Using seasonal checklists, advice and the hard-won experience of the UK's best-known no-dig gardener to plan a full year of veg growing.
Charles Dowding grew up on a dairy farm in Somerset. After graduating from Cambridge he worked for a hotel in the Inner Hebrides before starting to grow organic vegetables commercially on the family farm in the early 1980s. In 1990 he left behind what was by then a large market garden to live in France and Zambia. Returning to Somerset in the mid 1990s, he established a bed and breakfast and vegetable growing business at Lower Farm in Shepton Montague, Somerset. There, Charles's salad bags were the main output from his two-acre garden of permanent raised beds and fruit trees. Charles runs vegetable-growing courses and lectures and writes books on his unique growing techniques. Since 2012 Charles has begun a new garden at Shepton Mallet in Somerset which he has designed using no-dig principles.
Using seasonal checklists, advice and the hard-won experience of the UK's best-known no-dig gardener to plan a full year of veg growing.
Charles Dowding grew up on a dairy farm in Somerset. After graduating from Cambridge he worked for a hotel in the Inner Hebrides before starting to grow organic vegetables commercially on the family farm in the early 1980s. In 1990 he left behind what was by then a large market garden to live in France and Zambia. Returning to Somerset in the mid 1990s, he established a bed and breakfast and vegetable growing business at Lower Farm in Shepton Montague, Somerset. There, Charles's salad bags were the main output from his two-acre garden of permanent raised beds and fruit trees. Charles runs vegetable-growing courses and lectures and writes books on his unique growing techniques. Since 2012 Charles has begun a new garden at Shepton Mallet in Somerset which he has designed using no-dig principles.
Charles Dowding grew up on a dairy farm in Somerset. After graduating from Cambridge he worked for a hotel in the Inner Hebrides before starting to grow organic vegetables commercially on the family farm in the early 1980s. In 1990 he left behind what was by then a large market garden to live in France and Zambia. Returning to Somerset in the mid 1990s, he established a bed and breakfast and vegetable growing business at Lower Farm in Shepton Montague, Somerset. There, Charles's salad bags were the main output from his two-acre garden of permanent raised beds and fruit trees. Charles runs vegetable-growing courses and lectures and writes books on his unique growing techniques. Since 2012 Charles has begun a new garden at Shepton Mallet in Somerset which he has designed using no-dig principles.
‘Charles’ journal is a good aide memoire, peppered with tidbits of
useful information and a blank, lined page per month encourages you
to use the book as a diary. We always assume it’s our fault when we
have a failure, but this might not always be the case. Keeping
records is vital, especially if you are a progressive gardener, who
is always trying different spacings, varieties and techniques.’
'A useful addition to your bookshelf'
‘Charles’ journal is a good aide memoire, peppered with tidbits of
useful information and a blank, lined page per month encourages you
to use the book as a diary. We always assume it’s our fault when we
have a failure, but this might not always be the case. Keeping
records is vital, especially if you are a progressive gardener, who
is always trying different spacings, varieties and techniques.’'A
useful addition to your bookshelf'‘This is a sensible and very
clearly presented book for those who want to tackle the art of
no-dig gardening without being bamboozled by jargon. You will
definitely have a clear understanding of the technique after
following this guide through the year’'This is such a lovely,
lovely gardening book.'
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