#13 How to create a New Vegetable Garden by Charles Dowding

Charles Dowding is arguably the leading proponent of the ‘no dig’ method of vegetable gardening. As an ardent digger (I’ve only ever had allotments on clay – it’s dig or get kicked off if you want to make headway on a clay allotment in my experience) I have been sceptical.

As a horticulturalist, I’m also open minded. I would say that in the past three years my plot has become 50/50 dig and no dig. This new book has given me even more to think about. It divides roughly into two interspersed parts. The first is the story of the garden at Homeacres that Dowding establishes from lawn with photos of the first year of progress. The second is more like a manual of no dig gardening, with tables and charts showing what to sow ad when to sow it, dates to harvesting etc . The whole adds up to a fascinating and intensive read. I note that since I received the book, two others have reviewed it and all I can say is they must be fast readers! I’m no snail, I generally read a book in a day, but this one has taken over a month to digest.

Let’s get my minor gripes out of the way first.

It’s a beautiful book but it’s too damn heavy! I like to take practical books to the plot, to read them there and to check details when I’m trying something new – this book is large, hardback and just not portable.
At least one of the experiments that Dowding conducts – the investigation of Shumei growing techniques – hardly produced any results because it was only a year old when the book was printed. My preference would have been to keep that back until the third or fourth year when readers would have had a substantial body of evidence to consider.

And now, what really works about this book.

It has a superb index. As any gardener knows, a good index is the best tool you can have – I deeply regret that my own books don’t have them because I love an index that reduces the need to search pages to a few seconds browsing.

The detail and depth of knowledge in this text is substantial. While the cover makes it look like one of those lifestyle coffee table style garden books, the interior makes it clear that this is a work of practical horticulture. It contains any realistic photographs, exact dates, weights, heights, and other details of crops, and consideration of costs for all the major projects.
The love that Dowding has for growing things, regardless of whether it’s crops for the table or creating mini flowerbeds to brighten the view. His enthusiasm and honesty make this book more than just a guide to growing – it’s evangelical in the best possible way.

If you’re planning a substantial vegetable garden or considering how to keep your allotment going as you get older and/or less mobile, this book is for you. I have, despite my grumbles, carried it to the plot three times in five weeks, so useful am I finding some of the tips and hints it contains, and I consider myself a seasoned allotment holder, so that’s a very strong recommendation!