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hi ya new on here,when i took my plot on last september i was worried than i could not get it turned over within the year, so i coverd two 3mtr square beds with news paper the put afew inches of compost on top no weeds of any problem showed throug this year, this has lead me to belive in the no dig method as were the beds are there was 3ft of stinging nettel, if i compost or manur my beds this year what do you guys use as paths because if i compact the ground weeds will grow sooner or later, i take it with the no dig way you try to keep of the beds any advice and pictures would be gratefully accepted……….pete
Welcome Pete, you have made a promising start.
In all the photos of my garden here, you can see paths of bare soil with a little compost on top. Originally I put about 2" green waste compost on them, now they just receive any which falls off the beds, which have no sides. Paths are as easy to keep clear of weeds as the beds are i.e. not a problem, mostly pulling small weeds by hand, a little hoeing in the spring. The weeds pull easily, from paths and beds.My soil is clay. Even in wet weather I am sometimes pushing heavy wheel barrows of compost on the paths. Most of them are walked on every day, often in wet conditions. Yet the soil is not compact, it has a matrix or honeycomb structure of air holes created by worms and other organisms which can support weight. Same with the beds, I often walk on or across them to access vegetables, or to reach another bed.
The idea that you can never walk on soil for growing vegetables comes, I think, from digging and rotovating which loosens the soil and breaks its structure so that, indeed, it is squashed and hurt when trodden on.
In complete contrast, with no dig, and a thin surface layer of compost to feed soil life, you can walk anywhere! With cleaner boots to boot.
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