Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: supersprout on March 23, 2006, 09:51:52
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I can't resist acquiring vegetable gardening books, and have a wall full :-[ :-[ ;)
If I were restricted to the 'top three', they would be:
Edward C Smith, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible
Pauline Pears, Beds
John Seymour, The Self-Sufficient Gardener
They are well-thumbed, annotated and referred to almost daily when using this forum and planning sowing/planting, and all have curly pages ;D.
If YOU were to name your top three veg gardening books, what would they be? ::) :D
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Supersrpout, I am ashamed to say I have never seen the books you mention :o
However, for many years all that was available to me was the RHS "Vegetable Garden Displayed"!!
Having been 'modernised' by my family and friends I now have to say that these are my reference books of the moment!
"Grow your own Vegetables" Joy Larckom
"The Complete Book of Vegetables, Herbs & Fruit" Biggs, McVicar & Flowerdew
"The River Year Book" Fearnley-Whttinstall
I know the third is a combo cook book but it has helped me really get my brain around the seasons, also the best time to grow things in order to obtain the best results ;D
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1. The Vegetable Gardener's Bible - Edward C Smith
2. Gardeners' World: Practical Gardening - Geoff Hamilton
3. Torn between two books here, The square foot garden by Mel Bartholomew or The new seed starters handbook by Nancy Bubel
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Just a beginner, but so far:
The Vegetable Expert - Dr DG Hessayon (1985 edition) from local Oxfam.
Grow Your Own Vegetables - Joy Larkcom (2002) borrowed from Library, but will buy this one!
The Big Book of Gardening - Charles Boff (1930s?) local church book sale. MAGIC!
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The Reader's Digest Gardening Year.
My copy is however, very old and falling to pieces. I suppose I ought to find a replacement. Don't even know if it's still published.
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This was SO hard!
I have a very wide variety of books, notes, and references...
But, sticking to the topic title "most-loved", I choose:
Fruit and its Cultivation by TW Sanders - an amazing old book purchased recently which has given me hours of pleasure.
The Reluctant Gardener by Ethelind Fearon - and yes supersprout I have the Reluctant Cook as well! ;D
Self Sufficiency by John & Sally Seymour - First edition - one of the first books I ever bought new, whilst living in a tower block in Tottenham. It gave me hope and dreams at a time when there were none to be had.
On a more practical basis, the Hessayon "Expert" books, Readers Digest Gardening Year Month-by-Month, H.Witham Fogg's Vegetables All Year Round and the RHS A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants have been useful.
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well i havent read any gardening books :-[
but i just ordered one (if that counts)
http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038 (http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038)
"Allotment Gardening" is a practical guide to growing your own fruit and vegetables organically. Aimed at those who have not had an allotment before, or are new to growing their own, it is packed with advice - from choosing and planning your allotment through to harvesting and storing your produce.
i will let u know what its like ???
(sorry i wanted to join in)
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I use Joy Larkcoms "Grow your own Vegetables" all the time, couldn't do without it. Have got loads and loads of books on how to cook vegetables but not many on how to grow them!!!!
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I've got so many, but some I use more than others. I really like the 'expert' books by Dr. Hessayon and the Reader's Digest Encyclopaedia and my Gwiddion's moon book. :)
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Ooh, er..
RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening
Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency - John Seymour
RHS A-Z of Garden Plants
..and maybe a few of the River Cottage books. And some Christopher Lloyd stuff. And something by Bob Flowerdew..
Melanie (indecisive)
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You've all got to read "Close to the veg" . I got it from the library but now wish I'd bought it. You won't learn a lot but will have a laugh.
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Joy Larkcom "Grow your own veg" is good - small and practical but I find it quite wordy sometimes. I have an RHS Vegetable book - cannot remember the complete title but it is really good and has step by step photos of different stages. Brilliant! ;D
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;D
Great topic!
