The No Dig Organic Home & Garden

Organics, raised beds, permaculture, vertical gardening: there are plenty of exciting new ideas coming out of the veg patch. One of the most persuasive is Charles Dowding’s no-dig brigade. Many of my ‘can’t dig’ friends are joining up too, prevented from wielding a spade by sore backs, arthritis, and other such ailments. This regime of hand weeding and hoeing, and freshening the soil with generous helpings of homemade mulching composts is so much kinder to the planet than plastering it with artificial fertilisers.

Charles has been growing food for 40 years and is a pioneer of the no-dig method. Quite frankly, I could’ve included any of his books here, but this one combines his growing expertise with Stephanie’s own and includes chapters on recipes and storage. It’s a large-format book full of lovely photographs and in it, you’ll learn not just how to create no-dig beds, but also why they give greater yields. I can attest to this having used his methods myself. This book combines plenty of detailed information with ‘you can do this too’ inspiration. You’ll find step-by-step instructions… show more.

Charles is a long-time No-Dig Practitioner in England and offers some great advice on how to set up a no-dig organic garden for year-round growing. The emphasis is on the soil. I like how Charles spends a large section of the book talking about soils and making compost. Healthy soil will prevent lots of common problems in your vegetable garden. Besides showing how to grow organic vegetables with the no-dig method, there also are sections on harvesting, preserving food, cooking, and making your homestead more self-sufficient.