Spacing Details for Vegetables|| Charles Dowding

[@bernadettesullivan29]

Eating all those healthy vegetables must give you a Brilliant Memory Charles , I’m always hugely impressed by your ability to remember the exact dates you sowed things and today your able to rattle off without a hitch how far apart you sowed each veg 😮 It’s my best to remember the Month I sowed mine ‘ 😊 Loved this video and it will be so helpful to refer back to when I yet again forget how far apart to plant my veg , Thanks to you and all your wonderful team of helpers 💁🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Bernadette, I am glad that you found it helpful

[@tobyfox6561]

He will have notes everywhere which is a good idea. Helps me out alot

[@classicrocklover5615]

Charles Downing having crooked rows is proof he IS a mere mortal! ❤😂❤ Somehow it just adds charm to it all.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So nice thanks 💚

[@nikkistump3480]

A tortoise shell kitty brushing against you as you garden.. what a blessing! Beautiful cat 🐈

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

The best! 😎

[@freefolkofthenuminousoccid9054]

It comes with a furry dibber attachment at the back too 😅

[@Concojone5]

Edward did a great entertainment job integrating the growing plane noise, followed by your "What is THAT?!" So funny!!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks, he will like that!

[@maninashed9367]

"giving them friends" -- i swear Charles is the Bob Ross of gardening 🤣 ❤

[@olgasmile6977]

Очень много труда и любви вложено вами в этот превосходный сельскохозяйственный участок👍❤❤❤. Всегда приятно смотреть ваши видео и слушать ваши мудрые советы, сэр Чарльз❤. Особенно приятно видеть вашу красоту и порядок, когда сезон на моем участке закрыт до следующего года и вокруг лежит белый холодный снег😊. Приветствую вас👋❤

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you, Olga, and I hope your winter is not too cold

[@weird.213]

What a coincidence, I was looking for this two days ago because I was tired of unorganized planting and wanted to know the best planting spacing, even though I watched the old video, but this is also wonderful. Thank you, Charles.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you enjoyed it

[@manolstoyanov2946]

Another lesson learnt. Thank you, Charles👏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Manol

[@manolstoyanov2946]

by all means, it is my ((our (audiences))pleasure. All the best! Once again, thank you

[@Imjetta7]

Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Imjetta

[@nickthegardener.1120]

Hi Charles ive definitely planted my sprouts too closely, might get some for Christmas dinner 🤞🤠👍

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hope so!

[@cameronmacmillan5959]

Charles, you are most definitely one the GOATs of this new age. I love the wisdom that you are passing on to those who have ears to listen. I discovered your channel at the start of the mass segregation of the globe and I had many hours of therapy and words of wisdom. I've suffered with my yeilds due to spacing, because I wanted to provide for friends, family and neighbours. I know you are a guardian of mother earth and that's how you and Adam came together. Thank you for all that you do for the greater good of humanity. 🙏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cheers Cameron that’s nice

[@arondmerciless5251]

Hi Charles :) Just thought I’d say one absolute legend, you are for actually signing the book on the calendar. My missus will be absolutely over the moon this Christmas. Thank you for all the knowledge that you kindly share with us . What a beautiful world it would be with more people like you in it. One love ❤️ A and G x

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you for your kind words and My pleasure I hope she enjoys it 🙂

[@stevejava4336]

😀 I have been to that tube station when I worked in London, some years ago. Being from the USA, hearing the recording , "mind ... the gap". Was a little confusing, until the door of the car opened. Looking down to see the station was on a turn and there was a large gap , big enough to fall into and break a leg at rush hour. Was a fun memory, thank you.

[@RalferiusRex]

My son brought me back a coffee mug from London with the “Mind the Gap” phrase on it. He had to explain it to me😅

[@joannewolfe5688]

Love seeing your beautiful calico cat, enjoy the humour (mind the gap!) and appreciate the different topic! Cheers from the USA.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you enjoyed it Joanne

[@СкрипкаЛиса-м7ц]

Dear Charles! Огромная благодарность за Ваш искренний труд по просвещению огородников. Может быть Вы слышали, в СССР был известный агроном Мальцев, который тоже учил безотвальной технологии выращивания зерна. Только это для больших полей. К сожалению, сейчас это учение забыто.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you for sharing this and other Russian viewers have pointed me in his direction, I like his work very much. I think it gets forgotten because it would not make a profit for anybody!

