Veg growing books,Advice please

[AnnB]

Could anyone give me one or two ideas of good veg growing books for beginers.Thanks in advance.Ann

[HeyWayne]

Hi Ann - welcome aboard.

This question comes up now and again, do a quick search and you should find plenty of results.

There are several books that come up time and time again as a suggestion, one could argue because they're good books.

Personally I find Dr Hessayons Vegetable & Herb Expert book invaluable, but others use a variety of different books - for various reasons.

When I started out with this whole gardening/allotment lark about three years ago I was keen to read as much as I could, so bought several books. The Allotment Book - Andi Clevely, Grow Your Own Veg - Carol Klein, and Dr Hessayon.

The first two books were a good read to give me an idea of what to expect how to get started, but I find myself referring to Dr Hessayons more frequently than the others.

Good luck finding the book for you.

[Gwen11ian]

For general veg growing I would suggest:

Grow your own Veg by Carol Klein
A good section on preparation and techniques, but the majority is advice organized by family.. which is great for reference. Each section discusses the best sites and soils, when to plant, cultivation, harvest, storage and cooking, and pest and disease. I got mine (hardcover) from Waterstones for £5 on offer, RRP £16.99.

The Kitchen Garden by Alan Titchmarsh
Introduction, with sections on Vegetables, Fruit, and Herbs. It gives a little bit less information on each variety than the other book, but offers more of a range. I got mine (hardcover) for £9 from The Book People, RRP £20.

I would also recommend anything from Bob Flowerdew. He's a great read, and has very clever ideas on gardening that organically solve most problems gardeners face.

[danmon_81]

all of the above - i have the oragnic bible by Bob flowerdew very good and helpful. Jamie Oliver's 'at home' is good - helps for recipes!

I popped into one of those cheap book stores and bought last years Royal Horticultural Societies gardening bible (big book)....great for reference!

Defo get carol and dr hessayons!!

[oldie]

You will find we all have different preferences but Dr. Hessayon is always recommended. I prefer Joy Larkcom Grow Your Own Veg to some others. There are a couple of recent ones by John Harrison -Veg growing month by month and The Essential Allotment Guide which are only £5.99. No glossy colour pics just good advice. His website is allotment.org.uk.

[elsie-scot]

I have John Harrison -Veg growing month by month - not many pics, but straight forward advice and like the monthly info - book people have it for sale with 2 other books.

The veg and herb expert that I have is old, lot of long term growers I have met like it, if you ignore all the "what can go wrong" sections. I have picked up a few of the expert series in charity shops

The Kitchen Garden by Alan Titchmarsh - took out of library, lot of info, liked, but didnt feel the need to buy

Grow your own Veg by Carol Klein - got the series in a deal (cook your own veg, grow own fruit) - have dipped into them but not sure if I would recommend

[geoff]

Hessayon's The Vegetable and Herb Expert is as good as any to start with; it's simple, cheap, and covers diseases and other problems well, with good illustrations. but its a bit lacking in gardening techniques, planning and so on

For that, have a browse round a bookshop or library and you'll find something that suits you. As a rough guide, look for something that has 'vegetable gardening' or 'allotment' in the title. A lot of general gardening books tend to deal mostly with flowers

[ladylottie]

Hi, I have Carol Klein's Grow your own veg, Caroline Foley's The Allotment Handbook, Hessayon's Veg & Herb Expert and have just bought John Harrison's Veg Growing Month by Month.

I had them from the library to read before I went and bought them - that way I knew I liked the info and style. Some books are too much about cooking the food and not enough about growing. But those mentioned above I find are great and easy to understand for a newbie like me!

[falkon]

I have found Alan Titchmarsh . How to Garden useful but it lacks details on seed germination.
Vegetable Growing Month by Month by Jhon Harrison is also good