Favourite gardening book

[Poledragon]

I've had a quick scan throiugh the boards, but can't see this one covered anywhere else.

If you could only recommend one gardening book, what would it be?

My favourite has to be Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Vegetables. Clear, consice, straight forward and completely lacking in glossy pictures of perfect plots with nary a weed in sight.

[Weavie]

Hi - Great to try a recc. book, will definitely be looking at this thread alot. My favourite book is Fork to Fork by Monty & Sarah Don. It's lovely. They take you through the year in their gardens with some great tips and wonderful recipes. A delight to read and to read again.

[Crazy Chickie]

My fav gardening book is an oldie I picked up in a charity shops years ago, 'Food from your Garden' published by the Readers Digest. It has a nice section on how to garden at the begining followed by a thorough A to Z on fruit n veg complete with recipies and a nice section at the back on preserving your harvest, inc wine making. Oh and a couple of wee chapters on harvesting wild foods, keeping chooks and bees, and how to deal with pests and diseases. A great practical book and the one I refer to the most often. Highly reccomended!!!

[supersprout]

Poledragon has selected Joy Larkcomb, so I'll plump for the next best thing: The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith. An enthusiastic amateur veg grower tells all he knows - lively writing, loads of pictures, diagrams, charts and calculators, and tiny but important tips on different veg.

[muckdiva]

My fav gardening book is an oldie I picked up in a charity shops years ago, 'Food from your Garden' published by the Readers Digest. It has a nice section on how to garden at the begining followed by a thorough A to Z on fruit n veg complete with recipies and a nice section at the back on preserving your harvest, inc wine making. Oh and a couple of wee chapters on harvesting wild foods, keeping chooks and bees, and how to deal with pests and diseases. A great practical book and the one I refer to the most often. Highly reccomended!!!

Food from your Garden was my very first gardening book and like you, I still refer to it the most as it's so comprehensive. But as I'm basically lazy I like anything that it labour saving - I know we're only allowed one favourite, but for me it's a toss up between Bob Flowerdew's No Work Garden and Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholemew.

[smallblueplanet]

There's loads out there...

Joy Larkom of any title.

Geoff Hamilton - Organic Gardening (DK) - a good allrounder/starting point!

Terry Marshall - Organic Tomatoes (was reduced price though)

Pippa Greenwood - Pippa's Organic Kitchen Garden (also as per Geoff)

Sue Stickland - Heritage Vegetables

Anna Pavord - The New Kitchen Garden (US but good info - 2nd hand)

Jekka McVicar - Jekka's Complete Herb Book

Lawrence D. Hills - Grown Your Own Fruit & Vegetables (2nd hand 'historical value)

Roger Grounds - Grow Your Own Vegetables (2nd hand - packed full of info, UK climate maps, stats and how-to's of all sorts) - sort of book pigletwillie/NTG/supersprout might appreciate??

[shirley]

I like fork to fork as well but mainly use the good old Dr Hessayon books

[NEWTO THE PLOT]

have always fancied fork to fork nobody ever gets the hint but the allotment handbook has been very useful to me

[nick the grief]

Any of Geoff Hamiltons are good but I really like my

Practical Gardening and Foof Production in pictures by Richard Sudell.

circa 1930s so I can see how LJ used to grow things when she was a mere slip of a lass and it covers everything including Beekeeping, poultry & rabbits for the table mmmmmm, bunny pie <droooollllssss>

[dexterdoglancashire]

Some of my favourites have already been mentioned but also...
The Allotment Book Andi Clevely ISBN000720759X
The Allotment gardener Ann Nicol ISBN 1845092929
The Allotment handbook Caroline Foley ISBN 1843305836
I also "raid" my charity bookshop on a regular basis and buy any of the books in there that relate to veg gardening!
DDL

[supersprout]

Some of these fusties are very cheap on Amazon!
Thank you for the recommendations

[Poledragon]

I like the Food From Your Garden too - it was a car boot bargain at £2!

I love the old WWII era books as well - I've got a Shewell-Cooper one published in June 1939 called Grow your own Food Supply. That's a scant 3 months before Germany invaded Poland - makes you wonder! I'm aso a sucker for all the Home Front stuff, both on growing veg and cooking with rations. eBay is not a safe place for me to visit...

[Earthbabe]

CC - I agree I've got a copy that always comes in handy, although I can't remember where it came from .

Like the Dr Hessayon books and I regularly dip into the Organic Kitchen Garden book I got as my freebie when I subscribed to GYO. It's the Mike Thurlow book.

However for a pocket full of info, easy to read and great to dip into I like Lawrence D. Hills Organic Gardening.

[vicki lorraine]

The Allotment Book Andi Clevely ISBN000720759X
I have this book too and regularly scan to check that ive done the right thing. Also use Monty Dons the Complete Gardener on a regular basis too.

[serenity]

I would Just like to revive this thread to add that joy larcom's book, grow your own vegetables is an absolutely wonderful book. It was the first book that I ever bought on veg growing and at the time trying to read thro the whole text was a bit daunting but as a reference book it is the only one that I use.

I do need a little of what is refered to as "garden porn" as well though so have the great vegetable plot by sarah raven and creative vegetable growing by erm... joy larcom. No relation, honest, I just like her style