"You might be wondering ... what the hell is he doing?" HA! I have no doubts Charles knows exactly what he' doing, and most importantly, I appreciate that he never fails to explain WHY he's doing it. That is so valuable to me because knowing why really helps me learn and retain knowledge. That he takes the time to patiently demonstrate the processes is evidence that Charles is a natural encourager as well as an experienced, confident expert. How lucky we -- and our gardens -- are to have this amazing access to his wisdom and skills.

Years ago I had the dream of growing my own organic food, but it seemed impossible. Then after studying Charles for 2 years I decided to go for it, what did I have to lose anyway, Charles even told me ''GO, YOU!''. So I had to... Well, it's my first year, and my 2 little 4x8 no dig beds are producing more food than I can eat! Cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, spinach, zucchinis and more, ohhh my ! My grocery bills dropped 50% for the last 5 weeks, no jokes. It's ... incredibe. Everybody should grow their own organic food, what are they waiting for. GO YOU!. You plant, you let mother nature do her thing, and you eat!

Charles, you are truly my inspiration, after a few decades away, I've recently started growing my own veg again, and boy what a wonderful experience it is, delicious organic and satisfying on so many levels, thank you so much for sharing

Charles is an incredible human being and a world class teacher. His teachings are a real gift to humanity 🙏🙏🙏

The shadow of the gardener is the best additive for a healthy harvest!

Those are beautiful and healthy looking. Very well done.

Great information Charles, as always. That closing shot of your poly tunnel reminds me of the hanging gardens of Babylon.

What a super video so helpful for a rookie vegetable gardener. I have followed your tutorials since the beginning of my vegetable adventure and I never fail to be inspired ! so thank you 🙏🏼

As you kind of hinted, Charles, we only really need to take off powdery mildew leaves for our own vanity or pride. And, yes they are prickly, I suffer too LOL

Thank you Charles for another great video!

As always, a great video.

Thank you, brother !

Superb teaching. Your channel is my go to for education and entertainment, even surpassing Gardener's World.

14:07 "Harvested one hour later; Delicious!" I really enjoy the bits of humor that y'all inject into the educational information on your channel! 😁

Great tips thanksxx

Perfect, just what I needed. Impeccable timing 🙏😊

Thankyou on adv. Super knowledge.....

Very informative, just at the right time. Thank you.

So very helpful. Thank you.

Thanks for all the good advises.

Thanks again, Mr Charles 💝

Thanks a lot for your advices!! 👍💖❗

good talk, cheers Charles

So much eye candy, lovely!

Oh you have made me feel soooo much better! I retired at Christmas and this is my first summer with a greenhouse and 4 raised beds. I’ve 9 swedes that I stripped some lower leaves from - did instinctively and then wondered whether I’d done the right thing. I hadn’t thought about doing the same with the lettuces though and yet it makes perfect sense … such a great way to lengthen their time in the beds whilst still enjoying a harvest. 👍🏻

great video

Everything's looking amazing Charles!! Props to you for all the knowledge you bestow and all the people you inspire

Hi Charles , i salivate and feel a little jealous everytime i watch one of your videos . You truly are the Elvis of the no dig gardening .

Thank you for these important tips - and message about developing a close as in (just about) daily relationship with the plants 😊

Looking after some great growth this year! Cheers Charles!!

Found this video really helpful, thank you.

Nice!

Magnifique potager bravo 👍 👍 👍 👍

Thank you Charles, I enjoyed the visit to your garden. You have a beautiful garden. I am letting my garden continue, the heat here is going to drop next week. Hopefully I will see some harvest. Look forward to the next visit to your garden.

As always totally useful..every days a schoolday!!

Such perfection!! You are an inspiration, thank you 😊

Thank you for showing how to harvest lettuce.

What a ton of great advice. Be Attentive!

Muchas felicidades Sr. Charles

The best channel for great knowledge.. I can't thank you enough

I learn so much from your videos, Charles! Thank you! I especially love the reason of having a relationship with your plants! 🌱

AMAZING

Incredible education 👏 Thank you so much for sharing your vast knowledge🌻🦋🌺🍀

The absolute expert gardening topics, thank you so much for your videos every one is a gem!

NO DIG !!!!!!! …….BRINGING ESTRANGED FAMILY MEMBERS TOGETHER !!!!!!!!!

Thanks for your videos. I’ve learned so much from you. I just have a little backyard garden in Vancouver BC Canada. So far this is my best year ever. I still have much to learn. I wish I had more space. I would love to visit your garden one day. It’s amazing.

Excelente!

Thank you for all your encouragement and step by step walk throughs Charles. Indeed, you help us to know we can do it too even though on a smaller scale. You truly are an inspiration. ❤

Thank you, I know this will work well in my garden because I also have slug and snail issues.

ขอบคุณค่ะพี่❤

Gardening as a lifestyle. Backyard gardener here. Getting closer to a better understanding thru you Charles. Would be great to be able to develop my garden beds and grow some beautiful healthy plants. Another year another chance to grow!

