[KarenParticipant]

Haha! Thanks Charles.

There is a glimmer of hope after all. I just met up with my TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctor today and she too is very encouraged by your no dig method as I had also given her a copy of your priceless book. She has also shared with me that some people have been asking her about it as well. Ha! There is hope after all! 🙂

You are right. Our gardens (yours and mine and other followers of yours) are just clear cut proof of the huge success of no dig method. If others choose to think otherwise… there´s not much else to say other than ´lack of common sense´…ha!

[KarenParticipant]

oh…. another example about how difficult it is to change the mindset of others too….

I gave a german copy of Charles´ Vegetable Garden Course book about the no digging method to an old fella (my hairdresser´s building caretaker/janitor) as he showed me his ´garden´ from pictures. The bare soil and digging over. He was so proud that he digs his soil etc. I thought after reading the book and that he wouldn’t have to resort to this method and be enlightened by the ´new´ method.

A few weeks later, I was at my hairdresser´s and she told me he still digs! I rest my case! ha!!

Gardenjim…. you are 73 years old. Am sooooooooo glad you are way more open-minded and not fixed in your ways. Hats off to you. 🙂

[KarenParticipant]

Hello gardenjim…. wow…I am speechless. You definitely are a hero too. I have shared my views with friends and acquaintances and hopefully too they are convinced by it. It can be somewhat intimidating trying to change the minds of people who are fixed in their own ideas.

To give an example, a few days ago, I went to my neighbour to give them salad plants to plant. To my horror, I saw their beds were DUG OVER like some big animal (most likely the husband) had made a mess with the soil! Charles, you would soooooo cringe! ha! They said they had to mix the soil with fertiliser to plant their potatoes. (I highly suspect they buy fertiliser – the chemical type…. I don’t even know how to describe what those are called – never used them before) I told them never to do this and explained and that our very own garden was an example of Charles´ no-dig method and everything flourishes with no back-breaking tasks. I was kinda irked when they said this digging over has always been the method adopted like forever! I honestly dislike advising people who are fixated in their ideas and aren’t open-minded and have any common sense. Explained to them in the wild and forests, no one digs the soil, all the goodness and decomposition of organic matter are performed by the gazillion of microbes/insects/soil animals to enrich the soil etc. Haha… sorry for my rant again.

and Marko… it is quite horrifying too that the German firm Bayer bought Mosanto. I hope they will reverse the ´damage´ done by the predecessor. But knowing these big mega corporations…. I am quite doubtful.

[KarenParticipant]

Heya Freed,

Thanks for the wine tip… only problem is that we don’t drink. We don’t know how to appreciate wine or alcoholic beverages. The hubby and I for one cant really appreciate the smell of alcohol… haha… we know we are kinda of a rare specie.

Only beverage that comes close to it is non-alcoholic beer. 🙂

[KarenParticipant]

Yeah, the summers can be extremely hot here, especially in the tunnel, above 40 degrees, hence we always have the shade cloth on. Think the intensity of the sun here is really extreme.

I reckon that jicama, winter melon and bitter gourd/melon might pose a challenge. Will grow them both in the tunnel and outdoors. Fingers crossed! The water spinach and long beans shouldn’t be much of a problem. The former is considered a perennial as well and easily propagated from cuttings (i.e. just soaking into water and roots will form easily and quick).

Btw, I had also meant to say that the parsnips and salsify were all germinated using the damp paper method as suggested by bluebell or stringfellow. The seeds from the 2 plants are rather big, hence it was very easy to plant and space the germinated seeds onto moist compost on the ground as you would usually do when sowing your carrots and parsnips too. The damp paper method is definitely a viable and feasible method to consider. Just my humble opinion.

[KarenParticipant]

Oh, have also just added and spread compost to the space that we had just harvested the parsnips. Cant wait for the new growing season!

[KarenParticipant]

Hello Charles,

Your diary book just arrived and love it! Makes for easy reference when to do what etc. Just read your newsletter too… looks like your new book is literally flying off the shelves… 700 books! Wow! Glad that it´s doing really well.

Have included a pic of the parsnip sitting on the wheelbarrow… Now.. the big question is knowing what to do with them!

