Nettles & Petals: Grow Food. Eat Weeds. Save Seeds

by Jamie Walton, Samuel Binstead (photographer)

Edible flowers are the new veg; foraging is the new nature activity and wild nature is the future.

This book is a comprehensive how-to guide to wild gardening - including foraging, seed-saving, as well as identifying edible weeds and wild plants. Part practical guide, part educational plantlore - this book has everything to start your journey towards more sustainable and conscious green-living.

Conscious living is about active awareness, positive action, and connection to ourselves, to each other, and to the natural world. This book is the perfect gift for gardening enthusiasts, activists, conservationists and anyone curious about wildlife.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Food

176 pages, Hardcover

Published April 8, 2025

Reviews

[Matt Ustas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw this guy on my Facebook reels. Nice voice and knowledgeable. Got me fired up to start the gardening journey. My wife has really taken over as the head bed designer, waterer, harvester, etc. I have been pushed into a consultant role, offering unsolicited critiques and comments. I did however fill two huge raised beds with big logs, sticks, ton of leaves I lugged from my parents house, and compost. Please note that. But yea buy this book Jamie is great.

[Rosie Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nettle & Petals is a non-fiction gardening book.

I first discovered author Jamie Walton on Instagram and I like his approach to ecological gardening.

In this book he talks about good soil management and holistic systems to balance gardening with nature. The book is divided into eleven sections: Biodiversity, soil health, natural pest control, water conservation, native and adaptive plantings, minimizing disturbance, composting and recycling organic matter, polyculture and crop rotation, perennial plantings, creating wildlife habitats and the law of return (giving back to the soil what we take).

There are step-by-step instructions for beginners and ideas for more experienced gardeners. This is all backed up with good colour photos. Walton’s gardening methods make a lot of sense and the results speak for themselves.

This would make an ideal gift for any gardener, especially those who want to garden with ever more ‘green’ fingers.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely range of growing, composting, preserving and seed and produce harvesting.

I found the companion suggestions and class overviews so informative and it really is helping me map out next year’s planting to best utilise my space and the natural qualities of plants.
The other do it yourself sections such as a wildlife mansion were interesting and well instructed. I look forward to implement a lot of learning from this book into my gardening.

Visually the book is very attractive with bright colours and appealing photographs throughout.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good information in here, I like the guy as well, but this book has the dubious honour of being the first "proper" book I've ever read that I strongly suspect had large parts either edited or written by AI. I hope I'm wrong! Such a shame.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on gardening. LOTS of info, take your time to digest it all!

[Mikayla M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really helpful for understanding soil, sustainable gardening, and companion planting! I can’t wait to put my new knowledge to use.

[Cristina Muresan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Jamie's social media posts and, more recently, of his podcast with the equally awesome Martha Swales, and, as such, I feel like there's not a huge amount in here that he's not at least touched on in other formats. There are also some sections I would have liked much more detail on, so I feel like the book overall is not so much an in-depth look at the how's and why's of ecological hardening, as it's an intro to the topic, meant to give ideas and inspire further research. There is, however, a section on growing tips for a selection of popular vegetables which I may refer to during the growing season (haven't read this in depth as really it's more of a reference section). I did also take on board a few project ideas, such as bokashi composting (which I had heard about, but never looked into properly), and a resolution to try to interplant my veggies with more flowers this year (something I was aware of but the message bears repetition, as it's an important one)!

All in all, probably a good inspiration source for the beginner gardener, slightly lacking in depth for the more experienced audience. But any book promoting ecological gardening practices is a winner to me, so rounding up to 4 stars :)

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this book after following Jamie for his gardening tips on social media. It's a beautiful book I'm happy to keep it on my shelf, but is not quite the gardening resource I hoped it would be.