1. Joy Larkcom: Grow Your Own..
2. Dick Kitto: Planning The Organic Vegetable Garden: complicated cropping plans etc, but some good sense in there.
3. John Seymour: Complete Self Sufficiency...mostly read in the winter to help my dreams!!!
Have loads of others which are dipped into at random...hence my level of confusion most of the time!!!
;)
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Just spent £30 quid at Amazon - will tell you top three after they've arrived :D Wanted to get the Seymour book mentioned above but they're charging between £25 and £45 for it second hand! Is it worth it?
In the meantime: Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own
HDRA encyclopedia of organic gardening
The Heligan vegetable garden
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:-\
Wow.....thats expensive Bupster!! Dont think I would pay that. Mine was a present, but looking inside it says £20..it's the "New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency"
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I think it was the Self-Sufficient Gardener that was £ouch. The big shiny new self sufficiency one is in my local library so I've reserved it. Love this thread - lots of reading to do.
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Well the one I read over and over again is Fork to Fork by Monty and Sara Don. Other favourites include The Great Vegetable Plot by Sarah Raven; and; the River Cottage Cookbook and Garden in the hills by Elizabeth West.
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I am interested to see what Palustris has to say on this topic - he has thousands of gardening books.
The RHS Encylopaedias and Hessayon books get a lot of regular use, as do various gardening related cookery books (eg River cottage booksl).
The John Seymour books are always fun to read. The book that launched Dorling Kindersley publishers. The new version of it is only £13 at amazon, I think?
I also like Richard Mabey's Flora Britannica and Food for Free books.
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Love this thread - lots of reading to do.
Yes, look forward to getting busy on Amazon lol. It's such fun to find out what's on everyone's shelves/in everyone's sheds! Some books coming up time and again, and some surprises. Myrtle, what's the Gwyddion's Moon Book?? :o ::)
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Yup, I'd definitely recommend the Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency.. worth every penny.
The Self-sufficient Gardener is the expensive one.. I'm resisting the urge to pay silly money until I see it going reasonably cheaply somewhere. Suppose it must be good if no one wants to get rid of their copy!
Melanie
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well i havent read any gardening books :-[
but i just ordered one (if that counts)
http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038 (http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038)
"Allotment Gardening" is a practical guide to growing your own fruit and vegetables organically. Aimed at those who have not had an allotment before, or are new to growing their own, it is packed with advice - from choosing and planning your allotment through to harvesting and storing your produce.
i will let u know what its like ???
(sorry i wanted to join in)
I bought this about six weeks ago. It seems to be fantastic, helpful calendar, rotations, advice on being organic. You shouldnt be disappointed! HOwever, this is our first year on the allotment so I'm hoping the 'good advice' is productive! Good luck Cowellen :)
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My favourite book is Organic Kitchen and Garden by Ysanne Spevack, Michael Lavelle and Christine Lavelle.
It just seems to have all the info you need to start out. I have loads of other gardening books, but this is the one I keep close at hand as all the info is in one place.
They sell it on Amazon for £16.49 but I managed to get it for £5 in one of those discount book stores. Bargain!
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Growing your own Veg. -Which This has become a tried and tested, quite organic too.
'The Fruit Garden Displayed' Harry Baker RHS. I'm gettin into growing fruit, you don't have to plant it each year and dig its beds over, and kiddies eat it.
'An Axe, a Spade and 10 acres" -George Courtauld, mainly because I'm reading it right now, but also because he writes well . Not that I'm ever likely to have 10 acres.
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Joy Larkham "Grow Your Own Vegetables"
Dr D G Hessayon "The New Vegetable & Herb Expert" (though, this isn't new - 1997!)
