Advice for a hopeless gardener

[British Red]

Charles is very much the real deal and a leading proponent of the "no dig" gardening approach. It's an interesting technique that has a lot to recommend it, but it's certainly not the only viable approach.

[GillyBee]

I like Charles Dowding and have one of his books. He has a lot of experience as a market gardener and would have gone bust if he didn't get it right. He is a very big advocate of no-dig techniques.
Multi-sowing is fairly common for some seed types but does not work for others. It tends to result in clumps of smaller sized veg which may suit you better. If you are going for prize winning size specimens then single sowing is better. As a beginner, multi sowing has the advantage that hopefully each cell will have at least one survivor when you plant it out

[jennyjj01]

I like Charles Dowding and have one of his books. He has a lot of experience as a market gardener and would have gone bust if he didn't get it right. He is a very big advocate of no-dig techniques.
Multi-sowing is fairly common for some seed types but does not work for others. It tends to result in clumps of smaller sized veg which may suit you better. If you are going for prize winning size specimens then single sowing is better. As a beginner, multi sowing has the advantage that hopefully each cell will have at least one survivor when you plant it out

I find him most interesting and amusing. Old school and total maverick. Love how he grew garlic from Lidl

Lots of good stuff there, ideal for us preppers. . He says "...methods to grow more food in less time and space." Which is exactly our objective.

Love the no dig concept and his attitude to weeds is fascinating.

[jansman]

No Dig works. I haven’t used a spade in years - well, only to put compost onto the beds,not to dig with. Anything that saves time and effort in an already busy life is a winner.

[jennyjj01]

No Dig works. I haven’t used a spade in years - well, only to put compost onto the beds,not to dig with. Anything that saves time and effort in an already busy life is a winner.

Hmmmm. Having a read of "How to Create a New Vegetable Garden", I see Charles makes his beds by placing typically 20cm of compost onto whatever topsoil is there and enclosing it by timber planks, That strikes me as remarkably similar to having a freestanding planter with a base and legs.
Apart from the roots having no access to the undisturbed soil below, I guess standalone planters are intrinsically 'no dig'.
I hadn't thought about it that way.

Might have a bearing on the design of my next planter.

[jansman]

No Dig works. I haven’t used a spade in years - well, only to put compost onto the beds,not to dig with. Anything that saves time and effort in an already busy life is a winner.

Hmmmm. Having a read of "How to Create a New Vegetable Garden", I see Charles makes his beds by placing typically 20cm of compost onto whatever topsoil is there and enclosing it by timber planks, That strikes me as remarkably similar to having a freestanding planter with a base and legs.
Apart from the roots having no access to the undisturbed soil below, I guess standalone planters are intrinsically 'no dig'.
I hadn't thought about it that way.

Might have a bearing on the design of my next planter.

I have some 5 gallon pickle barrels full of homebrew compost, in which I grow bush marrows very successfully each year. I simply top up the compost each year prior to planting.

[jennyjj01]

Any seeds you are storing,keep in a cool ,dry,dark place. I keep mine in a biscuit tin on a shelf in the pantry.

A big parcel of seeds arrived today*. I'm itching and twitching and resisting with all my might, the urge to plant them too soon.
I've ordered cardboard potting trays, soil thermometer and I've set calendar alerts to tell me what and when to sow. I'm going to hit the ground running!

Started saving loo roll tubes and plastic pop bottles for sowing and propagating as mini cloches.

I sunmapped my garden and realised I'm wasting a precious square metre of sunny space with my composter, which is getting moved this weekend. Mistake realised and getting fixed.

I did probably buy some ambitious seeds: okra and aubergine. Ho hum, I plan to sprout them and trade some of my seedlings with neighbours.

* Yippee. three of my packs of ten crimson crush seeds had 11 seeds in: FREE food!

[jansman]

Any seeds you are storing,keep in a cool ,dry,dark place. I keep mine in a biscuit tin on a shelf in the pantry.

A big parcel of seeds arrived today*. I'm itching and twitching and resisting with all my might, the urge to plant them too soon.
I've ordered cardboard potting trays, soil thermometer and I've set calendar alerts to tell me what and when to sow. I'm going to hit the ground running!

Started saving loo roll tubes and plastic pop bottles for sowing and propagating as mini cloches.

I sunmapped my garden and realised I'm wasting a precious square metre of sunny space with my composter, which is getting moved this weekend. Mistake realised and getting fixed.

I did probably buy some ambitious seeds: okra and aubergine. Ho hum, I plan to sprout them and trade some of my seedlings with neighbours.

* Yippee. three of my packs of ten crimson crush seeds had 11 seeds in: FREE food!

Your enthusiasm is boundless! okra I have never eaten,let alone grown. Aubergine I have grown in a poly tunnel,but they took way too much faffing about.

Anyhow, this week I have some precious time at home. The compost is warmed in the poly tunnel,and I shall start tomatoes,chillies,lettuce,radish and some more Welsh onions. We can compare germination rates!

[jennyjj01]

Your enthusiasm is boundless! okra I have never eaten,let alone grown. Aubergine I have grown in a poly tunnel,but they took way too much faffing about.

Anyhow, this week I have some precious time at home. The compost is warmed in the poly tunnel,and I shall start tomatoes,chillies,lettuce,radish and some more Welsh onions. We can compare germination rates!

There is only one place within 15 miles that sells okra and it's £5 per kilo. I can't have an Indian curry without bhindi bhaji. Popping the pods on the roof of your mouth. No food experience like it. And I've never found anyone else that agrees
The okra and aubergines were probably too ambitious for this climate and my garden.
When you say poly tunnel.... What scale are we talking? I need to know what I'm competing with

I'm thinking of ways to adapt my planters to be cloches of some sort they're 1200 x 800 by 450 deep. Tempted to improvise some sort of polythene tent over them, to supplement my polythene mini greenhouse.

[jennyjj01]

I'm thinking of ways to adapt my planters to be cloches of some sort they're 1200 x 800 by 450 deep. Tempted to improvise some sort of polythene tent over them, to supplement my polythene mini greenhouse.

Pah! Gone beyond thinking about it..... Amazon order placed. Big piece of thick polythene (4mx5m)x 250mu and a roll of duck tape ordered. We have a project! Need to design a skeleton for it. Timber or some sort of rigid pipes?

I figure if we can make something wind resistant, maybe a metre high*, then it has to be better for growing tomatoes and even peppers and okra in. So I'll be discussing with my resident handyman to get him to design something, or copy the design of something. Some sort of tent pole arrangement.

* These will be close to a 6 foot fence, which will partly protect it from the wind.... Hopefully.

Love a good project!