Charles's September tour part two, fast mulch and growth

[@seanjamescameron]

May I suggest that for Christmas you make a 'look back over the year' style video, even if it is an hour long. Ideal Boxing Day watching.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great idea Sean!

[@kimr4005]

Yes

[@wendycullingworth3879]

Could you do that too Sean?

[@Loz-oh3us]

Good idea

[@kathryngreen4096]

👍🙏

[@cliveburgess4128]

Your garden is amazing as always, a joy to watch!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@sunitashastry5270]

Noted how you pull up the plants. I do that too. I was glad to see you say that is the right way. I.need to work on my carrot growing. It’s one thing I don’t do very successfully.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

👍

[@ivonekowalczyk5823]

Love the kitty enjoying the garden along with us. Thank you, Charles!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are welcome 🐈

[@MerriCreek_RunsThroughCoburg]

I love your little cat ‘cameo’ appearances every few minutes. Great little helper I’m sure. 😸

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Moral support and smiles!

[@johnnysattin1722]

As always, fascinating to see the change of season at Home Acres. I would love to see the turnover of the Small Garden going forward. Such a helpful source of inspiration for us allotmenters! Thanks for all you do, Johnny

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cheers Johnny, shall do that soon

[@annelygermaine7874]

Thanks for the tour. Especially helpful was the detail about what conditions are conducive to blight. Love real information !!! 😎👍😁

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad it's useful for you

[@smas3256]

Thank you for spending time sharing your experience Charles. After sharing tomatoes, potatoes, red peppers, green beans and Rosemary with a friend we are getting apples, pears and next week fresh caught fish. ... I mentioned we've starting carrots and beets. Some will be ready end of October. That friend is going to start a garden next year. Of course I'll be sending him your way. In our mid 70's and gardening no till keeping us strong and healthy. Blessing to you Charles, family and crew.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Lovely to hear of your success and lovely that your you are sharing with your friend and they are now starting a garden 🙂

[@tinad6812]

I love seeing the abundance even with the challenging weather you had. Im happy to see it. Beautiful garden. Thanks for sharing.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks for visiting

[@georgeasgautr]

Pretty sure the cat sees you guys filming and says 'My time to shine!' 😁

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😂 🐈

[@waynesell3681]

Amazing what is possible with no-dig gardening and certain dedication! Loving part two!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it Wayne 🙂

[@starfish4093]

Greetings from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿! Just to say we have seven khaki Campbell‘’s ducks that patrolling our garden in regular bases. They are fantastic controlling the slug and other sort of bugs population, and they don’t scratch the soil like chickens do. They have been a great addition to our garden.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear. The foxes here would approve of that, good otherwise.

[@starfish4093]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig I understand that, we also have foxes, but not as much during the day. The field where the ducks stay had new fence recently and the vegetable garden has 2 meters deer proof fence as well.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

All good!

[@pascalxus]

i love that compost breakdown explanation, excuse the pun. seriously, it's good to know that i can put sivved woodchips inside the compost after just 8 months!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Many thanks Pascal

[@megmcginnis239]

I love the runner beans. I grow several different varieties on cattle panel arched into tunnels. The flowers are lovely and hummingbirds love them. The dry shell beans are fabulous in soups, stews... So glad you mentioned them

[@megmcginnis239]

Great videos. Very helpful. Thank you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it and you are very welcome 🙂

[@juliehartley3652]

I'm happy to see you composting your blight tomatoes - I did the same with mine. I was sad to see them go but at least they are useful on the compost heap. Thank you for a wonderful garden tour and happy no-dig autumn to you too.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it Julie 🙂

[@marking-time-gardens]

Thank you for sharing part 2 of this great video! 🌻🐛🌿💚🙏💕👵

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are welcome

[@thecsslife]

With black method at 9:00, someone can do no-dig with no compost at all theoretically. Can build organic matter over years just with home-made compost, or more quickly with broad beans and other green manures.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes, although building facility with green manures is not quick, compared to adding compost. And when you're growing green manures, you are not growing vegetables. For example broad beans add most value to soil when they are chopped off at flowering stage, rather than left to crop.

