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min read

dig / no dig Trial 2013-18

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

December 29, 2020

For subsequent years of this ongoing trial, see 2019-22 page

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 had to cut down in 2003, as it was dying.The planks are ten inches (25cm) wide so the beds are deeper than before, and more level thanks to the lack of slope at Homeacres.

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I dug to 8″ (20cm), quite easy with the copper spade, revealing nice crumbly soil under the surface

Around 10in (25ch) higher from the manure put underneath, tipping it out from the wheelbarrow

Profile of turves dug with manure underneath – you can see some white roots of couch grass in turves on the right

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Planks simply resting on top of grass and weeds, braced together at corners.

The no dig bed just needed filling with an equal amount of the same manure.

I left the path as grass for now, and sowed some Aquadulce broad beans on Christmas Day at the house end, one row across each bed.

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In early March I laid cardboard with help from Josh

Wood shavings from a local joinery on top – no wind that day!

The cardboard can support the weight of feet when it is damp, without being holed.

On April 1st, in horribly cold wind, we brought module raised lettuce, spinach and onions straight out of the greenhouse to plant in shallow drills.

Watered them in as the north-east wind was so drying, with no rain or snow forecast. Same plantings in each bed, as usual.

This Freckles lettuce shows how deeply we planted, to retain some warmth around plant roots, with beds fleeced straight after planting, fleece sitting directly on the surface, touching plant leaves

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The fleece was still on, thanks to cold weather and bitter winds continuing, notice the bare trees on May 3rd and many were still quite bare at month’s end.

By early May the couch (and thistles etc) was showing its intent to grow, among carrot seedlings here, making a tricky job for the trowel.

There was another slight frost on May 16th but thanks to the fleece cover and sunny days, growth is healthy and I am already harvesting leaves of lettuce and spinach.

Some plants had been damaged by leatherjackets and i replanted a few lettuce. Then by mid June, you can see how some eventual warmth has encouraged rapid growth.

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Comparing shallots from no dig bed crops on the left and dug bed crops in the right, with Red Sun variety at the front and Golden Gourmet behind. Both varieties were higher yielding on the undug bed.

After the onions I planted frizzy and scarole endive, dug bed.

Frizzy and scarole endive in the undug bed.

Harvests 2013

These figures are after the FINAL HARVESTS on December 4th.Excellent quality through October and November of celery, fennel, endive and beetroot, in the mild weather: look at the productivity of endive, from just 14 plants on each bed, planted after the magnificent onion harvest, picked every ten days of outer leaves, with harvests from 2nd September to 29th November.I have not added the cucumber harvest to the main totals because it would distort the figures: there was a vole in the dug bed which ate the cucumber plant!

* 22 plants on each bed, picked every week from May 13th to July 23rd** 2nd planting*** I have not added the cucumber harvest to the main totals because it would distort the figures: there was a vole in the dug bed which ate the cucumber plant!

The experiment in 2014

Module raised plants from the greenhouse, not hardened off as they are covered immediately with fleece, they include lettuce, cabbage, beetroot and onion (small, on right), and the right hand photo is both beds planted and ready to fleece over on March 9th.

Sowings and plantings 2014 with spacings between rows

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8cm Garlic own bulbs, cloves planted 26.10, harvest 20 June
11cm Onion Sturon (7) v small sown 19.2
12cm Onion Red Baron Moles (8) again v small, sown 19.2
12cm Shallot Zebrune POD (5) sown 14.1 and 3 own Red Sun from 2013, harvest early July
10cm 8.3 Carrot E Nantes Milan + radish Cherry Bell – eaten by slugs, replaced by celeriac Prinz 28.5
13cm Beetroot Boltardy (7) SH sown 14.1 – harvested late May to late June
14cm Cabbage Greyhound (5) sown 14.1 – harvested early June to mid June
15cm Lettuce 4 Maravilla, 4 Relay9cm Lettuce Red Cos POD (8)
9cm Lettuce 4 Eibacher Fels SH, 4 Mottistone – all lettuce harvested weekly, late April to July
15cm 8.3 Parsnip Gladiator POD + radish Cherry Bell
14cm 8.3 Potato Swift 5 plants per bed – harvested late May to early June
15cm Spinach (8) Mississippi Moles, 1 or 2/module – harvested mid May to late June
15cm B Bean Aquadulce plants sown November- harvested late May to mid June
12cm Same but sown direct on 8.12, own seed, 13/row

Photo of experiment on May 22nd 2014, dug bed on left and undug on right[/caption]Image below is mid July, garlic harvested and followed with golden beetroot, new celeriac, cabbage followed by French bean, broad beans at far end followed by swede and kale, hidden behind the parsnips which are on the large side. Dug bed on left, undug on right.

