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No-Dig Community Allotment Hull

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Kingston upon Hull
No-Dig Community Allotment Hull

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(NDCA) aims to create and maintain a thriving community space to learn about growing food.

01/11/2026

Countdown to No-DIg Day 2026
No Dig Advantage 7/9: Feeding taken care of by nature

This is one of our favourite ideas behind no dig. Instead of thinking about feeding individual plants, Charles Dowding's no-dig approach focuses on feeding the soil life. Usually, that means spreading compost over the surface once a year and leaving the worms, fungi, bacteria and other soil organisms to get busy underneath.

As the organic matter breaks down, that living soil community helps make nutrients available to our plants. Look after the soil, and the soil helps look after the plants.

31/10/2026

Countdown to No Dig Day (3rd November)
No Dig Advantage 6/9: Improved soil structure

Here's something that surprised us when learning about no dig: Firm soil isn't necessarily bad soil.

We're often taught that vegetable beds need to be dug and made lovely and loose. But in healthy, undisturbed soil, fungi, plant roots and other soil life help create a stable, crumbly structure naturally.

One substance involved is glomalin, described as a kind of natural "soil glue" associated with fungal networks. It helps soil particles form stable aggregates rather than collapsing together. And that structure matters. It gives roots anchorage while still allowing roots, water and air to move through the soil.

Sometimes the best thing we can do for our soil is simply stop interfering with it quite so much! Based on the work and teachings of Charles Dowding.

30/10/2026

Countdown to No-Dig Day (3rd November)
Countdown to No-Dig Day
No Dig Advantage 5/9: More Food!

Charles Dowding has been running a long-term experiment comparing two identical-sized beds side by side. One is dug every winter. The other is no dig. Both receive exactly the same amount of compost.

Over 12 years, the dug bed produced 1,121kg of food. The no-dig bed produced 1,269kg. Which is 13% more food from the no-dig bed, using the same amount of compost and with much less work!

Whilst we haven't been weighing our own vegetable's from the plot, this fact is a brilliant example of why looking after the soil can pay us back above ground...... and our harvests certainly back that up.

Figures and approach credited to Charles Dowding's dig/no-dig trials.

29/10/2026

Countdown to No-Dig Day (Tuesday3rd November)
No Dig Advantage 4/9: Productivity through soil health

What we are learning and observing first hand on our little community allotment is that what's happening underneath our feet is just as important as what's growing above them. One of the big ideas behind Charles Dowding's no-dig approach is that when we stop regularly disturbing the soil, we allow its incredible community of fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms to thrive.

Fungal networks can work alongside plant roots, helping them access nutrients and moisture. In return, plants provide food for those microorganisms through their roots. It's a whole living system — and no dig tries to work with it rather than continually disturbing it. Resulting in healthy soil that can support strong, productive plants.

28/10/2026

Countdown to No-Dig Day 2026 (Tuesday 3rd November)
No Dig Advantage 2/9: Speed of work, ongoing

No dig isn't just about avoiding digging but can remove lots of those little gardening jobs that take up hours over the year. Between crops, preparing a bed can be as simple as giving the surface a light rake before sowing or planting again. There's usually less weeding and watering too, and your compost doesn't have to be perfectly fine and sieved before you use it.

For our community allotment, we have found this is a massive advantage. As we run on volunteers, the available hands to work can fluctuate but this method allows us to keep on top of the growing beds (mostly!!), adn year on year we are seeing this becoming easier. Also, more importantly less time preparing the ground means more time growing, harvesting and enjoying our lovely little plot

27/10/2026

Countdown to No-Dig Day 2026 (3rd November)
No Dig Advantage 3/9: Ease of work

We love growing food. We love being at the plot and in nature. We love chatting and eating cake! We're slightly less enthusiastic about spending hours digging, weeding, feeding, watering and staking everything. And that's another big advantage of no dig.

According to Charles Dowding's no-dig approach, healthy no-dig beds can mean:

1: fewer weeds
2: less watering
3: no additional feeding needed for plants growing in the ground
4: and even less staking, as plants can anchor into firm, well-structured soil.

No dig isn't about neglecting your garden — it's about letting healthy soil do more of the work and some days we're very happy to let it!

26/10/2026

Count down to No-Dig Day 2026 (Tuesday 3rd November)

No Dig Advantage 1/9: Less time needed to start out

One of the things we love about the no-dig method is how simply a new growing area can be created. Rather than digging everything over, a good layer of compost can be put directly over the ground, covering the weeds underneath. With enough compost, you can even plant into your new bed the same day.

Less digging. Less clearing. More growing!

The 9 advantages of no-dig that we are sharing over the next few days are based on the work and teachings of Charles Dowding. Check him out on: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/

25/10/2026

No-Dig Day 2026!

As with last year, we are again counting down to No Dig Day which will be on Tuesday 3 November. If you've visited our allotment, you've probably heard us talking about compost, soil life, worms and why we don't dig our beds.

Over the next nine days we are going to share the 9 reasons why we love growing the no-dig way, from less work and fewer weeds, to healthier soil, better water retention and productive harvests.

These reason are based on the work and teachings of Charles Dowding No Dig Gardening, who has spent more than 40 years growing vegetables and experimenting with no-dig methods. For further information about this check out Charles work at: https://charlesdowding.co.uk

Come back tomorrow for No Dig Advantage #1.

-Dig

06/10/2026

Please note we have changed our email address, should you need to get in touch with us.

29/09/2026

We like to over winter some greens in our Polly tunnel. Do you have any suggestions for other things we can grow.

Address

Clough Road Allotments
Kingston Upon Hull
HU67PE

Telephone

+447749554243

Website

facebook.com

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