carpet - worms adore it once half decomposed
Thankyou sir. For quickly showing me where to see this. I've been fighting yellow clay for years and gave up. Been growing in pots. Been looking into hugelcultur. I like what your doing. Beautiful garden. My mind was warped when I saw what you are doing. I love your dibble. I'm in north Alabama, USA.
Thanks, and no dig is the perfect method for clay.
Clay soils hold food and moisture, so they are good, but are best left undisturbed! I am sure you will grow some great crops.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you for all of your wonderful videos! I have been learning about no dig and preparing the garden for spring planting with cardboard sheet mulch. I also have clay soil, growing in zone 5b. The only quality compost i will have access to for now is very expensive and i will have to use it sparingly. Can you please tell me, would you leave the cardboard in place and plant through it with a dribble in that case? And perhaps just add compost to the hole/around the plant? Or just a thin layer on top of or below the cardboard? Will the ground be softened enough to plant in just 2-3 months like this, starting with a lawn? Should i consider broadforking this once due to the short time before planting? Thank you so Very much for your help!!
Wow after watching your videos most of the morning you answered my next question and that was HOW CAN I START A GARDEN WITHOUT A SURPLUS OF MULCH! The carpet idea is genius and I have already invested in old boxes that work wonderfully as I found out a few years back when I started a straw bale garden and harvested two of the sweet potatoes in fall weighing in at almost five pounds INCREDIBLE...FROM ONE GARDENER TO ANOTHER THANK YOU SO MUCH,
Great story and thankyou
Charles ,I have visited your gardens read your books and have been practicing your methods for the last three years . and they really work. I can tell from your books that you are a gardener who does a bit of writing and not a writer (or TV presenter) who tries to be a gardener . You are better than all of them put together!
barkershill thanks! I do feel that having a lot of direct experience helps to see through the conflicting advice which abounds, and you are right, I am off to pick basil for salad bags!
What a beautiful video. You have great energy I will read your books.
After over a decade of severe neglect, I want to get my yard turned back into a garden this year! I have a lot of weeds and grass to kill though. It's winter, I'm doing research right now and recently discovered Charles and his no-dig method. But being very organic and wanting to be sure cardboard isn't toxic in any way, I Googled it. I've decided against using cardboard (it likely has glue in it and possibly synthetic components).
@smart viewer I couldn't possibly get enough newspaper, not clean, dye free newspaper anyway. I've been looking into hay/straw bale gardening and might try that.......or lay a tarp down and kill all the weeds and grass that way? I'm still not sure, lol. It's going to be a massive job. There's no rush with 3 feet of snow still on the ground. I'm experimenting with indoor gardening right now. Microgreens, baby greens, radishes, potatoes, lol
Look at the calm and the happiness of this men! Incredible!
Cheers Marco 🥬
SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL ❤️ WELL DONE !! A ENCOURAGEMENT TO US ALL WHO LOVE OUR GARDENS ! I MOVED TO THE FORREST 1 .5 YRS AGO & WE LIVE FEAST OUT OF OUR GARDEN
Thanks Jenna, sounds a good move!
Thank you for posting this, Charles - quite inspiring! I hope to see more videos from you in the future. All the best from across the pond.
Thanks David
Yes it is exciting, glad you like it. I remember your question about my site not loading well on iPad and it will improve soon when it upgrades to the new Drupal 7, from Drupal 6, fingers crossed.
Steph's lunches continue to amaze on my courses, it is wonderful what you can do with vegetables.
Thank you Mr Dowding, your video presentation has kick started my horticultural endeavours on my lifestyle block.
Whilst I've studied a lot I've been unsure and procrastinating until now.....
Hooray Julanne, nice to read this
Makes so much sense I have been mulching for years, and slowly turning it into compost but always protecting my soil and not digging it because of the mycellium networks - love all your videos, had to find your very first one, just to say thankyou for all the inspiration :)
Wonderful!
Charles, please come save our farm!
Well done. Background music is pleasant as well.
