No Dig Organic Gardening

[TheDante]

Hello fellow gardeners,

Just wanted to share this invaluable method of gardening with everyone. Perhaps some of you are already aware of it and adopting this method too. Charles now has many followers from many parts of the world as his method of gardening is catching up.

www.charlesdowding.co.uk

You can learn loads from his YouTube videos as well as his website and blogs. I have adopted his method since 2012 and our garden is always full of praises from friends and neighbours with how healthy and strong our plants are.

Hope you will have fun and reap the rewards from this method of gardening

[bower]

This is cool - I love learning about different methods and trying them out, too. I assume this is similar to other no-dig methods.
Our friend Scott aka RedBaron at TV, did some inspiring experiments in no-till no-dig. Last year I made a small bed using something like this method - it was basically sods below which I chopped down, covered with paper and a thin layer of soil/compost which I managed to plant a few small things into. They did okay and the grass only pushed through in a couple of places. I'm looking forward to see the condition next spring, and how easy it is to plant there. I should add that all the soil processes take longer here because it's cold and a short season. So I may still have sods down there. No worry, patience is a virtue...

[TheDante]

Heya Bower

If you are able to have access to tons of well rotted horse manure or homemade compost or some form of compost, I would suggest plonking a THICK (as much as you have) layer on top of your designated area. And then let nature (earthworms, composting worms, bacteria, fungi etc) work it´s magic! This layer works as a ´mulch´ and feeding the soil.

No need to chop down any sods or layer with cardboard paper etc. and likely no grass will be able to push through

Only patience you need is letting nature work it

[Growing Coastal]

Bower seems to have a plentiful supply of moose and mayhap their leavings!

[TheDante]

Bower seems to have a plentiful supply of moose and mayhap their leavings!

That would work too! So long as it is preferably some kinda herbivore poop!

[bower]

Well it is a dream to have "tons" of well rotted horse manure or even compost, my goal is to make as much compost as I possibly can!
Only major problem with this plan, the main ingredient in my compost is WEEDS! I must dig them, so therefore it's not exactly no diggin.

[TheDante]

fortunately/unfortunately there will always be weeds

The silver lining is that there will always be composting material to use from weeds!

I do try to be mindful not to let weeds go to seed before I add the weeds to our compost heap (which is also mostly covered), but sometimes that can also be a challenge itself.

Charles has a solution for that, rake the little weed seedlings when they germinate from the layered compost. Catch his videos in YouTube. I am always amazed by how clean and weed-free his beds appear. He is extremely meticulous and always on top of it.

When we get our truckload of horse manure, we cover them so that no debris (fallen leaves, weeds seeds etc) can get into them. And it helps with the rotting down process too.

Oh and also always better to ´dig out´ perennial weeds first before layering the compost/manure on the designated area.

Once this basic groundwork is setup, it is just topping up manure/compost annually to continuously feed your soil - hence no digging required.

[MsCowpea]

I have his books and watch his YouTube videos. Love him. He offers classes at his farm as well. His quiet manner is zen like. He is a professional market gardener so I value his garden testing and experimentation. So many other youtube videos Have you scratching your head and wondering why these gardeners ‘teach’ their methods when their plants look pitiful.
No Dig Charles Dowding covers vegetable gardening from A to Z and has stunning results.

[TheDante]

Oh coooool! Glad to know he has another ´fan´ here. I have all his books, watched all his Youtube videos (he still makes videos often which I look forward to each time) and participated actively in his forum when I first started using his method in 2012. We even paid him a visit in 2016. It was amazing to see his garden and be able to replicate similar results from his method and have never looked back ever since.

[TheDante]

As the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words

[MsCowpea]

Karen, your greens look amazing as does your compost piles. I hope one day to plan a vacation to coincide with a workshop at Charles Dowding’s garden. Did you take one of his classes?

I also get a ton of horse manure and bedding. Our soil in S Fla is very poor and the climate breaks down compost very quickly. We garden in the winter and spring but unfortunately have very short days. I am a ‘disciple’ of Charles Wilber
Who wrote the book ‘How to Grow World Record Tomatoes’ using primarily compost. i can’t grow the super tall plants and get the high yield the way he does but the technique is fascinating. He has a specific way of making compost but unfortunately I can’t get his ingredients so have to use what I can get, hence the horse manure.

[TheDante]

Thanks MsCowpea I actually wanted to see his garden and he conducts open houses in Summer. Unfortunately we only have free time in Winter and Spring and that´s how we ended up on one of the courses in Spring 2016. I guess it was also like a renewal session for me because I had already known all his stuff inside out just from his books, Youtube videos and website. The visit actually helped motivate me. Definitely still worth a visit.

Horse manure works perfectly! Seriously, you do not need to hunt down for specific composting materials. A tip too, always keep your horse manure and compost covered. From my past experiences, the heat will harden the manure and compost, so ALWAYS keep them covered and you will be rewarded with soft pliable dark brownie coloured compost!
We also have a huge section designated to make homemade compost using pallet wood to hold the sides together as well as an assortment of green compost bins and metal ones too.

