History of the No-Dig Market Garden Concept
- Metka Selak
- Feb 17
- 3 min read
The no-dig market garden essentially combines two concepts: no-dig gardening and market gardening. To better understand the concept, let's take a brief look at its history and learn about its most influential pioneers. Their ideas are the foundation of our work today.
Masanobu Fukuoka Ruth Stout Eliot Coleman
Masanobu Fukuoka (Japan, 1913–2008) developed a holistic ecological-philosophical concept of natural farming in the 1930s, in which he was the first to reject tillage as a necessity. In his book The One-Straw Revolution, he also says:
“The ‘do-nothing’ farming method does not mean that nothing is done. It means that unnecessary work is avoided.”
“When human beings try to correct nature, the result is always distortion.”
Ruth Stout (USA, 1884–1980) covered the soil with a thick layer of mulch in the 1940s and did not dig it. She was the first to systematically use no-dig gardening in a classic vegetable garden. In her book Gardening Without Work, she advocates the idea that this method of gardening saves a lot of work. She says about gardening:
"Working in the garden . . . gives me a profound feeling of inner peace. Nothing here is in a hurry. There is no rush toward accomplishment, no blowing of trumpets. Here is the great mystery of life and growth. Everything is changing, growing, aiming at something, but silently, unboastfully, taking its time."
Eliot Coleman (USA, 1939–) is a pioneer of organic market gardening. He introduced the concept of permanent beds with minimal soil disturbance, no deep plowing, a system of succession planting, and the use of adapted tools (e.g., broadforks, hand seeders, and low tunnels). He grows vegetables in all seasons in cold climates. His key books are The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest.
"Organic farming appealed to me because it involved searching for and discovering nature's pathways, as opposed to the formulaic approach of chemical farming. The appeal of organic farming is boundless; this mountain has no top, this river has no end."
Charles Dowding Jean-Martin Fortier Richard Perkins
Charles Dowding (UK, 1949–) popularized the No Dig concept among gardeners worldwide. Since the 1980s, he has been researching, testing and proving the benefits of this method. He also emphasizes the importance of compost mulch. He was the first to establish a market garden in this way. He has published many books on the subject, the first of which is Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way . His most famous quote, which resonates in the minds and hearts of all of us who garden according to these principles, is:
"Feed the soil, not your plants."
Jean-Martin Fortier (Canada, 1979–) developed a replicable business model for a no-dig market garden. He has shown through his own experience that this way of gardening is not only feasible but also profitable. He emphasizes the importance of standardized growing areas, specialized tools, efficient production processes, and the quality of the gardener's life. His book The Market Gardener brought this model worldwide recognition. In it, he also says:
"To grow better instead of bigger became the basis of our model."
This emphasizes that for a market garden to be more successful, it is necessary to improve production processes and not to increase the growing area.
Richard Perkins (Sweden, 1985–) is one of Europe’s leading contemporary promoters of no-dig market gardening as part of regenerative farming. He shares his knowledge and experience through books such as Regenerative Agriculture , as well as training courses and workshops.
"This combination of good design and good planning, both when it comes to the land, the enterprises and the business-side of things, is what makes Ridgedale as well as the farms of my students work."
Over the years, as gardeners around the world have tested these concepts, modified, improved and further developed them, it has been shown that this way of gardening is effective and that it improves soil fertility over time. These are the main advantages that made us choose this method of gardening.
Comments