No Dig

[Uncle Joshua]

Where can I find out about no dig allotments? all I know about it is what I've read in Tony's posts, I looked for some books about it this week but couldn't find anything

Free info on here would be better than buing a book.  :)

[Uncle Joshua]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Get rid of your perennial weeds; that's vital. Then keep the ground mulched. It's usually used with either flat or raised beds; you walk on the paths between beds, and avoid treading on the beds themselves. If you must go onto them, kneel or stand on a piece of plank to avoid compacting the soil.

[Emagggie]

I use straw. Dig out the thugs and plant, then mulch with straw. Soil must be moist though. Looks very tidy too ;D

[InfraDig]

www.charlesdowding.com

[tonybloke]

charles dowding, what a peach book!! ;)

[manicscousers]

we can't dig so everything gets mulched, grass clippings, straw, leaves, our compost and well rotted muck, also newspaper collars covered with grass clippings around the potatoes  ;D

[tonybloke]

sounds like a very good method manics!!

[InfraDig]

tb, have you seen his book "Salad Leaves for all season's"? My wife is beginning to wish I hadn't!

[InfraDig]

Correction: seasons!!!!

[tonybloke]

no I haven't! (yet) ;) ;D ;D ;D

[manicscousers]

sounds like a very good method manics!!

works for us  ;D

[Deb P]

I had to search around to find it, but I would recommend this little booklet that has been reprinted from 1949 'Gardening without digging' by A.Guest.

http://www.countrysmallholding.com/book-dvd-shop-book-shop--212850

"But for compost, gardening without digging would be quite impracticable. With its use however, the digging principle is rendered completely out of date from every angle"

Great pics of 1940's men with slicked back hair smoking pipes...basically advocates mulching with compost at every opportunity, lots of pics of prizewinning veg. as a result. Well worth a read! ;D

[charlesdowding]

No dig works without adding compost but is certainly a lot easier when you have some or can buy some to spread on top.
Mark out a 4' bed and an 18" path, weed it all and spread compost over both path and bed, more on the bed - 3 or 4 inches is good as a first dressing, then half that in years to come as an annual 'mulch'. The beauty of mulching with well rotted compost is that slugs are not encouraged in the same way as when rough mulches are used, such as straw or grass.
Worms should soon be coming up to enjoy the compost and each time they move up and down, a drainage channel is either created or maintained and air can circulate in the soil. My experience of doing this for nearly three decades is that soil and crops improve all the time. Drainage is now excellent on my heavy clay and parsnips are really long and straight.
Green waste compost from the council is a good buy in most areas, even if you pay £20/tonne delivered, the benefits are long term and you are building great fertility, long term, with each addition, as well as not damaging soil by cultivation. One important tip: keep on top of weeds all the time, and after a scary first year your soil will become much cleaner: mine is almost weed free.

[tonybloke]

Welcome to the board, Charles!! I have been a fan ever since I took on an allotment, and always recomend your books as a perfect intro to organic, no-dig food production.
thanks for posting on the forum!!
rgds, Tony

[Digeroo]

I like the thought of no dig.  But still no solution to bindweed.  Might try it on the lottie since no BW there.  Problem there is a major shortage of worms.  Might bus a few over from my garden. 

How big a pile is a tonne of compost

[tonybloke]

a tonne is a cubic yard of compost (approx)
if you add the compost and mulch, the worms will soon multiply, noo need to import them!

[grawrc]

a tonne is a cubic yard of compost (approx)
if you add the compost and mulch, the worms will soon multiply, noo need to import them!

Or even 1000 litres! In our manure today there were loads of worms even before we built our heaps.

[Ninnyscrops.]

'bout that size?  :D

Ninny

[grawrc]

Na! That one is tiny ;)

[Digeroo]

Sounds great.  might order some in the spring,

Site surrounded by gravel, so no worms there.  Pigs eaten all worms and slugs.  So great no slugs but bad no worms.

No shortage of manure/compost worms.  Come by the handful in the manure.