Topic: The Bible!!

[Nobbyman]

Hi all!!

Sorry to be a pain yet again :o

Hopefully I will finally be getting my allotment on October 1st!! wuhoo!!  ;)

 Is there any book with regards to fruit and vegetable growing that you consider to be the "bible" and a must have for any allotment user!!

 Thanks  ???

[derbex]

Hi Nobbyman -I think there's a thread on this somewhere. You'll probably want one for fruit and one for veg. I use the Ken Muir book that came free with my order for fruit and the Which Guide to growing veg. for the rest, other people use the vegetable book in the 'Expert' series.

My best advice would be too head off to the library and see what you can find there before you buy any -the books I have mentioned are good for individual veg and fruit and contain some advice on preparing the ground etc, but you might find others you prefer.

As a general gardening book we tend to use the RHS Organic Gardening one (got cheap :)) The HDRA encyclopedia is better but more expensive. If you're that way inclined Bob Flowerdew's 'No Work Garden' is worth a read -although his idea of 'No Work' and mine differ somewhat :D

Jeremy

[Pixie]

When I had a small patch of garden the librarian suggested this book by Peter Seabrook - depending on your age you may remember him as the pebble mill gardener - but his book Peter Seabrook’s The Complete Vegetable Garden is really good and I then managed to get a second hand copy for £2 for a local book shop. You can get the soft back copy on amazon.co.uk is £3.50  

In the book he has taken the plot right from the begining suggesting ways to prepare the ground and layouts and how to obtain things you may need.

The next section is all about what to plant. Mr Seabrook has based all his workings on the plot size of 10ft (3m) x 12ft (4m) so that if you have a small plot you can work down and if it is larger you can make it bigger but still work to the same (or similar) plan.

The next section is a bit on how to rotate stuff and plan the times of the year. It colour codes all the various veg into three colours so that you can plant the correct veg next to veg that wont irritate it. There is a chart which tells you when to sow and gives a guide to if it should be indoors or out etc.

The third and final section is in depth info on individual veg. This section is fab it tells you when to plant, sowing from indoors to outdoors, and harvesting. It also helps you with handy hints on thinning, how far apart you should plant stuff, various types of that particular veg, soil tips and all of this section is colour coded too to help when you decide what veg you want to plant.

The last thing in this book is a seasonal guide which tells you what you should be doing when.

I have the RHS Encyclopaedia but found this book a bit more beginner friendly.

I hope this helps you may even find a copy of it in your local library.

Sam

[tim]

Sounds as though we could all learn a bit from it. = Tim

[Pixie]

It was definatly a good book to start with as it helped with planning areas, which veg I wanted to plant and rotation etc, but I need something a bit more substantial now in the way of pests etc.

Sam

[Sarah V Bertram]

Monty Don, The Complete Gardener is one I refer to weekly, and is a nice combination of technical info, inspirational pictures and information about his garden. Lovely to dip into as well as look things up in. I also use  HDRA encyclopedia, and Geoff Hamilton's Organic Gardening, and Joy Larkom is the unsung heroine regarding salad stuff and veg generally. Lots of Bibles!

[carrot-cruncher]

"The allotment handbook" by caroline foley, £9 of amazon for hardback or £6 for paperback.

She also does a second book for allotment gardening called "Practical Allotment Gardening: A guide to growing fruit, vegetables and herbs on your plot", again available at amazon, £9 hardback.

Or you can buy both off Amazon for £15

CC

[Merry Tiller]

Anything by Joy Larkcom, better than anything I've read bar none and I've read around 50 - 60 veg books

[Nobbyman]

Thanks all for your advice!!

 I'll be down the library with your book list in hand!