How I created a thriving no-dig vegetable garden in France

When we arrived in France, I really wanted to grow vegetables because they taste so much better than shop-bought ones.

I bought a second-hand rotavator and started researching how to make a kitchen garden from scratch. 

Then I found Charles Dowding's website about no-dig gardening and bought his book. 

Charles Dowding is an English horticulturalist who has pioneered modern no-dig and organic soil management in the UK since 1983.

I promptly sold the rotavator, having never used it once. 

Instead, I mowed the grass really, really short, put down cardboard to stop the weeds growing, and then covered it in 20cm of potting compost. 

That makes it too dark for weeds to grow. Only weed seeds blown onto the soil will grow.

Digging destroys

I have learned that digging or rotavating destroys a garden’s invisible ecosystem. Nature does not turn soil – it just adds compost from the surface, such as from the dead leaves that fall on it.

You can make a bed in one day. I started with wooden sides to hold the compost. They rot over time so I have only kept them where there is a slope. The compost stays largely in place.

Our first crop was potatoes because the children eat so many and they love harvesting them. Then I planted spinach, spring onions, lettuce, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and courgettes.

I did not make the whole garden in one go. I started with just two beds because they take so much potting compost. 

I used very thick black plastic to prepare the ground, and I grew courgettes through holes in this because they take up a lot of space. 

The plastic has to be very thick to prevent nettles from coming through. It also prevents water from evaporating from the earth.

It took me about nine years to have all the beds that I wanted. I have used 13 tonnes of compost in the process! 

We produce most of the vegetables we eat and my turnaround of crops is really fast. Once I harvest potatoes in the spring, I can put new plants in the very same day.

I get more crops per square metre than most gardeners who dig.

We also have a lot of raspberries and strawberries because the kids love them, they are easy to grow and they are very expensive to buy. 

We have not had as much luck with fruit trees although about five years ago we had so many cherries we were giving them away to avoid wasting them.

Every year I just add another 2cm of compost to nourish and cover the soil. You end up with tons of worms in your garden taking the compost down into the ground.

Evie's tips

• I recommend the books of Charles Dowding and Huw Richards for more information.
• My most useful tool is a hori hori knife. I have a belt holder for it so that I don't lose it.
• Charles Dowding helped to design durable seed trays made from recycled plastic, which avoid damaging the roots when you lift the plug plant out of the pot. See The Farm Dream, which delivers all over Europe.
• Do not skimp on compost. Make smaller, deeper beds rather than large beds with a thin layer of compost. We sourced a lot of our compost from the green waste déchetterie, plus I also make my own.
• We have a second freezer to store surplus fruit and vegetables. I have also learnt to bottle and can vegetables, ensuring we have garden produce all year round.