Another invaluable lesson. Thanks, Charles! I do that to my kale too. The garden just looks so much better and access to weeding is easier.

Charles...your videos are so helpful with gardening tips as we need them. You have helped me so much in this gardening process! I went right out and put to practice your advice. Thanks so much for all your efforts!

This is my first season growing veggies and it all turned out so well thanks to you Charles! Thanks you so much!🤞🏼🤞🏼🌿

Hermosa abundancia, saludos Charles🥬🥒🥦🍅💚💚💚💚💚💚

That‘s quite impressing how much leaves you can remove without doing any harm. Thank you for showing!!

Danke Charles, Gartenarbeit ist meine Therapie für die Seele. Ihre Ordnung im Garten inspiriert mich immer auf‘s neue. Lg aus der Eifel

Thank you! So much amazing information! I’m also no longer afraid of powdery mildew and composting those leaves. I enjoy learning from you

Fabulous video once again & I now realise that I need to harvest my lettuce more than I have been doing. Thanks Charles once again. Cheers Denise- Australia

Hi Charles love your video lv Irene 😘 xx

What a lovely 15 minutes.Affirmation that I continue following your method and your love of nature..Its a steep learning curve in my first year but you have made the journey so much easier and a real pleasure.Thankyou👍

Another excellent and informative video Charles! I was wondering about the nets btw ATB Woody 👍👍👍

Wspaniale przekazuje Pan swoją ogromną wiedzę i doświadczenie, gratuluję, podziwiam i wciąż się uczę, pozdrawiam cieplutko

Yet another quality video from in my opinion this countries best gardening guru Thank you Charles for your fine inspiration

dont forget all this goes into the compost bin for next season I bravely made a 1m x 1m x 1m bin and it takes every bit of greenery you can find to fill it

Wow your polytunnel is like a well organised jungle! So envious. Thankyou for the explanation about leaf removal. Off to sort my lettuces out!

it was inspiring me

This is good, thanks! As I had plenty of deciduous leaves and grass clippings for the sheet mulch/compost, I went with collecting the lower leaves of brassicas to dehydrate and break down as dried veg flakes/powder to use in various menus.

Hola Charles,que hermoso están tus cultivos ,los melones se veían maravillosos , gracias por tu enseñanza como siempre un saludo desde Chile 🇨🇱🌷

I’ve always removed leaves like this. Was never quite sure if I was doing the right thing, so good to finally know I am.

Que belleza su huerto es mi sueño😋

Well said Charles, make reasons to stop and study the plants,.to just be in the moment and practice observation. Lovely garden. I heard you guys have been feeling the lack of rain in much of the UK this summer so sterling work sir

Charles, Home Acres looks gorgeous! ❤ I recently saw you speak at one of the RHS shows, you were amazing, and I have become really endeared to no-dig gardening.

Here in the cental valley of California with our weeks of 100 plus temps I am careful about removing too many leaves as they shade the ground and protect the fruit from sun burn. I do remove the ones that show yellowing but by then there are plenty more healthy ones to leave on the plants.

I heard your name a few times but never really HEARD your name. I'm now a subscriber and will be applying what I've learned. My first fall garden is on its way. I wish I'd known you for my summer garden. Using these techniques for my Food Forest and my regular beds. Thanks so much. Can't wait for more.

Beautiful, specially inside of the tunnel. I spoil myself growing small variety of melon just for joy .

Thanks Charles for answering my burning question about the health of the leaves for compost. I have definitely wasted too much great compostable materials. So hot here in Northern California now, I have so many plans for extending my no dig gardens, too little (cool enough) time. Lol.

Charles, I nearly fell out of my seat when you said you're probably thinking wth is he doing. 🙃 Your brassica are gorgeous. For the first time mine just aren't doing great. Hopefully, with less heat they will feel better. Hagd!

Direct sun does wonder on the melon fruit itself, even if the fruit gets very hot, the taste after that is epic. This year I had some on the ground supported by wood planks. Next year I will try vertical...

great vid i have tons of tomatoes in my tunnell but a lot of the fruit is soft

Beautiful cabbage. I have groundhog lately. They love brassica family😭I can’t catch it.

A wonderful video Charles. As it has been quite cool this summer here in Thailand (early 30's C), I am thinking of starting my brassicas, beetroot and radishes. I have also managed to get hold of some Swiss chard seeds so I'm going to try them too. A lot of monsoon rain here so I lost all my cucumbers and Cantaloupe :(

Yeşil tırtıklı marul cinsinden bendede var 😁bahçenizi görünce içim ferahlıyor 🍀🌿🌱🍀☘️

Grande

How beautiful are those leaves as they are ashy purple-blueish but as the Sun catches them from the side they go translucent green in waves 🤩

Benefit seven - free food for your chickens. Chickens love their greens especially brassicas.