[@do4699]

I'm glad that you did a video on spacing. It's the most challenging part of planting for me.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you found it helpful

[@blissmama3134]

Love this one, Charles, thank you!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you enjoyed it 🙂

[@thequietlife1152]

Wow! Fabulous information Charles! It’s one thing to read it on a package, but to SEE it and have it explained as to why all at the same time, really helped cement the knowledge in my brain. Thank you so much!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad it helped 🙂

[@martinhorridge4794]

I live and learn mostly from your videos. Thank you Charles I now know why my brussels are small, I planted them too close together!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Martin

[@timflatus]

I tend to measure by hand, so this is something I still use imperial measures for. Kale sprout spacing is arms length to the middle of my chest; medium spacing is about a cubit and smaller plants are usually a span. It saves messing around with a measuring rod.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Excellent!

[@daliacastello2608]

Another video that can help anyone wanting to garden and have success ❤️

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@heathershaffer6148]

Very helpful, Charles, and as usual, it's a delight to see Minty enjoying your company in the garden. Please tell her I said pspsspspspspspspsps ;-)

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😊 thanks Heather shall do!

[@joelwells2169]

We live in a very dry area and have opted for beetroot mutisown 2-3 every 6" (staggered) and like this way because the leaves shade out the beds that much faster and help us with water retention, also lots of leaves for mulch :) Thanks Charles for all the wisdom you share!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great tip Joel!

[@amandar7719]

Sooo pleased YT algorithm today spotted that I’d missed viewing this spacing video. I was planning (yet again 🤦🏼‍♀️) this year’s beds; some of which are being widened, others reduced. We’ve bought new 2nd early Charlotte seed potatoes this year because we accidentally ate ours 😳The directions on the bags say plant 9” apart 😮. Thought I’d been growing them wrong all these years until I watched this today. You’ve saved me from buying 20 more bags 😀👍🏻💚 May everyone have a bountiful 2024 garden 🥔🥔🥔🎉

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Love this accidental eating 😂 9 inches!!!

[@izzywizzy2361]

What a delightful cat who clearly wants to be the star of the show! A couple of years ago I bought some dwarf Brussels sprouts seeds to save on space and have had dreadful results, the year before I used ordinary seeds and had the most fantastic crop and now I know why, they were cramped and couldn’t develop properly! This has been a handy reminder about reasons not to try and be clever and cut corners 😮

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks from Minty and a good point!

[@ralphwinter6421]

Nice one Charles, gud vid...

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you Ralph

[@harunrabbani]

Learnt more in this one episode flan my entire last season alone. Thank you.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Harun, good to hear 🙂

[@nicurider]

Hey Charles, you have such a calming voice, I can play your videos as a piece of sleeping music. :) Really enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work you do!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you that is nice to hear 🙂

[@tedbastwock3810]

Fantastic video, great idea for a video, Charles, and well done! Dont shy away from being a bit complicated from time to time, actually I would enjoy as much of it as you want to share. I know you want No Dig to be as accessible as possible to a wide audience, but I for one wouldnt mind the dirty details on occasion. Not only would I have a great reason to watch twice, I would see a side of things I havent seen before. I didnt find the numbers here hard to follow at all, I found it well thought out and well presented. Thanks!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear, Ted, thanks, let’s see!

[@Forseti2]

Wow, those celeriacs are huge! 😮 I've had nice ones, but definitely not this huge. Probably planted too close - 25cm or so.