I love the music, I will come here often . Thank you for sharing all the information for growing wonderful plants. I collect egg shells, dry them in the oven, crush them and sprinkle them around especially seedling lettuce, chard, and plants that slugs & snails destroy. This keeps the slugs and snails away. The beds look a little messy, but will look better as the plants grow... From Canada - our climate is much colder
I live in Singapore and land is scarce. I have done a no dig garden because I was inspired by what I saw on your video. I now have several vegetables and root crops.
I love your presentation which was to the point and your explanations are so clear. Keep up the good work.
Nice feedback! enjoy those veg.
Thank for the video it give ideas of growing own food that save much money
I love you!!!!!!!you are a teacher!!!!!Thank you!!!!!!!!I wish you the best!
It has begun. Central US in Oklahoma. Long hot summers where the last two months are a qasi desert-like environment and deep cold snaps in winter. Your composting method words EXACTLY the same here only I need add more moisture. The kitchen compost bucket reveals indoor cardboard soaking in potato water, pasta water and liquid coffee. That is all the additional moisture it needs. The rest is 50:50 approximately with some items cut down to compost better like large fruit and sweet potatoes or turnips. Closed bin. We're windy and do not need open slats! Thank you! I no longer water the stupid compost pile. I even have a polythene tarp to put atop very much like yours. It's all about keeping the moisture *in*. At exactly 7 to 8 weeks, it needs to be turned for air and it looks just as dark, moist and alive as yours!
Last week I laid my first 4" compost atop a small portion of the garden bed! My 11 yo said, "Nice dirt." Even she knows. I cannot import compost, but have only mine and it's progressing faster than expected. It looks beautiful, Mr. Dowding!
I've card-boarded 2 whole feet around the outer edge of the garden because our version of the couch grass (Bermuda) has adapted to the harsh climate and is very aggressive. Bermuda does NOT grow in shade. Light exclusion does work, but the stolons can be difficult. 2 foot should keep it out of the garden until I can tend to the edges. I will bring in 4" wood chips for the walkways until such time that the fundamental compost has been laid. Afterwards I will begin building the walk ways with compost as the wood chips decompose.
For our quasi desert summer time: Top all beds with leaves and leaf mold to reduce evaporation. This has worked well for me in the past and is a local resource.
You had me at "fertile clay with 6" loam" as this is close to what I have. Gave me reason to believe I could do it!
Lovely job Bonnie, and I love hearing how you have adapted because of the climate, which sounds difficult.
I had a real problem with slugs too, one day I decide to hang a bird feeder in my yard, I kept it full of molasses soaked sun flower seeds (their fav) Before long I had 100's of little birds in my yard forging in the garden rooting around garden beds, I never had a slug problem since..
That is so nice!
Good man,Charles. Excellent video. Loved it all.
This is inspiring and wonderful. Thank you sir!
From Joanne in Cape Town. I love your passion, your soul. Fresh air, fresh organic produce, excercise, all important sunlight and the interest and involvement. Excellent.
Lovely comment thanks Joanne
You are truly inspiring. I’m miserably waiting in frozen pa January and salivating about my dream garden in summer. Thanks for your wonderful video😊🍀🌿🌱☘️
Good luck with waiting, spring will feel good
Bravo! Bravo! Well done Sir! I can't wait to get started; the snow is melting as of today in Québec...:)
Well done mate :)
Your enthusiasm is contagious. What a beautiful garden you have done a superb job!
You give so much hope. I’m recovering from surgery. I’ll be probably physically disabled for the rest of my life, because of the car accident, not the surgery. But you give hope. You don’t have to break your back to do farming.
Your videos are therapy, also. Thank you!!!
Ah so sorry Theia that is terrible, I wish you good healing.
And then good gardening, grow healthy food, to feel better in every way. 🌺
Charles Dowding ❤️
Charles Dowding thank you for being a teacher. And giving hope. And your kind words. Today a beekeeper friend installed two families of bees. The whole neighborhood will have plenty of fruit this year.
he sounds exactly like Barrie Trower! wow
Great work!
Nice, seen this video just now, i love the progress of the garden today...
I don't understand why there's so many dislikes on this gentlemans videos.. his garden is absolutely beautiful. .he knows what his doing.. I'm amazed. . Good job.. keep up the good work..
Dave, thankyou!
