» General allotment links
» More allotment diaries
» Vegetable and fruit
» Seasonal Eating
» Seed catalogues
» Allotments and the Law» More allotment diaries
» Vegetable and fruit
» Seasonal Eating
» Seed catalogues
- The Vegetable Expert - Dr D G Hessayon; the one I used when I started. It is very widely available (and reasonably priced!) - but limited.
- The Organic Allotment - Anne Algar; useful and practical advice for starting an allotment, especially the earlier chapters. Out of print, but still available.
- Grow Your Own Vegetables - Joy Larkcom; indispensable. Comprehensive, and good reading. A firm and trustworthy favourite.
- The Companion Garden - Bob Flowerdew; full of valuable insights and practical information (and a world away from the superficial lsist of "plant friends").
- Vegetables - Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix; I enjoy books which tell me a bit about the history of the vegetables. Many beautiful photographs, including unusual vegetables - if less informative than I was looking for. In remainder bookshops now (December, 2003).
- Cabbages and Kings - Jonathan Roberts; not a growing book at all, but full of fascinating information and insights into the history and development of vegetables - I think! Impressed enough to ask my children for it as a Christmas present - only problem with taking them down town to buy it, is that it is now VERY firmly wrapped and hidden, so I can't get into it! And another out-of-print book - we got the last one in Leeds, I think.
- Me? Prejudiced? No, of course not, I just don't think shelves full of beautifully illustrated "coffee table" books match some of the older books. A recent find is "The Horticultural Notebook", by J C Newsham, published in 1937, and found in a second-hand bookshop; a wonderful antidote to the modern stuff I read once and to which I never return - it's a small green volume, PACKED with fascinating nuggets, into which I am continually dipping. More
- Digger's Diary - Victor Osborne; a wonderful read - my kids gave me a copy when they knew I'd started this web-project.
- The Kitchen Garden - an excellent monthly magazine; but you probably already knew that if you are reading this - subscription information