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Three Strip Trial 2014-2023: no dig, forking, different composts, no rotation

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

December 20, 2023

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The three strips are 2 metres wide, 9 metres long; each strip comprises six beds of 1.2 x 2m. Compost for 1 and 2 is half green waste, half mushroom, a little. homemade

STRIP 1 soil loosened by forking 10in/25cm depth each autumn/early winter without inversion, then 1in/2.5cm compost on the surface. A different method to my other trial where I dig and invert compost.
STRIP 2 no dig and 1in/2.5cm compost is spread on the beds each winter.
STRIP 3 no dig, 1in/2.5cm composted cow manure on the surface each winter.

2023

Growth increased thanks to summer rain.
The cumulative 10 year totals now show 9% less harvests from the forked soil of Strip 1.

Strip 1: 1084kg, this year 106kg
Strip 2: 1177kg, this year 126kg
Strip 3: 1194kg, this year 143kg (see squash photo!)

Bar chart 10 years shows the variations from weather partly, over ten years. In 2023 the forked soil grew less, and the cow manured soil more — Showing the variations from weather partly, over ten years. In 2023 the forked soil grew less, and the cow manured soil more, I am unsure why, possibly from the manure being better quality, two years old.

Charlotte potato harvest from beds that have grown potatoes for now the ninth consecutive year. Part of this trial is also checking No Rotation!

In this bed we spread compost toilet compost December 2022 and the squash in 2023 were remarkable, 21kg from two plants — In this bed of strip 3 we spread compost toilet compost December 2022 and the squash in 2023 were remarkable, 21kg from two plants comppared to 9kg in strip 2 and 7kg strip 1

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Trial beds Homeacres no dig three strip September 2023, aerial view — Trial beds Homeacres three strip September 2023, strip 1 left and strip 3 right

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2022

Year 9 was again productive and no rotation beds once again, grew healthy vegetables. The only thing I'm worried about is that in November, we found some allium leaf miner in the leek beds of all strips, just a few. We found a few elsewhere as well.

Three Strip Trial 10th May before rain, with carrots emerged nicely to right

Three Strip Trial 11th September, all second plantings. include calabrese nearest planted 2 months

Three Strip Trial 24th November, Spring onions, transplanted after clearing French beans then spreading compost and broad beans, are soon after clearing cabbage

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Once again in 2022, the forked beds of strip 1 gave slightly lower harvests than the other two strips. There were quite big variations of cropping between vegetables of strips 2 and 3, but the totals were remarkably similar.

This is also a no rotation trial and in July 2022, the potato harvest in YEAR 8 of growing potatoes in the same bed, was the largest ever. From 1.2x6.5m / 4x20ft, we pulled 58kg / 128lb potatoes. Grown from home saved seed potatoes.

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2021

By December 2021 this trial had finished its eighth year since I created its current layout in 2014, testing for the effect of forking soil rather than digging, using different composts, and trialling no rotation. The 2019 video has more on this and you see it in other videos on my You Tube channel.

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2021 harvests were 105.9kg strip 1, 105.5kg strip 2 and 113.1kg strip 3.

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These are photos from 2021.

1st January 2021 – Three Strip Trial in frost

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8th January – a close-up of the salad bed

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22nd February – view in late winter, with wild rocket, just planted, in the foreground

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19th March – the first new planting of spinach Missouri, after removing kale for a final harvest of 960g

22nd March – lettuce just planted; we then covered it with fleece

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25th April and six days of sun later – lettuce in the sixth year in the same bed; Lolla Rossa, Saragossa, Tesy, Valmaine, Navara and Lollo Bionda

22nd May – also showing multisown onions on the right; celeriac is under a cloche of Thermacrop, and the beans are not brilliant after a very cold spring

21st June, after clearing the beans and with cabbages planted; the potatoes behind are now strong, and one month from harvest

26th July – the cabbage and leek area, three days after leek planting and in the same bed for the seventh year

21st October, with cabbage planted after summer beans had finished in Bed 2

6th January 2022 – a slight frost, and mustard is on the right

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2020

2020 results show remarkable similarity between the three strips:

‍1 - 122.03 kg

2 - 122.40 kg

3 - 125.10 kg

‍Over the area as a whole, this is more than 2 kg per square metre. I am impressed by this considering the intensity of cropping, and the lack of rotation in some beds. Potatoes, leeks, broad beans, and cabbage are all in their six year of growing in the same place and gave healthy harvests, with totals at least as high as those in previous years.

Mid May 2020 shows sixth year of broad beans with no rotation and the potatoes are just behind them, while we have not yet planted the climbing bins alongside the path, and spinach has just been cleared next to them

Five months later in mid October with potatoes followed by leeks, and broad beans followed by cabbage, with celeriac (gave 51kg) as a new vegetable growing after the spinach and salads on left are growing after the beans

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An infographic by Soul Farm in Cornwall:

Six years of cropping the three strips, harvests compared, all beds double cropped since 2017

Also within this trial are some explorations of no rotation (link to video made September 2016).