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Photo of experiment on Mid-July 2014, dug bed on left and undug on right

By the end of July, many changes have happened again. Golden beetroot are well established where the garlic was. Onions are now drying in the greenhouse and I have planted beetroot and endive where they were. Lettuce are almost finished and the French beans have grown enormous in no time; they were planted after the cabbage harvest.

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Harvests 2014

These figures are after the final harvests on December 4th. First harvests were in May.

* 22 plants on each bed, picked every week from May to July\

** 2nd planting

As of mid-September, both beds look full and productive but the dug bed's crops now look slightly stronger\

As of mid-October, crops look quite similar and gaps are now appearing adter the leek and carrot harvests.

By early November, the only harvests to make are red beetroot, celeriac, swede and salad kale.

By 4th December, the last kale is harvested and its time to to dig the dug bed, back to top for 2015.

Preparing the two beds for 2015

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Before digging and composting the left bed, and composting the right bed

I dig trenches to the depth of a spade and spread compost in the bottom of it

Both beds have the same amount of compost but its in a different place!

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Through March I plant and sow, the same vegetables as last year, in different places.

Lettuce just planted March 22nd, then fleeced

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I cover both beds with fleece except for the broad beans

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I removed fleece off both beds on April 12th. Growth is steady on both beds: broad beans look stronger on the dug bed while lettuce, spinach and radish are bigger on the undug bed. There have been many more weeds to hoe and pull on the dug bed!

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April 15th, undug bed in front – beetroot, spinach, lettuce

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I harvested some spinach and the radish in mid April, then we took a first pick of lettuce on April 21st, see the before and after photos, the yield was 880g of leaves from the dug bed and 1400g from the undug bed, whose leaves were noticeably firmer and larger.

vlettuce before picking, dug bed in front

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In May the growth has been steady on both beds, nice weather. Cabbage look better on dug, potatoes look better on undug, as do spinach and lettuce, see photos below. Harvests to May 27th of spinach are 2.8kg dug, 3.1kg undug and of lettuce are 5.4kg dug, 7.1kg undug.

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‍August update

‍Both beds are now replanted with vegetables for summer, autumn and winter harvests, see table below. Already I have harvested some cucumbers (Tanya) which I planted after the lovely harvest of cabbage hearts in early June. We just laid mesh over the carrots, against root fly. French beans and the second planting of beetroot started cropping in mid August, photos are at that time.

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Carrot harvest Sept 28th from sowing of June 6th, dug bed above, undug below

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Fennel harvest of 7th October, dug bed on left and undug on right

‍December 3rd, final harvests:

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Preparing the two beds for 2016, in December 2015

I am digging the bed on left, inserting compost in the trenches, and have started to spread compost on the undug bed, right, about 2in (5cm) of compost for each bed

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All finished, December 4th. The dug bed’s soil was easier to dig than before, thanks to compost added. Frost and weather will soften the surface more.

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First sowings and plantings on March 14th, 2016 of carrot, parsnip (both sown direct) and spinach, onion, broad bean put in as plants

Dug bed on left: I am dibbing holes for spinach plants from the greenhouse, then beds covered with fleece

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Dug bed nearest camera: after sowing carrot & parsnip with a few radish, I firmed the surface with a rake

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By March 21st, the beds are planted and sown, then fleeced over as its still cool with some frost and cold winds.

Same veg sown and planted in dug bed on left, undug on right

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During a course here, I rolled back the fleece so we could see what is there

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Now its wait and see what grows.

April 12th, dug bed on left, all plants have established well, similar growth

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April 20th first harvest 630g dug, 710g undug

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April 27th, dug bed on left, small differences only. Both beds have been fleeced all the time.

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We finally removed the fleece covers on May 3rd and then growth took off in the new warmth, what a joy. By mid July, each bed has given just over 40kg of harvests with the dug bed slightly ahead thanks to higher harvests of lettuce, peas and potatoes, while no dig is ahead on carrots, cabbage and spinach.

