Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Harvesting no dig potatoes with a pull. They swell close to the surface, while the roots go deep.
This is Jazzy salad potato, grown from home-saved seed, planted 16th April and harvested on 4th July. Just 79 days—only 11 weeks—for 39kg of clean, flavour-rich potatoes. Of a flavour and quality you would struggle to buy.
The compost of no dig prevents them from having scabby skins and this year they’re especially clean thanks to the dry weather.
The harvest results are from our Three Strip Trial, comparing different composts and methods:
- 13.00 kg from forked soil
- 13.59 kg from no dig
- 12.67 kg from the animal compost bed
👉 Learn more about the 3-Strip Trial here:
charlesdowding.co.uk/post/three-strip-trial-2014-2022-no-dig-forking-different-composts
After the potato harvest, I replant the same bed with leeks (variety Jolant), multisown 8th April and potted into 7cm pots in late May. The potting mix was 50% my own worm compost, 50% Urban Wyrm.
Short video of potting:
👉 youtube.com/shorts/gcgaVMxPa-g
The leeks will grow uncovered for now—Allium leaf miner won’t pose a threat until autumn. I explain how to manage dry soil, plant at depth, and water efficiently to ensure strong growth.
This 2.4m² space gave us 11kg of potatoes and now hosts leeks for an autumn harvest—a great use of space using the no dig method.
👉 My online No Dig Gardening Course is half price until 15th July:
shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/products/no-dig-gardening-online-course
🎥 Filmed 4th July by Carly Dutton-Edwards
🎵 Music: Homeacres Song by Heidi Theaker
👉 jacquivincent.bandcamp.com/track/homeacres
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
📅 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction – harvesting potatoes
00:42 Leeks as second planting
01:05 Spacing of potato plants
01:40 I demonstrate pulling a plant
02:13 Storing potatoes
03:48 Slug damage, and greening of potatoes – composting
04:45 Removing all tubers from soil to prevent regrowth
05:53 Slug eggs
06:36 Cleared bed – rich in compost, part of 3-strip trial
07:59 Potato harvest totals
08:47 Using covers against allium leaf miner
09:01 Watering bed before leek planting
09:17 Spacing out then planting leeks – dry soil, how to manage
10:49 Depth of planting
11:23 Variety – Jolant 2nd early, timing helps with leaf miner
11:57 A look at some soil – hard but not compacted!
13:23 Watering of leek plants
13:49 Harvest amounts from the one bed
14:48 Saving potatoes for following spring
15:28 Harvest comparisons – 3-strip trial beds
16:10 Outro, Ratte variety
#NoDig #PotatoHarvest #CharlesDowding #GrowYourOwn #Homeacres #OrganicGardening #RegenerativeGardening #LeekPlanting #NoDigGardening #AllotmentLife
Harvesting no dig potatoes with a pull. They swell close to the surface, while the roots go deep.
This is Jazzy salad potato, grown from home-saved seed, planted 16th April and harvested on 4th July. Just 79 days—only 11 weeks—for 39kg of clean, flavour-rich potatoes. Of a flavour and quality you would struggle to buy.
The compost of no dig prevents them from having scabby skins and this year they’re especially clean thanks to the dry weather.
The harvest results are from our Three Strip Trial, comparing different composts and methods:
- 13.00 kg from forked soil
- 13.59 kg from no dig
- 12.67 kg from the animal compost bed
👉 Learn more about the 3-Strip Trial here:
charlesdowding.co.uk/post/three-strip-trial-2014-2022-no-dig-forking-different-composts
After the potato harvest, I replant the same bed with leeks (variety Jolant), multisown 8th April and potted into 7cm pots in late May. The potting mix was 50% my own worm compost, 50% Urban Wyrm.
Short video of potting:
👉 youtube.com/shorts/gcgaVMxPa-g
The leeks will grow uncovered for now—Allium leaf miner won’t pose a threat until autumn. I explain how to manage dry soil, plant at depth, and water efficiently to ensure strong growth.
This 2.4m² space gave us 11kg of potatoes and now hosts leeks for an autumn harvest—a great use of space using the no dig method.
👉 My online No Dig Gardening Course is half price until 15th July:
shop.charlesdowding.co.uk/products/no-dig-gardening-online-course
🎥 Filmed 4th July by Carly Dutton-Edwards
🎵 Music: Homeacres Song by Heidi Theaker
👉 jacquivincent.bandcamp.com/track/homeacres
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
📅 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction – harvesting potatoes
00:42 Leeks as second planting
01:05 Spacing of potato plants
01:40 I demonstrate pulling a plant
02:13 Storing potatoes
03:48 Slug damage, and greening of potatoes – composting
04:45 Removing all tubers from soil to prevent regrowth
05:53 Slug eggs
06:36 Cleared bed – rich in compost, part of 3-strip trial
07:59 Potato harvest totals
08:47 Using covers against allium leaf miner
09:01 Watering bed before leek planting
09:17 Spacing out then planting leeks – dry soil, how to manage
10:49 Depth of planting
11:23 Variety – Jolant 2nd early, timing helps with leaf miner
11:57 A look at some soil – hard but not compacted!
13:23 Watering of leek plants
13:49 Harvest amounts from the one bed
14:48 Saving potatoes for following spring
15:28 Harvest comparisons – 3-strip trial beds
16:10 Outro, Ratte variety
#NoDig #PotatoHarvest #CharlesDowding #GrowYourOwn #Homeacres #OrganicGardening #RegenerativeGardening #LeekPlanting #NoDigGardening #AllotmentLife