[@vicki2526]

Always informative Charles. I used a codling moth trap on my apple tree the last two years. Works a treat. Thank you😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good to hear Vicki, and just one sticky trap in May?

[@RustyBobbins]

This is perfect timing. I need to remove sunflowers and watermelon vines from a friends garden and tomatoes from mine and was trying to figure out the best way. Your method is so simple and straight forward.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad to hear this 🙂

[@cliveburgess4128]

I like the sieve, silly me, never thought of putting it at an angle! Much easier! Thanks, as always! Spelled it wrong also, ha,ha, corrected.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad 🙂

[@franksinatra1070]

Love seeing all the different composts and organic material you use. I can get mushroom soil up the road realtively cheap. I also go to the horse farm around the corner every Autumn and and get a load of manure and bedding and let it sit for a year to mix with my compost and spread the following Autumn. I do get rewarded for my work. Thanks Charles!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sounds great! Nice work

[@dennisscribner9949]

afternoon charles from far northern calif. back up to 97 degrees here.. and staying warm for another week. kepe that full beard. and you guys enjoy the rest of your week. im prepping a new flower bed for bulds..

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks Dennis that is nice, and best of luck in the heat. Today here it's max 59 F.

[@DarrenBlues89]

It’s looking great Charles. I’ve tried your no dig method for the last few years, but with minimum success. I feel the only way to be successful with no dig is you need a lot of compost otherwise the soil dries up and hardens too much for veggie gardening. For a small suburban garden in Melbourne, my family isn’t producing enough compost to maintain no dig. It’s been a great learning process. Keen to hear your thoughts on this.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

In your climate you could grow vegetables for much of the year, intensively on quite a small area. For that kind of return, it's worth buying some compost. You will need less for no dig than if you are digging because when soil is broken up and opened to air, carbon is lost from oxidising to CO2. I'm sure that the money you spend on compost will be more than returned by the extra produce you grow.

[@ivonekowalczyk5823]

Charles made it clear in his no dig starter videos that there is an investment when starting. You purchase compost to make 5? Or so inches deep beds, but then as years go on, your own compost can be made and you don't need so much in your yearly top up, maybe 2-3 inches. It builds on itself. Don't give up. You have put so much into it already. See his videos on starting. God bless you!

[@Dirt-Fermer]

Try focusing on growing biomass like a willow hedge row of some kind as you garden, you’ll produce so much leaves and twigs in a couple years it will help give your beds more mass and water holding capacity without much work at all.

[@Bolletjehopla47]

I am salivating from your apple!....

[@joshlovegood9392]

2 Charles Dowding videos in 3 days.... No complaints here!!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear and I am glad you enjoyed them 🙂

[@RawLondonGardener]

Well maintained, top quality patch, very nice indeed!

[@lucybarnard3954]

People think I’m mad I collect vegetable scraps and coffee grounds from a local deli, i advertise online for guinea pig waste, I get neighbours and friends bring me grass cuttings and soon leaves, also various odd things to make structures. I go to the stables to collect horse manure and get wood chips from tree surgeons. I thank people with bits of produce x

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

How wonderful Lucy, so sensible!

[@vgotishan3234]

Sir, your garden looks better every year!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you

[@PatrickKazmierczak-j6i]

Went no dig this season after lots of thought and prep. Well worth it. I’ve got dig beds too which works well too. Love it!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear

[@AlphalovesGod]

Wow. I used to throw away the tomato plants with blight I was scared to use them for compost. Now I know better

[@jean-pierregesquiere533]

Top top Charles,comme d'habitude 👍👏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Merci Jean-Pierre

[@sunangel-rivka]

After working all morning in my garden it's delightful to see how yours is doing.😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Morning! Nice to hear

[@azamshakoor3098]

Well said indeed inspiring,,,if we have problem in our gardens don't be disheartened 👍 today morning I was in my terrace garden checking out fruit trees ,my custard Apple fruits were eaten by bugs it was disappointing,,but after listening to you,,gonna head back and cover the remaining fruits with fruit protection Bags,,and think about steps to be taken for other plants as well ,,thanks for inspiring us sir ji 😊 yay saw minty guess she was checking out any residue of blight in your poly house 🍅 Tomato plants 😊😺🐈🇮🇳

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Wow custard apples, sound tasty, and thanks for your comment

[@annesimms7356]

Thank you for the mustard green manure tip!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

you are welcome Anne

[@yvonnejackson1696]

I envy your compost. I don’t have any source of trustworthy compost anywhere near me. It keeps me jumping to look for compostable material. My rule is if it will rot it goes on the pile. I totally agree that there is way too much misinformation on composting.

