You are hereHarvests in 2009 from the dig, no dig experimental beds
Harvests in 2009 from the dig, no dig experimental beds
Background to the experiment
There are four beds of 1.5x2.5m (5x8’). They were created in March 2007 from old pasture, so this record is of their third year’s cropping.
Each November or December, as soon as the last harvest is taken, I spread a large wheelbarrow load of compost or manure (two inch depth or 5cm) on the two undug beds and I dig the other two, at the same time as incorporating an equal amount of compost or manure at the bottom of 15-20cm (6-8”) spits*.
The idea is to have two pairs of beds with the same ingredients, but in a different profile - also one of the beds has undisturbed soil, one has disturbed soil.
In November 2008, beds 1 and 2 (undug and dug respectively) received home made compost while beds 3 and 4 received horse manure from the neighbour’s well rotted pile.
In November 2009, beds 1 & 2 received well rotted cow manure - purchased from a neighbouring farm and checked for aminopyralids by doing a germination test - while beds 3 and 4 received home made compost.
*My digging method it to put the first spit of soil into a wheelbarrow, from a 25cm (10”) row across one end of the bed to be dug, then manure or compost is placed in this first trench before soil from making a second trench is put on top of it. The barrow of soil is used at the end to fill the final trench and the whole process takes just under two hours.
The data here is of harvests weighed, trimmed and graded to my normal standard for selling produce. I also append some comments on any problems encountered and on quality of growth. The latter is subjective, but in October I sent samples of pairs of eight vegetables, from dug and undug beds, to Surrey university for mineral analysis. Results will appear in the spring.
All beds carry a mixture of single and double crops, so there was rarely any empty space in the growing season. Plants were raised in my greenhouse in modules filled with organic multipurpose compost from West Riding www.organiccompost.org.uk.
BEDS 1&2 (were fleeced 16/3-14/4)
DIG NO DIG
Radish French Breakfast 9/3, one row direct sown between parsnip
Harvested 29.4 - 4.5, all with some slug damage, poor germination, old seed,
TOTAL 0.23kg 0.27kg
Spinach Toscane 9/3, two rows direct sown
Harvested 5.5 - 15.6, taking larger leaves only. This is a slow to flower cultivar and yields were impressive, up to 3kg weekly off both beds. There was more yellowing of lower leaves and more slug damage on the dug bed.
TOTAL 6.83kg 8.56kg
Lettuce Freckles, Grenoble Red, Bijou 11/3 (sown 22.1) - 18 plants in 3 rows, fleeced for 3 weeks after planting
There were 13 weekly harvests, 14.4 -14.7, in a warm spring, with the highest weekly harvest in early July (2.5kg off both beds) thanks to high temperatures (28C). Lower yields on dug were partly due to slug damage, and leaf quality was higher on the dug bed - glossier, thicker leaves.
TOTAL 9.22kg 11.31kg Fantastic, steady yield
Swiss Chard 6/4 (sown 9.3) one row of 5 plants
The only leafy spring crop to perform better on the dug bed; perhaps an indication of the importance of mycorrhizae, which beets, apparently, do not use and which are damaged by digging. Harvested 31.5 - 25.6; there was some bolting by late June and plants were smothering the germinating carrots nearby (chard has hungry roots and is a bossy plant).
TOTAL 8.50kg 6.49kg
Potato Epicure 9/3, four plants in one row
Undug potato plants were looking darker green and slightly larger by late May, with leaf curl on the dug plants’ leaves. There were more misshapen and knobby tubers from the dug bed, unlike last year, and the dug potatoes were relatively more smeared with soil. Two harvests on 3.6 and 11.6.
Total 2.53kg 4.29kg
Parsnip Javelin F1 9/3 two rows with radish between
Dug plants were a little ahead in late May, partly from less kicking of the surface soil by blackbirds, who were rummaging for worms in the compost surface of the undug bed. The harvest on 29th October revealed many lovely roots, noticeably straighter and cleaner from the undug bed (no forked roots compared to one half forked on dug bed), but the dug roots were broader shouldered.
29.10 10.76kg 9.74kg excellent yield on both beds
Carrots Berlicum 16/6 undug bed only, one row planted after spinach in paper pots, sown 1.6
Most of the roots were forked and short, harvested 10.9.
TOTAL 0.83kg
Celeriac Bianco de Veneto 14/5 (sown 9.3) one row after spinach on dug bed only
Harvested 2 - 19.11, fair quality but a poor variety with too much leaf.
