CHARLES DOWDING & RICHARD PERKINS TALK NO DIG

[@carlessgay1776]

Wow. My two favorite farmers in one video. It just doesn’t get any better.

[@wes4192]

Isn't it a sign of the time's that people now have a list of favorite farmers..

[@Luna-rr2us]

Yes. thought the same. :)

[@chris432t6]

Agree! Nice flow and respect between them.

[@helicart]

Two of my favs as well. Throw Curtis Stone in and it would be el primo.

[@erikasanchez7972]

Tons of background noise makes it even harder to understand their accent.

[@boxesfarm]

In my opinion you and Charles are the two most informed and enlightened farmers/growers we are lucky to spend our time on earth with. Once again unselfishly sharing your immense knowledge with us. Thank you

[@jimwilleford6140]

boxesfarm Ditto!

[@TerryMcGearyScotland]

Hear, hear!

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

I would add the RED Gardens youtuber for his serious, data-driven experiments.

[@lucyb15]

The subtle clash in values here is so timely and interesting as we seem to be reprioritizing what's most important in agriculture. The most off-putting aspect of my "big Ag" education (late 1970s) was the emphasis on profit margins, the insistence on having bigger and bigger yields, not accepting the limits of a chunk of land...thinking of soils as merely growing media. Such important conversations!

[@brickovenfarmandfare8653]

Other than yourself Richard, I cherish Charles’ life work. Thank you both.

[@RFinkle2]

My two favorite people in one video. My day couldn't get any better.

[@rpbrear]

Richard and Charles are to gardening what Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert King are to the blues. What a privilege to learn from you both.

[@DeanWAnderson]

Great accurate analogy. So true!

[@mariapflucker4108]

Love Charles, such a humble and wise person, such a gentleman

[@johnhansen8272]

Gentle soul Charles, interacting with a strong personality, Richard. Not a combination I would expect, but appreciate, but two different worlds. But not symbolic but with a watch. Richard doesn’t like revision and Charles is a very different farmer.

[@shannonstephens4245]

Talk about the meeting of minds!!!!!! GREAT stuff guys!!!

[@rebeccajosteelman563]

Great to see you guys together, and listening to an enlightened gardening discussion, thank you, Richard and Charles :-) 💖

[@SuellaPostles]

A very worthwhile watch. Some information new to me to try this year. And more "ammunition" to gently use with diggers. Thanks guys! Looking forward to seeing the video with Steph. Thanks to the input and links in the comments. No-Diggers are so generous with sharing information. Bless you all!!

[@LizZorab]

Really interesting discussion, thank you for answering some of our questions.

[@johannsmith5697]

Never heard of this guy, but he is super chill and humble. Great vid again

[@НемањаКостић-ц2я]

Wow, Charles is A veteran!

[@HelenEk7]

He has his own youtube channel. Lots of great videos.

[@punns643]

Where have you been

[@be4jesus]

This is good information and was a good discussion. I like Charles’ approach to gardening. Patient, relaxed. I can appreciate the younger gentleman’s business approach to gardening, but to me, this takes an element of joy out of gardening. You’re doing it for money - and subsequently will not derive the same measure of enjoyment. As one ages one can appreciate this view, I think, in time. Charles said the words “patient” and “long term” when he shared. The younger gentleman is ambitious, which is a good quality. Combining ambition with patience will be a very good mix in a business model.

[@maimclean7493]

Such a joy to see two BEST Teachers together! thank you gentleman for your knowledge.

[@ghostwheelinshadow]

Just rewatched this - what a fantastically information dense video this is.

[@Ang.0910]

Their interaction comes off to me as Richard looking up to Charles like a father/son relationship. He wants Charles’ approval and to be proud of him. Both GREAT farmers.

[@samerazar]

Very great video Richard! A big thanks to you, and to the king of no dig... I love it when successful and well known farmers gather around. Looking forward to see you with geoff lawton and joel salatin :)

[@caryhanson4570]

This plus your talk with Stephanie Hawkins were great. I really appreciate your appreciation of other farmers and willingness to hear and learn from others. Learning is the gift that keeps giving. Thank you for both of these shows. appreciate your work everyday, but these were awesome. Thank you.

[@tdcanam1]

Love Charles. Never dug or forked my field. Its amazing, the carrots just let go of the earth when you tug them.

