Selfsufficientish.com

I saw this book before I realised there was even going to be a TV show to accompany it and liked the look of it (but it was £18.99 in WHSmiths, so I waited a few weeks and ordered it on Amazon)

It is a very in-depth book, much more than other TV-show books IYKWIM

It covers much more aspects of garden design than most veg growing books - it has charts for heights of plants and suggests varieties that may be of interest because of their colours.

It covers the basics of permaculture (but seems to call it 'polyculture' instead)

Unlike most books I have bought or borrowed recently (say the past year or so) it does teach me stuff I didn't know before, and I am always glad of that.

I'd recommend it from a library, or if you can get it for under a tenner. Especially if you are interested in a more 'permaculture approach, or if you want to grow loads of flowers in with your fruit and veg.

It is certainly worth a read but I am glad I bought rather than borrow because it has charts I will reference in the future.

i have alys' other book, the thrifty gardener and liked that quite a lot. so ill probs go and have a look for it :) thanks for the review.

Annpan, you are terrible at leading me astray! I have just now bought it on Amazon. And, as I cannot bear to only buy one book at a time, I've also bought Carol Klein's How To Propogate Your Own Plants.
Tut tut, naughty me.

It is on my birthday wish list, so fingers crossed!

Wehave the thrifty gardener in our local library read it several times great book good ideas, love how she goes skip diving in a minidress

New Zealands version is Xanthe whyte, great book called the organic vegetable garden, where she shows her own garden at home not some fancy huge garden funded by huge somes of money

Gosh, doesn't everyone go skip-diving in a mini-dress? I certainly do. With full face of make-up and some heels, too, if it's the weekend...

Homegrown I know of Xanthe White. I seem to remember she won a medal at Chelsea Flower Show for her 'New Zealand' garden, it was stunning.

Can't remember the last time I actually managed to have time to put some make up on
Let alone when I'm rummaging !!

I was watching this last night on the BBC i player. I was impressed, she reminded me of me , although her quip about a small garden was rather annoying. She wants to have a 3 metre square garden and then moan!

I liked her stuff, especially growing the peas crammed in a small box from the supermarket and she seemed far less wooden than she does on Gardners world. I'm intending to catch up with the others i've missed tonight.

Maybe i'll have a peatini while I'm watching it.

I'll probably end up with the book too.

Uller wrote:It is on my birthday wish list, so fingers crossed!

And mine!!

Must admit, I was quite disappointed by the book. I thought it would go into more detail, but other than a few pages (like the height charts that Ann Pan mentions), it seems to be style over substance. And it does serve to make you terribly jealous when you've got kids that need room to play, have a sandpit, room for their bikes......
It's a lovely, dreamy book for reading on wet Winter days; it's not going to be practical for 90% of the population. Her tips on growing are good, but just the same as you probably have in other books already. I'd recommend borrowing it from the library first, and only buying it if you fall in love with it.

That's me off Alys' Christmas card list........

Aw sorry... it really worked for me... different strokes for different folks.

You've got a nice sized garden though - I have a drying green!

I confess - I bought 'The Thrifty Gardener' the other day - I much prefer that. I think it serves as a really nice starting point that kind of gives you the 'vision' for what she continues in 'The Edible Garden', so because of that I've found myself dipping into the latter again, and it has grown on me lots.

Yes, I spend £39.00 on books the other day. The subject - being thrifty........oooh, the irony. (Many thanks to the tax credits people for my handy end-of-year rebate which funded these books and my bokashi composters, LOL....).

"Yes, I spend £39.00 on books the other day. The subject - being thrifty........oooh, the irony. " LOL!

ohhh - just been on amazon - trying to count the pennies to see if I have enough - figure it must be a good buy because I can always copy her clothes too so it serves a dual purpose.