I hope you have a great time in Iowa!! I live in central Illinois about 6 hours from where you will be. I wish I could have been there to meet you. You have inspired me and helped me become a better gardener!

❤️🧡💚☀️

We've found that Savoy cabbage acts like slug bait -- one plant calls them in and is destroyed while the nearby lettuces are untouched. Go figure.

The downs and ups of gardening Nailed it, hope you have a great holiday abroad. Minty the master huntress, garden guardian, made me smile ❤ you left the place in purrrrrrrfect paws

You are such a wealth of knowledge and experience. It may not feel like it at times, but people like me are thoroughly inspired by people like you. Thank you for making the content you do.

Hey Charles, I'm curious about growing purple sprouting broccoli here in New Hampshire, USA. I am zone 6a, so I dont think it would survive the winter. I do have a greenhouse with a small heater that gets me about 20 degrees warmer than the nighttime lows...do you think sprouting broccoli would grow well in the greenhouse overwinter?

Whatever your issues you highlight, which is of such great and much appreciated benefit to your viewers, your garden always looks beautiful and healthy. 😍

I didn't get any garlic rust but my garlic is small.

You live near that racket? So sorry to hear that.

Thank you for the tips. Your garden looks abundant and beautiful 😊

I wonder if @Charles Dowding do gardening course? I am aware he has a book but a practical no dig course? Thanks

I still have outdoor spaces due to the diligent efforts of my slugs and snails. I have limited space for raising seedlings, so I need to sow a little every month, more beetroot and kohlrabi could work. I'm trying to grow flowers, but they take much longer than vegetables, taking up propagation space longer. Everything's constantly on the move, which I guess is how it should be. I have just found a really convenient source for palettes so I want to rebuild my composting area at the same time as turning it. This will be my first year of full production in my square rod of growing space, so I'm accepting the challenge of keeping it productive through the winter! These monthly updates are so useful, thank you so much and have fun in Ohio!

I enjoyed watching your video showing how you check the state of the head of garlic by digging around it. I did that for the first time and many years after watching your video to check and see how big the head of the garlic was in my raised bed. I had to chuckle when I saw how you pulled the leaves off the garlic head expose a nice white head of garlic that was very clean. I’ve been doing that for many years, but I find it easier if I cut the roots off using a Swiss Army knife and I always break that rule of never cut towards yourself because I always cut towards myself when I’m taking the roots off. It makes it easier to pull the leaves over when the roots are gone. Instead of using a wire to store the garlic, I use a zip tie or cable tie. I get seven heads of garlic and I wrapped the cable tie around the stems and pull it tight and hang it over rope in my garage. The only issue is they loosen as the stems dry and my mom said it’s raining garlic in the garage and I think I knew what she meant as a garlic dries the stems get looser and you have to tighten the cable ties. It works awesome and it saves a lot of time. I agree with you I’m not waiting till all the leaves are yellow or dead. I pulled mine this year with only the bottom one or two leaves yellowed and I’ve been doing that for years. I just don’t want to take a chance on damage to the garlic if you leave it any longer. Like yourself I did notice leaf miner damage to some garlic. I live in Northern Ontario in Sault Ste. Marie and the leaf miner is here as well. Enjoy watching your episodes there’s a lot to learn. Thank you very much from Northern Ontario.

When are you coming to Webster Ia.

Thank you for all advice, keep learning so many things, we just had some lovely brokkoli and our own potatoes for lunch😊, very tasty and I am so happy it worked out so well following your advice. I love it even if I still keep forgetting to sow at the right time, it is getting better 😊

You were in my state! Hope you enjoyed Iowa.

It all looks great as always. I'm putting in about 4.5 or more hours a day on the allotment. A guy who hardly turns up, family work, says "I wish mine looked like yours". I think people underestimate the effort needed, radically underestimate, even with no dig. It's a lifestyle choice at the end of the day I think. I use it for fitness, growing my own etc.

Oooh.... it's a brave gardener who leaves their garden mid summer!!! I can hear those slugs yelling 'bon voyage' and gathering their picnic rugs... 😅

I've been in hospital for some time so my garden has been quite neglected. A new Charles Dowding video is just what I need to get me back in the garden :) 🙏

Man that's been so hot here in the states in Florida😢😢😢😢 I wish my garden looked halfway like yours. It's been too hot I've lost everything carrots corn peas beans all of it and that's watering it every day and trying to keep shade cloth over

Wow, so many potatoes in 1 plant, beautiful. When did you plant them?

Would you be able to show how you create your row covers? What you use for support, how deep the support goes into the ground, how tall to make them above ground, etc. What has worked well and what has not? I’ve seen where the supports cross diagonally on top of the cover in addition to direct across under cover in order to provide more stability. I would love to see how you make yours ❤

Nice one Charles, gud vid...

My sister Jaclyn will be volunteering at your event in Iowa :)

Hello, thanks for new video 😊 I noticed that you have got the hot compost bin, and I'm curious to hear your opinion about it. I got one couple months back and it's constantly got some mold inside.. not sure what quality of compost will it produce..