This 2019 video explains the no rotation part, ongoing. And Season Change shows the growth through all of one year, in this area.

The three strips are 2 metres wide, 9 metres long; each strip comprises six small beds.

STRIP 1 soil loosened by forking 10-11in/25-27cm depth each autumn/early winter without inversion, then 2in/5cm bought* compost on the surface. A different method to my dig/no dig trial.
STRIP 2 no dig, was mulched initially with polythene 2013, and 2in bought* compost is spread on the beds each winter.
STRIP 3 no dig, 2in composted cow manure on the surface each winter; in 2017 and '18 this manure was finer and older when applied.

*bought compost was green waste for 2014-15, mushroom 2016, half each for 2017 - 2020

See below for four years' graphics and results.

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2019

Winter salads finished in June, with last picks of Grenoble Red lettuce - sown last September. Yields were 21.3kg leaves altogether and the highest on strip 3.

Broad beans cropped in June from a planting in November, of home saved Aquadulce Claudia.

Fifth year in the same place and the yield was higher than any previous year, with 45.5kg pods altogether, The cabbage are cropping in October and one Filderkraut on strip 3 weighed 5.9kg, heart only after trimming outer leaves.Potatoes on bed 4 also yielded the highest so far, 48.18kg for the three strips.

On 13th June we took a last harvest of spinach (bed 6) and broad beans, then cleared the latter to plant brassicas, with mesh over against pests.We pulled (not dug!) the Charlotte potatoes on 11th July, and planted multisown leeks.

7am June 13th and already we harvested the spinach for the sixth week, then cleared them, on right. Next to clear will be broad beans.

Now cabbages have replaced the beans, and cabbage + kale the spinach, under mesh covers

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Through July and early August we watered by hand, then on 11th August it rained 52mm. The rain total for August of 116mm/4.6in, and then for September of 110mm/4.4in resulted in heavier cabbages than 2018, and beans slower to ripen.

Completed harvests as of 3rd October 2019 are Bed 1 winter salads, bed 2 winter (kuri) squash, Bed 3 broad beans, bed 4 potatoes, bed 5 lettuce and chicory, and bed 6 spinach.

Still to finish by December are harvests of bed 1 dry beans, bed 2 spinach, bed 3 cabbage, bed 4 leeks, and bed 6 kale.

I shall post a table by year's end of 2019 harvests.So far (3rd October) total harvests are strip 1 94kg, strip 2 108kg and strip 3 101kg

Juky 17th strip 3 on left, strip 1 on right, beds 3 & 4 covered over with mesh

Drone view September 8th with strip 1 left and strip 3 right

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2018

On 12th January I planted December-sown broad beans, Aquadulce, in the same beds as for several years. We made plantings on 2nd April of lettuce and spinach, in the same beds as 2017. Meanwhile the salad under mesh cropped well through winter, mostly mustards, but most pest damage to leaves was on strip 3.

Results of the salad beds up to final harvest on 17th May were:strip 1 4.61kg, strip 2 5.89kg and strip 3 4.50kg of saleable leaves. Then on 24th May these beds were planted to two week old Borlotti and Czar runner beans, for the sixth year consecutive, see photos below.

Beds ready late March, plus the overwintered salads & broad beans. Strip 1 is nearest, on diagonal to top right.

Salads before picking 2.4.18, gave 2kg altogether

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10th May, before first harvest of lettuce and spinach leaves, planted 38 days earlier from sowing early March in greenhouse.

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10th May after the first harvest , was 5kg altogether of lettuce and 5kg spinach too

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On 13th August, Steph held a stepladder while I took photos of the two pairs of strips. Near the camera was spinach, now kale. Then the lettuce beds are now chicory, and potatoes (see video) are now leeks. Broad beans finished in June and are now cabbage, the Kuri squash are close to ripe, and beans look strong.

13th August, on left is strip 1 forked beds, on right is no dig and both have the same compost on top.

13th August, on left is strip 2 no dig with green waste & mushroom compost, on right is no dig with cow manure compost

There has been a similar pattern in the harvests of 2018, compared to previous years.

The forked strip gives consistently lower yields, although plants often look similar.
Strip three, cow manure sometimes gives bigger harvests but has a few strange 'failures' as with squash in 2018. Growth generally is stronger than before.

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August view of the three strips running from left to right, hidden by the beans

The three strips are mid distance, cabbage and leeks 4th year in same ground

November, how we compost these beds, and then some old wood chip on the paths

Harvests to 6th December are as follows:

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2017 & earlier

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2016 July 7th three strip trial, mostly first plantings but broad beans finished already

2016 September 27th, strip 2 on left and strip 3 right

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2015 October 14th, autumn plantings and bed 2 has mustard for green manure

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