No Dig Tour, winter's legacy and looking forward

We have had more frosts than usual, and this is a chance to see the effects. Together with a few signs of spring.

I take you on the same path as two months ago, when we last visited my garden with its 1/3 acre / 1300m2 of no dig beds and paths.    • Winter Tour of Ground and Store, Comp...  

At least and thanks to no dig, there are a few weeds. All beds are ready for new sowings and plantings. We applied mulches last autumn and early winter, enough for the whole year.

00:00 Invitation to subscribe, and join this channel as a member    / @charlesdowding1nodig  
01:01 Woodchip is of such variable quality, I advise on options you may find
01:39 There are no pH worries, if the woodchip is coniferous
01:55 Sieving 4 year old woodchip, nice results from 12mm / half inch holes
03:00 Broad beans wiped out by December -9C frost, had been sown October
03:28 Broad beans which survived frost from December sowing, then transplanted January with fleece on top and no hoops! Is good in cold.
04:24 Rye for grain, was transplanted before winter, is being grazed!
05:05 Mustard for green manure / cover crop, killed by frost is good, no need to dig it in!
05:42 Classic no dig with few weeds
05:49 Lilia spring onions are not winter hardy!
06:08 New no dig - 5cm woody compost and black plastic on top, for May planting of squash, trialling less compost
07:12 Broccoli Claret F1 50% killed by frost
07:58 No dig bed prep, a light raking, no more
08:52 Shop bought garlic planted October, not looking good compared to homesaved
09:24 New no dig on weedy pasture, with cardboard then 10cm compost, a little woodchip on card & path around, soil was frozen when we covered it, and that is fine
10:15 18 month old bed, clean edge and Winter Giant spinach, Wintergreen cabbage
11:07 In the shed, big beetroot and carrots good to eat; also for planting to grow seeds
11:58 Worm casts / compost in sacks, for potting and containers
12:32 Brussels sprouts' leaves eaten by pigeons but still cropping nicely
13:03 Swede / rutabaga massacred by frost
13:30 Spinach decimated by CMV cucumber mosaic virus, spring onions just ok!
14:20 Once a year no dig mulching 2-3cm new compost on beds
14:28 Same depth of woodchip on paths, makes nice soil for feeding plants in the beds
15:09 Spring cabbages mostly killed by the sever frost, are Durham Early
15:19 Garlic planted among mustard which is now dead, garlic may suffer rust
16:07 Winter compost heap has 45-50C warmth thanks to mowing old meadow stems
17:23 Mature 9 month old compost is ready, needs no sieving
18:00 Cauliflowers Aalsmeer for spring have not survived winter
18:35 Greenhouse propagation, seedlings were germinated in my conservatory, for nigh warmth
19:30 Multisown onion seedlings
19:44 Rosada F1 tomatoes, seed no longer available so I grow from suckers
20:59 Salad plants under cover all winter
21:20 Wild rocket overwintered from September sowing, to plant out next week
21:50 Hotbed space, making it 20th February
22:17 Small Garden and my 2023 Plan - no dig, no rotation is easier.
24:17 Polytunnel winter salad plants, picked 7 times already with 20kg harvest yesterday
24:54 Is frosty inside, same as outside
25:21 How we pick lettuce of outer leaves, this is Grenoble Red
25:56 First sowings now for transplanting in a month, see you then!

See this half-price offer on my Winter Gardening and Covers short course https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/....

Filmed 17th February at Homeacres, Somerset UK by Nicola Smith.

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