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Charles Dowding's Story
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When he was 20, studying Geography at university, he felt a strong pull to go back to work with the land again as his father had as a dairy farmer. The more he came to understand the trends declining nutritional content of food, and rising residues of toxic chemicals the more he wanted to do something about it and live a healthier life.
Starting his first market garden in 1982 in Shepton Montague, Somerset then after nearly a decade moved out to France where he managed a fairly sized small holding and sold his produce in local farmers markets. Since then Charles returned to Somerset and after running Lower Farm from 1998 to 2012, has now settled in Homeacres. His videos and channel on YouTube has grown from strength to strength, and we’re delighted to have partnered with him for Roots!
The Science
It is proven that no dig provides a bigger yield in terms of fruit and veg, Charles has been proving this for years and now has a lot evidence to back this up.
It’s not just the yield that’s great about no dig, but also the avoidance of pesticides we would otherwise be consuming. The Cocktail Effect report by the Soil Association released in 2019 showed some horrific and alarming stats about shop bought fruit and veggies.
“Around a quarter of all food, and over a third of fruit and vegetables, consumed in the UK contain pesticide cocktails, with some items containing traces of up to 14 different pesticides.”
Charles & Ed
Ed was totally inspired by Charles when they met at a growing talk in Lyme Regis before the first Lockdown. He followed the no-dig technique, read all of Charles books and had an incredible first year growing at his Grandmas in Devon!
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Learning Platform
As a member you also have full access to our learning platform for free, which includes £300 worth of Charles Dowding courses as well! These courses get right into the nitty gritty so from total novices to those that have gardened before, there’s something for everyone to learn.
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Meet the experts
It’s not just Charles Dowding in our lineup of experts that we’ve partnered with, you’ll likely recognise a few of the other faces below if you’re a fan of the no dig movement!
Mitch is a talented former chef and enthusiastic grower of heirloom, unusual and exciting fruit and veg varieties. He is also specifically very interested and passionate about soil health!
Kate runs a no dig market garden, Four Acre Farm CIC, as well as an orchard and habitat creation project in the New Forest. Having cheffed in her previous career, Kate has a real appreciation for great food and homegrown produce.
Community Harvest
Here’s just a few of the pictures from our members and what they grew last season, it always amazes and excites us when these come through on WhatsApp and Facebook - such a beautiful, bright abundance of fruit, veggies, herbs and flowers!