Harvests and new plantings up to early August

Many summer harvests have finished, so there are now carrots growing where the lettuce were, endives after onion/shallot, kale and cabbage after beetroot, cucumber after spinach, French bean after cabbage and swede/kohlrabi after potatoes.Harvest to August 4th are 51.0kg from the dug bed, 50.4kg from undug, of usable produce.

No dig in front, carrot-endive-brassica-cucumber-parsnip, early August

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August 3rd, dug bed is on left, undug on right

To November

Autumn harvests were higher on no dig. It was a dry period and perhaps this reflects better moisture availability, from the higher numbers of mycorrhizal fungi.Plus there was more canker on the dug bed's parsnips, and more rotting of it's swedes. Kale intrigued me too, the plants always looking more lush on no dig. During a gale in October, the kale on dug leaned over, those on no dig stood upright.

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Table of 2016 harvests

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Preparing the two beds for 2017, in December 2016

See this video of spreading compost on the no dig bed, it's a quick job. By comparison the digging of the other bed took longer!On 13th March 2017, after some unusually mild weather with day maxima averaging 12C/54F, we sowed and planted both beds, with the same veg as last March, see below. The planting pattern is a mirror image of 2016, for a rotation of sorts, for example lettuce and potatoes swapped ends.

December 2016, dug bed on left has the compost incorporated 11in/27cm deep

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March 2017, undug bed planted & covered then we planted/sowed the dug bed

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On 30th March, I removed the fleece covers, just for an hour, to check on growth. It was similar between both beds but a huge difference was the high number of weeds germinating on the dug bed, and very few on the no dig.

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17 days after planting and sowing. The posts half way along are to keep fleece off carrot seedlings, may keep the surface drier, so less slugs

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Spinach & beetroot on the dug bed, where the compost is incorporated, so gravel etc on top, and some weeds are growing again, even after two hoeings in March

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Spinach and beetroot on the no dig bed, same day 30th March, the surface compost (homemade) was pretty clean of weed seeds so little weeding needed

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Growth through spring was steady, in temperatures mostly above average, with a last frost on 27th April of -2C/28F. Normally we have a frost mid May but not this year: May was almost the warmest ever, especially by night. See the results on this video.

There were strange differences with spinach, beetroot and onions struggling on the dug bed, while healthy on no dig. At the other end, peas and potatoes grew larger on the dug bed, harvests still to come. The images below are 1st June 2017, harvests to that date of 11.5kg dug, 15.1kg no dig:

June 1st with no dig bed on left, dug on right

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Onions and spinach in the no dig bed, after a harvest of 1.22kg spring onions when thinning

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Onions & spinach on dug bed after harvest of 0.34kg spring onion from thinning

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By mid July, all first plantings are harvested, except for onions (soon) and parsnips. It's a vintage year for onions here, with plenty of dry weather.There were more potatoes and peas from the dug bed. Legumes generally yield a little more from tilled soil, while potatoes vary each year: in 2017 it was 11.07kg dug and 8.56kg no dig. Total harvests to 13th July are 37.65kg dug and 41.91kg no dig.The beds were next planted with beetroot, French bean, kale, cucumber, radicchio and celery. Plus I sowed carrots between the lettuce, for October harvest.

Dug bed in front: French bean, red beet, golden beet, celery, radicchio. This area was peas, cabbage and potato until late June-early July.

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No dig bed: carrots after lettuce, onions to harvest soon, cucumber after spinach is about to crop

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By mid August the onions were dry enough to weigh, with 12.02kg/26.5lb on no dig and 11.9kg on dug, my best ever yield from that space of 11.5 sq.ft/1.08 sq.m. This adds to the spring onions we harvested from thinnings in late May.The plantings we did on the day course of July 1st - chicory, celery and golden beetroot, small plants - grew fantastically in just six weeks and there were hearts of radicchio by 18th August.Harvests of first plantings were 48kg dug and 54 kg no dig. Through August, we picked cucumber, French beans and beetroot, of the second plantings.

