*The information contained in this pack has been taken from two of my online courses, No Dig Gardening and Skills for Growing, so if you have purchased these courses, you will already have the information. For any queries, please email anna@charlesdowding.co.uk*

Please note, this is a digital product and only accessible via the website. It is not downloadable.*

Planning your plot and your growing, a knowledge pack about how you can set up and plan your cropping for a whole year. With much advice about succession planting, and whether or not you need to rotate your vegetable crops.

Beds for ease of creation, and use

I consider bed width and orientation, and whether you need sides to your beds, or probably don’t! I explain the value of sides to beds in some situations, and the many reasons you may not want them. With no dig, it’s fine to tread on soil occasionally. It is firm yet open. This means you can have beds of any width, and align them in whichever way works best for you in the context of your site.

Pathways to add value

I explain the benefits and importance of well-maintained paths, with examples from different parts of Homeacres, and from my previous garden at Lower Farm. Also how to clear paths of weeds and how to keep them weed free, and why this is worthwhile. I explain reasons for having paths of different widths, and how narrow paths without bed sides can increase your cropping.

Planning

I give many examples to support your planning methods. This is knowledge to help you make viable choices about what to plant where and when, through all the seasons. It’s easier with no dig because there is neither much ground preparation, nor weeding.

I explain examples from my intensive cropping and intercropping at Homeacres. From May to October my beds are full, and some are double-cropped with interplants. 

Succession and rotation

The knowledge in this section is closely linked to no dig methods. Your super healthy, undisturbed soil can successfully grow the same family of vegetables year after year. I’m not too sure for how long, but in one trial I’m getting close to 10 years of growing potatoes and brassicas in the same ground. Harvests are still good, and plant health is excellent.

This makes it easier to keep sowing and planting closely, including in small spaces. There’s not much room for any conventional rotation in one or two beds, if that’s all you are cropping. Plants of many types are constantly mixing their roots and leaves, which is actually a nice form of companion planting.

I give examples of which vegetable can follow which vegetable, and explain why. With this knowledge, you can work out your own successions, according to what you want to eat.

Knowledge pack contents – includes text, photos and video:

• Bed width and orientation, sides or not
• Making a bed 
• Paths – how they feed your plants and how to look after them
• 3 examples of planning
• Succession and rotation