Reply To: Going No Dig from previously Dug Beds

[long hazel park]

We have changed to No Dig this season for our raised beds after 50 years plus of traditional digging. We were converted after a fabulous presentation at Hauser and Wirth Bruton recently by Charles. For the past 21 years running Long Hazel Park we have re-cycled the grass cuttings and leaves from our three and a half acre private park by using it as a mulch around the hedgerows and in the flower borders and vegetable garden. Our first job was to relocate about 40 large builders’ wheelbarrow loads of the rotted compost we had on site (to make room for this year’s cuttings) and use it to place a good six inches over the whole surface of the raised beds. Today we bagged up some fine rotted compost we had and created some seed beds and planted beetroot, spring onion seeds, shallots, early nantes carrots and radish. We also planted some early Scottish seed potatoes and some Estima seed potatoes purchased from Rocky Mountain Nurseries who always have a good selection of seed potatoes and you can pick out your own from large sacks. Our raised beds are shielded by a close boarded fence on one side and a tall beech hedge on the other. We have fleece at the ready in case of frost when new shoots appear. Last week the whole site was under two foot of snow so we hope we have not been too hasty. Time will tell. We usually plant early and mulch with compost as the first shoots appears but fleece was very useful last spring and we did not suffer much frost damage. We usually start digging new potatoes in June. Life is so much easier now using the No Dig method. No more back braking digging although we are about to plant a further 100 beech tree saplings this weekend to create a new hedge.