TOTAL 2.28kg
Leek Siegfried 27.6 (sown 4.4) - 2x11 plants, 2 rows planted between the lettuce
30.11 2.16kg 3.33kg dig leeks went yellow towards the end
Red Cabbage Drumhead 27.6 (sowed 28.5) - one row of 4 plants, after the chard
Growth was average and was poor on the undug bed thanks to gall weevils eating out three of the plants’ growing points, compared to only one on the dug bed.
TOTAL 0.92kg 0.22kg brassicas again better in dug soil
Carrot James Scarlet Intermediate 11.6, one row direct sown after harvest of potatoes
Roots were pulled in early November, by which time there was a fair amount of slug and carrot fly damage in both beds. The dug roots were shorter but more numerous from better germination. I think that woodlice nibbled many tiny leaves on the undug bed’s emerging seedlings in late June and early July.
TOTAL 5.01kg 2.69kg
2009 TOTALS Dug bed 48.44kg Undug bed 47.73kg
BEDS 3&4 (were fleeced 11 -30 April)
DIG NO DIG
Tall Sugar Pea 9/3, two wigwams in space of two rows, eight plants of two or three seedlings each (sown 11/2)
Dug peas were ahead in late May and grew slightly more strongly throughout. Harvesting started and finished earlier than usual, between 18th June and 15th July. Each bed yielded about 1kg weekly every three days from 25.6 - 13.7.
TOTAL 9.31kg 8.55kg
Beetroot Boltardy 30/3 (sown 3.3) one row of five modules, four/five seedlings per module
Harvests from 4th to 17th June were mostly similar. Larger roots were carefully twisted out on the first two harvests, before clearing the bed so as to plant leeks.
TOTAL 2.69kg 3.16kg
Carrot James Scarlet Intermediate 21/3, one row sown direct
The whole row of undug carrots was eaten by slugs or woodlice and kicked around by blackbirds looking for worms in the rather strawy horse manure. I decided to plant celeriac instead and to do a similar celeriac/carrot cropping, but with celeriac on dug and carrots on undug, on beds 1 and 2. The carrot harvest was from 17.6 to 6.7, roots were rather stumpy and with some slug damage.
TOTAL 2.56kg
Celeriac Bianco de Veneto planted 14.5 (sown 9.3), staggered row of 6 plants
Growth was good in a wet summer but this is a poor cultivar from Seeds of Italy, with disproportionately abundant leaf growth and relatively small roots. Harvested in November.
TOTAL 4.39kg
Onion Santero 31/3 - 5 plants of 3 or 4 onions each - and Red Baron - 2 plants of 4 onions each - (all sown 11/2), one staggered row
By late May there was a massive difference in growth, with the dug onions much smaller and paler, and the undug onions remained darker and stronger until they were all pulled on 4th August. Bulbs were trimmed and weighed on 11 August, then left to finish drying in a crate in a barn.
red 1.32 1.44
yellow 3.62 4.86
TOTAL 4.95kg 6.31kg
Turnip Manchester Market 5.8, one row direct sown after peas.
Germination was a little better on the dug bed and these plants grew more strongly, all roots were harvested on 15th November.
TOTAL 2.12kg 1.38kg
Endive Bubikopf 1.8, one row planted after peas (sown 12.7)
There were lovely hearts in mid October, but I harvested them in November when leaves were scarcer and more valuable - as a result, many leaves had to be trimmed off because of rotting and slug damage. Plants on the undug bed looked healthier throughout with slightly larger and glossier leaves.
TOTAL 0.78kg 1.15kg
Leek Autumn Mammoth Tornado 17.6 (sown 17.3), one staggered row of 15 plants, after beetroot
Growth of the undug leeks was stronger, with darker green leaves, but there were 9 bolting leeks on this bed by the end, compared to two on the dug bed. Bolting stems and most of the flag were removed before weighing, harvests from 8.9 - 19.11.
TOTAL 4.12kg 3.19kg
French Bean Polka 6.7 (sown 27.6) one row of 4 plants after carrots on dug bed
Reasonable growth after a slow start in the wet July and early Augusts, harvests from late August to end September
TOTAL 1.08kg
Turnip Manchester Market 9.8, one row after onions
Germination and growth was better on the dug bed.
TOTAL 1.95kg 1.59kg
Endive Bianca Riccia da Taglio 22.8, one row of 5 plants after onions
Small harvests in October and November of outer leaves.
TOTAL 0.43kg 0.42kg
2009 TOTALS Dug bed 29.99kg Undug bed 30.14kg
BOTH BEDS DUG 78.43kg UNDUG 77.87kg