Totally inspiring, Charles. Thanks you very much. :-)
I love this video, although it's a bit too violent for my taste.
+S Morris LOL!!!
And so, a legend is born! Great work Charles :)
Thankyou Ted
Me encantan estos videos de hace meses porque tienen subtitulos en español. Gracias.
That was a very enjoyable watch, thanks for sharing.
Ugh!! I need to fly to the UK, stuff you in my backpack, and haul you back to Louisiana!! Why can't I get mine to look like this? If only I could get my neighbors to let me follow behind their cows and collect all the goodies... I did just make the decision to buy a leaf shredder/wood chipper. We'll see. Hopefully soon my garden will look like yours! Yours is just beautiful...
thesupermom1975 I'm in South MS.. What works well for us is Newspaper printer remnants (ask your local paper for them) topped with year old hay (the seeds die so you don't have weeds from it) or old oak leaves my my mom is friends with the city gardener.. so she gives me BAGS of them. Make sure when you add cow manure it isn't fresh.. or you will have a caterpillar issue.. If you can lay it out in the winter and wait till spring to plant in.. it will work better.. or compost it is best.
Wow! Awesome advice! Thanks so much.
thesupermom1975 you could check out my online course, goes live on 13th July! ruclips.net/video/oJlgphnFfBg/видео.html
Why won’t they let you follow the cows?
I just love watching your videos Charles. Thank you.
it´s nice to hear you speak about plants and how to grow them
Fantastic ,MORE PLEASE!;]
hahha . I thought I was the only one using carpet :))))) Im in love w your garden
Thanks for your hard work. Bach and the creation of beauty.
Nicely put thanks :)
Its so funny how you can forget how simple things can be. Thank you for these tips it will save me breaking my back digging. I love the carpet Idea its so good to encourage worms.....and slugs, into the garden but that will make it a healthy plot of soil full of living organisms. Brilliant.
Thanks Susan.
There is an army of people out there creating complications! And yes, simplicity works.
this is gorgeous and inspiring!
Thank you for the interesting video, we are moving in a year`s time into our new house, where there is grass and woodland, and I will try your method for sure. Only one thing about the video: I wish you would either turn down the volume of the music or skip the music. I found it to be competing with your voice and it made it hard to concentrate on what you are saying. Your video, your voice is just fine! Greetings from Sweden.
Thanks Ellie and good luck with the move and new garden.
Yes we learnt that about music. This was my first video and they are quieter now :)
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you for the answer, and your good wishes!
Thanks Charles Dowding, this video is just what I was looking for !!!!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful method in such an enthusiastic, modest and warm-hearted way.
Cheers Pat
fantastic, make a supplemental income with a quick start to salad greens. I love the hoop garden idea too. I need to find a couple 'helpers', hmm :)
Thank for the videos
10 y later and still ome of the best videos ❤!
Thanks a lot 😀
Gracias Charles, gracias madre tierra.....is fantastic!!
If only gardeners ruled the world!Totally inspiring.Thank you.(Gardening in the Mediterranean where I live-Greece-is different than in 'wet' Britain but the british methodical and practical spirit make a good 'teacher' to many,I suppose.By the way,could flags be used the way you used the old blanket?).
I don't even use compost any more. I have a lot of grass and weeds (dandelion, clover, you name it) that grow side by side with my vegetables. I use my grass and weeds to fix carbon to increase organic matters in my garden so that when I cut them back and throw them onto the soil, the microorganisms, worms, and finally my vegetables are all benefited. I do random planting, rotation, perennial + biennials + annuals, with many many varieties. I use wood poles (to section my garden) to attract slugs so that I can pick them up in the morning to feed my chickens. We DO NOT need a "clean" garden, we need an efficient and healthy ecosystem in our garden. BTW, this is my second year as a serious gardener. I was inspired by Fukuoka's natural farming philosophy.
I like the idea of your description, how do you control the height of the grass to stop it shading out the veg? My grass reaches 4 feet if left alone, but I can't mow through veggies? Dandelions are a herb/root veg, you can make tea/salad with the leaves, and use the roots like spring onions :). My free range chickens turned up their beaks completely at slugs, though they loved worms. Sadly lost to a fox a month ago, my garden is very quiet now...
