https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/8559aaf2-5aaf-4a79-9f65-53b1558431a9 Looking back and looking forward, lessons from 2023 and tips for the coming year. Be prepared in many ways because vegetables are not easy to grow. But when you get these 10 basics right, everything flows more easily. First, some pointers from what I relearnt last year 1 The power of pests such as slugs and caterpillars, and new ones like leaf miner. We don’t know what is coming for our plants this year, depends on weather a lot 2 The power of a small area well managed, even one bed. Homeacres is now 1550m² compared to the one bed inc path 11m² gave 103kg = 14.5T from the 1550m² = 77T/ha Homeacres is x141 area of the no dig bed 3 The power of summer and speed of growth even in late summer. That applies to weeds too! It's important to be always a little ahead. Being ahead means occasional winter gardening, even midwinter if mild - weeding, edging, mulching if not already - compost on clean soil, cardboard or plastic on weeds 10 ways to succeed more easily: 1 Soil method to increase success - no dig and this is one way to start https://youtu.be/0LH6-w57Slw 2 Weed control - stay ahead of upcoming weed growth, little and often, see video https://youtu.be/ahWvvw2oGHA 3 Know and prepare for likely pests, eg root flies, leaf miners, caterpillars, slugs, rabbits 4 Know your climate and adapt to weather as it happens esp. excess or shortage of rain 5 Make a list of what you hope to eat, work out timings including summer sowing! 6 Buy seeds, read variety descriptions carefully, and buy seed potatoes, the easiest to grow! 7 Discover best timings for each vegetable, beware random “advice” eg caulis in Jan & plan ahead 8 Learn propagation, see my video https://youtu.be/XnoZ4jvrY5g 9 Buy fleece for warmth in spring 25-30gsm, and mesh against pests, see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J7Yc8d2eDU 10 Learn harvest timings and methods for different vegetables 00:00 Introduction - three things I relearnt last year 00:39 First - pests, and how to manage them 00:59 Second - the potential for growing a lot of food in a small area (eg one of my trial beds) 02:14 Three - the power of summer, and the importance of being ahead 02:57 Winter gardening - what you can do 04:41 Tips for success - no dig for soil quality, and compost 05:12 Weeding 05:57 Pests 06:28 Understanding your climate 07:23 Deciding what to grow (no need for rotation!) 07:48 Choosing seeds, and how to store them 09:10 When to sow 10:24 Using covers to protect your plants 11:05 Harvesting skills, eg when to pick tomatoes Filmed by Edward Dowding 27th December and edited by him, at Homeacres in Somerset UK. More detailed info on compost, weeds, pests, seeds, propagation, harvesting and more in my Skills book: https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/product/skills-for-growing-2 , and course of the same name: https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/courses/skills-for-growing Also my knowledge packs: https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/education/knowledge-packs No dig book https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/product/no-dig 2024 Calendar https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/product/charles-dowdings-calendar-of-vegetable-sowing-dates Diary, is perennial https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/product/charles-dowdings-vegetable-garden-diary You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join #nodig #2024goals #2024 #growyourownfood #growyourownveggies Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:55:51 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://stream.echo6.co https://stream.echo6.co/client/assets/images/icons/icon-512x512.png https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/8559aaf2-5aaf-4a79-9f65-53b1558431a9 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://stream.echo6.co/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.