Hi,
In a similar vein to Mark, we are thinking of switching from digging to no-digging. Thank you so much, Charles, for this amazing site with so much great information about the no-dig method – I only wish we had found it before this morning’s heavy digging session on our clayey allotment! As we were digging away, my partner said he was sure he’d heard of a no-dig method, and after reading your site I think we will make the switch 🙂
A couple of questions:
We would like to avoid plastic if possible – Is cardboard an acceptable alternative in Option 1 (on this page: http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-growing/no-dig-growing-preparation/) and if so, would you weigh it down with bricks, stones, etc. round the edges, or do you have other suggestions about how to go about it?
At the moment, our allotment organisation aren’t allowing large deliveries of compost etc. because the tracks are too muddy and tractors and trailers would churn it all up too much. If we went for Option 2 in April or May, once they let trailers back on, would we then be able to plant things like squash, courgettes, etc. into the compost in May or June? Or would we need to wait until next year? Would the “carboard under compost + slightly thinner layer of compost” idea work in this scenario?
In the bed which we’ve just dug (why, oh why??!!), there will be potatoes – some earlies and some maincrop. How should we go about starting no-dig on that bed for next year? Should we wait until they’re all harvested, then add the compost? Or could we add the compost around the potatoes and then harvest them bit by bit? (I’d usually leave the maincrops in the ground and harvest a trugload at a time until January or so.)
Thank you very much,
Gabrielle