No Dig Newsletter

Spring is arriving here, and I hope it is for you. Unusually for us we are forecast sunshine every day for the next week. For so many months now it has been wet, but suddenly, we shall be needing to water new plantings.

You can water through fleece and mesh. Fleece needs to be flat on seedlings for that to work. Mostly at this time, the plants needing water are newly planted salad seedlings. With no dig and compost mulch, watering is less.

I give water to all new plantings, then notning for a week

The bed above is enclosed by a pallet collar, placed on the cardboard which is on top of Creeping buttercup, grasses and other perennial weeds. A few will manage to grow new shoots at the surface and then need removing.

SOW NOW

Under cover

Melons and watermelons are good to sow this week, with warmth to help them grow. See my video for how this can work. We filmed it though 2022 which was warmer than average.

This is a great time to sow leeks. Either 4–5 seeds per cell in module trays, or in lines outside in soil with not too many weed seeds.

You can sow chard now but it may then bolt in summer – I wait until mid-April before sowing. For now there is plenty of spinach to eat, if you sowed some last August.

Sow celeriac (don't delay), celery, broad beans, peas for pods and shoots, lettuce, onions (last chance), salad onions, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, beetroot and annual flowers such as dwarf French marigolds, zinnias and nasturtiums.

Outside

Sow carrots, parsnips, leeks, lettuce, onions, salad onions, radish, broad beans and peas.

Lay a fleece cover to increase warmth for new seeds. Lift it after a week to check for slugs and weeds.

From the suggestion of a follower on Intagram, I tried this way of sowing, as promoted recently by Farida Sober. It works well, saves space and compost, and there are many options for materials to roll them.

This is a top time for planting potatoes.

With no dig, I use a trowel to make a slit, wide enough to slot in the seed potato. With its top 5cm / 2in below surface level.

Or cover weeds with 10cm / 4in any rough compost or manure, cover with black plastic (not the woven fabric) and cut a slit for each seed potato 45cm / 18in apart.

I have a busy schedule of events this spring, summer and autumn. Please see the page for dates and details.

In Denmark there are a few places available for the midday talks on 12th and 13th April.

In early May there are places for the lunch and compost-talk near Bristol.

There are places available for my course days at Nije Leije 10th May, and Amstelveen 11th May in the Netherlands.

A new event is this festival in Sussex on 7th June.

Also new are day courses in Co. Limerick, Ireland on 19th and 20th July.

And at Bingenheim Germany on 13th and 14th September. About no dig, and seed saving.