And for sheer historical delight and practical information - Arthur J Simons - "The Vegetable Growers Handbook, volume II" which was my grandfathers (printed 1945) and now my mothers (and I have purloined it...) It was great to find potato varieties I have bought; my Grandfather had marked as his choice varieties! I have just ordered volume I from ebay, so will see what this is like when it arrives (contains different veg and info apparently) it was 50p+£1.65 postage!!!
mat
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Oh mat, how lovely to have a fustie in your collection, especially when marked by your ancestor! ;D Am really looking forward to browsing these on rainy days ;D ;D ;D
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Oh mat, how lovely to have a fustie in your collection, especially when marked by your ancestor! ;D Am really looking forward to browsing these on rainy days ;D ;D ;D
Yes, I am grateful that I have been allowed to "temporarily" borrow it. It is a fantastic book, for example it has 15 pages on onions and how to grow them!!! I never knew my grandfather (the only grandparent I didn't know) - I wish I had had the opportunity.
mat
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I'm just reading Bob Flowerdew's 'No-Work Garden' which is full of sensible ideas.
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??? ???
Oh dear I'v got hundreds including the experts and self sufficiency and one called the weekend gardener from Montagu Don mostley bought from
car boot and rummage sales and I love them all I don't often look in them
I just love having them!! ::)
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Not a most loved, but an interesting read; The Sunday Telegraph, Urban Gardener, by Elspeth Thompson. Got it from the library last week and really enjoyed it . Most usefull, any books by John Seymore and Monty Don. And most loved, Practical Gardening and Food Production in Pictures. It belonged to my Dad, and has some wonderfull drawings and old photos of 1940;s men in fairilse pullovers, smoking pipes.!!
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Anyone read "Spade, Skirret and PArsley"?
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Good choice Robert -I nearly put Bob down -especially that book. I was lucky enough to pick up a copy from QED for a fiver.
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I like Readers Digest "Food From your Garden" - about 25 years old but can still be found in secondhand/charity shops, maybe on ebay. It has recipes as well as how to grow fruit/veg/herbs, and even includes stuff on keeping bees and chickens.
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Bob Flowerdew's Organic Bible. After a hard day spent picking out the interminable spaghetti tapestry that is couch grass rhizome, good old Bob reminds me what it's really all about and assuages all desire to nuke the lot with chemicals.
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Anyone read "Spade, Skirret and PArsley"?
Got it from the library, but not read it yet...
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I'v just been reminded of the urban gardener must sort it out I'm going to weed out the rubbish cos I can't see the wood for the tree's here :-\
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My top 3 books that I use are
Joy Larkcom "Grow Your Own Vegetables"
Geoff Hamilton "The Ornamental Kitchen Garden"
W.E. Shewell-Cooper "The ABC of Vegetable Gardening"
Joy Larkcom and Geoff Hamilton need no introduction but the Shewell-Cooper book is a real oldie, first written in 1937, and I've got the Fourth Impression 1961. Apparently he was a pioneer of organic gardening and used to be a big name in the 40's and 50's, and wrote gardening instruction books similar to Dr Hessayon's "Expert" gardening books now. It's an absolute gold mine of information and only cost me 50p from the local second hand/ house clearance shop!
This particular book has inspired me to get some old vegetables such as Hamburg Parsley, Asparagus Pea, Skirret and Couve Tronchuda (Portugal Cabbage) which I also saw in the "Victorian Kitchen Garden". I received the seeds last week so it should be interesting!
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???
Please will someone tell me what you do with skirret?
Ta
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Hi, I've read "Spade, skirrit and parsley". Unfortunately I can't remember what you do with skirrit. I didn't think much of the book and found it very light weight. If you are new to gardening history you might enjoy it but the title is more interesting than the book.
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According to Wikipaedia, Skirrets may be boiled, stewed, or roasted. The woody core is inedible, and should be removed before cooking because it is difficult to remove after. I've read it used to be part of the staple diet until it was replaced by the potato when it was introduced in Elizabethan times.
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It was introduced from China about 1548. There seems to be a lack of real info about it out there though.
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If anyone is interested in the Bob Flowerdew No-Work Garden, and is anywhere near a branch of The Works bookshop, I spotted it there this afternoon at our local (Metrocentre) for £3.99.