Also, you might be interested to look into the following plants (which I dearly miss eating) that I am planning to grow next year

1) jicama (commonly used in a n Asian salad called rojak)
2) water spinach (excellent in stir fries with sambal chili)
3) winter melon (great in soups with pork ribs)
4) bitter gourd (stir fried and somewhat of an acquired taste due to it´s bitterness)
5) Asian long beans (also great as stir fry with sambal chili)

p/s: am glad too that you like the Saragossa lettuce variety, definitely my fav too, firm, crunchy and easy to pick as well.

[KarenParticipant]

Hey Stringfellow,

Thanks for your input… we decided to harvest everything as we have space in our shed… they are still sitting in the wheelbarrow too..

We just wanted to be able to prepare the space for next year to plant more yacon and other veg that I am planning to experiment with.

Cant wait to get started!

[KarenParticipant]

Likewise here too 🙂 a total convert from not using wooden sides.

Removed most of the wooden sides of our beds and it makes work a whole lot easier too e.g. adding wheelbarrows of compost etc… harbours less slugs and their eggs :))

and saves $$$ and replenishing wooden sides.

[KarenParticipant]

Heya Charles,

Haha! We both were too excited and impatient and just wanted to savour our very first taste of this wonderful ´fruity´ veg.

Will wait a while more for the rest of the yacon to sweeten a little more and hopefully will improve our digestibility a little better.

Looking forward to next year´s planting already.

[KarenParticipant]

Heya all,

Finally was able to enjoy our yacon harvest! We had 2 varieties of yacon, the normal light brown skin and the red-skinned Morado.

The husband and I loved it! Definitely will grow them again next year…. texture is similar to that of nashi pear! One of our favs too.

I have somewhat of an embarrassing question to ask though…..

Does anyone have a problem with flatulence and/or bloatedness when eating it raw?

We both seem to have a problem with the former and somewhat the latter.

[KarenParticipant]

Nooooooooooooo…. the husband and I would definitely struggle to understand the Southerners (Bavarians)… they have a very strong and quite incomprehensible German slang.

We had a British couple (whom we stayed with in their B&B in Feb) who came to visit in Sept and stayed too in our B&B and they loved the Spreewald. They too were pleasantly surprised how ´magical´ (in their own words) the Spreewald was. We were really happy that they thoroughly enjoyed their visit. 🙂

[KarenParticipant]

Think you ´stole´ all our rain too! 🙂 We didn’t have any at all from mid Aug right through in the month of September. And it also appeared that there was rain all over Germany except in our region.

We are right smack in the middle of the Spreewald (Spree Forest), about 100km from Berlin. We are very privileged and fortunate to live in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

I kinda assumed you were also living in the UK… the internet has definitely brought the world a whole lot closer 🙂

[KarenParticipant]

Hey Hawfinch,

I reckon you don’t have to worry too much about it as I am sure the plants have already developed strong roots over the season.

If in doubt, maybe you could prune half the batch and leave the other half alone and see if there is any significant difference when growth begins again next year.

I do sometimes remove the older dying and ´diseased´ leaves where time permits, or I usually just leave them be.

Our harvest has been great this far. I usually only keep the plants for 2 years and plant new in new locations again.

[KarenParticipant]

Heya Don,

Thanks for the feedback and advice.

It´s only this year that I have been growing way more annual vegetables compared to the last 3 years and that we are using a whole lot more lettuces/salad for our restaurant too. I kinda knew that we have a fair amount of wireworms and it´s only this year that I realise how much damage they have done and can do to the lettuce and other leafy (e.g. brassicas) young plants.

The apple traps definitely work as I have checked again the beds and many more wireworms appeared on the surface under the apples. I definitely feel more confident now that I know how I could help minimise the damage as I am sure that it will be a long while before the wireworm population can be under control.

Yeah Eliza, each time when I see these worms… I get the goosebumps! Gross! Thankfully the apples have come to the rescue.

Oh… I might add too that the apple traps too lure ants to them. Another potential solution! As these ants too can do damage to the roots and stem of young leafy plants.

[Author]

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