A few weeks ago, amidst the clamour of a rotavator and that hollow rattling sound of slug pellets being emptied from their container into blue drifts around the place, I was approached by a new allotment holder. “We chose our plot’s position as it is next to yours and it gives us something to aspire to”.
That was a new experience for me!
There are probably few experienced gardeners at my allotment site, and although I may say I’m practising no-dig, they kind of don’t hear it. It is SO ingrained in most people: an essential part of gardening IS digging.
On the plus side for me, the nature of the allotment site (rented out in a quite relaxed fashion by a farm business) means there are no committee members whose approval needs to be sought, nor any archetypal ‘old-timers’ proffering advice or admonishment, so I don’t visit my plot in fear of being lectured.
Essentially, if there’s compost/manure spread over the beds and you have a zero-tolerance approach to weeds, your plot is going to look pretty presentable.
Just one last point. Hugh’s earlier post: “…the digging mindset is completely entrenched…”. Literally, that means to be in a trench, so I guess they must all be double digging!