You may not need compost, but adding compost to depleted soil will bring it into production way faster. Charles shows us this when he imported lots of compost. Unless you are planting into already fertile soil you will have to wait a while chopping and dropping as you are doing. I used lots of leaves to beef up my soil and now am importing free compost into the vegetable plot.
YOU HAD US CONVINCED AT...."LESS WORK" !!!!!!
Me encanta! Es respetando el ambiente en coherencia con la Tierra. Me llega mas esto, que trabajar la tierra rompiendo habitat. Gracias!!.
💚
Thanks Mr Dowding for an inspiring video. I used this method just before leaving our home land of Australia to come to the UK 17 years ago. I used purely organic mushroom compost, about 3 cubic metres, to create a test plot. Hay as mulch and then began making my own compost using near by horse manure and waste from a near by commercial flower garden.
Well, as you say, the abundance was amazing. I was sold on no dig completely. Do you use any Aerated Compost Teas to help the soil? I like the way you do successional planting. This is something I've never really understood or worked into a system.
Do I understand it correctly, that you sell some of your produce too?
I ask as your web site mentions a market gardening course. Do you do this on your current home site? I might pay you a visit to do that weekend market gardening course before we return as when sell our home in Manchester we are returning to Australia and we want to move completely toward being self sufficient for our produce and meat. Is there any way to find out if a spot becomes available for the March 29th course as I notice it's free.
Thanks so much again for a really nicely made video Sir. Cheers David
David Trees Google Lacto, it's made from rice sugar and salt. Dilute with molasses.1/2 and 1/2. Use 1 T in gallon of water and water plants. It's like EM. Brings good bacteria for soil. Also good for health your gi, and cleaning with...etc
I have been having such a hard time explaining to people we dont have to till soil. WHY CANT THEY COMPREHEND?Thanks for the video :)
Jason Cook its because some people like working. Tilling the soil isn't that a big deal unless you have a huge garden. I till the ground to smell the good soil.
+UtopianDr3ams Well good luck then cos I know what you mean , but no dig is about more than just saving time and avoiding an aching back , and arguably all the compost making could take up as much time as the digging anyway . However, I have just completed my third summer on a no dig system and am convinced that yields are higher and plants are healthier . I suspect that in undisturbed soil "anti -pathogens" (cant think what else to call them) build up and give a natural disease protection to the plants
+barkershill we are all different and that means we do things different in our own way. No tilling are for lazy don't get mad at me because I don't have a huge garden or a farm. I have a small back yard and I can till my soil and I get the same good result. I think people wants to do thier own way just cuase... yes, we see that no tilling work. On this video you can see how big his garden maybe he lives alone and wants to save a lot of time doing something else. Tilling or no tilling kudos to you for growing your own food. I do too grow my own and I have videos to prove it.
+UtopianDr3ams I grew up reading gardening books that told you that you HAD to thoroughly loosen the soil so roots could penetrate it and also bury the compost a foot down "so the roots could feed on it". and obviously you CAN grow stuff like this and folk have done so for generations . but both these theories have now been disproven . One further advantage of No Dig is that where I live the ground was often too wet to dig at the appropriate time of year and would throw out the schedule for the whole year.
+UtopianDr3ams
Well sometimes tilling doesn't work for everyone. Like for me, I live in Florida so we have very sandy soil. So the no dig method works best for me.
Thank you. You are the salt of the earth.
Mr. Dowding, Thank you for the amazing knowledge you have passed. I will be applying your technique to my gardens in San Pedro De Los Milagros, Antioquia, Colombia, Much Gratitud.
+luis velasquez lovely to hear from you and may your garden prosper
Nice plot but I cannot stand to hear Mozart slaughtered like this...
Thanks, this music causes mixed reaction, one person called it Bach and another said
Loved the whole thing, but the background music stood out!
BRILLIANT Charles , You have really given me a new blueprint for gardening ,
I'm heading towards a no dig garden now cheers
***** Thanks for your comment Dave, its exciting. Also I am creating an online course in no dig gardening, see the outline here ruclips.net/video/oJlgphnFfBg/видео.html
excellent news
Thanks again Charles, may God Bless you.