[@kuroimushi9421]

Those are MONSTERS, in my entire life we couldn't grow seleriacs bigger than grownup fist 😢.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes and 30-35cm is goid

[@camicri4263]

Charles your garden is amazing! You are a wealth of information and inspiration! Blessings 💞🙏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you for your kind words Cami

[@jasonwil]

Thanks for the video! During this past year I tried my hand at Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts following the packet spacing guidelines. Woefully inadequate especially as a lot of the problems with pests ruined over half of them. Spacing is so important, so lessons learnt, so thanks again for addressing this important subject!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Jason, I am glad you found it helpful

[@lorainemcguire5795]

Wow what a lovely abundance of vegetables charles I know you've grown for years but you certainly know your stuff 🥦🥬🫛🥕

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you Loraine

[@lilpipskweek6448]

Thanks Charles. What a great guide. It didn’t happen overnight but I thanked the day when the need for measuring receded and I know by sight how to space plants.your dibber with space markings is so useful-far better than a chamfered old spade handle! I dont always get it right. Next year I will heed your guidance on celeriac spacing and celery. The joys of growing , always something new,something learned and a font of knowledge from experienced growers such as you.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear 💚

[@stevendowden2579]

nice video charles

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you Steven

[@farmyourbackyard2023]

I love to learn gardening from you, but I think I could listen to you talk about anything. 🙂 Thank you for being precise and and also showing the drone shots. Really helps with my future planning. Cheers from Oklahoma.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you for your kind words, glad you enjoyed it 🙂

[@socloseagain4298]

Oh boy we only have about 1 month and we can start seedling inside/greenhouse for the next season already!! I'm excited! 🙂

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice to hear your excitement. Here I start mostly mid February, though fingers are itching before that!

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

Love the chilli video, I’m still amazed at how you store your veg. Not that you showed it for long but I honestly was amazed when you went through you veg store

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad you liked it. Veg grown in super healthy soil store well!

[@sarahdyer1967]

I’d just referred to my Charles Dowding book for garlic spacing on Friday!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Great to hear Sarah

[@kela2210]

Hi Charles, thanks a lot, Cheers from Chile 🇨🇱

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Kela

[@sallygiles132]

Really great info, thank you very much 🤗

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Sally

[@kalylynn2698]

posted 48 seconds ago, and still not the first comment >.< Love you, Charles!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That’s nice of you, thanks and yours is the first comment I can see!

[@richstone2627]

Great info. Thank you for sharing.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure Rich

[@damdekmyhomeដំដែកផ្ទះខ្ញុំ]

WOW very nice farm

[@queeniesplantsgardening3697]

Excellent Video my Friend!!!👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾🪶🪶🪶

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you Queenie

[@pascalxus]

i'm glad you covered this. i was always wondering about it.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad it helped Pascal

[@potagermalo]

Magnifique 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Merci

[@potagermalo]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig 😉😊

[@tree.....4884]

Charles! You a top dog!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😊 thanks

[@renatamcstay]

Thank you again. Less is more in some cases! Time is key.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So true

[@kerryl4031]

Well done to everyone that had a successful year. Nematodes next year for us. The ducks decided the field was better for giant slugs even though I steered them into the veg patch! The yacon that survived has flowered, so I'll be removing them now. All the maincrop onions were munched, although the winter onions were fantastic - we ended up dehydrating and freezing a lot, so they are taking us through the winter. A friend gave us some of his sheep fleece so that was put around the yacon and the squashes. That did work well, although lots of wasps started eating the bases of the yacon plants! Next year I'm going to be sowing earlier because the tomatoes are now ripening on the windowledge! I kept waiting for the cold and wet to go away!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You have had adventures Kerry and I'm glad the yacon is good

[@kerryl4031]

Swings and roundabouts, but it's always a learning curve! Thank you.

[@MrEzekiel1982]

Thanks for another great video Charles. It does seem like getting spacing right takes years

[@beaearth9273]

Great explanations. Thank you

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure

[@maristermcsorley4203]

Charles you found your self a friend for life in that 🐈‍⬛ 😂😂😂 other great video 😊

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

😁

[@ranchoraccolto]

Thanks very much for the information is perfect guidance...!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I am glad you found it helpful Rancho

[@franksinatra1070]

Thanks Charles! You really got me thinking on some interplanting for next year. I'm pretty happy with what I'm still harvesting in my garden even in my zone 7 garden. We've had several nights in the low 20's F already but still picking leafy greens, brussels, and carrots and parsnips are in the ground under mini poly tunnels ready for harvesting into the winter. The one problem I do have here is ground pest getting into my leeks and bunching onions in the fall. I never have a problem with them in the summer but as soon as it starts getting cold I get these tiny black and reddish brown bugs eating into them. Also tiny white worms get to them. Not sure what to do other than harvest them early and try to store before they become a problem.

