https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/910f52ee-6151-4a95-b1a3-6a99a5d22f16 Start out, Methods, Plant cover, Companion planting, Health from soil Charles Dowding Five Questions I’m often asked about gardening and health. 1 No dig - what is it and how to start? Examples of cardboard and plastic. 2 What are some techniques and practices associated with no dig gardening, that are different to dig methods? Many in fact. 3 Keeping ground full, does it matter? Is there an issue that arises with bare soil that gardeners should be aware of? Define bare = no crop nor weeds nor cover = terrible for soil life, best is roots of living plants + organic matter on surface. But in winter (from now) it's rarely possible to start new plants, unless your climate is mild. 4 Companion planting, what does it mean? Friendship! By kale, parsnips. What are the basic tenets of companion planting in relation to no dig gardening? Close planting, narrow paths. 5 How does soil health relate to plants, and brain function? Well, UCLA says 70% of the immune system is in the gut. Links between the soil and gut biome. How might over-tilling affect human health? Reduction in biology. The UCLA study https://www.uclahealth.org/news/want-to-boost-immunity-look-to-the-gut Professor Tim Spector's conclusions could be summed up like this: 1 Eat fewer ultra-processed foods 2 Increase your vegetable, fruit, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds intake 3 Include probiotics such as kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut and kefir 4 Do not eat simple carbs on their own See his video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4nJ07_02NQ&ab_channel=ZOE 00:00 Introduction 00:19 What is no dig? 00:44 How to make a new no dig bed – using cardboard to smother weeds 02:08 Dealing with perennial weeds 02:5 No dig on clay soil 03:12 Ease of weeding with no dig and surface compost 04:20 Another method for dealing with weeds on a large area of ground - black plastic 06:37 How does no dig gardening compare with digging? My dig/no dig trial beds 08:08 Weeding differences with dig/no dig 09:23 Succession planting and interplanting with no dig 10:40 Less rotation with no dig - ongoing trials 12:22 Do beds always need to be covered with leaves and full of living roots? 14:42 What is companion planting and do we need to do it? 17:55 How does soil health relate to plant health and human health? Music by Rory Dinwoodie @rorydinwoodiemusic Filmed, edited 6th November 2023 by Edward Dowding 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 #companionplanting #nodiggardening #weeding #soilhealth Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:25:46 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/910f52ee-6151-4a95-b1a3-6a99a5d22f16 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.