Enjoy your trip to Iowa in USA 😁🇦🇺

Listening to you as I head to Murrayfest to hear you speak!

Looks fantastic. Do you ever find grass snakes in/on your compost heaps? Ive had to leave one of my customers heaps as there is a very plump female grass snake looking like she will be laying soon.

The carrot situation is ridiculous, I've sown 9,000 seed in batches of 3,000, starting at the end of march and I've got no carrots 😭 Nematodes deployed, night time murder sprees, upside down pots and beer traps for collecting them, the slugs just keep pouring into my garden! They have even started nibbling my ONIONS after they ate all my carrot seedlings, I've never seen anything like it.

Hi Charles...Lovely video and very interesting to hear your comments re tomatoes. This year, I have made the executive decision to give up growing them, as the amount of time involved in maintaining them, far far outweighs the meagre harvests I seem to get each year. I have 6 varieities of cordon tomatoes, started indoors, put outside a few weeks ago and have about 10 flowers / tomatoes formed in total ! I think with gardening, an overlooked skill is to learn and understand what annual vegetables grow well in your situation and how much time they take to look after, especially when working full time. Garlic, raspberries, leeks, peas, beetroot, kale, turnips and swedes under netting, French beans, all been very successful. Broad beans was another I gave best with this year, as planted 15 plants, got about 7 or 8 pods as the blackfly infestation was chronic.

Amazing mellons! mine are only 4ft high, only took off in the last ~3weeks. Re onion issues, I planted sets late in newly delivered (poor) soil, leaf miner arrived, I applied a soil soak of JS compost extract, with added rock salt (50g in 50L) 2 weeks later no sign of leaf miner spreading, damaged plants recovered with new growth ~5 weeks later; listening to Dan Kittridge (BFA) regarding fertility in the form of rock dusts has convined me, I think you've mentioned kelp before, do you use anything else for micronutrients? or done any soil testing? My new soil is smak bang in the middle of loam on the triangle but it's behaving like clay (clumping into rocks when dry, slick when wet) which make me think Ca deficiency/excess Mg, decided to get a soil test done and go for full remineralization a la Steve Solomon, wondered if you had considered it?

People need to remember to hit the like button 1,447 views, 179 likes. It's free and really helps with the reach on you tube

Rabbits go good with thyme, you can replace some of the lost food. Thanks for the vids Charles, I aways learn something or at least I'm reminded of something I over look. Green house here in Tasman NZ is going slow, Main grow tent is so crowded I found a random pumpkin plant. $4 of power/week for far more greens and herbs than I can eat all in organic living soil beds. Interplanted kohlrabi and beetroot.

I for one am shocked 😮 he did not pet the kitty 🐈 @1:40.

Where in Iowa, I'm from around there?

Nice work Guv! But what variety was the Beetroot? They look very nice & healthy. I'm going it all year round here in Brisbane & 3 different varieties. That's for getting Minty in the clip too 😊 Gaz, 7th generation 1st fleet convict from Australia 🇦🇺

My tomatoes are not great , this year Even the red alert bush early's types are only just flowering ! Yet , indeterminate varity's '' Sun Cherry premium , are huge , with 5 trusses of small fruits on each , Strange weather , We keep trying :) Have a lovely weekend, And thanks for sharing your lovely vegatable garden.k

Your leaf damage might be from herbicide drift. From your neighbors

Finally a new video 🎉🎉. I've been rewatching the old videos all week 😂. Thank you sir 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Nice! I would like to know how many hours per day you spent removing weeds

It’s very useful for me, thank you, can I use lawn and weeds in the compost?

Is it true that broad beans are considered browns for compost?

Thank you for specifying Northern hemisphere. From Southern hemisphere and everything is the opposite here❤

Gosh! This is almost heaven 🎉

The man the myth the LEGEND!!

Our bee population is dwindling 🇺🇸 have you noticed a decline in yours 🐝

I can watch this short ALL DAY!!! & NEVER get sick of it, charles. Fantastic maintained gardens. I believe you have to show pride in what you grow as well as where it is grown. It makes it all the more pleasure to visit & work in a environment that is neat & tidy... Lawns included. OUTSTANDING WORK GUV! I'm the same with my lawn & gardens too. Gaz, 7th generation first fleet convict from Australia 🇦🇺

My strawberry plants have been fruiting well but they’re on Strulch and I’m finding snails in there but wood lice are nibbling the fruit?

Has anyone else noticed a decline in insects. Im a bit scared as not seen a single one in last 3 days. They always congregate in my greenhouse all the hover flies= larvae to support the plants not just for the pollination.

I've relocated to a small community where a generational, family owned sawmill is still in operation just around the corner. I can have all the free pine sawdust I want. Any suggestions? Also, I've been clearing the property of a lot of overgrown, invasive privet. I've created about 100 gallons of small woodchips from very green, slender limbs. I've wondered if I should think of them as green matter or brown.