[@livingladolcevita7318]

Hi Charles, yes mustard already planted in my spare? ground. We will be trying an experiment hopefully next year for all the plot holders on our allotments to put their green waste which will be weeds such as bind weed and the dreaded mares tail as most of them are taking it and putting in the green waste for the council to take. Perhaps I could send you some photos nearer the time.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sounds amazing and yes please to to [e-mail]

[@joejelnicki8277]

I always learn so much when I watch your videos, especially on compost, I love love making compost myself too, I have many many large piles all around my property, I have chickens, so lots of manure and straw from the chicken coop. lots of weeds, and I am her is USA in Pennsylvania, and live on a few acres, so lots and lots of leaves. not one leaf ever gets wasted, I mulch and chip them all up and make lots of leave compost/ leaf mold compost. but there is no greater reward when the compost is finished and ready to use. when people come to see my gardens I take them to the compost area first, haha. but all the vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees and berry bushes all grow amazing with compost. Happy gardening and Happy Autumn 🙂

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Such a lovely comment and I love your enthusiasm! Your garden sounds amazing

[@fiona.vhealing920]

Some helpful guidance, however, I can’t plant out any brassicas until end of July due to flea beetles 😢😤 I will try some radish as a sacrifice crop next year with a few plants. I still have some to plant out in the hope that fleece will give them a chance 🤞

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That is a plan

[@9172Nee]

Even this difficult year your garden is beautiful and so amazingly fall still, great job

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks

[@squeezyjohn1]

Nice one Charles!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you John

[@GrandmomZoo]

Hello my lovely friend Charles!😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@rajsamb]

That carrot 🥕 looked like the one I used last night.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I grated it with apple, delicious

[@samanthahoos9827]

❤ I picked my first 3 apples ever home grown 2 weeks ago - Honey Crisp. SO GOOD! In USA people can make a request for CHIP DROP online from arborists for free or a donation to get wood chips & logs. I’ve been doing it for 4 years building up soil on paths for less weeds and the soil underneath is so rich after all this time! 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh wow! Lovely to hear on all counts

[@katlegoleshona7351]

You are my hero

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks that is nice!

[@totalprecisioncarpenter5922]

Great videos as always if weeds are really bad would you suggest another layer of cardboard before you top up your beds with new compost every year?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

If needs must! It will save you much time. Lay then just enough compost to keep the card down, and lay on path weeds too with just a little chip on top

[@stevendowden2579]

another great video

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks again

[@outcastrc8052]

Another very interesting video Charles! By chance can you please provide me with the information to obtain the stand alone sieve that you use in your garden? Thanks in advance.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Vida XL Garden sieve galnised steel 12mm holes

[@outcastrc8052]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you!

[@rukniharees6055]

Hi Charles, i want to cover my garlic this year, when should i cover them please? As soon as plsnt them or next year?thank you. Lovely to see your garden florish, i think i did well this year despite the bad weather! Still picking the tomatoes.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good to hear. A cover against garlic rusting leaf miner, is most effective from about early February

[@ralphwinter6421]

Nice one Charles, gud vid...

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it Ralph 🙂

[@aniatomek3572]

What are those bell shaped flowers that you're stood next to ? They are so so beautiful ❤❤❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I think you mean the Malope triffida Vulcan

[@Veganofcource044]

Hi Charles, could you possibly tell me what organic compost you use in bulk please. Many thanks. Great content as usual 👏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

2/3 of what are use here as mulch on all beds is my own compost. About 1/2 of the rest is green waste compost, which I can buy quite cheaply, and then also some mushroom compost which has more value but is more expensive, and then animal manure from horse, and cow

[@Veganofcource044]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you kindly for getting back to me 🙏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

you are welcome 🙂

[@andrewfinnegan797]

Awsome video have you here of parc carreg they have a good compost vido a new way too make compost good video

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Not yet, thanks

[@heisrisen1113]

that slug is 50 times bigger than any slug I've seen in Nebraska!

