I dig no dig!

You probably wouldn’t realise that there are five raised beds here! I’m fairly new to raised bed gardening and I’m still learning BUT one thing is for sure: I’m a ‘no dig’ convert and I didn’t dig my beds this year.

So why not dig?

Well…soil is a very complex eco system and it is full of organisms such as fungi, algae, earthworms, nematodes, insects..and oh so much more! And these all help in the function of nutrient cycling so that air and water can travel through the improved soil structure, in order to aid plant growth. So..if you think about it, it makes sense not to dig because if you dig you are inadvertently wrecking this eco system, exposing it to the air and the sun…which will kill the organisms and totally mess with the structure of the soil. Simples!

In fact, it’s so easy when you think of it like this! When I look back to all the years my dad use to dig over his veg plots..the back breaking work involved and then standing back and looking at the beautifully tilled soil! How we have advanced with our thinking!

I just need to mention that if you are a green manure addict, then you can’t really dig it into your soil when it grows as that defeats the whole purpose of ‘no dig’! I did experiment with one bed, using Phacelia and then I allowed it to grow and then I chopped it down and left it to mulch. The other beds I actually covered with Strulch, leaves and compost. However, this year, because I now know so much more, I’m going to do what Charles Dowding suggests…he is the expert in ‘no dig’! You can read about his ideas here .

( Note to husband…please save cardboard for me!😁)

For me this is all a steep learning curve and I’m sure that I could do better next year. But when I look at my own raised beds, I know that I’ve done something right as everything is looking lovely and lush !