Such beautiful gardens. I am going to do that today to cabbage and broccoli…. The dying leaves will go to my chickens/turkeys and I will ferment or dry the rest.

You're garden is so beautiful, Charles. Mine is looking like a bomb site at the moment. It's being raided constantly by the swamp hens and my chickens, so I've given up on it. My goal, however, is to get it fully caged this spring, so I can enjoy all the summer veggies. With a bit of luck, it might look something like yours in six months.

Hi Charles, we’ve had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks,our tomatoes are starting to split from to much water. That’s ok though. Corn is coming on peppers are well. Your garden looks great. Lots of cucumbers here we love them. No melons though. Yours look good. God bless y’all. (Old guy from Arkansas)🇺🇸

I only grow a few plants , and I've already taken bottom leaves from sprouts, cabbage and broccolli, however I am doing this so I can eat them , if a leaf was discoloured or too damaged by slugs/beetles then I would compost it.

Great advice as always Charles. I'm in my 2nd year of no dig now and surely the best thing is no weeds! I do remove lower leaves on courgettes because i grow them up stakes to save room. As they grow you just remove lower leaves and tie up the top as it grows(Midnight variety, absolutely superb)

Ja liście z brukselki i z brokuła gałązkowego wykorzystalam do bigosu, mąż sie trochę zdziwił i skrzywił ale zjadł choć jest wybredny. To znaczy, że liście te świetnie się nadają do różnych potraw, a to znaczy, że to wszystko dzięki Panu, panie Charles. Dziękuję za świetne filmiki. Tyle się od Pana nauczyłam

i often use the old leaves as slug traps laid on ground and then collect next day and give to hens

Great video Charles, we do the same with most of our plants. Here in Texas the insects can get very aggressive especially when the weather is hot and dry. Here in central Texas we are at 57 days no rain and temps 102 to 108. We've been gardening for over 30 years and is is the worst drought we have seen. We are taking a holiday this September to the Cotswolds and very much looking forward to it. There are a few botanical gardens we will visit and as a retired chef over 28 years we are looking forward to the food. We love your channel and are always learning. Blessings, Mike

Thank you, that's a very helpful summary. That might help with our aphid problems we have in winter. We can't grow lettuce in winter because we have a big aphid problem, but only in January, February and March.

Your cabbages looking a lot better than my Sunderland Kale and the Swiss Chard has bolted.

I love your knowledge that you have shared with us, but the salad leaves I have struggled this year to much heat I watered twice a day and still no where near as good as yours and you say you have watered but only a little I live in Oxfordshire UK by the way many thanks

Just saw a cabbage moth fly by you Charles whilst taking of the leaves of the cabbages 😉 The garden is looking superb Charles😀 Hope the worms are well, I’m sure the compost bins are producing good compost as usual 😀

This video is great. You're an inspiration Charles. Besides your excellent gardening knowledge, you are well-spoken which is rare, and physically fit which is equally rare in a sedentary world of so many cheap unhealthy calories. I understand your situation, it having been so dry in your area this year. We use drip irrigation which, while it uses plastic drip tubing which isn't ideal because of environmental drawbacks, is very efficient at delivering water directly to the base of the plant, which it soaks in to the root zone and keeps it from evaporating as much as it would if it were sprayed. We run a small farm on just less than 1 acre, in a high desert, at 4300 feet above sea level in Northern Utah. We get very little rain all summer. This region derives water from the Wasatch Mountain range (Ute and Wasatch are tribal names), which cools and squeezes rain and snow from the clouds that arrive from the west from California and Nevada. When the Mormon settlers first arrived they dammed streams in the canyons to create reservoirs and dug irrigation canals to direct the mountain water to their fields. These are still in use and still the basis of our municipal and agricultural water systems. This region has very fertile lands which are the lakebed soils of Lake Bonneville- the remnant of which is the Great Salt Lake, a few miles from Salt Lake City. The lake gets its salt from these same mountain waters, which disolve naturally occuring minerals as they flow from the mountains to the Great Salt Lake. Since the lake has no where to drain, the water slowly evaporates leaving behind the mineral salts to become more and more concentrated over time. Interestingly to me because I was raised in New York where there's no shortage of rain, here in Utah every drop of water is actually owned before it hits the ground, and a type of deeded real property called a 'water right' is needed to collect and use any of it. Cities have to own water rights to use wells or take water from reservoirs and distribute it to homes, and any water in any stream, and all groundwater, and even rain water falling on your house and land is owned not owned by you, the land-owner, but by owners of water rights for surface and ground water that would otherwise be yours. To collect rain water from your roof, by law you must get a permit and are limited to 2500 gallons maximum per home. Best wishes from Utah!

Just so you know, Charles. It's because of you that I invested in a really good pair of knee pads. A lot of what you teach requires me to be real choose to the soil. And that, for me, involves a lot of kneeling!