Dig vs no dig trial beds

Two beds side-by-side, one I dig every winter and incorporate the compost, the other has the same quantity of compost spread on top. I have done this in early December, every year since 2012. And for six years before that at my previous garden.

Last December 2021 I had spare transplants of broad beans, peas, lambs lettuce, chervil, and coriander. They served as cover crops through winter, transplanted on 3rd December and without weather protection. Winters here are temperate.
See how the plants looked by 10th March, then the harvest and how it compared between the two beds. Next you see the new plantings we made 15th March, for harvests from May and into early summer.

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We shall create another video about these trial beds in the summer, where you will see the second plantings. Discover the nine years of growth comparisons dig vs no dig on this page of my website: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-t...

00:00 Introduction
00:39 Plants in the polytunnel - cropped all winter - in comparison with slower growth outside
01:52 I explain some benefits of no dig
02:23 An introduction to my dig/no dig comparison beds…
03:04 …and a look at the beds
03:49 Plants transplanted in the trial beds in early December - broad beans, peas, corn salad, lamb’s lettuce, coriander, chervil
04:23 Strong winds on the plants - Storm Eunice
04:54 Alessandro and I harvest then clear these plants
07:01 I then prepare the beds for replanting
07:35 One week on from replanting
08:02 I explain why I have used fleece - protection from wind, and extra warmth
08:49 A look at the three types of lettuce growing - Saragossa, Lollo Rossa, Valmaine
09:08 Then a look at the other plants that are growing - carrots Nantes, interplanted with fennel / multisown onions, Rosę de Roscoff / peas, Hurst Greenshaft / cabbage / multisown beetroot, homesaved Boltardy / spinach, Trombone F1 / Multisown radish Rudi and turnip Sweetbell F1 / potatoes, Sharpes Express and Linzer Delikatess
10:52 Keeping the bed full, and cropping all year

Filmed by Alessandro Vitale ‪@SpicyMoustache‬ , 10th and 17th March 2022 at Homeacres in SW England, temperate maritime climate zone 8.

Check out this video showing the dig/no dig beds in their eighth year, 2020:
   • No dig compared to dig, a win for eas...  

More on winter gardening and using covers in Module 5 of my Skills online course, available to purchase separately: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/...

For more detailed information on growing any of the plants mentioned in this video, check out my 'From Seed to Harvest' lessons, available to purchase individually from my website:
https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product-...

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