Do you dig?

[Two_Sheds]

I dont care about science and modern day thinking...I really enjoy digging the plot.

mulching is older than digging: the forests do it naturally, us no-diggers are simply taking our lead from Nature

I'm a mulcher, not a digger. I have fewer weeds and better soil than the diggers on the plots around me

[Bren In Pots]

Yes there is a poll on this Alison,if someone using the app can confirm either way please,if deffo not visible I will inform the tech bod's.

BB there's no poll on the app, all you see is Laura's post.

[Bill HH]

My name is Bill and I am a mulcher, I fell in with wrong crowd at the Darby and Joan club and they persuaded me to try just a little at first, now I use it all the time.

[PyreneesPlot]

I grow phacelia in every space that comes free and is not due to be used until next spring, even if it is only a small patch. I'll mulch with composted horse manure, my own compost when it is too late for the phacelia.
If/when I run out of all of that I'll use cardboard and the last - and ugliest - resort is to cover the ground with plastic.
I do dig, but only to try and limit the number of mole runs in the vegetable plot!

[Veggielot]

I like the idea of no digging however as I problems with perennial weeds I find that I am forced to do a certain amount of digging to clear the weeds. Once I have removed them I then either mulch with home made compost or green manure.

[bearded bloke]

BB there's no poll on the app, all you see is Laura's post.

[ATTACH]47368[/ATTACH]

Cheers Bren I will get a linked post up now >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Bigmallly]

I'm a hoer........................when a bed becomes free, a gentle tickle with a hoe then topped up with home made compost before raking it over to get rid of any twigs that may still be in.

[planetologist]

Other.
I try to grow no-dig (I grow in flat beds), but sometimes the weeds get out of hand and then I resort to digging, e.g. because hoeing of dense grass can be too difficult or to remove rootstocks. And even in an ideal world there as always the root crops.

[Bal]

I don't walk on my beds so don't feel the need to dig as a rule. Any empty space will be covered either with a green manure or a compost mulch until needed.

Which green manure crop do you use?

[Martin H]

Last week I put in some caliente mustard for the first time. I'm a tiny bit worried that it will host the flea beetle infestation on nearby beds, but hopefully not. Anyway we'll see.

Previously I've used winter tares, will probably use that again later in the season. Being a legume there's less worry about it interfering with crop rotation.

[Thelma Sanders]

I do as little digging as I can
I dig to plant my spuds, and dig them up to harvest.....so that's about a third of the plot dug each year.
I dig in green manures if they don't dieback over winter.

I like the idea of planting spuds under compost/mulch but don't make enough compost on 3.5 rod plot and have no car to bring bags of stuff in, either.

So it's a question of digging or carrying, and digging is easier for me

[roitelet]

It tickle the surface and either sow green manure, pile on the compost and cover with straw or plant a crop that will stand over the winter. Just occasionally I dig before doing the afore mentioned

[Farmer_Gyles]

I don't dig but I voted Other because I don't have "empty space". When something comes out, something else goes in.

That's what I try to do .... not always successfully ....
Most of my soil is covered and planted through .... If I harvest and have nothing to plant, the ground stays covered until something is ready for planting out .... one day I'll perfect this .....

[KevinM67]

I quite like digging

[MrsCordial]

I don't dig over empty space. I'll deal with anything that I don't want to leave in, otherwise I cover it all over with cardboard and/or polythene and/or newspaper. This year I'll make sure I plonk down some compost first.