[@tobyihli9470]

Really interesting. These two are a good together. Very different from one another. Instead of being problematic, it lends itself for a really good learning experience.

[@Elisabeth_Vidgrain]

Thanks to both of you. I would like to give you thousands of thumbs up if this was allowed. The very best of two of my favorite farmers 🤩

[@tinkeringinthailand8147]

What a great collaboration from 2 of my favorite gardening guru's.

[@thinlizzy535]

Finally someone who says it like it is! You make it all so easy to understand which makes it stick in the brain better than others who try to explain it.

[@petesmit33]

Undoubtedly one of the most worthwhile videos the 2 of you have put out among many other useful ones; thank you

[@rodneydlamini7364]

Great minds indeed,I like the idea of collaborating with people of the same vision,Richard.Great work as always.

[@sethraabe7199]

One of the most effective and productive videos I’ve ever seen. Such a valuable conversation between thoughtful farmers. Thank you both!!

[@susangichuhi]

I Charles has inspired me a lot, you two look great together, I have learned a lot from you. I'm doing vegetable Farming in Kenya

[@HladniSjeverniVjetar]

That sounds interesting, how are your seasons considering the position and climate? Do you grow all year round?

[@susangichuhi]

@@HladniSjeverniVjetar Ideally I should grow all year round, but I need sufficient water to irrigate during the dry season that runs January through March

[@HladniSjeverniVjetar]

@@susangichuhi I'm on the South of Europe so i can understand it partially, our summers are also pretty dry and hot. It doesn't pay off to grow anything under such heat.

[@rosstemple7617]

Susan Gichuhi definitely a place that needs permaculture understanding. I always wonder about Africa, why doesn’t the UN build a nuclear power plant and desalinate water and pipe it in to the interior. Instead of humanitarian efforts that just pad a few peoples pockets.

[@rosstemple7617]

TheAxisOne I’m in northern Texas and have the same climate and soil conditions. Great for making cement. 😆

[@angelaberni8873]

I'm learning so very much from this lovely gentleman. Thank you❤️

[@susanjordan2130]

Thank you. I enjoy watching videos by both of you

[@stumpbumpers]

I’ve watched this several times. My two favorites. I don’t think I should compare them to Jesus, so it’s like watching Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Charles Dowding got me interested in no dig before KZbin. I remember watching him on YT in the days when only well known folks had popular channels. Richard Perkins is an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience as well. They both have great foundations for what they are teaching. It’s really priceless and a blessing to have both of you share your knowledge. A sincere thanks to you both.

[@catherinec7509]

Absolutely wonderful hearing from both of you in the same video. You both have wonderful ideas. I love that you are looking at gardening in a holistic way. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your honesty.

[@rositawoodhall66]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge in this kind of gardening, Richard and Charles

[@catherinegrace2366]

I just love what you do and your videos. It makes me happy to support your channel. From Northern California ~ CG

[@sandraweekes3659]

I lay sheets of newspaper, then old stable sawdust and copious amounts of chicken manure over sandy soil and covered it with black plastic for several weeks. I planted in it and it was one of the best no dig beds I’ve ever grown on. The problem with sandy soils is that it can suck the moisture out and leave roots dry. Alternatively if overwatered the nutrients leech down lower than the roots can reach.

[@camperspecial9666]

Tremendous amount of experience between you both. Thank you for sharing.

[@gretasgarden]

Terrific! Great to hear you both share your knowledge...together.. Enjoyed this very much.

[@tofty21]

What a privilege to see both these guys together. Thanks for posting!

[@angelmadera2263]

Thank you for the education iam a 54 yrs old carpenter I am seriously thinking of going into growing food. I love the way u have made things work and more than any thing made money right away. That the money makers in first to sustain the bigger goals people would say simple not so. I truly believe this is the most educational channel on farming and making it work I've seen and for me that knows nothing about farming may not mean much but I makes big sense to me.

[@susanjordan2130]

Thank you both.

[@MKEGameDesign]

I had never actually heard of Charles! My exposure to no-dig was just through your videos. Will totally be checking his channel and books out.

[@ghostwheelinshadow]

Charles is *amazing*

[@moi7748]

Charles is certainly one of my favourite permaculture KZbinrs, but you should also check out Dutch Farmer Moreno. He lives in eastern France and he has been putting out some really great videos on KZbin too. He's a mine of information and his videos are really well explained.

