Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A warm and sunny May has brought rapid growth to the small no dig garden – and you can see the fantastic changes since the last video:
👉 studio.youtube.com/video/i7nTiCwBLto/edit?o=U
Just five weeks ago we filmed here, and already the transformation is impressive. This 25m² garden is now full of vibrant growth, early harvests, and colourful flowers, all thriving under the no dig method.
My approach remains simple: as soon as plants finish cropping, I twist them out and leave the roots in the ground. Once a year—usually after two plantings—I spread around 2cm (1 inch) of compost on the surface, then sow and plant straight into that. Minimal disturbance, maximum output.
Here’s what you’ll see in this early summer update, filmed on 30th May 2025:
🌿 Plantings and succession cropping:
Courgettes (zucchini) replacing overwintered broccoli
Tomatoes and basil now in place of unsuccessful cauliflower
Interplanting with marigolds, zinnias, and malope to add colour and support pollinators
Lettuce harvests continuing, with plans to sow French beans and carrots during June
🍓 Abundant soft fruit:
Marshmello strawberries are now cropping prolifically
Florence strawberries soon to follow
Tayberry ‘Buckingham’, planted in February 2023 after removing an old fig tree, is producing beautifully
Jostaberry and young blackberries also showing promise
🌸 Sweet peas from Lara Honnor at Skoolbeanz:
A real highlight—these are growing strongly with long, fragrant stems. I show how to manage side shoots to encourage quality blooms. A lovely addition to the garden, and I’m grateful to Lara for her generous gift of seed.
🪴 Other highlights include:
Rosakrone peas (still cropping later than expected) and space-saving succession planning
Broad beans sown last November have now finished after giving nearly 7kg of pods
Tomato side-shooting tips and clear guidance on identifying the main stem
Watering methods during a dry month (only 12mm of rain) and how to avoid overwatering
Compost layering, no feeding, and supporting soil health long term.
I’ve also planted sunflowers, dahlias, and zinnias for height and structure through summer—giving the garden a more three-dimensional feel once early crops like peas and broad beans are cleared.
🎥 Filmed by Carly Dutton-Edwards – 30th May 2025
🎵 Music by Heidi Theaker: jacquivincent.bandcamp.com/track/homeacres
🌸 Sweet pea seeds from Lara Honnor at Skoolbeanz
🌱 New to No Dig? Try the Beginner’s Course for clear and practical learning:
charlesdowding.co.uk/courses
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
#nodig #charlesdowding #smallgarden #homegrownharvest #growyourownfood #vegetablegardening #successionplanting
00:00 Introduction
00:31 Weather in May
01:10 Courgettes - using a fleece cover to protect against frost
02:29 Strawberries, Florence variety
02:45 Cucumbers recently planted
03:50 Peas, Rosa Krone, a later harvest
04:59 Broad beans - choice of harvest time
06:27 Lack of rain, how to manage watering
07:23 Tomatoes - Crimson Crush and Rose Crush
07:55 Lettuce, different varieties, picking outer leaves
08:36 Deleafing and sideshooting tomatoes
09:00 French bean interplanted between lettuce
09:34 Chives, the effect of not watering
09:46 Watering lettuce, marigold and zinnia
10:46 Tomatoes - identifying sideshoots
11:27 More tomatoes after unsuccessful cauliflowers, and interplants of basil - different varieties
12:36 Wool pellets around tomato plants
13:13 Strawberries, harvested - some not fully ripe
14:33 Jostaberry, and blackberry
15:18 Fruits growing against the wall - tayberry, when to harvest
17:15 Sweet peas, pruning
17:55 Flowers - zinnias, dahlia, Oriental poppies and sunflowers
18:56 My Beginner’s Course
A warm and sunny May has brought rapid growth to the small no dig garden – and you can see the fantastic changes since the last video:
👉 studio.youtube.com/video/i7nTiCwBLto/edit?o=U
Just five weeks ago we filmed here, and already the transformation is impressive. This 25m² garden is now full of vibrant growth, early harvests, and colourful flowers, all thriving under the no dig method.
My approach remains simple: as soon as plants finish cropping, I twist them out and leave the roots in the ground. Once a year—usually after two plantings—I spread around 2cm (1 inch) of compost on the surface, then sow and plant straight into that. Minimal disturbance, maximum output.
Here’s what you’ll see in this early summer update, filmed on 30th May 2025:
🌿 Plantings and succession cropping:
Courgettes (zucchini) replacing overwintered broccoli
Tomatoes and basil now in place of unsuccessful cauliflower
Interplanting with marigolds, zinnias, and malope to add colour and support pollinators
Lettuce harvests continuing, with plans to sow French beans and carrots during June
🍓 Abundant soft fruit:
Marshmello strawberries are now cropping prolifically
Florence strawberries soon to follow
Tayberry ‘Buckingham’, planted in February 2023 after removing an old fig tree, is producing beautifully
Jostaberry and young blackberries also showing promise
🌸 Sweet peas from Lara Honnor at Skoolbeanz:
A real highlight—these are growing strongly with long, fragrant stems. I show how to manage side shoots to encourage quality blooms. A lovely addition to the garden, and I’m grateful to Lara for her generous gift of seed.
🪴 Other highlights include:
Rosakrone peas (still cropping later than expected) and space-saving succession planning
Broad beans sown last November have now finished after giving nearly 7kg of pods
Tomato side-shooting tips and clear guidance on identifying the main stem
Watering methods during a dry month (only 12mm of rain) and how to avoid overwatering
Compost layering, no feeding, and supporting soil health long term.
I’ve also planted sunflowers, dahlias, and zinnias for height and structure through summer—giving the garden a more three-dimensional feel once early crops like peas and broad beans are cleared.
🎥 Filmed by Carly Dutton-Edwards – 30th May 2025
🎵 Music by Heidi Theaker: jacquivincent.bandcamp.com/track/homeacres
🌸 Sweet pea seeds from Lara Honnor at Skoolbeanz
🌱 New to No Dig? Try the Beginner’s Course for clear and practical learning:
charlesdowding.co.uk/courses
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
#nodig #charlesdowding #smallgarden #homegrownharvest #growyourownfood #vegetablegardening #successionplanting
00:00 Introduction
00:31 Weather in May
01:10 Courgettes - using a fleece cover to protect against frost
02:29 Strawberries, Florence variety
02:45 Cucumbers recently planted
03:50 Peas, Rosa Krone, a later harvest
04:59 Broad beans - choice of harvest time
06:27 Lack of rain, how to manage watering
07:23 Tomatoes - Crimson Crush and Rose Crush
07:55 Lettuce, different varieties, picking outer leaves
08:36 Deleafing and sideshooting tomatoes
09:00 French bean interplanted between lettuce
09:34 Chives, the effect of not watering
09:46 Watering lettuce, marigold and zinnia
10:46 Tomatoes - identifying sideshoots
11:27 More tomatoes after unsuccessful cauliflowers, and interplants of basil - different varieties
12:36 Wool pellets around tomato plants
13:13 Strawberries, harvested - some not fully ripe
14:33 Jostaberry, and blackberry
15:18 Fruits growing against the wall - tayberry, when to harvest
17:15 Sweet peas, pruning
17:55 Flowers - zinnias, dahlia, Oriental poppies and sunflowers
18:56 My Beginner’s Course
