To Dig or Not To Dig?

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in Charles Dowding’s No-Dig weekend course. As a long time grower, I have become more and more interested in the no-dig method and the concept of regenerative growing. I’ve been there with double digging, turning the soil at the end of summer, digging up lawns to put in veg beds… it can be exhausting, back breaking work and now I realise it just isn’t necessary.

But not only does no-dig provide a simpler route to creating new growing spaces but it has a huge impact on soil health, carbon capture and building beneficial microbes in your plot.

Charles has been a champion and teacher of the no-dig method since 1982 and runs a hugely successful market garden in Somerset which grows a vast array of incredible produce and acts as his no-dig classroom. He is also a prolific Youtuber with videos which will answer pretty much any vegetable growing question. We asked him if we could share his videos to spread the word about no-dig and he said yes! Thanks Charles!

So let’s start with the basics… how to get started with a no-dig bed.

I recently started a community growing project at The Florrie in the heart of the Dingle. We have a beautiful space on Mill Street with the worst soil and a lot of lawn so no-dig seemed like the best route to growing success. We have recently started to install a huge bed ready for Spring 2023 using Dowding’s cardboard and compost method. I wont pretend it was easy - barrowing a 100 loads of compost was hard work and the weather was shocking for most of the build - but we haven’t dug up any lawns and our spades haven’t broken soil. We’ll keep you posted as planting starts in the coming months. I’m feeling very optimistic!

Let us know if you have been using the no-dig method, send us your photos and stories to share with the network.

And thanks so much to Charles Dowding for sharing his knowledge. To find out more about No-Dig we would recommend checking out Charles’ website here.