August 14th, plantings on right just 44 days in the ground

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No dig bed: chicories, celery, beetroots, French beans, parsnips etc

2017 harvests from both beds

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2018

December 2017 saw me on the dig bed's sixth digging, with compost incorporated, and I spread the same amount of compost on top of the no dig bed. I used mostly horse manure from the greenhouse hotbed, which we had turned/moved out in May. This heap had been hot enough to kill the huge amount of grass and other weed seeds.

November 2017 and the final harvests. I spread wood shavings (oak as it happens) on the paths

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December 2017 after digging the bed on left, compost incorporated, and compost on surface of bed on right

In early March there were weeds germinating on the dig bed and I hoed lightly, then again in late March. On the no dig bed there were hardly any weeds, thanks to the hot composting. Then on Easter Saturday 31st March, I planted and covered both beds. Before that, in wet conditions where we could not hoe, she hand weeded both beds and found quite a difference in number of weeds, see photo.The planting is, in order from the near end, onions 2 rows, kohlrabi, potato x 2 rows, cabbage, lettuce x 3 rows, carrot x 2 rows, beetroot, spinach, peas. Both beds are now all white, under 30gsm fleece.

Both beds weeded 31.3.18, dig bed left and no dig right

Charles draws a drill for sowing carrot seeds in the compost of no dig, the dig bed is behind

Growth in spring 2018 showed more difference than ever before. The only things to grow better after digging were weeds and potatoes, perhaps onions though the harvest still awaits as I write this on 18th July.Look at the differences between peas, spinach, beetroot, carrots, lettuce, cabbage and kohlrabi: all much stronger on no dig. Less pest damage on no dig as well - carrots were eaten by slugs on dig, and cabbage by wireworm.

Removing fleece on 3rd May, suddenly the weather is warm and stays warm

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By mid May, growth is good on no dig front, and hesitant on dig behind: lettuce, carrots, beetroot, spinach, peas

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During June and July we replant as soon as harvests are taken, so there will be a lot of second harvests in late summer and autumn. Already I picked the first cucumber, planted after potatoes. Biggest harvests so far are lettuce (9.42kg dig, 12.50kg no dig) and potatoes (15.79kg dig, 13.84kg no dig).Total harvests to 18.7.18 are 27.97kg dig, 42.13kg no dig

Harvests of 19th June, no dig left and dig is right, potato Casablanca

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By 15th July, most new plantings are established and we are watering every two days: By 15th July, there are new plantings of leeks, celeriac, celery, red & golden beetroot, carrots, cucumber

By 6th October the dig bed appears, to some extent. to be repairing it's soil. The June plantings of beetroot for example, are much stronger than the March ones.However there are still bizarre anomalies. Celeriac on the dig bed looks good, but the celery next to it is measly and pale, half the size of celery on the no dig bed. Leeks and kale are smaller, carrots much shorter than on the no dig bed.The drone photo below is mid September and the two-bed view is 12 days later. Harvests to 6.10 are 51.4kg/113lb dig, compared to 80.1kg/176lb no dig.

Drone 16th September, dig bed on left and no dig right

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Stepladder view 28th September dig bed left and no dig right. 4th row after lettuce is Kaibroc planted 20th August

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Harvests 20th September, carrots .43/.82kg, beetroot 2.19/3.15kg

Looking ahead to the rest of autumn, there is still a lot to harvest!

Now it's 20th November and most harvests are taken. The only one which saw more from the dig bed was celeriac, 4.23kg trimmed compared to 3.78kg trimmed from no dig. This is probably because the nearby peas were much more vigorous on no dig, and slowed the growth of newly planted celeriac in late May and June.

Mid October before the last wave of harvests in early November

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Celeriac pulled from dig bed left, no dig right

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Celeriac after trimming, this is what I weigh

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Leeks & Kaibroc from dig left, no dig right

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The leek harvest was 2.42kg dig bed and 3.82kg no dig, second crop after peas, seven modules of two leeks each.

Kaibroc broccoli is a third crop after potatoes then cucumber, up to mid November it gave 1.12kg dig and 1.31kg no dig, then we took a final harvest on 6th December. It would have continued to grow... but the dig bed needed digging! (which I did on 10th December). Incidentally, with no dig you can prepare ground for the coming year simply by mulching around existing winter vegetables if the spacing is wide enough, such as broccoli, leeks and kale: not salads!Total yields for 2018 are 79.70kg dig and 104.13kg no dig. The largest difference in 12 years of doing this.