[@MC-ko2mx]

He is a legend

[@veradejong9437]

I really get to back in England to visit your garden . It"s all amazing

[@mypath4healthyliving533]

brilliant thank you, two witnesses three even better helps settle the matter. wise counsel in the beginning helps in the long term. many councillors makes one wise, thank you men for all your wisdom with all them years. much appreciated.

[@myrurallife_official]

I loved the video! Having 2 perspectives on the same processes was amazing. I would love to see more collaboration videos like this.

[@jbphot0]

Great video, been following both of these geniuses along with both my broad-forked garden and no-dig garden plots in my urban front yard. I agree that over broad-forking will actually increase weeds and deplete fungal structures in soil. For example nature doesn't broad fork every year, but a 1 in 100 year landslide or seismic event my kick start life in soil as it naturally tries to repair itself. I encourage experimentation as Charles does, he mentioned 5% less yield. I never quantified it, but for 2-3 years I kept wondering why deep rooted creeping grass kept coming up in the beds. I wasted many hours of my life pulling it out. I finally realized it was due to broad-forking . It kept waking it up and giving them O2 and creating paths for H2O, no wonder it thrived. Once I overcame the mental block and I eliminated forking, the creeping grass slowed way down. Now I use nothing but wood chips from my own yard waste and kitchen compost which is always placed on top of the existing mulch, never disturb the structure beneath or you'll wake up the devil grass as we call it. I do agree that on heavily compacted soil with anaerobic issues you may want to disturb some minimal amount at the surface to get O2 involved in order speed up the process. This type of soil is damaged and needs mechanical help. But only one time. After that keep piling on the mulch, keep it planted with healthy roots, and nature does the rest of the work. Over time yield gets better and better.

[@ScottPickettUT]

Great info and discussion. I enjoy both your channels.

[@betsysiegmund198]

Charles& Richard, thank you. Invaluable presentation.

[@bmllz]

Amazing, amazing video!! Thank you guys so much for sharing all this knowledge.. Priceless!!

[@archerj47]

my two favorites.

[@jirinasatavova4062]

it's nice to see you together, I watching you both videos

[@hanshans387]

Great video, I love both of your approaches and I've learnt so much from both of you as I scale up my own market garden

[@tinamagdaleena]

Wow! Thank you from the USA ! Awesome!

[@donnareed3822]

Wonderful video. I love the way Charles gardens and I like what you are trying to do on your farm with your diversity

[@Leeofthestorm]

Fabulous stuff watching you two discuss things. Really some great info sharing and questions answered. Thank you, Richard.

[@paulvandenberg5341]

I’m an organic gardener with 60 years in the garden. We are perhaps the only commercial wine estate on Earth using no pesticides. Terrific conversation! Paul Vandenberg Paradisos del Sol Winery and Organic Vineyard

[@8507582]

Excellent conversation! Please do this again.

[@4philipp]

Charles is so humble on his demeanor. I think I have all his books by now. Great to see different opinions from two successful growers using the same principle with slightly different approaches. Since I’m soon preparing my own garden this is how I want to do it... - grow a mixed species cover crop - chop and drop in fall - cover with silage tarp until middle of March - cover beds with cardboard - add 9 inches animal based compost (from fall delivery) - direct sow or transplant depending on species and weather (northern Maine) otherwise keep beds covered with tarp until sow/transplant time - use row covers - I’m only starting two grow blocks, roughly 40’x50’ each, 30” beds, 10 per block (25’x50’ total grow area per block), so the compost cost should stay reasonable. (Roughly 35 yards per block @ $85 per yard) Any opinions on this plan? I think when it comes to time involved people ask the question from the wrong perspective ( how much area for 50-60 hours). A beginner will never work as fast or efficient as an experienced grower. Different plants, climates and soil conditions also affect speed and volume. So experimentation is needed. Start with 1-2 beds for a season, carefully log time and work performed. Next year do a block with 10 beds and also log time and work performed. Based on the results you’ll be able to estimate how large you can go before you reach the desired time limit. Similar calculations can be done for income potential keeping the local market in mind. Great video guys !!

[@shakengrain1942]

Richard's method is not true no dig though.

