Enter a world of tents, tea, and terrifically good jam with RHS Great British Village Show. Written by Thane Prince and Matthew Biggs, and with a foreword by Alan Titchmarsh, this is the ultimate illustrated guide to a unique British tradition. Every year, hundreds of country shows and village fairs take place across the UK. Celebrate this tradition and step behind the scenes of the British country show with insider facts and beautiful photographs that show you every aspect of preparing, presenting, and prize-winning on the big day. Discover how judges reach their nail-biting decisions by using official RHS guidelines for over 100 fruit, vegetable, and flower categories. Learn the secrets behind growing perfect produce, preparing show-quality preserves and bakes with tips from the experts. RHS Great British Village Show tells you exactly what the judges are looking for - and what to avoid. Packed with staging tips, expert guides, photo diaries, and prize-winning recipes, RHS Great British Village Show is a unique insider's look behind the scenes of a wonderful British tradition.

"I think this book will quickly become an insightful gardening friend." -- Adam Frost, garden designer and TV presenter Discover what to do at just the right time to create a garden that's full of life and colour all year round in this invaluable book, now shortlisted for the GMG PRACTICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR award. What to Sow, Grow and Do is a season-by-season guide that brings together projects, advice, task lists and ideas to help you plan your time in the garden, inspire your planting and nurture a deeper relationship with nature. Tracking a year in the garden, it guides you in what to do through a series of how-to tasks and helpful checklists. It also celebrates each season, highlighting the plants to enjoy, the wildlife to spot and the changes you can notice in the garden and beyond. Seasonal jobs cover everything from pruning roses to planting summer bulbs, together with ideas on encouraging and supporting a garden that's full of beneficial insects and wildlife. Armed with this book, you can create a thriving, flourishing garden that's a joy to be in. Whether you are a seasoned horticulturalist or are just starting on your gardening adventure, this guide is an indispensable companion to your year in the garden.

A vegetable garden is not an option for everyone, and so container growing has become desirable for people with little outside space Many have discovered the love of growing houseplants and want to take their skills to another level; others are inspired by the idea of growing their own food organically and sustainably. The book covers all the essentials of growing a range of edible plants in pots, and meeting each crop's specific needs. Author Claire Ratinon brings her urban food growing expertise to this popular subject, in a book designed to appeal to new gardeners and anyone who would like to take on the rewarding challenge of growing their own dinner, even if they've only got a window box or balcony to work with.

This volume is a lunar calendar and descriptive text that guides the novice planter through the world of planting, sowing, tending and harvesting vegetable and fruit plants according to the lunar and zodiacal cycle.

Drawing directly from his experience as an acclaimed climate-change gardener, and of setting up a kitchen garden from scratch for River Cottage, Mark explains the practical aspects of organic growing, introduces us to a whole world of vegetables we may not have previously considered, and does away with alienating gardening jargon once and for all. Mark begins with a catalogue of vegetables that will grow in this country, explaining for each their benefits, what varieties to go for, dos and don'ts, and popular culinary uses. He then invites us to create a wish list of foods, and shows us his own list from his early gardening days. Next, he explains how to turn this wish list into a coherent kitchen garden plan appropriate for our space, whether it be a patch of acidic soil, a roof-top garden or an allotment, whether we put on our wellies in every free moment or are 'time-poor' gardeners. Then he puts all the theory into practice, showing us how to look after nutrients in the soil, how to resist pests and diseases, and how to make our garden sustainable and organic. In clear, concise sections we learn about seed trays, supporting plants with climbing structures, mulching, composting, companion planting, irrigation and promoting pollination, and there are additional tables showing sowing and harvesting times, plant sizes, and alternative varieties of plants for different sites.About thirty recipes and a directory of useful addresses finish the book, and the handbook is complemented by bright colour photography throughout. Practical and inspiring, with a textured hard cover and an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, "Veg Patch" is destined to join Handbooks No. 1, 2 and 3 as an indispensible household reference.