[@itsmewende]

I was also zone 7, well 7a. The new map has put me in 8a, which I feel could have been done several yrs ago. I'm on the shore in Md.

[@franksinatra1070]

@@itsmewende I was right on the border of 6b/7a but solidly in 7a now. I'm not sure how growing zones are calculated but a met I follow said the normal temps are calculated in 30 yr periods and in this area they should actually be coming down due to a warm decade being replaced by a colder decade. I think he said the 90's replacing the 80's in the calculation but can't remember for sure.

[@itsmewende]

@@franksinatra1070 Yeah I heard it’s looked at every 10 yrs. Winter has gotten much milder here, I think every yr over the past 10. My last really good snow was 10 yrs ago, now it’s gone by noon, if we get any all winter.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yup these leaf miners are getting bad here

[@carolewarner101]

Gosh...I'm with your camera man. It feels like I'll need to leave my husband for a year to come and apprentice at Homemaker's if I'm ever to become a competent garden veg spacer and grower. I guess that's what 40 years of practice give you...a LOT of knowledge and experience!!! Like Bernadette, I'm going to have to refer back to this video (and your books, etc.) to muddle through. 🤪

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You won't need 40 years! Have fun learning

[@okoorganics3830]

I grew marvel of 4 seasons lettuce and komatsuna 6 per square foot up to 12 per square foot. I have a 1 square foot plastic spacing square that came with a little dibber. I lay it, dib the holes then prick out and multisow the plants directly into the ground. This is all a variation of what I've learned from you. The komatsuna and lettuce did nicely. I have 4'x4' blocks I'm growing in. I have 6 4'x4'blocks. The slugs did a lot of damage because I went away for 2 and half weeks in September and didn't have the energy to go out at night and pick them when I got back. But all and all I did quite nicely. I grew everything into compost only. Used filtered water only to water them. And we got a lot of rain lat summer into fall. I'm growing this in a backyard in the city. I'm Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn New York USA.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

So nice to read about your success in a very different environment to here!

[@erinkendallbraun1459]

@CharlesDowding1nodig - Thank you for sharing this information on spacing. Like many followers, I only have access to one bed (in my case ~5x8 ft), so the information about spacing rows next to each other was especially helpful. While I wait for Brooklyn's real estate market to improve, more videos that help us get the most out of compact gardens (eg. more details on spacing, planning for succession planting, interplanting, etc) would be enthusiastically received. Thanks again!!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad it was helpful Erin, and thanks for that prompt, I shall see what we can do. My next video, which I shall publish this weekend, is from the small garden series, but that is 270 ft.² so quite big for you! There are three beds and each one is 13' x 5'. Do check this video of my succession plantings and interplanting in a bed of 4 x 8 feet kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3ivYn-eZsioqdk

[@erinkendallbraun1459]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig - Excellent. I always enjoy the "small" garden videos. Thank you again.

[@erinkendallbraun1459]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig - Oh thank you! Somehow, I missed that video (and I have watched most of your videos at least once).

[@brent3611]

I had a random no till question. I grew some rather big tomato plants in containers ranging from ten to twenty five gallon. The roots were strong and vigorous. Question is, does no till practice still apply in containers, even smallish ones? or should I just dump the soil in the compost and use fresh soil next spring?

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

I can answer that for you. Overall no, but I add chopped left over vegetation like potato and tomato vines on top of the soil, but you can dig them under too. I also add fall leaves on top as mulch. With containers you do need to recharge fertility though. I water with liquid fertilizer. You can use low dose chemical fertilizer, diluted urine in water, liquid seaweed (I make my own), liquid fish emulsion, liquid humic acid, ect. But in containers there’s no bedrock or deep soil to provide fertility, so you need to add lots of liquid. It is better and cheaper to use the same soil and liquid fertilizer, than buy new soil. Cheers🎉. Edit; unless you have lots of access to your own soil/compost, than you can dump the containers.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good reply above. You could also scrape off the top 3 to 4 inches and apply new compost.

