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Good Vegetable book?


Cat
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I'm planning on starting a potager soon, but have to admit to knowing absolutely nothing about growing veg.  Can anyone recommend a good book on the subject?  I'm quite keen to keep it as eco-friendly as possible, so ideally the book would also give tips on good ways of avoiding, or dealing with, pests and slugs.

 

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There is one I always go back to: "The Vegetable Expert"  by Dr. D.G. Hessayon, PBI (Experts Series) - vegetables in alphabetical order, lots of good illustrations, troubleshooting section, etc...Not so great on eco-friendly gardening.

To complement this (and also good for your French, which I know is already pretty good), "Le Guide du Jardinage Biologique" by Jean-Paul Thorez - this is the bible of organic gardeners here in France. Published by Terre Vivante

Good luck with your gardening. I had imagined I would grow all kinds of wonderful vegs here, after leaving muddy Lancashire and tribes of slugs, but here it is just too dry, so I am only growing onions from sets (they grow by themselves, and I love red onions), and of course tomatoes. Although, those need a lot of compost - we have 2 compost bins - and feeding organic matter (Or Brun is what I use) AND they still needs lots of watering. Maybe it is not so bad in the Lot where you are.

 

 

 

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I get the Rustica magazine sent every week and it gives excellent advice on planning a potager, together with weekly jobs to do when to plant what etc. They are very "into" ecofriendly ways of doing things, not just gardening. Newsagents/ tabacs stock it. Pat.

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I'll second the Sarah Raven book recommendation. Good, well-written content. She veers towards the "don't bother growing stuff you can buy easily and of good quality in the shops / markets - grow things that taste good, are a bit different and are difficult to find" school of thought.

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Thank you all [:)]

I've had a look at the RHS website Claire, and it's really whetted my appetite.  The two books look good too, and as one of them is available on Amazon for 1 penny (how DO they do that?) and the other is half price, I think I'll buy both.

And Catalpa, that "grow stuff you can't easily find/buy locally" is exactly in line with my way of thinking, you just put it so much better that I could have done myself.

Nice to see you back LL!

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I was given a good book as a christmas gift as this is going to be my first year of attempting to grow veg.

I can highly recomend  Collins Practical Gardener series Kitchen Garden By Lucy Peel  ISBN 0-00-714656-6

It is very comprehensive on the subject and includes fruit as well, with information on best storage methods on many crops also.

Hope this helps.

Sarah

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I like her too and waited for the series with anticipation, but found the first program so disappointing that I did not bother with the others. There didn't seem to be any flow to the content and she appeared to jump from one season to another, or one item to another without any apparent logic whatsoever...

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Whatever gardening book you buy and here I say that Sarah Raven is of course good but the best modern day presenter of Gardeners World was the late and great Geoff Hamilton.  Such a sad loss.  However someone mentioned Percy Thrower.  Here I am truly showing my age but he used to present a gardening programme and with someone from Clack's farm in Ombersley half way between Worcester and Kidderminster.  They were superb.

Just a tip that I have followed from Sarah Raven and that is to start seeds of say peas parsnips and the like in guttering (unfortunately its plastic and thus environmental issues do come to the fore)  and then when they are established just dig a trench and slip them from the guttering into the trench.  It really does work and you can have a conveyor belt system going and as one lot finishes you just replace.  I am fortunate in that I have a 12 by 20 greenhouse with power and heating (you need it where we live in Normandie) and we are still pulling parsnips and will do so for the lunch tomorrow.  The thought of perhaps better weather spring the clocks changing and the like just makes one feel better.

I am currently depressed and that following the result from Edinburgh this afternoon.  However well-done Scotland.

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No it wasn't Clay Jones he used to live near us in Chepstow or should I say we lived near him!  He was a lovely guy and dressed so very well with silk ties and the like.  He really was a nice person and he too died somewhat early.  I am not sure but think he was either from West or North Wales but his house near Chepstow was wonderful but not his garden..............he did not have much time due to radio and tv commitments.  Funny is it not.

 

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I have long since believed that due to retirement I have become a sad and grumpy person and should indeed be the president of any such society.  However I can now confirm at least the sad part of the description in that at 3h.20 when the wind and rain here in Normandie woke one from one's sleep the name of Percy Thrower's co-presenter came to me...............Arthur Billitt now that is sad so very sad.

That cannot be beaten...............yes it can that at 8h.30 I am sat here communicating such news to all those good people who are in their beds on a Sunday morning.

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[quote user="tetley"]Hi Cat, I have just ordered Delia's kitchen garden, from amazon.  No idea if it is any good, but I am a novice veggie grower, and then wonder what to do with the produce[8-)]...so am hoping this book will be a good basic book for me.[/quote]

Just receive it, and I really like it.  Surprisingly it really is more of a gardening book than cookbook, and it is very simple too [blink] ,I recommend this, it would make a nice pressie too.  It is only aimed at beginners.

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