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I also have a question after having watched the pea video. In your latest book you write that tall peas are spaced 10×121 – does that mean ten cm between plants, or clumps of two, and 121 cm between rows? It just confuses me as in the video it looks like the two rows of Alderman are much closer than that.
Interesting question that, will look forward to hearing what others have to say. Square foot gardening does space plants equidistant(ly?) – you can look up the recommended distances on the internet.
The all-time favourites in my garden are Purple Toadflax, Linaria purpurea, and common blue borage, they are full of buzzing bees and bumblebees all summer. But it’s interesting how it seems to differ in different gardens, my Verbena bonariensis hardly ever have any insects on them nor do the sweet peas. I have also bought flowers with the bee symbol on them and they hardly attracted any bees or other insects. I’m not saying none of them do, just that they don’t necessarily even if there is the sign. Best try different ones out and see what works best in your garden. Good luck.
Hi Charles, my main point was that I believe one can grow most veg in the leaves come spring. But I also agree with you about the slugs, they do like to hide under leaves and wood chips. One thing Patrick does mention in his videos is that they used to have lots of slugs, he believes that years’ of using wood chips has created so much habitat for predators, ground beetles etc., that they don’t really have any these days. But if people do have many, yes, it probably is best to keep the ground clear.
Once again, I’ll refer to Patrick Dolan of One Yard Revolution on Youtube. He mulches his beds with a thick layer of leaves, up to 9 cm., in autumn and grows basically anything the coming year. He, of course, does have excellent soil underneath all the leaves. But, this year, after seeing a video by another Youtuber, I am Organic Gardening, I sowed many veg in trays on top of leaves that I covered with a thin layer of compost (composted material) – I always get so confused with this British thing about calling soil compost as well! And things grew extremely well. I’m of course not trying to contradict Charles here about that it would have been a good idea to spread manure and compost, just trying to say that I’d be confident that one can grow most things in the leaves coming season.
I read the other day that Stephanie Hafferty, Charles’ partner, cuts them off at the base, whereas Charles seems to pull off individual leaves. So I guess both ways go.
Leylandii does take a long time to compost, so yes, as small as possible is good. I just find that the additional problem with it is that it tends to clog up the shredder, but maybe yours is stronger and can handle it better than mine. Good luck.
Maths has never been my strongest subject, so thanks for posting the link to the calculator, that’s a great tool.
Patrick Dolan of the One Yard Revolution channel on youtube has a very useful video today on how to build coldframes using old pieces of wood and a window he got from his neighbour.
As far as the turning goes, I guess it depends on whether one is right- or lefthanded. I’m lefthanded and turning from right to left is easier for me, seems it might be different for you since you’re righthanded. Don’t think it makes any difference to the compost 😉
Hi Hempie,
look here – http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/learn/sowing-timeline-vegetables/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Organic+gardening+no+dig – that should give you a clear idea of what you can still sow – or not.
Or, depending on how many you have, boil them in the shell for about 5 minuntes, sprinkle a bit of sea salt over and then eat the beans only, not the shells, and enjoy them as Edamame, tastes fantastic.
I’ve just rewatched the video, and one thing I don’t quite understand, why do you grow the lettuces et al. in boxes and not in the soil? Wouldn’t they be better protected against frosts there? Otherwise very interesting to see what one can grow during the cold months.
One thing that always intrigues me is that coriander grows in cold weather, as I originally know it from Southwestern China, or that it is a main ingredient in Thai cooking, where the climate is so much hotter than ours.
Hi Louise,
encouraging results, but it seems clear one needs a lot of compost and manure to be succesful this way. I tried the no dig approach to growing potatoes this year with not much success using the Bill Brandt method, Bill is an American no-till regenerative farmer in the US. He spreads a layer of compost in which he places the potatoes and them covers them with a thick layer of straw. I probably didn’t spread enough compost or straw, looking at how much you spread. 8 inches or 20 centimetres is a lot, it would basically use up my entire store of compost/manure. Better get composting.