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Un balcon à croquer !: Le guide des filles qui veulent un potager sans trop se fatiguer et sans se salir les mains
Le guide des filles qui veulent un potager sans trop se fatiguer et sans se salir les mains n est pas fait pour les fondus du jardinage. Il se destine à celles qui ont une vie bien remplie mais qui veulent tout de même goûter des salades élevées par leurs soins, récolter des aromates sur leur balcon ou croquer une fraise délicieusement mûre à même la plante. C est pourquoi il regorge de conseils pour s y retrouver dans les rayons de jardinage tout autant que d astuces pour customiser vos pots, vous fournir en bottes en plastique rose ou fleuri, ou cuisiner des petits plats sains et diététiques !
Pour cultiver les fruits et les légumes de ce livre, nul besoin de serre, ni d outillage compliqué. Armée d un plantoir, de quelques pots, de sachets de graines et d un sac de terreau, vous ferez sortir de terre une abondante récolte sur votre balcon, dans votre jardin ou à vos fenêtres.
Et maintenant, qu est-ce qu on plante ?
Pour vous simplifier la tâche, Alex Mitchell n a retenu que ce qui pousse dans de petits pots et les a classés par saison : au printemps, les radis, la laitue, les herbes aromatiques, les tomates... en été, les fraises, évidemment, mais aussi les haricots verts, les artichauts, les citrons... pour l automne, on se contentera davantage d ail et de mûre, tandis que l hiver se concentrera sur « pommes, pêches, poires, abricots »... ou encore prunes.
Et pour compléter vos activités, des recettes extrêmement simples, rapides et équilibrées qui rendent honneur à votre patience et à vos progrès horticoles ! On retrouve alors : le vrai pesto maison, des croustillants de framboises à la crème, le tzatziki le plus frais du monde, l ultra revigorant smoothie framboises pour des petits-déjeuners tonifiants, des mojito à la menthe fraîche pour finir une journée épuisante... et bien d autres récompenses qui incitent à replanter pour l année d après !
Drôle, pratique, complet... et parfois totalement décalé, Un Balcon à croquer ! est tout à fait unique pour désacraliser le petit jardinage et pour mettre à mal ce que les hommes ont toujours voulu faire croire : non, il n est pas nécessaire d avoir une maîtrise de chimie, d avoir passé des heures en salle de sport et de connaître tous les termes latins, pour avoir quelques fruits et légumes pour soi, sur son balcon ou dans son jardin !
Pour cultiver les fruits et les légumes de ce livre, nul besoin de serre, ni d outillage compliqué. Armée d un plantoir, de quelques pots, de sachets de graines et d un sac de terreau, vous ferez sortir de terre une abondante récolte sur votre balcon, dans votre jardin ou à vos fenêtres.
Et maintenant, qu est-ce qu on plante ?
Pour vous simplifier la tâche, Alex Mitchell n a retenu que ce qui pousse dans de petits pots et les a classés par saison : au printemps, les radis, la laitue, les herbes aromatiques, les tomates... en été, les fraises, évidemment, mais aussi les haricots verts, les artichauts, les citrons... pour l automne, on se contentera davantage d ail et de mûre, tandis que l hiver se concentrera sur « pommes, pêches, poires, abricots »... ou encore prunes.
Et pour compléter vos activités, des recettes extrêmement simples, rapides et équilibrées qui rendent honneur à votre patience et à vos progrès horticoles ! On retrouve alors : le vrai pesto maison, des croustillants de framboises à la crème, le tzatziki le plus frais du monde, l ultra revigorant smoothie framboises pour des petits-déjeuners tonifiants, des mojito à la menthe fraîche pour finir une journée épuisante... et bien d autres récompenses qui incitent à replanter pour l année d après !
Drôle, pratique, complet... et parfois totalement décalé, Un Balcon à croquer ! est tout à fait unique pour désacraliser le petit jardinage et pour mettre à mal ce que les hommes ont toujours voulu faire croire : non, il n est pas nécessaire d avoir une maîtrise de chimie, d avoir passé des heures en salle de sport et de connaître tous les termes latins, pour avoir quelques fruits et légumes pour soi, sur son balcon ou dans son jardin !
- GenresGardening
141 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Alex Mitchell
5 books2 followersAlex Mitchell is a writer and gardener who has grown her own fruit, salad, herbs and vegetables for years. She studied at the Chelsea Physic Garden and for the past five years her columns in The Sunday Telegraph have entertained readers with her experiences of turning her garden into an edible Eden. Alex lives and gardens in Greenwich, South-East London, with her partner and two young sons.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Alex^^Mitchell, gardener
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Alex^^Mitchell, gardener
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 19, 2019
Update after setting up my balcony garden for the second year running:
Yup, this book definitely helped make this little project of mine a success! Though I must say that I probably learned just as much from making rookie mistakes last year than I did reading it, the material in "Girl's Guide" was still very useful and gave me many great ideas. My very own little green space actually inspired my neighbor and his daughter to do the same! I only wish my balcony was bigger!
