No Dig, No Problem

So a few years ago I decided to start an allotment in my garden and as part of this I did a ton of research, so thought it would be a good idea to share some of that content here to hopefully help you get started at home too! :)

I started to follow some gardeners on Instagram who could advise me best on how to start and I threw myself into Youtube to find the right route.

I came across an older gardener called Charles Dowding, who just had the most amazing way about him. I started watching his youtube videos on my TV before bed, because he just had such a calming 'Grandfather' way about him, that I could listen to his wise words all day.

He taught me about a method called 'No Dig' where all you need to do is lay cardboard down on your lawn, throw some compost on top, and get going. It was that easy. The idea is that the carboard will disintegrate over time and the roots of your vegetables will find their way into the ground. The cardboard acts as a barrier to stop the grass and any weeds from coming through and the lack of wooden sleepers will prevent pests like slugs and woodlice.

I had never even heard of this before. I thought I was going to have to spend a fortune on wooden sleepers before I could even get started!

Charles recommends, if you can, to buy some really good compost. His theory is that the investment you make should be in compost, as it's the compost that will repay you with delicious food, so the investment is absolutely worth it.

So rather than buying 10 bags of multi purpose compost down the garden centre, I went online and ordered a 1m Bulk Bag of mushroom compost which cost me about £110. Mushroom compost, he advised, would be the most nutritious and would give us a beautiful vegetable yield.

He was absolutely right and I was so pleased I did this. It might feel like a lot of money for compost, but when you think about the money you save on wooden sleepers, it is a bargain really. The only thing you have to contend with is the smell! My kids would run past the palette because of the mushroom smell, but if I'm honest, they loved it really. Once the compost is down on the ground you don't smell anything!

So to get started I ordered my compost, went down to my local co-op, filled my car up with cupboard boxes that they kindly gave me and measured out the 3 patches for my garden.

Once I had it all measured out, I laid down my cardboard, covered them in mushroom compost and started planning my allotment. It was that simple!

Here's some pictures of how I got started and I hope it encourages you to do the same!

I used string and bamboo sticks to help me measure out my patches. I did mine 1metre by 2 metres.

I used anything I could lay my hands on to keep the cardboard in place, rocks, plant pots etc. p.s excuse the mess of my garden!

I started to lay down my compost and immediately, everything looked neater!

All three patches, ready to roll!

Seedlings planted!

You can see here how it really grew and took shape! Excuse me telling the chickens off! The rooster was about to go for me! Haha!

You can see from my posts how messy and amazing my garden was. The key to it was to have fun and grow some stuff. The allotment ended up being a sweet shop for the kids who picked tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and sweetcorn!

Sweetcorn was one of my most favourite things to grow and they look so beautiful!

So my message is this, get started, enjoy yourself and stop worrying about it being perfect - you and the kids will love it! :)