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 Cookbook

A unique cookbook, packed with recipes for seasonal vegetables as well as tips on how to grow them, using my fantastic and time-saving no dig methods.

It explains and develops the strong links you can achieve between garden and kitchen, which keep changing according to the season. The garden decides your menu!

The recipes are by Catherine Balaam, who cooks for day and weekend courses at my Homeacres no dig garden.

Catherine has created and tested over 60 delicious plant-based recipes, inspired by those lunches which see the participants salivating, after an intense morning of learning in the garden. They are simple dishes bursting with flavour, from seasonal vegetables and herbs.

To complement them, I have written ‘Advice on growing your own’ sections throughout the book. I outline some key growing tips for many of the vegetables in the recipes.

I also include my own recipe for no-knead bread, another great timesaver.

We include ideas on how you can adapt recipes to your own harvests, using different vegetables which are similar to cook with.

Some of the recipes are how to ferment and store vegetables, so that you can use any gluts and enjoy them later.

Recipes are categorised as follows:

• Pestos, dips and sauces
• Ferments and vinegars
• Salads
• Cooked salads
• Roasties
• Stews and hot dishes
• Sweet treats

There are beautiful photos throughout, of the cooked dishes, a few including preparation, and also of my garden at Homeacres.