And on Robert's recommendation, I am now going to buy it the next time I am in there. :)
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I don't need a recommendation to want the "No work garden" ;D ;D
On second thoughts??? That's half the fun innit??? 8)Innit!?? :-\
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;D
Beat you to it Den, got it on Tuesday! Not planning on "no work" just maybe a little less with the blessed St Bobs help and tips!
£3.99 I love a bargain!
;D
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Oke I've given Pete a memo for tomorrow when he's in town for Rotary and can get it.
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W.E. Shewell-Cooper "The ABC of Vegetable Gardening"
Oh thank you MH, that stirs the juices, when I was wee that was the only gardening book I had in my parent's house and I never got tired of it, sooo much information compressed into its pages. Will definitely put this down on my 2nd hand bookshop hunt list! :D
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There's only one for me,
John Seymore - the S.S.G - God bless him!!
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amazing how often SSG has come up in this thread, hope John S. knows what a mark he made on a generation!
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well i havent read any gardening books :-[
but i just ordered one (if that counts)
http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038 (http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038)
"Allotment Gardening" is a practical guide to growing your own fruit and vegetables organically. Aimed at those who have not had an allotment before, or are new to growing their own, it is packed with advice - from choosing and planning your allotment through to harvesting and storing your produce.
i will let u know what its like ???
(sorry i wanted to join in)
Hi there,
I have got this book and it's really good! It is aimed at those who have not had an allotment before (me) and is packed with good advice & tips.
Hope you like it as much as I do :)
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Thanks for the review and recommendation cat, make sure you share the tips around the forum too! ;) :-*
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well i havent read any gardening books :-[
but i just ordered one (if that counts)
http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038 (http://play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=BOOK&title=668038)
"Allotment Gardening" is a practical guide to growing your own fruit and vegetables organically. Aimed at those who have not had an allotment before, or are new to growing their own, it is packed with advice - from choosing and planning your allotment through to harvesting and storing your produce.
i will let u know what its like ???
(sorry i wanted to join in)
it's very basic - my lottie neighbour has bought the same book ::) finished it already - so i've ordered another ;)
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I enjoyed reading Bob Flowerdew books - no work...! organic bible, and the hefty tome with Biggs & McVicar.
Hessayon's Veg Expert helped develop my interest for pottering around my father's 3 plots in south-east London. The plots are still there although I think half a dozen has been sold to the private health club (it was a public lido) for parking. Good to see the plots still there - thinking of all the houses that could have been built.
I also like Mel Bartholomew's square footie book.
Another book I like is all about liquid gold
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???
Liquid Gold???????
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???
Liquid Gold???????
good old "wee"
mat
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;D
Not normally that stupid, didn't know it was that kinda site!!!
;D
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I bought the Bob Flowerdew No-Work Garden the other day, and I've enjoyed reading it, looking at the pics, and I know it will come in useful, so I'm happy I did so.
Funnily enough, I'd borrowed some books from the library three weeks ago, before I took note of this thread. And one of them is the Joy Larkcom Grow Your Own Vegetables book. I wouldn't have bought this, because of the lack of photos (I am a very shallow person ;) ), but on perusing it, I can see why it's so popular. :)
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I was looking at that in Waterstones today; I look at it every time I'm in there. No doubt I'll buy it soon, but I've been spending too much on the garden recently.
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I've looked online. Found out the other day that The Book People actually had it for £3.99, but it's out of stock now, and probably gone off their site.
Apart from that, the cheapest place for the Larkcom book seems to be WHSmith, which is £5.99, post free.
I know what you mean about the gardening budgetary spend though. I think my OH has had to come to accept that the whole veggie growing thing is really not about saving money, it's something quite different to that. :D
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I picked up Monty Don's 'My Roots: A Decade in the Garden' in the library yesterday, and so far I've been pleasantly surprised. I can't stand his TV programmes, but he can certainly write.