For anyone with any gardening experience, there's not a ton of new information in this book. Lots of information is repeated over and over. I found several typos. While the book has beautiful photography, the Project pages and weed identification sections could do with more images/illustrations, because the instructions are hard to follow otherwise. I was hoping for more info on polyculture and specific ways to use "weeds" other than just nettle. Keep in mind specific growing instructions in this book are based on a UK climate.

A few takeaways are that I could be doing more to save seeds instead of buying every year, and prioritizing heirloom varieties. Nice to understand a bit more about the no-dig gardening method. Also learned that certain varieties of marigolds are more effective at managing pests than others.

[Arianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you’re an experienced gardener, you probably won’t get much out of this.

[Maryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pompoenen en paardenbloemen is een inspirerend en leerzaam boek waarin je kunt lezen hoe je op een ecologische manier kunt (moes)tuinieren. Ook al heb je maar een klein tuintje of wellicht enkel een balkon of vensterbank, als je kiest voor milieuvriendelijk heeft dat impact! En je kunt een voorbeeld zijn.
Zo koop ik nu geen voorjaarsbloemen in de supermarkt of standaard bloemenwinkel. Ik heb een paar hyacinthen gekocht in de bio-winkel. Aan bespoten bloemen hebben bijen niks, erger nog...
Dit boek ziet er leuk uit en is overzichtelijk ingedeeld. Wat ik ook leuk vind, de man achter dit boek is geen geitenwollensokken type (waar ik overigens geheel niks tegen heb). Jamie Walton beschrijft hoe hij bevlogen raakte door deze manier van tuinieren, hoe het zijn leven veranderde, en hij vertelt je er alles over. Waarom de bodem belangrijk is en dat je niet moet spitten bv. Waarom combinatiebeplanting handig is en kruiden en bloemen kunnen helpen in de moestuin. Waarom onkruid ook waarde heeft en hoe je op een natuurlijke manier meststoffen maakt of plaagdieren verjaagt. Waarom biologische zaden of oude rassen ipv hybride.
Zodat je een paradijsje creëert voor mens en dier en er zelf ook gezonde vruchten en groenten van.

"Bloemen zijn geduchte bondgenoten in de voortdurende strijd tegen ongedierte in de tuin, doordat ze een evenwichtiger ecosysteem creëeren dat zichzelf reguleert. Ze weren ongedierte met hun natuurlijke geuren en trekken roofinsecten aan die op het ongedierte jagen"

Wat ik ook handig vind is de uitgebreide info over de verschillende groenten, per categorie.. (wortel, blad, vrucht etc) en met welke planten je die het beste combineert voor een optimaal resultaat.
Hoe maak je een mini natuurvijver, een wormenhotel of keverbank..
Ecologisch tuinieren is niet hetzelfde als biologisch trouwens, het is holistischer en biodiversiteit staat voorop.
Dit is zeker een boek dat ik bij de hand houd!

[Becky Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Book

So enjoyed this book. He made it easy to understand and follow. I will be able to easily look things up during my gardening season. Great reference and good starter book.

[Kayla Zabcia]

An easy-to-digest food gardening book with a focus on working with nature instead of against it. Of particular interest was the the companion plant lists (pg 35), DIY soil assessment tests you can do without any fancy gadgets or gizmos (pg 44), and weeds as soil quality indicators (pg 63)

[Sue Dunlop · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to growing

[Nikolay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big fan of Jamie and his Instagram channel, the book was everything I expected. Looking forward to putting it to use some time in the future.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straight up gardening book, which is not as fun to read on kindle. (I like reading real books,b ut alas.) I thought it would be on herbs but it's more gardening in general

[Sarah Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, practical advise on creating a more naturally healthy garden. The chapter on soil was my favourate.

[Ema Nesvad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Design of the book is beautiful, and there are a lot of good tips. I recommend his IG profile for every garden beginner.

[Anjès Schliefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Jamie, loved the book, it’s besutifully made. But if you already have some experience with permaculture, no dig gardening etc, there isn’t toooo much new information in here.

[Lisa G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting review of more natural gardening practices.