Will check up on Charles Wilber too… got my interest perked

Here´s a video of his composting method too

[MsCowpea]

Karen, really enjoyed watching that video. Thought I had seen all the ones on composting but I don’t remember that one. Perfect for anyone to learn everything they need to learn. I wish I had his setup—very envious of the various COVERED bins.
I had seen them on other videos. The only thing I still don’t add is my diseased tomato plants—can’t bring myself to do that.

Wilber’s book is $14 US dollars on amazon and half that if you get a used copy. If you can’t get it in Germany I would be happy to send you a copy. I have been a Wilber fan for 20 years. I think you would really enjoy it-even if you don’t incorporate any of the ideas it is interesting to read. He Was a Guinness record holder for height and yield at one time. He writes like a drill sergeant and is very precise in what you must do but it is hard to argue with such success.
His compost secret is the very invasive kudzu vine which grows in the south. High in nitrogen as it is a legume. As most people can’t get that he gives substitutions like alfalfa hay.

[TheDante]

Glad to be able to share that with you

I always go to Youtube and check in occasionally any new videos he makes. I am also subscribed to his newsletter so that I will get updates etc.

Thanks for offering Charles Wilber´s book I beat you to it! I just ordered a copy from Amazon.de. I had a quick read and it definitely is up my alley. Mostly because he is an advocate for organic way of gardening. I have a huge problem with conventional farming - no offense to peeps who still practises this method.

Noooooooooooooooooooo… don´t let the adding ´diseased´ tomato plants deter you from composting it. Believe me when I first started I too was extremely pedantic and careful. Now, after these years of practise and careful observations, I no longer worry too much anymore. I just chuck everything into the compost heap. And let nature work her magic

If you read some of Charles´ earlier forum pages, you would be able to know what a worrywart I was! Now, nothing fazes me anymore.

If you are able to get those rather affordable plastic tarps, they work perfect to cover any compost/horse manure heap. I use those to cover our huge horse manure and compost heaps.

If you can get hold of those wood pallets, you could easily convert it into a decent composting area. Here is some pics I just took of our own setup, not as prim and proper as Charles! He can be a hard act to follow. I do believe he has a fair number of peeps helping him out.

Not sure if you have his book `Gardening Myths and Misconceptions´, a real good read too. And also another fantastic book called Gardening with Compost - F.C. King

[MsCowpea]

I am very bad about letting my horse manure and bedding pile get rained on before I do anything with it. You have inspired me to do better.

I ordered the myths book by Dowding and How to Create A New Vegetable Garden 2nd edition.

The 2 books I have of his are Salad Leaves for all Seasons and the Veg Course book. I think I will read them again as it has been awhile since I looked at them.

[TheDante]

I am glad that I was able to inspire you… likewise I am almost certain I will in turn be inspired by others here

It really isn´t an issue if your horse manure and bedding is getting rained on, having it covered will help heaps. When I first started, I didn´t know not to cover them and they always ended up hard and crusty because of the differing weather conditions. And it was difficult to spread them onto the designated beds when I needed them.

Many of our neighbours are also rather envious of our horse poo. Because several of them attempt to get them from someone in our village who has horses. He always promises to deliver but never!

Thankfully we are able to get ours from my hairdresser who breeds and trains horses as well and we always have a constant supply! I would be so lost without my horsey poo Told the hubby, only gifts I ever need or want is animal poo!

The Myths book will be a quick read and his books will always be handy to have around as a reference too.

[Paquebot]

There is an advantage to allowing horse manure to be exposed to rainfall. When it is fresh, it is highly alkaline due to salt. Rain flushes it out since it is water-soluble.

Martin

[MsCowpea]

Martin, that is an interesting observation. I certainly don’t need anything highly alkaline. Mine does sit out frequently. I don’t have a big enough cover. If I am deliberately going about making ‘good’ compost I mix horse manure and bedding (mainly bedding) with alfalfa hay plus Other green material. Then I do cover it. I will have to test the pH.

[bower]

I have to say I have tried a few kinds of manure over the years, and horse manure has always been my favorite. I was always happy to get some - but a couple of years ago I followed the tarp advice - the manure wasn't well rotted so the plan was to tarp for the summer and dig in my beds at garlic prep in the fall. When I pulled off the tarp, out leaped a very large rat!!! Smaller rats followed as I poked the pile with a stick... I counted 13 in all. The heap was at the end of my driveway just 20 feet from the house.
I don't blame the horse manure because we never had this problem over at least 20 years, there were never rats around. But there's been a lot of construction in the area especially down near the river and I guess they drove the rats out, now they're looking for a place. They did love the tarp though. And the tomatoes.
I need to make a road away from the house where I could set up bins and/or bring in bulk manure without worrying about those uninvited guests.

[Paquebot]

With rats, mice, and voles, "build it and they will come". Use tarps over a compost pile and it's a hotel for rats and mice. Use landscape plastic in a garden and voles move in from everywhere. But remember that bone meal and blood meal are very good but expensive plant foods. Dead rats, mice, and voles are free bone and blood meal. They all lead back to compost!

Martin