In the tenth summer of no dig at Homeacres UK, I show you around my vegetable garden. It's 16th June and one of the first hot days, 27C 80F.
See also the trials I run, including no rotation, intercropping, and a dig / no dig comparison.Plus at the end you see how we make compost. In this climate it's a fantastic way to increase fertility, through stimulating life in the soil as much as by bringing nutrients. We apply about 2.5cm / 1in every year, for two plantings.
In this video you see many second plantings, and none of them receive new compost. There is plenty of life and food available for the new vegetables to grow strongly into autumn - see the subsequent tours we shall film.
00:00 Introduction
00:38 Why no dig helps to reduce slug population, and some tips
01:32 Lettuce that have been growing in the same place for six years - no rotation
01:47 Potatoes in their eighth year of growing in the same soil
02:00 See examples of double cropping, and more of no rotation
02:27 A look at pest protection - mesh and hoops
03:20 How we keep on top of weeds at Homeacres
04:08 My dig/no dig trial beds, and examples of interplanting
05:23 We go in the greenhouse - propagation, trials, and plants - see the rapid growth of a melon plant!
06:27 Why I don’t use feed or fertiliser
06:51 I talk about seed saving, and why it can be worthwhile
07:15 A still hot hotbed
08:21 We go in the polytunnel, see how I train cordon cucumbers
09:41 Sungold tomatoes and explain why I remove the bottom truss
10:51 Aphids, white and green fly, and how I manage them
10:47 I explain why it’s still ok to water tomato leaves, without worrying about blight
11:14 Amazing leek plants that I’m growing for seed
11:37 A look at the herb garden…
12:38 …and the ‘new area’, with bindweed still present
13:13 Beetroot from homesaved seed
13:28 A look at hardneck garlic with rust, Puccinia allii
13:51 …and a plant of frisee endive going to seed
14:16 Wild rocket, and how it differs from salad rocket
14:37 A look at cabbage plants and then asparagus, planted as crowns
15:30 The sad results of an experiment with woodchip
17:39 I explain how we make hay, and why
18:13 An example of two types of compost (green waste and mushroom) - the importance of it being ready to use, and how you can tell whether or not it is
19:13 My new ‘new area’ (!) and how we use plastic when there is vigorous weed growth, of bindweed in particular
20:19 A brief mention of my cereal growing (ad)venture
20:55 Borlotti beans growing up tipis, and explain why tipis are better than lines
21:07 Slug damage, and more tips on how to avoid it
21:54 We look at some of my compost making methods
26:04 I show you more garlic - softneck and hardneck
26:41 Back to the compost, and I explain mixing green and brown
28:05 Some info on my weekly subscription advice email... (more details below)
28:36 …and on an RHS talk I’m doing on 4th July in London
Pre-order my new No Dig book geni.us/NoDig
Check out my 2018 video Early Summer Harvests:
• Speedy Replanting and ...
The weekly advice newsletter I mentioned is the What, When and How, with advice on sowing, planting, harvesting, watering, pest control etc for the week ahead. You receive it every Friday via email, from Feb - Oct and for £5/month. You can sign up via Campaignzee: manage.campaignzee.com/sAxSig...
Propagation is mostly in my CD60 module trays, more info on this page of my website:
charlesdowding.co.uk/shop/gar...
I have made many videos about making compost, see this playlist:
• Compost Making
The conversation I mentioned with Jekka McVicar is here:
• 40 years of growing an...
Filmed by Nicola Smith at Homeacres, Somerset UK on 16th June, temperate oceanic climate zone 8. Drone shot 7th June 2022 by Edward Dowding.
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