Any good book reconmendations related to the history of food growing?

[Samuel1988]

Evening all,

I was just wondering if anyone could reconmend any good books related to the the history of organic farming/food growing?

I am eager to learn about how our ancestors/other cultures grew food so I could possibly apply some of the concepts for when I am growing my own stuff (and if I can't its still interesting ).

In addition to this, I have come across various 'concepts' or 'methods' of food growing such as biodynamic food growing, hydroponics/aquaponics, forest garderning etc which may be 'modern' or have some/all of the principles which date back many years and I was just wondering if there are any good books which give a good picture of all these growing methods etc. I am finding that the more I read around the more new and interesting growing 'methods/concepts' I come across.

It would be really good to get my hands on a nice book which will take me back many years (or one which may reveal what 'new' methods of growing food are developing which will help us feed ourselves whilst minimising the impact we have on the world) to learn about the ways our ancestors grew food.

I am eager to learn about the past in addition to what the future holds (if you read any good journals about this I would appreciate any reconmendations).

Many thanks,

Samuel

[rustylady]

How far back do you want to go? The Victorian Kitchen Garden: Amazon.co.uk: Jennifer Davies: Books

[veggiechicken]

That's a hard ask Samuel - to cover all of that in one book As Rusty says, there's the Victorian Kitchen garden, there are books about early rural agriculture and lots of books that cover some of the more specialised "modern" techniques.
If you think about the early monastic settlements, they were basically self sufficient, had their own fish farms which, in a way, were a precursor to aquaponics - without the electricity for pumps
We have the technology, chemicals and mechanisation that were missing a century or so ago. We also have different expectations on how much effort we need to put in and the sort of crops that we can grow. Aubergines for example
If you want to future-proof your gardening, you need to go back to an era when it was manual labour, seed saving and you have no illusions about growing exotic veg out of season.
Just keep reading everything you can find.

[alex-adam]

Found this one on Ebay - might be of interest.

Hunger and History: The Impact of Changing Food Production and Consumption Patte 0521315050 | eBay

a-a

[alldigging]

Go see what your local library has on its shelves. It's much easier to pick a book up and see whats in it. Our library has the victorian and edwardian ones from the tv series as well as a whole heap of other lovely gardening books.

[Two_Sheds]

I was just wondering if there are any good books ... which may reveal what 'new' methods of growing food are developing which will help us feed ourselves whilst minimising the impact we have on the world)

some buzz words for you, that you may've discovered already, to broaden your reading:
humanure (how to dispose of human waste, meat scraps, bones, fat etc, without using vast quantities of drinking-quality water~ it's also a superb in-depth guide on composting as a whole, whether or not you're going to be humanuring;

permaculture (very good on growing food even in arid conditions; soil improving; water saving; ingenious design ideas

One Straw (aims to eliminate compost heaps whilst dramatically improving your soil

desert gardening