Table of Contents

Introduction by Darina Allen 7 Preface 8 Seasonal gardening: the benefits 12 Being there, little and often 14 Time-saving tips 16 Advantages of no dig 18 Soil structure the easy way 20 No dig perennials for food 22 No dig flowers 24 Making compost 26 Compost: the process 28 Sourcing compost 30 Weeds in a compost mulch 32 Weeds sign off 34 Mulching to clear perennial weeds 36 Sowing timeline 38 FAQs no dig 40 Perpetual Diary 42 Comparing growth 150 Sowing by the moon 152 More on rotation 154 Second crops/succession 156 Edible elegance 158 Paths, mulches, no dig 160 Planting and caring for fruit trees 162 Last thoughts and acknowledgements 164 Bibliography 165 Index 166

Promotional Information

Available on offer with other books on Charles Dowding's website

About the Author

Charles pioneers timesaving methods of gardening, especially no dig for less work, strong growth and fewer weeds. He also illustrates quicker ways of growing and picking, and of multi-sowing vegetables. Since 1982 he has created and cropped four no dig market gardens on different soils, from stone to silt to clay. In the 1980s he cropped 7.5 acres (3ha) of no dig beds. Currently he grows vegetables on an intensive 0.25 acres/1000 square metres in Somerset, SW England zone 8. The harvests are for local sales of salad leaves and vegetables, and for courses at Homeacres. Charles' garden beds grow two crops a year, are cheap to establish and easy to maintain. His growing methods easy to understand and work on small areas as well as large ones. He has written nine books plus an annual calendar of sowing dates, runs a You Tube channel with 14 million views, writes for national gardening magazines, and gives talks and courses at home and abroad. He has created an online course in no dig gardening.

Reviews

RHS review in The Garden November 2017, by Jim Buckland of West Dean Gardens, Sussex; Although I have been gardening professionally for 45 years, I found this book enlightening, thought provoking and immensely practical in equal measure. I am confident that if this were the first volume to grace the shelves of a gardening novice, it would be equally stimulating and useful, and would ensure a smooth start to a growing life. It does exactly what the title suggests it will do, and does it with clarity, humour and immense practicality; Lynn on Amazon, June 2017 It's always good to have a reminder of what the main gardening tasks are month by month. But this diary does more than that. Even though I have been gardening for decades I can dive into this book and pick up gems of information never before encountered. Charles is a truly good gardener with an amazing willingness to share his knowledge; Philip Hirst, Ireland email, 23.07.18 I have bought your vegetable garden diary, and all I can say is wow, so inspiring, and full of detailed information, brilliant. I wish I had bought it years ago!!