[@sarahtrew9331]

It’s really helpful to see it like this, I’m awful at spacing brassicas and have mixed success with them precisely because when I look at it with them small it seems like wasted space so I over pack them! (You’d think I would have learnt by now 🙄) Looking forward to trying interplanting carrots with them next year & seeing the results. Do any of your books give examples of the best things to grow in between slow growing crop varieties for best results or would you say any quick growing veg would work?

[@kuroimushi9421]

Any kind of salad, spring/fall radish, shallots from bulbs, any fast growing veggie or thin one that be ready to harvest before main star gets too pushy on the garden bed 😅.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Pretty much any fast growing vegetables can work!

[@sarahtrew9331]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig thanks ☺️ I’ll get planning!

[@jaquelinemartin9268]

Me encanta toda la enseñanza

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Estoy contento

[@dustyflats3832]

I think you’re one of the few videos I’ve actually seen kale being harvested😅. I’m finding the better I grow food the less we need and we don’t eat as much anymore. So now I will put more attention towards home orchard and flowers.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

That is awesome!

[@tiarianamanna973]

Greetings to that cute cat 😻

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

🐈

[@jasmijnnoorlander7667]

Hi Charles, First of all I want to thank you for all the wonderful work you're doing, not only in your garden, but also on an educational level! You inspired me to start a community garden in my city (Amsterdam), all done with grands from the municipality and donations! We have expanded quite a bit over the last 3 years and in total we've got around 700 m2 ground covered, run by approx. 30 to 40 neighbours. The largest part is a vegetable garden, but we also have some fruit trees with lots of edible perennials and flowers between the trees. I have learned so much about growing my own food, thanks to you! Now a question, what are winter beetroots? Are those beets that are sown later but the same variety? I've never fully understood the difference between summer and winter beets. Thank you for all the good work! Jaz

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Hello Jaz, this is wonderful to hear. You clearly have a lot of energy, and are helping so many people, I love it! Sorry for being confusing about that because often it's the same beetroots. Summer beetroot are sown in the spring, early spring usually, and crop through the summer. Usually you can do just one more sowing in June or the first week of July. They mature by late autumn. Beetroot resist some frost but not a lot and we have harvested all of them, I recommend that you do it, to store.

[@cramersbackyard9634]

Have I missed the follow up on the mushroom bed?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Not yet! In spring

[@markshaw5835]

Great video, I am really bad for spacing I put to many plants to close together lol. I've had a few mushroom growing out my soil, do u leave them or remove and add to the compost

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You can do it wider :) and I just leave the mushrooms there to decay

[@markshaw5835]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig I know, I grow to many seedling then feel bad for throwing them away so put them all in lol

[@-Markos-]

those courgettes at 0.22 are enormous i have never seen such large plants

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

They have plenty of root run :)

[@anatevkabell6046]

Lovely cat 🐈

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

💚

[@BlackJesus8463]

Nice!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you

[@mojavebohemian814]

thank you!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

My pleasure

[@veppie0]

Pet the cat! That said: great video once again!

[@OMENTTTUM]

Charles, I really wonder the pH level of your each garden beds.productive beds, weakly productive beds, digged beds and forked beds. I would love to learn. Just one topic about pH.😇😇😇🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Well, there is not much to say, because, for example, we tested pH of the Dig and No-Dig beds and they are both 7.5. Around here it's just slightly alkaline, but that does not matter because with No Dig and a strong biology, plant roots can modify the pH around them to enable good nutrient uptake

[@tomschooks]

I know we had a couple of eurofighters over us a couple of weeks ago. So, my money is on those 'sound barrier planes' 😅 Normally helicopters and bigger jets (A400s, C17s etc) over this part of Somerset. Used to be lovely having the harriers coming over from Yeovilton.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thanks for sharing!

[@smas3256]

Charles. Your Brussel Sprouts are loaded. Do you have a Short video on pruning Brussel Sprouts? How much is too much? We appreciate you from East Coast zone 6b USA.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

It’s not so much about pruning, but about the weather, and this year we have had perfect, larger amounts of summer rain which made all the difference. It’s the best crop I’ve ever grown. Thanks for your comment.

[@ashtonswinburn8414]

Can you save Potatoes that haven't ripened for seed next year, having lots of troubles with slugs and looking for ways around them as waiting for potatoes to ripen to save for seed allows slugs to damage most the crop limiting storage. Thanks

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Probably although I can't see your potatoes, how ripe they are. If they have stored until now in December, I reckon they are good as seed potatoes.