[@LesleyPlayle]

Your brussels look so clean 'uncovered '. Mine covered with mesh from germination to now and infested with whitefly. Sprayed soap, water jets, neem and soap spray and all I've got a dirty black sticky leaves and still millions of whitefly. How do you do it ? Threw whole lot away last year and looks like the same again this year, it just looks really grunge.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sorry to hear that Lesley. Maybe from soil quality, add more organic matter if you can. I don't like using all those products and don't need to, also be careful because they can kill the predators. I see a lot of ladybirds here for example

[@Charlie-wood]

Hello Charles, I am mightily impressed by your method and thinking seriously of adopting it. How will the no dig system work with bulb onions and shallots. We use a large amount and they are our most important crop. Thank you for being generous with your principles and for all your instructive videos.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear Charlie. Go for it!

[@markbaumgardner3760]

I know you deal with slugs a good bit. What do you think about using bait like Sluggo, which is organic and key ingredient is iron phosphate? Also, we have had a supper dry summer in south central PA, no slugs for months, now we have had over a week of misty, rainy, weather and the slugs are coming out of the woodwork. Are they hatching out or where have they been?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hi Mark, yes, it's amazing how they can hibernate in dry conditions and then suddenly reappear! I don't like using that iron phosphate pellets because the chelate or binding substance, often harm soil microbes, according to studies I have read. Night patrols are my favourite option.

[@peterluty1953]

Great video as always Charles. Why bother sieving the woodchip before adding to the compost heap? Won't the bigger bits add some structure to keep it open and therefore help oxygenation of the heap? 3:02

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good question! Problem is the big bits sit for years on the bed surface, getting in the way and attracting woodlice.

[@peterluty1953]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Clear answer! I'll hang on to my sieve then, in case I ever source some woodchip. I was thinking of getting rid of it....

[@craigmetcalfe1749]

Hey Charles! Do you make cider out of any of your apples? I love Brussel Sprouts! How do you prepare them? What follows beetroot? Here is a heart for Minty 💗.I recently found out that my potatoes love growing in Mushroom Compost. How do you propagate your Marigolds? I was told that the flowers are edible...is that true? Cheers!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Som times cider, and vinegar. Roasted with oil. Marigolds sown Aporil transplanted May to June when warmer, flowers are tasty :)

[@nitelite78]

13:45 Will you take the cover off those leeks at some point or will you keep it on until harvest time?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I'm keeping it on! Just need to loosen those screws

[@cianoreilly2163]

Great video. Can fresh wood chips be used as mulch on a bed or should it be left longer for this purpose?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks, and I've had bad results from doing this and never use them on beds. Only after aging and sieving, in the compost heap to decompose further. On beds, a problem can be masses of woodlice.

[@NitaP1569]

Great video, quick question… when starting a new bed with cardboard and compost on top… how many inches of compost? Sorry I couldn’t understand the British term for amount of green waste… and approximate # of inches of each compost ..if possible …would help. Thank you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Here was 7cm altogether, and I recommend up top 10cm for best use of time, fewer weeds and more growth for same time input

[@brians1001]

Beautiful garden. I didn't do onions this year, I grow them every two years to try and control the allium leaf miner. I did notice much fewer other leaf miners on beets and chard, as well as generally fewer insects this year. How was your experience with allium leaf miner this year?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Sounds great and they have not been too bad, but the biggest test will be leeks by the end of October, we shall see! This year there were very few leaf miners on chard and beetroot, many people are saying that.

[@brians1001]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks for the reply, I'll keep an eye out for the leek reveal. Oh ya, forgot to mention, I'm down in southern Germany, we seem to be having similar observations.