---
Original review:
Being a city slicker hasn’t entirely crushed my hippie father’s influence, and I have been dreaming about taking care of a lovely balcony garden for a while. This year’s attempt to grow stuff was foiled by awful spring weather, but as a (stubborn) optimist, I refuse to give up and started a detailed plan so I could be 100% ready to grow stuff next spring. I read “The Edible Balcony”, also by Mitchell (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), and while it gave me a bunch of good ideas, it didn’t have the very practical gardening tips I was looking for. Like, what kind of container and soil do I need for this? How often does it need to be watered (“frequently” is not really a precise indication)? Do I have to sing and play ukulele at the plant to it to make it grow, or do I just ignore it a while and come back to a pile of ripe fruits?
I usually hate anything that has the words “The Girl’s Guide To…” in the title because a) I’m not terribly girly and b) I’m not sure that non-girls necessarily have an easier time growing tomatoes. That being said, when I flipped through the book, I saw much more practical instructions than there were in “The Edible Balcony”. Sure, there were also a lot of annoyingly cutesy graphics, but not enough to make me gag, so I took a copy home with me, and I must say I am very glad I did.
The book is neatly laid out, with an introduction giving you some basics (required tools, types of soils, etc.), and is then organized by season, which makes sense, as you need to take care of a garden very differently from season to season. Some produce should be sown early, some when it’s warmer, and even in winter there is some care you must give your soil and plants to ensure a nice harvest the following year. Each produce has a difficulty rating and methods from growing it either in a pot or in garden soil. There are neat little sections on herbs and edible flowers. The book is also peppered with recipes, tips, definition of weird gardening terms people like me have never heard before (crocks are pieces of broken terracotta you add at the bottom of a pot to help the drainage! who knew?), and concludes with tricks on how to get rid of pests and a shopping guide.
"Edible Balcony" was inspirational, but this book is the practical, hands-on guide I had been looking for. The tone is friendly and accessible to beginners, and since it’s aimed at busy city people with jobs and lives, the projects are simple and not too time-consuming. It gets 4 stars because it is written for British climate, which is a bit different from Canadian climate, so some advice isn't really applicable. Looking forward to spring already!
Yup, this book definitely helped make this little project of mine a success! Though I must say that I probably learned just as much from making rookie mistakes last year than I did reading it, the material in "Girl's Guide" was still very useful and gave me many great ideas. My very own little green space actually inspired my neighbor and his daughter to do the same! I only wish my balcony was bigger!
---
Original review:
Being a city slicker hasn’t entirely crushed my hippie father’s influence, and I have been dreaming about taking care of a lovely balcony garden for a while. This year’s attempt to grow stuff was foiled by awful spring weather, but as a (stubborn) optimist, I refuse to give up and started a detailed plan so I could be 100% ready to grow stuff next spring. I read “The Edible Balcony”, also by Mitchell (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), and while it gave me a bunch of good ideas, it didn’t have the very practical gardening tips I was looking for. Like, what kind of container and soil do I need for this? How often does it need to be watered (“frequently” is not really a precise indication)? Do I have to sing and play ukulele at the plant to it to make it grow, or do I just ignore it a while and come back to a pile of ripe fruits?
I usually hate anything that has the words “The Girl’s Guide To…” in the title because a) I’m not terribly girly and b) I’m not sure that non-girls necessarily have an easier time growing tomatoes. That being said, when I flipped through the book, I saw much more practical instructions than there were in “The Edible Balcony”. Sure, there were also a lot of annoyingly cutesy graphics, but not enough to make me gag, so I took a copy home with me, and I must say I am very glad I did.
The book is neatly laid out, with an introduction giving you some basics (required tools, types of soils, etc.), and is then organized by season, which makes sense, as you need to take care of a garden very differently from season to season. Some produce should be sown early, some when it’s warmer, and even in winter there is some care you must give your soil and plants to ensure a nice harvest the following year. Each produce has a difficulty rating and methods from growing it either in a pot or in garden soil. There are neat little sections on herbs and edible flowers. The book is also peppered with recipes, tips, definition of weird gardening terms people like me have never heard before (crocks are pieces of broken terracotta you add at the bottom of a pot to help the drainage! who knew?), and concludes with tricks on how to get rid of pests and a shopping guide.
"Edible Balcony" was inspirational, but this book is the practical, hands-on guide I had been looking for. The tone is friendly and accessible to beginners, and since it’s aimed at busy city people with jobs and lives, the projects are simple and not too time-consuming. It gets 4 stars because it is written for British climate, which is a bit different from Canadian climate, so some advice isn't really applicable. Looking forward to spring already!
