Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way

Charles Dowding

Bloomsbury USA, Oct 15, 2010 - Gardening - 240 pages

In Organic Gardening Charles Dowding shares the philosophy, tips and techniques that have enabled him to run a successful organic garden supplying local restaurants and shops for over 25 years. * Forget the 'received wisdom' about gardening. Observe what is going on in the soil and with your plants, in your own garden and climate. * Respect and encourage life as much as you can, chiefly by spreading good compost or manure. * There is no need to dig in compost and manure - just spread it on top and let worms take it in. Digging can harm soil structure, and is not helpful to plants. Based on his experience of using a system of permanent raised beds, Charles takes you through a delicious variety of fruit and vegetables: explaining what to choose, when to plant and harvest, and how best to avoid pests and diseases. With simple recipes for your fresh-picked produce, this second edition features new photographs and more tips and advice.

About the author

Charles Dowding is an internationally recognized organic gardening expert, and a former winner of the Garden Media Guild Practical Journalist of the Year award. He contributes articles to many magazines, including Gardeners' World, Gardens Illustrated and Grow It! He talks on radio and television, and runs courses and advises on best practice, including for the National Trust in the UK.He is a veteran organic grower, having practised no-dig gardening for many years. In his gardens he has conducted experiments to compare differences in growth between vegetables on dug and undug soil, showing that the dug beds have slightly lower yields, and more weeds and slugs. He established a new garden from scratch, to illustrate no-dig practice and form the basis for further experimentation.He says: "I have always been interested in looking 'behind the scenes' and asking why things are as they are, questioning practices that are taken for granted. This led me to grow organically, at a time when the chemical approach was rarely challenged."His books for Green Books are:Organic Gardening: the natural, no-dig wayGrow Organic Salad Leaves and GreensHow to Grow Winter VegetablesGardening Myths and MisconceptionsHow to Create a New Vegetable Garden Find out more at www.charlesdowding.co.uk.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way
• Author: Charles Dowding
• Edition: 2, illustrated
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2010
• ISBN: 1900322811, 9781900322812
• Length: 240 pages
• Subjects: Gardening / Organic