Best Gardening Books List

[cevenol jardin]

I would be inteterested to know from others what they think are the best vegetable and fruit gardening books they have or have read. I only have a few books and would like to start building a little library.
I really am only interested in the edible stuff.

[John]

Hello CJ
I'll start the list off with 'The Complete know and grow Vegetables' by Bleasdale, Salter et al. from the NIAB, Wellesbourne. This was first published '79/80 in two separate paperbacks as 'Know and Grow Vegetables 1 and 2' and the revised combined edition appeared in '91. These books bring the disciplined approach of science to the 'art' of gardening. They are a very readable account of all aspects of veg. growing from a scientific perspective that give a good understanding of what's going on above and below ground in the veg patch. Sadly they are now long out of print and I don't know of anything available now that is at all similiar. Well worth looking out for in your S/H bookshop.

John

[Monika]

I agree with John with the "Complete Know and Grow Vegetables" but would also like to add the following, in no particular order of preference:
The Vegetable and Herb Expert by Dr Hessayon (useful for quick reference of depth of sowing or density of planting and for recognising problems)
Successful Organic Gardening by Geoff Hamilton (probably out of print but still very useful with good hints)
Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by the HDRA (more a browsing than practical book but interesting for soil structure, composting etc)
Grow you own Vegetables by Joy Larkcom (very detailed and useful for practical application as well as background, though the list of recommended varieties obviously goes out of date quite quickly)
The Gardener's Year by Alan Titchmarsh (although AT comes from these climes, I fought against buying this book because, not having a telly, I have a great reluctance to buy books by television "personalities" but I have been very impressed with the thoroughness and usefulness of this book!!)
The Self-sufficient Gardener by John Seymour (probably out of print, mentions things like rabbits, chickens etc, too. Useful for occasional dipping in)

and, lastly, two books as background:
The Potato Book by Alan Romans (a must for potato growers)
The New Oxford Book of Food Plants by JG Vaughan and CA Geissler (food plants of the world!)

Good reading!
Monika

[alan refail]

Here – in no particular order – are the books I use:

Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix, Vegetables, Pan Books, 1993 (not 100% accurate, but great photography)

Simon Hickmott, Growing Unusual Vegetables, eco-logic books, 2003 (exactly what the title says – great for the adventurous)

Sue Stickland, Heritage Vegetables, Gaia Books, 1998

William Woys Weaver, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, Henry Holt, New York, 1997

Vilmorin-Andrieux, The Vegetable Garden (English edition ed. By W Robinson, 1885) reprint by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley CA. (By the famous French seed merchants – an amazing insight into how much of what we think of as “new” was grown in Paris in the 1880’s)

Ed Basil Caplan, The Complete Manual of Organic Gardening, Headline, 1992 (a masterly chapter on The Vegetable Garden by Joy Larckom)

The RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening, Dorling Kindersley, 1992 (Joy Larckom’s equally masterful, but different, chapter on The Vegetable Garden)

While on the subject of the Blessed Joy:

Joy Larckom, The Salad Garden, Frances Lincoln, 1984 (since reprinted as The Organic Salad Garden – my absolute favourite gardening book ever!)

Joy Larckom, Oriental Vegetables, John Murray, 1991 (don’t touch Pak Choi etc etc without reading this)

Jekka McVicar, Jekka’s Complete Herb Book, Kyle Cathie, 1994

Roger Phillips & Nicky Foy, Herbs, Pan Books, 1990

Roger Phillips, Wild Food, Pan Books, 1983 (Like Richard Mabey’s books, reminds you of what you can eat without growing it)

And finally two books about what to do with your vegetables when you have grown them, from cooks who knew/know how to grow:

Jane Grigson, Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book, Penguin Books, 1980 (her daughter Sophie’s books are good too)

Antonio Carluccio, Vegetables, Headline, 2000

If anyone has any comments on the above, or a list of their favourite books, I'm sure Cevenol Jardin would be pleased to know.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda o Gymru Wlyb
Happy New Year from Wet Wales

[Tigger]

Most of mine have already been mentioned above, and I too rate anything by Alan Titchnmarsh, Joy Larkom or Geoff Hamilton, but I also love Bob Flowerdew's book on Fruit, anything issued by the RHS and all of Sarah Ravens books.

