No Dig

Back cover description:

‘Stop digging and start to truly understand the needs of your soil, for bumper harvests of healthier crops. Charles Dowding has spent a lifetime perfecting his no dig system of growing. At its core is an awareness that soil vitality is a dynamic process, involving a web of organisms which we can easily feed and support, enabling our plants to grow strong and healthy, in a weed-free environment. With clear step-by-step instructions on how to set up a no dig plot, and detailed cultivation advice for over 80 crops, this book will revolutionise the way you grow.’

The book is made up of four chapters. It’s full of vegetable-growing advice, as well as my latest summary of no dig.

Chapter 1 – It all begins with the soil

Discover how no dig helps the soil, and you in the garden. I explain the fundamentals, the importance of compost, why weeds don’t grow, and the extensive other benefits of no dig beds.

Chapter 2 – Getting started

I give advice on deciding what to grow, planning your beds, controlling weeds, and the tools you may need.

I take you through creation of a no dig bed using cardboard and compost, then planting it on the same day in spring. We revisit it through the year.

You see how I make compost and I share many ways of doing this. It’s not difficult when you understand the few key principles and methods.

Chapter 3 – The principles of growing vegetables

The bigger picture behind growing success, and the reasons why these understandings work so well. Especially in a no dig garden where soil is lively, and weeds are few.

You learn about timings of sowings, succession planting, propagation, how to sow, caring for seedlings, transplanting, spacing, watering, using crop covers, controlling slugs and snails, growing under cover, harvesting, storage and saving seed.

Chapter 4 – Vegetable and herb directory

This chapter makes up the largest section of the book. I give detailed information on growing over 80 of the main vegetables and herbs, categorised as follows:

• Pea and bean family (legumes)
• Cabbage family (brassicas)
• Onion family (alliums)
• Cucumber family (cucurbits)
• Carrot family (umbellifers)
• Beet family
• Leafy salad crops
• Solanums, basil, and sweetcorn
• Perennial vegetables

For each category I give general information on choosing what to grow; sowing, growing and harvesting; and common problems.

Then, for each vegetable/herb within the categories, I explain in detail sowing and transplanting, care and protection, harvesting and storage, and finish with a useful summary of key growing information. I also share my recommended varieties.

The book is beautifully illustrated throughout with photographs by the excellent Jonathan Buckley. He visited Homeacres on 12 days over the course of 2021, capturing the growth and methods of each season, and the beauty of my vegetable garden.

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No Dig Children’s Gardening book

No dig children’s gardening book – you dream of growing your own fruit and vegetables but don’t like digging and weeding. This is the one for you! Whether you have a garden, a balcony, or a window box, my no dig method is the perfect way to create a family garden together.

Beautiful and charismatic illustrations by Kristyna Litten are on every page. They bring the possibilities and joy of gardening to life, before you even begin.

I explain how healthy soil will lead to healthy plants and will grow more of the amazing creatures that live in soil. The book tells you about the magic of compost, and the amazing power of seeds. And how to grow flowers that bring in more wildlife.

There are step-by-step activities and a planting chart to show you how you can grow food for your dinner table, no matter the season. The perfect book for any budding young gardener. See also my Schools no dig page, with a chart for term-time harvests.

Contents

• Dear gardeners
• What is no dig gardening?
• No-dig mythbusting
• What is soil and what makes it healthy?
• Microbe power!
• What is compost?
• How to make compost
• Suitable heap enclosures
• A no-dig bed in a day
• Creating a no-dig bed
• Planting a  no-dig bed
• What is a weed?
• Sowing seeds under cover
• Sowing for four seasons of food
• When to sow and plant common vegetables
• A no-dig sensory garden
• Raising seedlings
• Upcycling in your garden
• Attract wildlife in your garden
• School gardens in Surrey
• Grow a giant sunflower
• Grow and carve a Halloween pumpkin
• Vegetables need company!
• A no-dig market garden
• Be a garden scientist
• Ten easy flowers
• Gardening for children with additional needs
• Seed-saving projects
• Useful information
• Index

Read success stories from families and groups using my methods. The simple and achievable gardening projects in this book are perfect for parents and young children to do together. My no dig techniques perfectly lend themselves to gardening with little ones. They can’t manage heavy digging and quickly grow bored of endless weeding – with no dig, weeds are few!

Projects are in easy, step-by-step processes, designed for children. Attractive, full-bleed photography is supplemented with fun illustrations and fully illustrated factual spreads. Running throughout the gardening projects are extra little facts about plants and wildlife. As well as things to look out for when you are outdoors. And with no dig as cornerstone method to make it all easier and natural, see this brief video.

Publisher: Welbeck Publishing Group
ISBN: 9781783128686
Number of pages: 64
Dimensions: 246 x 189 mm