what would you say is the best book for a beginer lottie. nothing to complicated had in mind something along the lines of allotments for dummies!!! ;D
I like 'The allotment keeper's handbook' or Bob Flowerdew, any of his ;D
Try Allotment Gardening by Susan Berger
http://greenbooks.co.uk/store/product_info.php?products_id=200&osCsid=oedb28jlb2u63gt23tega0t131
Did my novice training with Caroline Foley's - An Allotment Handbook, supplemented with Dr Hessayon's Vegetable and Herb Expert and here, of course ;D
Dr Hessayon's Vegetable and Herb Expert - certainly. It is very clear and helpful. There are plenty of other books. I am a nightmare for being them all, but I tend to find most of these an interesting read, but go back to the veg and herb expert book to actually check information.
With you on that one, Sparkly. When I first started out gardening those books were a godsend - money was very tight and 'hobby' books were an absolute luxury. Hessayon's books were crammed full of information and cheap.
There's been criticism that he advocates the use of chemicals but you can take all the other practical advice the books have and, where you differ in approach, there's always an alternative method available.
I'd heartily recommend them to beginners in any aspect of growing - flowers, veg, fruit, whatever.
I agree with downtoearth aka ninnyscrops - 'The Allotment Handbook:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+allotment+handbook+by+caroline+foley
and flighty suggestion is a good beginners book too. I have both them books and always refer to them each month 4-5 years on. As a kid I could never get into why people had allotment and gardening books. Now I have about 15 of them. With Christmas around the corner leave a big note somewhere where Santa will find it (like on the dining table or mantlepiece), and if you have been a good boy..... well you never know.8) 8)
Pop into your local library I found most books on allotments there.
go with Dr Hessayon's vegetable and herb expert. leave out all the chemicals. it's the easiest book to use for a beginner. then try the encyclopedia of arganic gardening from HDRA. those 2 should sort you! ;)(I've got over 30 books!!)
I have got the veg and herb expert and Allotment gardening, Allotment gardening is in my opion better for beginners. ;D ;D ;D
I find Dr Hessayon much better for detail on spacing etc than Caroline Foley's Allotment handbook.
I like Monty Don's 'The Complete Gardener' - for quite conversational advice, rather than a thorough treatise like the RHS books, which can be too much to digest. It's probably not good for a total novice, though - a bit of knowledge might be assumed.
He takes the chemical and peat-free approach, which is great for me - a book that assumes I'll be taking the chemical option for pest-control might lead me up some wrong and pointless paths. Better to start off with the assumption that I'll be using neither (with the exception of glyphosate, which I'll use in extremis.)
I got it cut-price in Books Warehouse a month or so ago.
It's not specifically about allotments - and you might at some moments think 'yes, you have a lovely and enormous garden, Monty' - and wish that you too had space for a planted avenue - but hey ho. :D
..and don't forget the WWW is crammed full of information for gardeners and it's all free once you're on the net :)
thankx for all your advice. ive left santa a note for Dr Hessayon's and Caroline Foley's - An Allotment Handbook. cant wait to get stuck in to them
;D