I actually came into farming through organic crop production and horticulture. But not finding what I was looking for at ag school, I luckily came across the work of Charles Dowding, and this year it’s been 20 years since I built my first no-dig beds. Things have evolved since then, and I want to tell you more about the Ridgedale method of no-dig market gardening.
Are you doing no-dig?
Join the conversation in the comments below. Thousands of people come here to learn, so please share if you have knowledge or experience that might benefit others.
Important: Share your thoughts and ideas directly in the comments. Links to other posts, videos, etc. will be removed.
Best,
Richard
Thanks, brilliant video on your no dig method which is something I am exploring. One question – do the beds, and paths, get higher and higher each year with the addition of the wood chips every five years and compost every year? Could become a problem in my small polytunnel. Jeanie
Hi Richard, the thing that interests me most about what you do in comparison to say Charles Dowding is that you have a number of other enterprises than market garden and they all compliment each other. I don’t think using woodchips in a nodig setting is particularly revolutionary. I’ve been doing that on my allotment for a while now. Certainly does address the issue with mud. The challenge for you is to replace the less sustainable parts of your enterprise like the use of peat as bedding. Miscanthus perhaps on some of your less productive land?
A man i met uses logs under his woodchip paths
In a very different context and legal framework we have been doing 100% no dig medicinal/recreational cannabis production for almost 12 years now. We didn’t have much to go off when we started but we experimented with many approaches. Ultimately we landed on a poly culture of synergistic planting and compost additions as our only fertility matching or out performing many other farms in yield and considerably outperforming in quality. Our input costs were drastically lower than any other farm I consulted for or worked with directly in more conventional approaches. Currently building out a market garden in addition to cannabis production in Wisconsin USA. Has been a wonderful journey expanding on our experiences via your YouTube channel and books.