Kitchen Garden Forum

Well stocked up today with garden books to read and enjoy when the snow is on the ground. My boot sale bargains, all in excellent condition, total just six pounds

Diarmuid Gavin - Design your garden
Charlie Ryrie - Gardening Wisdom
Eliot Harman - Four Season Harvest
Ken Thompson - The book of weeds
Geoff Hamilton - The Ornamental kitchen garden.

Looking at their original prices about £76 new.

Good find, NB.

The only thing to remember about Eliot Coleman's book is that is based on growing in the USA at about 6 degrees of latitude further south than much of the UK.

Hi Alan, yes I realised it's US, it was priced at $24.95 but it looked interesting so I went for it, there was a cool design for a mobile duck home in the book called Duckingham palace, which made me laugh.

I do worry about car boot sales as apparently allotment and shed theft is often a source of things sold this way! Books are safe enough but I worry that the number of car boot sales being run now encourage this type of theft.

Hi Gallotments, our local bootsale has a regular book stall, they seem to care, eg not pricing where it might spoil the cover or book, pretty sure they are kosher, but I know what you mean, some deal drugs too in some places, but our local boot sale is pretty good, it's run by a quaker family, and they have charity stalls too, it has a nice atmosphere, I don't think they would tolerate any nonsense

Hi NB - great list of books and such a good price. I'd be interseted in your views on the ornamental kitchen garden. i use the book quite a lot but am still an inexperienced gardener.

Smurfy,that particular book was on my wish list, it was recommended on the other recommended books thread. Books are great to inspire, but experienced or not, you are still the best judge of your own garden and produce. Just rely on your own senses, eyes ears tastebuds etc to read the signs that your garden, plants and produce will give you. I believe the very best gardeners are in tune with their own gardens, after sixty years or more of gardening I can learn something new all the time, seasons change, climate changes, tastes and ideas change and we adapt to optimise desired results. At the moment after all this rain my garden is saying weed me, I am more relaxed about weeds than i used to be, I aim to control them before they seed, they are useful to make compost, and their roots aerate the soil and add nutrients,(disease thrives in compacted anaerobic soil,) they provide cover to prevent loss of moisture. and provide a home for soil fungi between crops, fungi are very beneficial for most crops we plant, the exception is brassicas, but even though brassicas don't benefit from the fungi's symbiotic exchange, they do benefit from the improved soil structure that fungi give to soil.