[ptarmigan]

I'm coming up to 3rd year of no dig.  Compost, seaweed, spent mushroom compost, grass cuttings, used compost from grow bags, pots etc, and well rotted horse manure.  Do a bit of light forking.  Working OK so far on raised beds on very heavy clay soil.  I'm finding it much easier to work as time has gone by, very easy to lift weeds out of and just looks better!

Otherwise - like a poster just above, there would be so many days when plot would be too waterlogged too work.  Despite being at the top of the hill - still very slow drainage.

But I think whichever works for you has got to be OK.  We've got lots of worms  now - which has to be a good thing - there wasn't any in the first digging we did to break up the soil before putting raised beds in.

[Trillium]

Can I ask -- does the massive use of compost and manure and especially wood chip make the soil increasingly acidic year after year

Not especially so but to be safe, I do sprinkle a bit of very fine lime powder over everything in early spring. Old wood ashes will work as well.

You'll find that the manure and wood chip quickly break down into rich soil, and unless you're adding lots of evergreens, which are naturally acidic, it doesn't alter the pH much.