The key thing is to understand the full impact of what you're doing.
Absolutely 100% you can just do what ever you fancy and if it works it works. Sorted!
That's where I'm at - I do no dig because it's EASY and it works. But I have no qualms about breaking the rules. I'm not emotionally invested in any approach. I don't know if years of not digging your soil has stellar results. Proponents of the approach claim it does. If they're right then it would be foolish to get 3 years of nodig benefits under your belt only to trash it and go back to square one by putting potatoes in your beds in year 4!
Moving forwards I am keen to figure out what works best - to improve on my results. I won't necessarily stick to no dig rules but I want to have a good understanding of the consequences of ignoring certain 'rules'.
A prime example is the problem of what to do with potatoes. Once you put potatoes in a no dig bed your bed is no longer no dig. How much does that matter? If a no dig bed gets more and more nutritious every year you could well be sabotaging yourself by having a rotation with potatoes in it. How big a deal is it - I'd love to see a comparison of a bed that's been strictly no dig for 10 years and one that's had potatoes rotated in it every 4 years.
Then tomatoes. If the rewards of no dig are massive after many years and rotation really is necessary then it's worth overcoming the practicalities to rotate tomatoes (very difficult if you're in a climate that needs a greenhouse).
I've observed that those that have been doing no-dig for years tend to either use tubs for potatoes or else they have abandon rotation and have a bed just for potatoes. But is this ivory tower stuff or is experience telling them that digging a bed occasionally does significant harm?
Likewise with cover cropping. I doubt there's any hard evidence available that tells us with any certainty:
1. The benefit of digging in green manure vs the benefit of composting it first
2. The benefit of each year a bed is left undug.
3. The benefit of letting green matter rot ON your nodig bed (chop and drop)
4. The benefit of using manure thus bringing in matter grown elsewhere (rather than using what's grown in the bed - which is nature's way)
If we could have that data we'd know if the benefits of digging in green manure outweighted the benefits of leaving the bed undug.
There are so many variables. There aren't any clear cut answers that will apply to everyone. All anyone can do is reason about what's likely to work for them and then give it a try.
