No Dig Cultivation

[PrepperJohn]

Following non from this post by T-oddity I would like to start a discussion about using the No Dig method of food production.

I have tried to employ this method at my allotment but have come up against opposition from my wife and other allotment members.

I must admit to going about it in a bit of an half assed way because I don't really know what I am doing.

Hence I would like to open the subject up so we can all learn how to grow more food with less work, water and fertiliser

[Tartar Horde]

(6 November 2012, 12:41)PrepperJohn Wrote: Following non from this post by T-oddity I would like to start a discussion about using the No Dig method of food production.

I have tried to employ this method at my allotment but have come up against opposition from my wife and other allotment members.

I must admit to going about it in a bit of an half assed way because I don't really know what I am doing.

Hence I would like to open the subject up so we can all learn how to grow more food with less work, water and fertiliser

I use this method in my vegetable beds and have pretty good results. my "beds" aren't bordered by wood etc, they are just raised like the old ridge and furrow. For this method to succeed you have to make sure you remove any stones etc and add copious amounts of organic matter. I regularly buy 125ltr bags from B&Q and add it to the beds. After you have done this for a few years your spade will easily push/turn over the soil. After five years my beds are basically a rich compost soil mixture. With soil like this you do not need to feed anything, the only thing I use is Sulphate of Potash when my vegetables are flowering/fruiting.

[PrepperJohn]

We have access to horse manure and infinite amounts of seaweed. Would it be IO to just keep adding that.

We do have quite a big compost heap that we could add to the beds from.

So the main idea id you add to the soil instead of taking away?

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(6 November 2012, 15:03)PrepperJohn Wrote: Would it be IO to just keep adding that. Should read Would it be OK to just keep adding that.

[Tartar Horde]

(6 November 2012, 15:03)PrepperJohn Wrote: We have access to horse manure and infinite amounts of seaweed. Would it be IO to just keep adding that.

We do have quite a big compost heap that we could add to the beds from.

So the main idea id you add to the soil instead of taking away?

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(6 November 2012, 15:03)PrepperJohn Wrote: Would it be IO to just keep adding that. Should read Would it be OK to just keep adding that.

If you have Horse manure, Seaweed and your own compost you have everything you need mate good job, If the Horse manure is well rotted all the better. The Seaweed you can add raw to your beds, it readilly rots down and you will need more than you think! don't be afraid to add large amounts. Your compost can be added at any time as long as it is well broken down.

[Prepper1]

I've just took on two half allotments separated by about 25 yards or so...
One at the bottom of a hill that floods in heavy rain, well when I say flood its heavy clay oil so it just sits there.
This plot Ive just started to build up using leaves and extra top soil. By looking at it, it'll need at leat another 60 bags of top soil, leaves or manure to build it up to the required level then bobs your uncle.
Its covered with a poly tunnel this plot to help keep it less wet... so I plan on growing toms, peppers. etc in it. stuff that likes a bit of warm maybe even some veg, well see how it goes as theres still loads of work to do on this one.My other half plot is in better nick, I've just leveled the beds out as it was all piled up to one side, so dug it all over while I was at it. so hopefully now I can build it up with leaves, horse manure etc...

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I could do with an extra long hoe so I don't have to stand on the soil and flatten it.
With it being clay soil that's all it takes for the rain to start pooling.
this new plot is a hell of a lot better than the poly tunneled one, better maintained by the last keeper.
Its just one huge plot at the minute separated by two small apple trees and a blackberry patch.
Oh and a semi rotten shed!!! mind it keeps the rain off so cant complain...

[T-oddity]

Here is a link to the main man on no dig in the UK, I have a couple of his books and highly recomend his recent book Charles Dowding's vegatable course.
http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/Homepage

PJ if you have access to horse muck and sea weed you've got it made mate, just let it rot down well and keep adding it on top of your soil.

I initialy cleared my plot by covering as much of it as I could with plastic weed suppressing material, I bought a big roll of the stuff from screwfix for about £50, a bit of an expence but it was worth it in the long run, I cut the material in lengths to streatch the width of my allotment plot and sealed the ends with a small blow torch to stop it fraying and just held it down with old bricks and tyres etc, I left it for at least six months to kill off most of the grass and annual weeds and then uncovered a strip at a time to fork out the tougher weeds like docs, dandelions and twitch.
After that it was very much a case of hoe, hoe, hoe to kill of all the fresh weeds that came up, three years on I have very few weeds appearing and those that do are easy to deal with even the dandelions are readily pulled out by hand.
I recon this year I've spent far less time working on my plot than previous years, but have still had a good harvest of produce, I spend far more time sourcing horse muck and making compost than any other job on the allotment.
There is no better feeling than sitting down to a meal knowing that everything on the plate is either grown, foraged or caught by yourself

[Tibbs735]

Build up loads of mulch/compost, then spread that over the plot fairly thick (The worms and other gribblies with digest it all into the ground.)
Dig only the small holes to plant said veggies.
You can also use old carpet and cardboard to suppress weeds.

[T-oddity]

(6 November 2012, 23:31)Tibbs735 Wrote: Build up loads of mulch/compost, then spread that over the plot fairly thick (The worms and other gribblies with digest it all into the ground.)
Dig only the small holes to plant said veggies.
You can also use old carpet and cardboard to suppress weeds.

Personaly I would not use old carpets as a mulch, most modern carpets have a lot of chemicals and preservatives in them and even ones made of natural materials have a nylon mesh as a base for the weave which you end up left in your soil when the rest has rotted away, I've had to square up loads of allotment plots where people have started using carpets as a mulch and then neglected the plot and it ends up being a right nightmare to clear out, stick to plain cardboard or news paper and as Tibbs says loads of compost.

[bigpaul]

(7 November 2012, 17:12)T-oddity Wrote:

(6 November 2012, 23:31)Tibbs735 Wrote: Build up loads of mulch/compost, then spread that over the plot fairly thick (The worms and other gribblies with digest it all into the ground.)
Dig only the small holes to plant said veggies.
You can also use old carpet and cardboard to suppress weeds.

Personaly I would not use old carpets as a mulch, most modern carpets have a lot of chemicals and preservatives in them and even ones made of natural materials have a nylon mesh as a base for the weave which you end up left in your soil when the rest has rotted away, I've had to square up loads of allotment plots where people have started using carpets as a mulch and then neglected the plot and it ends up being a right nightmare to clear out, stick to plain cardboard or news paper and as Tibbs says loads of compost.

i have used old carpets on the allotment, but not as mulch and then only ones that dont have foam backing, i used them to cover over the beds during the winter or on new beds just prepared before anything is grown in them.

[Tartar Horde]

That's the key I think we all agree on, get as much organic material into/onto your beds. Build up a rich soil full of Woggms and they will in turn process the soil. NEVER use chemicals on your land as they kill the very creatures that keep your soil healthy.