[carlseawolf]

veg expert - good reference book
fruit expert - good reference book
greenhouse expert - read once throw away
gardeners world by G HAMILTON a good allround read covering many subjects

[Allan]

You have listed most of mine already but I must mention a few others
Grow Your Greens. Joy Larcom Published in support of a channel 4 series, a collection of reports about specialist fruit and vegetable specialists 1993 ISBN 1 85 44 059 3

Plants in action Alan Hibbert and Judy Brooks
Another TV series book. A scientific background to gardening 1981 ISBN 0 563 16446 8

and what inspired me way back
Making Your Garden Pay. W P A Robinson 1953
second edition Latimer Trend & Co Ltd Plymouth

I have yet to see a copy of Valuable Vegetables by Mandy Pullen, the price is too high to pay just for evaluation.

[alan refail]

Valuable Vegetables - I have seen, but not bought this. It is certainly angled at the Commercial Organic producer.
Have a look at http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:Ed ... =clnk&cd=3

[arwinfm]

Hi - personally I enjoy anything by bob flowerdew - informative and hunourous - cheers arwin

[Cider Boys]

If I were to choose one book above all then it would be The Complete Vegetable Grower by W E Shewell-Cooper. First published in 1955, I have the 1973 edition. Dare I say that it encouraged me to take a more organic approach to gardening at the time.

Barney

[Jenny Green]

No you daren't!

[Allan]

Sauy what you like here, it's a free country, but don't expect everyone to believe you.organic means what you want it to, until you sell the stuff.

[cevenol jardin]

Thanks everyone
There are some great sounding books in your list alan i will be looking out for some of them thanks a lot.

There are a few I do have that have not made it to anyone elses list that i would rate as follows:

The Complete Book of Vegetables Herbs and Fruit
Mathew Biggs, Jekka McVicar & Bob Flowerdew
Published 2002 Kyle Cathie Ltd.
A pretty good anthology and reference for all manner of vegetables, herbs and fruit; from the well known to more unusual or exotic.

Five Acres & Independence: A Practical Guide to the Selection and Management of the Small Farm
M G Kains, Cassell, USA First published 1947, second edition 1949
Written as a guide for the small farmer starting-out. The initial section on capital, investment and accounting are obviously out of date but much of the gardening know how is still sound today. In addition there are some interesting insights on older techniques and wisdoms that we'd be wise to revisit.

Brief Account of the Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy
Giacomo Castelvetro; 1614 unpublished
Translated by Gillian Riley, 1989
Beautifully illustrated, fascinating and inspirational account of the seasonal produce of Italy, recounted by Castelvetro in 1614 during the last years of his life in England. The book was his attempt to encourage better appreciation of a wider range of foodstuffs and how they should be cooked or prepared.

Four-Season Harvest; Organic Vegetables from your home garden all year long
Eliot Coleman Revised ed 1999, Chelsea Green, USA.
Some useful tips of what and when to grow crops to ensure production all year round. Easy to translate the American zones to our latitude.

Propagating Plants
RHS Editor-in-chief Alan Toogood, 1999, Dorling Kindersley, London.
Expert and reliable guide to propagating over 1,500 plants including a special chapter on Vegetables.

Pruning & Training; A definitive practical guide to pruning trees, shrubs, roses and climbers.
Christopher Brickwell & David Joyce 1996, DK, London.
Useful guide to formative training, renovation and pruning established plants and trees with a large portion of the book given over to tree and bush fruit.

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
Suzanne Ashworth, 2002
Used as the standard reference by the Seed Savers Exchange, USA. Clearly describes how to save the seeds from a wide range of edible plants at home.

Keeping Food Fresh, Old World Techniques and Recipes
The gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivant.
1999, USA Translation Diane Côté
Originally published 1992, by Terre Vivante
Excellent resource with methods and handed down recipes for preserving garden produce, contributed by members of Terre Vivant.

[Allan]

We have Valuable Veggie from the library.Not over-impressed. Mandy certainly got busy to produce such a book but so far it is mostly what we know already. She was only at Ragmans Lane Farm for 5 years, it becomes obvious that the scale of the operation was such that she must have relied heavily on student labour to produce that number of boxes regularly. I note that watercress was bought in.
Please ask if you want anything looked up, I have got OCR copying so I can send PM large quotes but not too many.

[Johnboy]

Hi CJ,
For Christmas I was given a copy of Spade, Skirret and Parsnip, The Curious History of Vegetables by Bill Laws.ISBN 0-7509-3259-7 Published by SUTTON publishing.
Bill uncovers some amazing facts especially about how Potatoes were view back in the early days of their original importation. It is turning out to be one of the most fascinating reads for a long time.
JB.