[@georgelowellohhdgg63nnd96]

I've been gardening/small farming for many years and still have problems raising seeds from germinate to transplant, it's been a non-started for most of my transplants, except for tomatoes/peppers. Do you have info/videos on this? I use soil blocks, heat mats, and lights. It's a limiting factor for wat I grow and appreciate any help!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes, that is so important. I've put out quite a few videos about propagation, and this one is specifically about getting seeds to germinate, kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoq8fHttl912j8k

[@georgelowellohhdgg63nnd96]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig Many thanks!

[@quantafitness6088]

For anyone with less space to grow celeriac: with a careful washing of the roots they are equally tasty as the "clump". That way you get more harvest 🎉

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Nice tip

[@paulbennett9864]

What was the name of the celeriac Charles

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Prinz

[@georgelowellohhdgg63nnd96]

what seeds do you plant in December?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

None!

[@carolinethomson1297]

I'm creating deep raised beds. Could I consider reducing the planting distances, Charles?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Just a little plus interplant more with fast growers

[@carolinethomson1297]

@@CharlesDowding1nodig thanks so much Charles. Will do that!

[@stlmama7643]

Such a helpful video Charles! Wish I could visit with you right now to ask all my questions. Will limit myself to one for the moment. I have large, no dig hills set up for squash and pumpkins. (All of my beds are raised due to heavy clay soil that grows rocks.) Would you limit the plantings to one per hill since you recommend 1 meter spacing? After Christmas I will dig into your on line courses to get more on this topic and others. After a lifetime of gardening it’s amazing what one can still learn.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Glad it was helpful! And yes it sounds like one per hill, best of luck

[@desertdreamer7]

Great video! What are the supports made of for the cucumbers? Looks like a great way to grow them in less space. Never seen anything like that before.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

They are polypropylene strings or twine, used by farmers for tying their bales, and on one end there is a knot, which sits in the soil underneath the plant roots, which hold the string in place at the bottom, then I tie it to wires at the top, as in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJikdn2Bj8SakMU

[@smas3256]

Potatoes. Awesome harvest you have. 2 feet apart. Did those potatoes you planted have more than one "eye"? The ones you planted were on the small side. Looking forward. Thanks Charles.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes and yes, 4 eyes average. My potato harvest tend to be smaller in size, quite large in quantity.

[@pwssoh]

Mr Charles thanks for the video. What are your thoughts to the intensive gardening trend that is taking over Instagram? They boast not to need any fertilizing or pesticides but yielding decent sized crops. I am so curious to know your thoughts on this. Happy gardening!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I’ve not heard of this, but it’s what I’ve done and recommended all my life!

[@pwssoh]

@@CharlesDowding1nodigah I see, thanks for your reply!

[@bernadette6211]

Thanks for your video just seeing your garden inspires me. What did your camera man call that noise? 'A sound blocker ' we had lovely blue skies here in the south of Ireland yesterday but not for long. One chem trail after another. I wonder does anyone notice is there more spraying around a full moon. I know it sounds bonkers!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I wonder, that’s interesting! Yesterday I was in Edinburgh and I saw ever so many really fat trails

[@johnny0253]

how you get your celeriac so big??? mine grew the size of a golf ball

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

No dig soil with compost mulch, and we had a good rain this summer

[@pascalxus]

Question: if i'm not multisowing the leeks, just 1 per planting, than can i get away with less spacing? Also, what do you think about equidistant spacing vs larger row spacing than in row spacing (like we some others do)? for instance, why do soybean planters do 2" spacing in row and 12" between rows, rather than just 4" by 4" spacing?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Mostly, it depends what you want and there’s a balance between spacing closer for more harvest but also the individual plants being smaller, depending also on weather and soil, I would try a few different spacings for your leeks. Spacing in rows can be about weed control, hoeing easily between and also Accessing plants for picking

[@stonedapefarmer]

Saving all of my seeds adds a layer of complexity. Wasn't anticipating how long it would take my spinach seed to mature when I interplanted with flint corn and squash. It was a bit of a jungle before I could actually get in and harvest my spinach seeds. 😅

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You are so right, and it's often not as easy as portrayed, I do my best to point out how much time and space is needed! I hope that your spinach seeds grow or are growing well!

