January 2021 make compost, wood sides or not, greens and root harvests, new module tray, small garden
29th December 2020 Featured, Uncategorized, Winter
Winter has finally arrived here with frost most nights. and days noticeably colder, as low as 2 C 36 F maximum. This is okay! Much better to have cold now than in the spring, and all being well you have harvests of root vegetables stored for long-term use. I explain other jobs of the season […]
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Trial beds dig/no dig plantings and results 2013-2018
29th December 2020 Trials
Starting out in 2013 I made two large beds, five feet wide and sixteen feet long (1.5x5m), the same area as Lower Farm’s experiment, and used old oak planks from a tree at Lower Farm which I had
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February 2019 a few sowings, compost and mulching, courses, snow and pigeons
9th February 2019 Winter
Be careful of sowing too early, there is no rush in spring because later sowings often catch up as it warms and lightens. For example I plan to sow tomatoes on 18th March this year. In the next two we
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Links
7th December 2018 No Dig Growing
Compost & Mulches Compost etc for beds, from Woodhort, based in Somerset Online turf sell mushroom compost £78 cubic metre, also bulk composts and soil Corker is a family-run nursery in Kent and
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Sowing Timeline for Vegetables
7th December 2018 Sowing
These dates are distilled from 38 years trial and error in my gardens, where my results have highlighted best timings for best results. You can sow these vegetables at different times and they will gr
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Multisowing
7th December 2018 Sowing
The vegetables I have found worth sowing and growing in clumps For certain vegetables, there are considerable benefits of sowing two or more seeds together, as opposed to a single seed per module or s
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Choosing seeds and varieties
7th December 2018 Seeds and Varieties, Sowing
Which seed variety to buy – these have worked for me, over several seasons. Firstly let’s consider seed quality, of what you may buy. Seed Sourcing and freshness Companies like Plants of D
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Propagation: germinate, grow and plant seedlings for a long season of bigger harvests
7th December 2018 Seeds and Varieties, Sowing, Videos
Skills you need to make the most of your precious seeds and to elongate the growing season, through early sowing, overlapping crops and filling empty spaces at any time. My tips cover where to sow, ho
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Sowing and Growing for Schools
7th December 2018 Schools, Sowing
The gardening methods I recommend, no dig with less rotation and ultimately less weeding, are great for youngsters in school. My videos receive good comments in terms of child friendliness. This is fr
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No Dig Trial 2019-2020
5th December 2018 No Dig Growing, Trials
Photo 6th September 2020, dig left and no dig right This trial began in 2007 and ran until 2012 at Lower Farm. It’s to compare growth of the same vegetables in a dig bed and a no dig bed, all ha
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Winter wonders: the vegetables that thrive in frozen weather
5th December 2018 Articles, Uncategorized
Imagine a vegetable garden in winter, and you’ll probably conjure up an expanse of bare earth alongside a frosted-up greenhouse. But market gardener Charles Dowding’s plot couldn’t be more diffe
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Is No-Dig Gardening a Better Way to Grow?
4th December 2018 Articles, No Dig Growing
I write regularly for Gardeners World, Kitchen Garden, Country Smallholding, Optimum Nutrition and Dove (Bruton parish) magazines, occasionally for the Daily Telegraph and others. In November 2015 for
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