[@-TKMAX-]

Amazing video, thank you both! Sweden here I come!

[@mwmingram]

This is gold. Thank you.

[@mypony891]

Thanks for bringing up the manure questions. I raise sheep and muck out their stalls twice a year so that gives me a bit of compost and I know there are no chemicals from the pasture.

[@torbjornlundaahl7974]

Wonderful sharing by two masters - thank you!

[@SteveDavies01]

Brilliant job boys.

[@jeshurunfarm]

What a treat. Respect from Africa 🇿🇦

[@Bachibouzouk1er]

Thanks guys!

[@notillgrowers]

Love this, y’all. Great stuff!

[@ValeriaVincentSancisi]

fantastic to have the both of you!

[@rosehavenfarm2969]

A pleasure to watch. Thank you.

[@mikeland495]

What a pleasure to watch!

[@michaelbourquin9814]

Charles!! Thanks for this video it was really lovely and inspiring. I am now left wondering about various methods of feeding my beds nutrients.

[@heidiweinert3260]

I am glad to hear you say that soil testing can be suspect. I have asked experts and no one can answer me. What do you do when you have multiple garden beds that you created new soil for that is different from one corner to another and will change from one month to the next as you tug op with various mulches. It seems too fluid to really pin down helpfully.

[@harryvangrieken6950]

Excellent discussion. Thank you!

[@nodigBKMiche]

Thank You Gentlemen! Answered a lot of my questions!👍🏼💛

[@dancingcedar]

Thank you. Great answers to so many of my questions. I trust your skills and integrity...both of you. You saved me a lot of time,pain and money and I really appreciate it. I will forgo a soil test :) I, with some trepidation, did not till or broadfork or dig swales or trenches under the hugel beds on a 5 degree slope...in order to leave the soil fungi happy and whole...the whole piece of land is 1/4 acre with tall trees around the perimeter that were planted in 1980, and I am blown away at how well it is doing after we established rainwater catchment, and for one winter directed all rain water from a 1,000 square foot roof in a rainy Pacific Northwest USA ( I did not vote for Trump) onto the garden.....the increase in plant growth is mind boggling. I am half Swedish so I love hearing about my ancestral land :) Thank You. Blessings :)

[@fippovich]

This was absolutely amazing, thank you both. Wow...

[@HelenEk7]

What a great video.Thanks! Only complaint it that Charles should have had the opportunity to speak more. :)

[@carolewarner101]

It's such a relief to hear that neither of you do soil testing! I've been hanging my head in shame over never having my soil tested (SOOO many people on line are always saying that "Of COURSE you're having your soil tested every year, right?" Wrong...not me. But for some reason I was feeling bad about it rather than just realizing that I sure am getting a heck of a lot of crops out of my back yard garden every year!!! : - D Also, we have a lot of clay that gets very hard by spring, so I've gone a bit crazy with my broad forking... I realize in fact that I've been basically manually plowing my ground if I'm honest. Yet my soil isn't actually compacted at all by Charle's definition because I have all raised beds that are never walked upon except by neighborhood cats and such. But it was rock hard this spring, despite the fact that I'd left plenty of plants in over the winter (I live in Portland, Oregon, USA). What I realize is that I probably would do better to cut those plants out at ground level and put in a nice thick layer of compost on top in the beds that don't have any food in them that we're harvesting through the winter. That way the heavier soil will have a nice thick layer of both organic matter and micro organisms over it to hold in moisture and stimulate worms and other critters to loosen up that soil so it's more ready for planting without having to break it all up in spring. I guess I completely destroyed my soil structure this year...alas. Live and learn. Glad to have such seasoned, confident advice! Many thanks.

[@przybyla420]

Hello from Corvallis. If I were you I’d dig out the clay (unless it’s silt) and get loam or some river sand to mix with leaf compost (since you live in Portland), then mulch heavily with leaves in any empty beds every fall (slugs/snails could be an issue with mulch around crops). Then rake off leaves in spring and plant (damn slugs eat seedlings in mulch, especially warm cloudy days in spring).

