Just dug and cleaned out an extension to an existing veg plot. Hoping it'll be productive this season
@spenbroc Looking good there. - you using noDig?
Had a massive veg garden at our old place - I'm very much gonna miss growing my own stuff this year
I dig or mostly fork that plot. For 'no dig' I think you really need small raised beds to avoid walking on and compacting the soil. I top mulch and sow 'green manure' at the appropriate times - getting good yields but then its been a domestic plot for centuries (old burgage plot).
@spenbroc looking good. I’m new to it but have done NoDig with good results
Don’t need raised beds either - this was my conversion from raised to regular beds, cardboard mulching over grass and weeds
@gethin76 @spenbroc likewise… I just posted a pic of my previous garden that was all done with cardboard boxes, straw and manure over weedy lawn. Once established, I use a broadfork (like this: https://www.milkwood.net/2012/08/30/cultivating-soil-food-and-life-with-a-gundaroo-tiller-broadfork/) to loosen things up and aerate the no-dig beds between seasons, without turning them over. It’s also good for loosening up compacted soil like I am now in the front garden before breaking out a shovel to dig some holes to plant trees and shrubs. If my no-dig beds are wider than I can reach across, I lay down some planks to distribute my weight when I walk across the bed.
@alexbayleaf @spenbroc Nice. That was the first time I'd tried cardboard mulching but it worked really well, saved a ton of stripping off the layers of turf/weed before laying the beds.
Gutted I've sold that place now. Looking forward to getting a garden back next time we buy somewhere