Mike Blake
I began my no dig journey about seven years ago after attending one of Charles’s courses. I have six 3x2m raised beds for veg, a 7x5m fruit cage and a greenhouse which incorporates an open bed for winter leaves and tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines in summer.
I work the veg beds pretty hard and try to add 5cm of a manure based mulch once or twice a year. I’m fully organic using just nematodes and netting for crop protection. I make my own compost, but use this on other areas of the garden as it doesn’t get hot enough to kill weed seeds and I don’t have the time or inclination to eliminate these from the heap!
As I’m not far from Homeacres, the climate is similar though with slightly cooler days as we’re 600ft up in the Blackdown hills.
No dig is a revelation in terms of cropping reliability, yields and labour saving. I have eliminated most perennial weeds and it’s relatively easy to keep on top of annual weeds. Spring is the fallowest period and I cover bare areas with cardboard to suppress weed growth.
This all sounds terribly earnest, but no dig has made gardening much more fun and rewarding!
Photos of no dig veg plot in March 2024 (not looking at its best!)