[@RaymondButcher-lw2rm]

What do you do to protect Leeks against the Allium Leaf Miner?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You can see my advice for this hear Raymond - kzbin.infoCdsgFbAasoA

[@markskibo5159]

I get alarmed when I find mushrooms in my vegetables, your thoughts on poison ones in the garden ?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I would be delighted by that, and any poison can't transfer from any mushroom

[@nicholasnarcowich9163]

I do not see drip irrigation, do you use flood, like so many farmers I have known, or something else? I ask because I have a small area, but my work changes a lot... sometimes I have a day off, or get to work, & have only an hour, other days I get to work, & work past sunset... then, I water by flashlight :(

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I don't Have any irrigation system because the climate here is often damp, and the no dig soil holds sufficient moisture most of the time, so we can water by hand, occasionally according to weather

[@TheFarmyardGarden]

I have celeriac envy. Mine are tiny in comparison. I’m going to have words with them later and tell them how disappointed I am in them 😂

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Good luck - it’s too late for this year, but there’s always next year!

[@anastephania]

How do you keep the grass from invading your beds? Thank you!

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

I just posted video about this that should help you kzbin.info/www/bejne/lafbq3hufc14sM0

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

Very occasionally I have fighter jets fly over my area en route to training areas and they are much louder. That goes for most military planes as they have more powerful engines. You get used to the different sound.

[@mgpc.]

Slugs and snails, how do you best control them?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

You can find my information on this here www.charlesdowding.co.uk/education/slug-reduction

[@chriswise9674]

Nice video and I love the cat. What is its name?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Thank you and Minty 🐈

[@jonerlandson1956]

we need some good recipes for things like chard....

[@brians1001]

I noticed you mentioned "a bit of leaf miner" while you were harvesting the medium size leeks. I'm curious, how much is "a bit of"? I've been wrestling with the allium leaf miner, with my onions and leeks, trying to off year them, meaning skip a year, but they're still a problem. Also trying to time my leeks, but they don't have enough season to grow much. Now I notice that my swiss chard and beets are being bothered by leaf minor. I keep praying some predator will show up and save me. What has been your experience with the allium leaf miner? or even leaf miners in general? Maybe they are one and the same, just expanded their appetite?

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Yes, they are getting worse here very rapidly, and especially the Leeks. We have since filming this video lost a good half of the crop to that damage. I have no answer at the moment!

[@brians1001]

Thanks for the feedback. Leeks; I don't grow that many, so I disperse them, cover a few, plant around the insects cycle (as much as I can) and just settle for small to medium leeks. I didn't plant onions last year. This year I planted, and they still got it. I somewhat aggressively pruned the infected leaves upon seeing the signs, hoping to remove them and prevent their subsequent invasion of the bulb. It seemed to work for the most part. I was able to harvest and store them. However, with fewer leaves it reduced their size. I guess the only reliable way would be to get a bunch of insect netting, but it almost feels like defeat and I don't want to spend the money and grow million dollar onions when I could buy them for pennies. @@CharlesDowding1nodig

[@brians1001]

Oh ya, just wanted to mention that I'm down in southern Germany. I watch a few gardening channels out of the UK and interested seeing the same issues. It seems the last 3 years or so UK is now seeing it. I started seeing it a bit earlier. My first guess was it came in with the compost / soil I bought, but the jury's still out on that one.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Oh, well, it spread from your neighbors. If it’s dispersing like here, it’s slowly spreading geographically.

[@harrymonk6]

Can't beat a phat old smoke then spacing some vegetables out

[@JoyandSerenity.]

A really good "lazy" gardening way to measure spacing, is to measure the distance between your thumb and little finger when completely stretched out (think a rock music hand sign). As long as you are an adult, your distance will never change and you always tend to have your hands when planting... My distance is 8 inches or a tiny bit under 20cm, so cucumbers need three hands spacing, squash need around five hands. Remembering hands is much easier than actual distances.

[@CharlesDowding1nodig]

Cool, mine are 8in too, so handy!