[@kountdekristo]

Do you think the concept of light and heavy feeders comes from the history of reliance on fertilisers, which play a role when growing in over-cultivated soil? 🤔

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Perhaps, that makes sense

[@richardkavanagh-s2h]

It is selective breeding of a crop that would of died out naturally if left to self seed and without human intervention

[@AnyKeyLady]

Interesting concept and perhaps when they introduced rotation, as well for the management of diseases. For us with small gardens and no choice to rotate, is it more important to add more organic matter and fertiliser and resort to containers for crops that previously had disease else where. Markets now have less extra foliage as they store better long term and the farmers use it on their fields to re fertilise the lands. Supermarkets require this as they are probably paying by weight at market value and say it is in the interest of the public that the produce looks "good" for mark up price, meanwhile wasting fresh food at the same time as it was the other products they made money on. Mega coop farms were introduced to buy expensive GMO seeds to mass produce, same in the Dairy industry, until the vegetian/ vegan movement moved in. Those farmers probably have solar panels on their land now and just grow rapeseed now. Robert East was my Lecturer at Kingston Uni and released a book about buyer and consumer behaviour. You had to buy his book for this subject as he spent most of the time reading from it in his lecturers... The book was great to read but not his lessons alas!

[@nnnnnnnn2125]

Yine nefes aldık

[@weirdowilab1726]

Charles, i started my garden journey cause of you probably 5months ago at max. I've sown a few veg already and theyre doing fine, really small garden about 10-15sqm. Just a question please cause i have a spare space. With no dig, do i leave the space covered for a while to kill the weeds? Cause im afraid theyll just be more vigorous if i put the cardboard and compost on top 😅. By the way, im in the philippines which only have summer and rain for a year round weather. Appreciate your knowledge sharing 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Amazing! And you're with me because of the heat, but I would still try with cardboard. I cannot be sure, but it's the same principle. If you have more than 10 cm of any old compost, even lumpy,, you can plant into new beds without waiting for the weeds to die underneath.

[@nigelpalmer1172]

Sorry, what is the name of the product sprayed on the cauliflower? I can't quite hear it on the video.

[@cherylnorise57]

BT

[@phaethon3124]

baccillus thuringiensis.there are 3 different strains for different bugs.. BT Israeliensis is for flies, often sold as mosquito killer.. not sure what bugs were attacking charles's cauliflowers.. cant remember the other 2 strains. BT can be expensive or cheap depending on where you source it,i think they make up the prices

[@TheEmdubbleu]

It's BTK, (bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki), which is used on brassicas to protect them from cabbage worms.

[@AndyMaden]

Hello, I am trying a no dig permaculture potager. I am in the north Kent area and have half a path in raised beds. I did sweetcorn for the first time in one raised bed. I would like to know if you pull the plant out or cut it down and leave the roots in?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That sounds good. Always when removing plants I leave as much root in as possible so you can use for example a shop spade to cut just at soil level, and they do not regrow from roots left in the soil.

[@myslicechannel]

I compost everything now pretty much after watching your videos but I do have one question. Would you also compost plants with obvious club root? I have been and I leave my compost to decompose for a long time before I use it. this is the worst year I've had with it so I'm thinking it's more to do with weather than soil? Thanks for showing us so much, look forward to your videos.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks, and that's a good question, I have no direct experience but would prefer to compose those stems and roots hot

[@judithkahn7143]

Thank you for your inspiration! I have access to about 50 sq m of grassland. I intend to cover it with cardboard, add about 30cm depth of "well rotted manure" (this is from a local farmer and so a bit vague), then I'll cover it with black plastic for the winter. Will it turn into black gold or am I making a huge mistake?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That sounds great Judith, and under the plastic, I'm sure it continues to compost and it will be beautiful by the spring. You probably won't need to keep the plastic on top and can grow a wide range of vegetables in that ground, planting into the compost.

[@judithkahn7143]

Thank you, all systems go!😊

[@stevemindham520]

This year has been the most challenging. Such a shame the polytunnel tomatoes got blight. Got to wonder whether codling moths are more attracted to trees because of the pheromones in the traps.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Interesting point, but it's supposed to be only the males which are attracted and they don't cause damage themselves

[@CHJEF]

electro-culture here !!!!!!! experimentation? significants results?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

There are so many variables all the time that it's hard to say. What I see is wonderful healthy growth, but there's a lot of other great things I'm doing! The most I can say at the moment is that it feels worthwhile

[@lewieyt]

What was the spray he was using for the cauliflowers? Thanks

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Bacillus thuringiensis. Search Box Hedge Caterpillar killer

[@lewieyt]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks Charles. Much appreciated!

