This is a TV tie-in for a new BBC TV series "Grow Your Own Veg!" by TV presenter and highly regarded gardener Carol Klein, who has collaborated with the Royal Horticultural Society to create a lavishly illustrated, easy-to-follow, practical and inspiring beginner's handbook to everything anyone ever needs to know to grow vegetables, salads, and herbs all year round. "Grow Your Own Veg!" complements and builds upon the information covered in the TV series of the same name and provides all the practical know-how to get growing your own vegetables. Combining Carol Klein's no-nonsense and enthusiastic approach to gardening, much loved by viewers of "Gardeners' World" on BBC TV, with the horticultural best practice from the Royal Horticultural Society, this is a genuinely step-by-step beginner's guide to growing an aspirational but achievable range of food plants. Whatever the size of a garden, this is a book to convert readers to the pleasures of growing and harvesting their own food plants. From preparing a plot, planning what to plant, and how to grow any one of the 40 featured food plants, this is a book to which veg growers can return every year, whatever their level of expertise.
I brought this book to read before starting my allotment. It was very informative and easy to follow, exactly what I was looking for. She didn’t over complicate anything or use too many technical words.
( Format : hardback ) Taking charge of what you eat. The start of a new vegetable growing year has brought out not just the spring flowers but also favourite gardening books. Carol Klein's is certainly one of them. First purchased ten years ago, it is still as useful as it was then. The basics of growing different veggies don't change much: the individual types preceding specific soil types, distancing and general care, and this book is separated into all of the major categories, from garlic to peppers and chi!lies, via cabbages, beans, salad leaves and potatoes, with most everything in between. For all, there are recommended varieties suggested, tips on sowing and planting, best sites and soils, cultivation, harvesting, storage, even cooking tips, as well as pests and diseases to be avoided. And the book is beautifully illustrated throughout, with smaller colour pictures on every page as well a frequent full page matt photos. There is also a short glossary at the end in addition to an helpful index.
The book was originally published to accompany a BBC TV series, produced in association with the Royal Horticultural Society. Sadly, I didn't see it but it must have been made to encourage small space, urban gardening as the initial fifth of the book deals with preparing, planning and even creating a growing area, including the building of a 3 x 3 metre raised her block. Very useful if space is limited.
Grow your own is definitely a gardening beginners book, and a good one. Easy to reference whatever veggies are to be grown, easy to read, attractive to look at and worth enjoying over and over again.
Another very practical veg cultivation book with lots of lovely photos.
divided into two main sections:
Preparation and techniques which covered growing in small spaces, knowing the plot, preparing the plot, gorwing, extending the season, coping with problems and planning what to grow,
Growing your own - entries dealth with by type e.g. onions, cabbage family, peas & beans etc. Gives a general overie of the type - best sites and soils, sowing & planting, pests and diseases. Individual entries give into on best sites/soil, sowing/planting, cultivation, harvesting, storing & cooking and pests/diseases.
Bought this book and I'm very happy I did. Basically I just skimmed through it to see what to expect for gardening this year, and it looks like this is going to be a very handy reference guide for me for many years to come!
Beware to other Portland readers: she doesn't necessarily favor strict organic gardening. This book is definitely meant to be a beginner's guide and doesn't expect you to be comfortable with the intricacies of herbicide-free planting. However there are lots of great tips for all year planting, lots of great information, and detailed instructions for all of your basic vegetables. Really happy with this purchase!
Definitely useful and easy to find relevant information. I am not a hard-core gardener, so finding tips and how-to's for my small patch of land and small selection of vegetables is sometimes hard. This book was good, as it seperated into easy sections, had lots of information on each vegetable and didn't require a full-time gardening commitment in order for it to be useful. I'll return to this book for more tips and tricks as I need it for sure.
The author provides about 50 pages on planning and preparing the garden as well as with dealing with problems. On every kind of vegetable one would want o grow, Klein offers photos and numerous tips and information on caring for and harvesting the crop. This book would have been even better had the author offered some of her favorite veggie recipes.
Great book, really clear and easy to follow. I love how enthusiastic Carol always gets for her fresh fruit and veg and we are hoping to emulate her. Here starts the beginning of our grow your own journey!