February 26, 2010
I’ve been keeping a full, vibrant, productive garden in my head for about two years. In my mind there are rows of beets, shoots of garlic, bushes of raspberries, clusters of strawberries, and vines of beans. Every plant flourishes year-round and is never plagued by weeds, bad soil, the first freeze (or any of the ones that follow), and definitely never suffers like I do from the hot, hot August Texas sun. Nonetheless, the food would probably taste better if it were real.
While titles that start with phrases like “The Girl’s Guide to...” make me move forward with trepidation, chary of each frilly, gender-specific tip that is sure to be found inside, >The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own seemed safe. I mean, it’s about gardening. Alex Mitchell, the saucy British journalist-turned-gardener who wrote the book, does an excellent job of presenting practical information and keeping the girly kitsch to a very tolerable level. I even giggled periodically. Really, giggled.
Squashing the usual excuses for not getting a garden started, Mitchell starts her book off telling the reader how simple growing really is. She describes soil types in easy to understand detail and outlines just how little equipment (and space) you actually need to get going. One of my favorite suggestions was to use the wine shipping crates that are often discarded by liquor stores. They’re a good size, portable (if you want to bring plants in for the winter), and deep enough for most roots. Mitchell also points out that their “imprinted logos give them a certain élan.” And if you can pick up your planters with your booze, you might just save yourself a trip to a garden center.
The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own stands apart from other growing manuals for a number of reasons. First, it’s readable. This book is not for a seasoned grower who is trying to find out why her lemon trees are looking peeked or those who can pour through dry textbook pages full of words most of us don’t understand. The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own caters to the novice, and does it well. Because it’s divided by seasons, you can use a free ten minutes to browse your seasonally-appropriate section and get ready to grow. The book introduces new gardeners to valuable gardening lingo, where to buy manure, and—here’s the kitsch—a plethora of cute growing containers available to the growing girl.
Freely poking fun at her own obsessive nature—from the aesthetics of her planters to the trees she dotes on and the many short breaks she takes from work to ogle flora and fauna online—Mitchell takes the bulk of the work out of getting started. She even gives plants ratings of one to four hand trowels, which indicates whether “you couldn’t kill it if you tried” or it’s “fussy but fabulous.” Pages of soil and seed concoctions are broken up with recipes for your new produce (including alcoholic beverages), and the book finishes up with a quick guide to diagnosing common edible garden enemies.
From this experience I have learned girly books can be useful, and also that because spring is (nearly) in the air, I should start planting my tomato seeds. Now I am hopeful.
Review by Tatiana Ryckman
While titles that start with phrases like “The Girl’s Guide to...” make me move forward with trepidation, chary of each frilly, gender-specific tip that is sure to be found inside, >The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own seemed safe. I mean, it’s about gardening. Alex Mitchell, the saucy British journalist-turned-gardener who wrote the book, does an excellent job of presenting practical information and keeping the girly kitsch to a very tolerable level. I even giggled periodically. Really, giggled.
Squashing the usual excuses for not getting a garden started, Mitchell starts her book off telling the reader how simple growing really is. She describes soil types in easy to understand detail and outlines just how little equipment (and space) you actually need to get going. One of my favorite suggestions was to use the wine shipping crates that are often discarded by liquor stores. They’re a good size, portable (if you want to bring plants in for the winter), and deep enough for most roots. Mitchell also points out that their “imprinted logos give them a certain élan.” And if you can pick up your planters with your booze, you might just save yourself a trip to a garden center.
The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own stands apart from other growing manuals for a number of reasons. First, it’s readable. This book is not for a seasoned grower who is trying to find out why her lemon trees are looking peeked or those who can pour through dry textbook pages full of words most of us don’t understand. The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own caters to the novice, and does it well. Because it’s divided by seasons, you can use a free ten minutes to browse your seasonally-appropriate section and get ready to grow. The book introduces new gardeners to valuable gardening lingo, where to buy manure, and—here’s the kitsch—a plethora of cute growing containers available to the growing girl.
Freely poking fun at her own obsessive nature—from the aesthetics of her planters to the trees she dotes on and the many short breaks she takes from work to ogle flora and fauna online—Mitchell takes the bulk of the work out of getting started. She even gives plants ratings of one to four hand trowels, which indicates whether “you couldn’t kill it if you tried” or it’s “fussy but fabulous.” Pages of soil and seed concoctions are broken up with recipes for your new produce (including alcoholic beverages), and the book finishes up with a quick guide to diagnosing common edible garden enemies.
From this experience I have learned girly books can be useful, and also that because spring is (nearly) in the air, I should start planting my tomato seeds. Now I am hopeful.
Review by Tatiana Ryckman
July 6, 2011
Some good insights and suggestions on how to garden with out going 'whole-hog'. However, as the book was first published in Brittan, by a british author, it kind of makes me wonder how well some of this advice would apply in my own local non-british environment. This would be a good starting place for anyone interested in gardening, though may not have the best local advice.
May 25, 2012
I love it! Great for beginners with limited space and time
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews