Welcome to Essex No Dig
There is always tasks to be carried out here at Essex No Dig.
Back in 2024 we found it wet OMG! Slugs galore and things were slow!
2025 Hot! Hot! Hot! and rain no where to be seen!
2026 Record Highs - Drought and Poor harvests we ex[erienced. Lettuce kept bolting and poor harvest of Beetroot 2026!
Things are the same day to day basically and we are managing best as we can health wise.
Thank you to those who sent messages enquiring & best wishes.
Daylight hours outside are getting less and less now in October.
* Clocks change at 2am 25th October 2026. (CLOCKS GO BACK!)
BREAKING NEWS!! - Lettuce, Beetroot, Spring Onions all multi sown in Charles Dowding module seed trays, when planted out struggled this year 2026.
After the Equinox in September 2026 we have sown some of our home save Elephant & normal garlic - Prior to sowng out in raised beds we kept cloves in a cold fridge for 10 weeks. We have also started some in trays in the polytunnel along with some shallots.
The rest of the garlic will go out in beds in October/November.
6th October we did sow some - Douce Provence peas (Seedcraft monthly subscription) in 60 cell Charles Dowding trays, also Mozart cabbage & Mizuna red lettuce for the winter.
We have winter varieties of lettuce growing well in recycled mushroom trays sourced from our weekly market on the bench in the glasshouse.
We just stack sown seed trays in the house hallway for 5 - 10 days till we see germination - So to keep control of night time temperatures.
We find you need a minimum of 16c overnight temperature for most seeds to germinate still and take indoors to start germination
We only sow n grow what we like and eat!
* This year 2026 we had a go and sown some home saved Marigold seeds. Too early you think end of Feb? Let us know - Marigolds were a great success sown early!
* Tomatoes Cucumbers, French Climbing Beans, Runner Beans & our Sweetcorn sown from March 10th and in April. Very poor harvest in 2026!
PAST NEWS - Lettuce crops poor in 2025 & 2026 - 4 times in 2025 & 7 times we planted out and all bolted.. August we planted out more to try, along with more beetroot & spring onions all multi sown by us.
2025 and 2026 we entered poor harvests in our logs!
October 19th each year as a rule is our time for planting some Garlic and forward planning.
October 2025 we planted some of our home saved elephant garlic end of September 2025 as a trial for 2026 harvests. Average results we feel.
Results... POOR HARVEST OVERALL.
NOW THE 2027 Garlic planting is upon us. Soon be October 2027 and to plan our garlic again.
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Maintance, new constructions and any repairs continue here from September 2026.
* 2025 we left our polytunnel doors open Day & Night & also in 2026.
Surprising results and we will continue this through the winter and future years ahead as better air flow and less damp & moisture.
We like to repeat, we still find sown trays benefit 5- 7 days in your house in a room, eg, hallway/spare room or heated greenhouse germinates most of the multi sown seeds we sow, then we move them outside undercover off heat in the poly tunnel or glass house soon as we see multiple shoots.
* Melons, Tomatoes and Cucumbers grew well in the glass house and outside - Obviously something that has enjoyed the extreme heat in the East Anglia Uk region in 2026.
Heat again in July/August 2026 very Hot!.
We continue to harvest and share the surplus to our neighbours too.
December - January. Time to sow chillies, peppers and onion seeds (*Boxing Day) in modules. If you have not sown Boxing day like us give it a go and multi sow someonion seeds.
Febuary is a good time for us to top up or make new woodchip paths.
We invested in a wood chipper and do it ourselves, along with local tree surgeons who are more than happy to tip a load from time to time.
* Top tip - always keep on the look out for tree surgeons working in the area and ask if they like to tip there wood chip off. Yes for Free!
A Mars bar and a can of Coke is much appreciated if given to them and a lot cheaper than trying to buying a load!
March - Normally - That is our start of operation Sow Sow Sow.
We check one last time, top up any beds with home made compost if we feel beds need it.
The real excitment has start from March 1st for us. Bench's up, propagators on Go Go Go! Time for us to sow our first multi sowings of beetrooot, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, spring onions and a bit of rocket lettuce as well as a bitof little Gem and red grenoble lettuce.
The rocket we sow now, we find does not bolt so easily like in the summer. Potato time too.
The traditional day for planting potatoes is either St Patricks day March 17th or Good Friday which is 3rd April 2026. Both these days have one thing in common, days off work for most. So the window is from mid March to mid April depending on the weather and soil condition. Try our method grow in 30 litre pots and keep out of the cold or wet.
Tomatoes can be sown in March, but we only do a few and wait till April or even May, there are so many varieties to choose from now days, but we advise dont sow too many varieties, especially if just starting out.
Keep it simple, just say 6 - 10 different varieties max to start.
Top tip - Friends, Neighbours, fellow allotment holders all usually have to many sown and readily available to give to a good home.
A free way to try different types or free swaps and without the stress to care for when young.
Tomatoes, peppers, chillies, aubergines, cucumbers - Must have overnight warmth until at least April/May sometimes 1 -2 week in May for our climate where we are located.
Nothing is gained by planting early in a cold greenhouse either we have found.
We still have 10 recycled mushroom trays lined with cardboard, newspaper and planted up with six lettuce plants in each still cropping from autumn and pick till spring.
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@Essex No Dig
October is the time we sow/plant the garlic
Novemeber - January.
* We Replemish paths with woodchip!
@Essex No Dig
*14th February is very important to us.
* Our first multi sowings of the more hardy seeds that can tolerate a little cold are always sown on the 14th February!
March Tasks.
Time to get the first cut on our grass to collect all important green for the heat for our compost making stations. We keep the blade high for the first trim or two of the year, but so want the grass to kick start the compost. In 2025 & 2026 we kept our mower blades high and glad we did due to the drought.
We still continue to turn our double barrel compost maker 5 turns a day, even during winter as well as the start of spring.
March is also the time we get ready to plant out some of those sowings from plugs cells we made 4 weeks ago and sow the chitted seed potatoes on St Patricks Day in our recycled flower buckets we get for free from our local supermarket!