[@Qopzeep]

Did you manage to salvage some of the F1 tomato hybrid you've been propagating all these years, or was it lost to blight?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

It has survived in the greenhouse, is fine!

[@Qopzeep]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig that's good to hear 😊!

[@dayscoll8302]

How did you get on with the hotbin composter ?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Not brilliant, find the conical bins easier and cheaper!

[@garydenner6253]

What is you're bed width again charles? 1.3 meters, was it? Gary 7th generation 1st fleet convict from Australia 🇦🇺

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

1.2m Gary, mostly

[@garydenner6253]

@CharlesDowding1nodig cheers Guv, thats what I have now, so so I was on the $$$

[@AlphalovesGod]

Am curious to know your cat's name. It really likes following you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks, she is Minty!

[@AlphalovesGod]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig awe that's sweet and unique

[@DongFarm7749]

Good 🎉❤❤🎉🎉🎉

[@maartenvt]

Somebody in the western part of Belgium, where they have heavy clay soil, worried that no dig wouldn't work for him. Is that so, or does he need to prepare the soil in a certain way, or does he have to be patient and just add compost? And mulch in the winter?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I have created two large gardens on clay soil. The first one in France was on a horrible white clay and nobody thought it would work, but the results were brilliant. There’s nothing wrong with clay, it’s just dense. If weeds are growing, you have good clay soil.

[@pattunet]

Thank you for another great video full of wisdom pearls! Just wondering how do you get your cat from not doing it's business in around your compost and woodchips? I have to fence up everything here for my cat and the neighbours, they love compost and woodchip to do their number 2s. That's a health hazard in my opinion as they carry parasites.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

She does that and I put them to compost when it's hot, or throw in a hedge!

[@omarrp22]

Aunque todo el montón fuese coníferas no pasaría nada ?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

¡Creo que sigue estando en buen estado! Este es casi 100 % conífero.

[@omarrp22]

Charles que tú método debería funcionar igual en climas cálidos o arias algún cambio

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

He recibido muy buenos comentarios de muchos climas cálidos, así que sí, es bueno. Incluso cuando la superficie se seca, la vida sigue estando en el suelo debajo y los microbios se reactivan cuando llueve nuevamente.

[@GARDENER42]

I planted three apple cordons in 2020, Cox, Bramley & Delicious. Only the latter has ever shown blossom & sadly, this year, the birds destroyed the six apples I'd left on to grow. 🙁 Trying celeriac for the first time this year - looking good so far. £45 a tonne for green waste compost? It's more than £100 a tonne here in West Cumbria! Mind you, this year I'll need none, as I've 75m² of beds & have 2.5m³ of 'mature' compost already & should have another 1.2m³ by February/March, just in time to use it in 30l containers of potatoes. I'm with you on condensation playing a part on tomato blight in polytunnels, as the plants in the centre of my 6x3m tunnel have suffered most & also get dripped on most, this despite doors at both ends being fully 1" mesh to allow circulation. I installed seep hose irrigation this year & wonder if it's allowing too much evaporation - maybe apply compost mulch _over_ the seep hoses & extra across the beds?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice that you are so organised on compost, and need to be! I don't know the answer to that question about seep hose

[@venusebilkova5830]

Zdravim Vas, to je nádherná práce na zahradě spolu s přírodou. Také jsem již nakoupila sítě na záhony proti hmyzu. Mám separet WC, dá se lidský odpad dávat na kompost a po čase s ním hnojit? Ja myslím, že ano.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

íky! A ano, můžete kompostovat lidský odpad.

[@prubroughton1864]

Don’t leave fallen infected fruit on ground cause caterpillars are now nice and handy to ground to pupate 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😊

[@weirdowilab1726]

If I have a huge garden like charles, even a hundred caterpillars can walk around and eat fallen fruits. Look how vigorous his beds are. Utterly amazing

[@carolewarner101]

Wow, you covered so much ground in this video! Unfortunately bits of micro-plastic have now been found in every organ of the human body, including even the brain! So we've reluctantly decided not to use any plastic in our garden other than to cover the tunnels, in spite of the many benefits of using it to suppress weeds, etc. Have you ever had any chickens or pigs? They would really enjoy the fruit that's dropping onto the ground!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks for the info Carole. And fair point but I don't want animals near the garden.