[@donnareed3822]

Put heavy card board on over winter. Like appliance boxes. Worms will break it down over winter

[@donnareed3822]

przybyla420 My moms lives in Sheridan Ore. she has clay. I live in Gig Harbor Washington. I have clay. Clay has tons of nutrients. You just have to unlock it. Heavy compost over heavy cardboard. Keeps the weeds down. Keels you’re soak missy and by summer you will have great soil

[@HelenEk7]

If stuff grow well in your soil, it has already passed the test. :)

[@Funkhewould]

Mahalo for the conversation.

[@anndebaldo7381]

Wonderful info! Thanks! Yes, it doesn't get any better!

[@TheGardenerNorth]

What a awesome collaborative video. Please do more!

[@katiecooksandgrows2622]

Great video - both clearly passionate about what they do.

[@nickvenz1529]

Hey Richard, I really love the videos you make. All this knowledge and the advice for us interested in sustainable farming and a holistic approach of living. I would appreciate if you could share some books with us where we can really dig deep into the whole thing! Greetings from northern Germany.

[@Kitchissime]

Great talk! Thank you both!

[@kroegermarkus1170]

Thank you both for this interesting interview. Very helful!

[@johac7637]

I have very fine clay here in Arizona, a hole 2 feet deep took 2.5 days to drain after filling with water, so I 4" mulched with alfalfa pellet, 4-6 inches of tree service chips, after a year of monsoons, about 2" rainfall I tilled it to show the clay, and started over with alfalfa and chips, it has changed everything, now I put a v plow attachment behind my self-propelled tiller, Barrett a beast, and then cover crop with Diakon, vetch, rapeseed, buckwheat, and them redo after it does it things for a year. It is like living in a rainforest now as compared to a bald desert landscape, the real benefit has been the Diakon deep rooting. My 2 cents.

[@mariushatt646]

I am really happy for you sharing all that knowledge. Still, I miss a clear talk about cardboard. In generell there is almost no true nativ natural material in it (these days). Theres plenty of glues and mineral based stuff from those never ending Rechnung

[@MTNurse]

Charles Dowding!!!!!!!?????????? I L

[@mamaduck6845]

sandy soil 'eats' compost if there isn't a structure to hold it in place. my dad added amendments every year and every year they disappeared with the rain and washed away.

[@nickthegardener.1120]

This was a great conversation.🤠👍🏻

[@jadepenn7407]

Thanks Richard and Charles you guys are super heroes

[@LloydEdmondson]

Fantastic video, thanks to you both.

[@5203mhr]

Hello Richard As usual I enjoy and learn a lot from your videos. I heard you saying issues about ground being hard after removing all the peat moss in spring time before transplanting of tomatoes, as you have to reload the required amount of compost back into beds. I was thinking of possibly a solution for your this issue as below How about making permanent beds using wood burred in ground ( opposite of raised beds) , this will be bed buried in ground. Now making a thick mat out of wood to place above the ground near entryway to greenhouse so that when you drive your front end loader to scrap don’t get stuck in bed . Once you are in the walkway inside greenhouse then you will be good to scrap just the right amount just above the wooden frame of in ground bed . Hope I explained it correctly, this way your bed area is never too compacted by loader tires and at the same time it maintains the biological properties of the beds and also this way you might not have to bring compost back into beds . Keep up the good work.

[@michaelbecker9071]

Amazing discussion of soil!!! Thank you.

[@derekk2708]

Great video. Thanks for uploading. ; )

[@nicholasspies6868]

Great show. Thanks

[@stevelarson4925]

Great video Richard and Charles! I am also happy to know that neither one of you use traditional soil tests...I don't feel so crazy now :) Does anyone have any quality resources for learning how to better see nutrient deficiencies in specific plants? I really like the idea of using your observation and relationship with the plants to understand if you need to foliar apply nutrients to help give them a boost while the soil health is increasing.

[@Kitchissime]

Checking which weeds grow on your land is a soil test.

[@jenniewilliamsmural]

Thanks so much for this great video. 2019 - pre-COVID of course so relaxing - I got a lot out of this video!!!!

[@MrGYPSYSPADE]

great to see two of you guys together.

[@thatamerican3187]

If you have to test I would test a sampling of the plants. If it's in the ground it's in the plants. That would tell you it's there and if the plants have been accessing it.

[@trafferz]

Wish this video had been available when I was a kid. All those childhood summers weeding. Nightmares really. I'd like to get a hold of a rototiller just so I could take a sledge hammer to it.

[@judithlewisham2571]

This duo is legendary. Wow!