Which veg gardening books for Christmas?

[bazzaboy]

Which book(s) are you hoping Santa might deliver this Christmas? And which might you give? A little gem for veg growers must be Lorraine Harrison’s “A Potted History of Vegetables” - avoiding the obvious and endlessly repeated stuff it’s full of quirky facts about the history of all our regular veg along with beautiful classical botanical drawings. And only £9.99 !

But there are many others to choose from…. Which would you recommend?

[veggiechicken]

Potted History is only £2.99 at the Bookpeople - I have a copy too
As for new books - dunno sorry Santa won't be bringing me any this year as he knows I have far too many unread ones already!

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'd give a years membership of the National Vegatable Society which thrown in with the membership subscription includes a quarterly magazine -Simply Veg - that contains expert advice on growing veg both for the kitchen and also for the showbench. Members also have access to the Forum on the private part of the site where they can get specific advice on specific problems. There is huge value there to anyone who wants to improve the quality of their growing. Two lady novice growers and exhibitors, one from Wales and one from Hampshire have done exceptionally well with guidance from Forum members having won classes in the Welsh and Scottish Branch Championships. In Wales the class won was of blanch leeks which is a fantastic achievement

Happy to give any further information if anyone is interested.

[northepaul]

Depends why you are giving the book - is it to help first time growers? for the illustrations? Something quirky?

[Alison]

I'd give a years membership of the National Vegatable Society which thrown in with the membership subscription includes a quarterly magazine -Simply Veg - that contains expert advice on growing veg both for the kitchen and also for the showbench. Members also have access to the Forum on the private part of the site where they can get specific advice on specific problems. There is huge value there to anyone who wants to improve the quality of their growing. Two lady novice growers and exhibitors, one from Wales and one from Hampshire have done exceptionally well with guidance from Forum members having won classes in the Welsh and Scottish Branch Championships. In Wales the class won was of blanch leeks which is a fantastic achievement

I was a member of that a few years ago but didn't renew my membership as I didn't find it that relevant to the sort of growing I do - to me it was very much written with the person who either does or is interested in showing veg which isn't my thing at all so if anybody is thinking of joining then I'd suggest they check out a copy first as it's not for everybody.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Alison,

the very essence of the NVS may be summed up here

"To advance the education of the public in the cultivation and improvement of
vegetables.
To advance knowledge of and further public interest in vegetables by the
publication of information, by exhibition, by stimulating research and experiment and
by awarding prizes open to public competition."

There are some folks within the NVS who are interested only in showing but they are far outnumbered by folks like me who'se main interest is growing for the table. There are local branches of the NVS (we call them district associations or DA's) that have regular meetings and at which expert vegetable growers are present. It is there that the greatest benefit from being a member can be found as anyone interested will find out that they are all delighted to impart info which will help less experienced growers to improve their own standards of growing. The magazine is a bonus and if you think it is inclined towards the exhibitor, that may well betrue but veg grown for exhibition is of the very highest standard and believe it or not is edible and welcomed in the kitchen

[bazzaboy]

Potted History is only £2.99 at the Bookpeople - I have a copy too

Cripes that's a bargain (even non-tax-paying Amazon are £6.89....) So who are the Bookpeople, are they only on-line?
See: A Potted History Of Vegetables (Hardback) - Lorraine Harrison - 9781907332616

As to the unread books, VC, as Allotment John commented recently, "When they say there's no jobs to do in December they're wrong because there's always November's jobs to do for a start!"

[veggiechicken]

You mean you haven't come across the Bookpeople before, baz? We've been discussing them recently here http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...oks_68427.html Those books would make a very acceptable pressie for someone as they cover lots of interests!
I think I'm still on October's jobs

[bazzaboy]

I think I'm still on October's jobs

lol... so you've finished June already, have you?

[veggiechicken]

I'm a fast worker, bazza

[Alison]

Alison,

the very essence of the NVS may be summed up here

"To advance the education of the public in the cultivation and improvement of
vegetables.
To advance knowledge of and further public interest in vegetables by the
publication of information, by exhibition, by stimulating research and experiment and
by awarding prizes open to public competition."

There are some folks within the NVS who are interested only in showing but they are far outnumbered by folks like me who'se main interest is growing for the table. There are local branches of the NVS (we call them district associations or DA's) that have regular meetings and at which expert vegetable growers are present. It is there that the greatest benefit from being a member can be found as anyone interested will find out that they are all delighted to impart info which will help less experienced growers to improve their own standards of growing. The magazine is a bonus and if you think it is inclined towards the exhibitor, that may well betrue but veg grown for exhibition is of the very highest standard and believe it or not is edible and welcomed in the kitchen

Sorry AP, that might be what they say / what you've found but it's totally at odds with what I found with both the local group and the mag which I found very disappointing. Guessing the groups vary from area to area. Round here it was all old boys who grew rows of the same varieties every year with no acceptance of anything different. Fine for them but not at all how I want to grow

[Aberdeenplotter]

guess you can't please all the people all of the time.

[Alison]

guess you can't please all the people all of the time.

Indeed - where would we be if we were all the same?

[veg man]

John Harrison and his wife Val do a range of books from growing to preserving very easy reading and a good price to.Try amazon or his web site free seeds from the web site.