[@kikks461]

What ate your perennial kale?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Caterpillars!

[@samlisson]

Anyone know where to get Bacillus Thuring.. err… BT, in the UK?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Agrigem 500g www.agrigem.co.uk/product/dipel-df-500g/?&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADuriRylZXAFi_wHw9Dpv536mCP2N&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz7C2BhDkARIsAA_SZKbQFVd7k3bwyPV81voWinEROSbA6MHipovwykH2eeyMPp_boObtuikaAo5CEALw_wcB

[@EmmaMG21]

Charles- I’ve been pondering over asking this or not. Would you be interested in making a video sharing your opinion over the possibility of owning a small holding/homestead here in the UK? I’m finally at the point where I slapped myself out of dreaming and I’m forcing myself to face reality. We are in no position to own much at all. Owning a house with land in the USA seems achievable from what we see on the internet. But is this an impossible concept for the average UK family? I think I need someone to be real with me (other than my husband..)

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hi Emma, I've done quite a few videos on the difficulty of making money selling vegetables. I don't know so much about other aspects of smallholding economics such as animals. It's never easy or simple to achieve income from small areas of land. I'll have a think about what you say. One problem is how the cost in the first place is so high. All your capital is tied up

[@GoustiFruit]

Ever thought having Indian running ducks to control the slugs (yeah, you then have to protect them from foxes, weasels and other predators) ?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So many suggest it and I have kept ducks, in France where foxes were absent! Slug losses here are quite small.

[@nitelite78]

Do you pay for the big pile of wood chips Charles? Or will Arborists give it for free?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Often it's free, but I pay because I like to specify the type of woodchip and he brings it especially

[@MyFocusVaries]

Arborists in our area will drop chips for free. It's usually quite a lot, so you need to have a place to stash any you aren't using right away (we use fresh chips for mulch on our flower beds in the fall.)

[@mikeedward3161]

@@MyFocusVaries Well not so long back we had Aborists take a vey large tree down and also trim/tidy quite a few others and they promised to come back and give us fresh chips for mulch but once paid and gone never returned and I found that they damaged some pots too, so there are some that although do good decent work, there still some whom never can be trusted and as such soon get to be known and their business/trade will get affected.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Frustrating!

[@Saba15-t9d]

I wonder, if you see a vegetable which has been a bit damaged by slugs, do you still eat it? I mean, if a leaf has holes on it, do you just wash and eat it? Greetings from Norway.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks Aina, and yes I always wash and eat. Mostly in fact, I'm trimming off the damaged leaves and eating the clean ones underneath, because it's rare that slugs eat into the middle, luckily

[@Saba15-t9d]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks, I wasn't sure if it was safe to eat.

[@djroshmathew]

❤❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@rasserfrasser]

Great info about conifer usage for compost. Are those sunflowers placed strategically at the end of your beds for pollinators? I put a bunch of sunflower seeds in my fire pit and bees devoured them. LOL There was one a week gap for a Kodak moment and they were gone after that.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks, and they are for looking lovely! Sorry to her that

[@anastasia9797]

👍👍👍👍

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@TheKrawczyk]

Polish language 😂thank you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Working on it

[@phaethon3124]

i think blight is a symptom(of inability to transport calcium,often due to lack of water) ,not a cause, and isnt really contagious for that reason..... much like the symptoms that get labelled as kovid

[@wasp586]

LOL !!!

[@judithhopes151]

What science is based on the * new * strategy of not mulching, but just allowing weeds to grow . I can, see agricultural colleges or farmers being not very impressed.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Farming and intensive horticulture are ... not the same thing! Nor are colleges for that matter.

[@tedbastwock3810]

3rd!!!

[@annamariagalgoczi6428]

That chewing...

[@IE2484]

I’m so sorry but I absolutely hate the noise of chewing! Maybe avoid eating with a microphone attached to your chest please?