The content of this book originally appeared in The New Kitchen Garden, published in 2015. 'An endless selection of delicious produce you can plant, grow and then cook with.' Raymond Blanc OBE Now you can create your own delicious edible garden at home! More and more people are being inspired to grow a little of what they eat at home. But while starting your own kitchen garden may seem like a daunting task at first, Grow & Cook makes it easy. Award-winning author and gardener, Mark Diacono, has distilled years of knowledge into this pocket-sized book. Whether you are new to gardening and only have a small window box or you are much more experienced with the space to experiment, this user-friendly handbook will inspire and help you. Mark is here to show you that there are plenty of options for everyone and lots of exciting new varieties to discover. Each variety in the book includes a wealth of information on when to sow, growing tips, potential problems, harvesting and plenty more. There are hundreds of varieties to pick from that can be grown and then used in your kitchen. Mark separates the growing guides into three groups: * Vegetables * Fruit & Nuts * Herbs & Spices Whatever you choose to grow should suit your lifestyle. You might prefer something tough and sturdy that doesn't need too much love or time commitment, or you might get pleasure from the steady graft of looking after your veg patch. Whichever your circumstances, your kitchen garden should bring you joy both in the growing process and then in the kitchen. Grow & Cook is the essential pocket guide for modern gardeners.

By reimagining how we design and use our gardens, we can all do our bit to support local wildlife, improve our health and help tackle the climate crisis. If we all take positive steps in our gardens, no matter how small, we can all really make a difference in the world. This book focuses on the activities and planting suitable for a Scottish climate but also contains lots of useful information relevant for gardeners throughout the UK. Practical information on planning is followed by expert guidance on: Planting for wildlife in nectar-rich borders, wildflower meadows, hedgerows, trees and shrubs Building for wildlife with bird boxes, bug boxes, feeders and ponds Green gardening approaches with fruit and veg production, rain gardens, green roofs, compost making and creating new plants through propagation Attracting birds, bees, butterflies and other insects, aquatic life and nightlife

An informative and inspirational guide aimed at anyone who fancies giving chilli growing a go. From 'Hungarian Hot Wax' to 'Red Savina', and 'Scotch Bonnet' to 'Elephant's Trunk', chillies come in dozens of shapes, colours and degrees of spiciness - from sweet and succulent to blow-your-head-off hot. RHS Red Hot Chilli Grower provides everything you need to grow your own chillies from scratch, with step-by-step instructions for sowing seeds, caring for the plants, harvesting the fruit and troubleshooting common problems. Chilli-lovers will also find plenty of background information, such as a short history of the chilli and a guide to Scoville heat units (the official measurement of spicy heat), as well as tasty tips for enjoying the fruits of your work. Packed with charts, checklists, photographs and illustrations, this is the perfect guide to the world of grow-your-own chillies.

Why plant a vegetable garden with the same old tomato and cucumber plants that everyone else has? Small Fruits in the Home Garden is your home gardener?s guide to growing and harvesting small fruit for personal enjoyment. The contributors to this book provide the necessary information and helpful hints for you to grow many new varieties of small fruits, that have wonderful flavor but may not be suitable for commercial production, right at home. Now you can harvest the tastiest varieties at their peak flavor! In Small Fruits in the Home Garden, you?ll see how small fruits can enhance not only your diet, but also your garden and landscape. You?ll learn how strawberry plants, for example, make wonderful perennial borders along paths and walkways and how currants, gooseberrries, and blueberries serve as "edible" hedges that are especially lovely in the summer when their branches are laden with colorful fruit. Each chapter of this unique handbook provides detailed background and growing information on a particular fruit, with special attention to: climate soil pests water table preplant operations planting management pruning fertilizing liming wateringSee how growing and harvesting small fruit can provide you with something nutritious and beautiful that doesn?t demand too much free time. With Small Fruits in the Home Garden, you, too, can easily manage and enjoy small fruit growing.

This book offers everything readers need to know to grow tasty organic fruit outdoors - whether in a garden, allotment or on their window ledge! It is suitable for beginners and includes a comprehensive directory. This latest title, from a growing and successful series, is by an UK author. What could be better than the enjoyment of tasting your own sweet, succulent, home-grown fruit? Most people have got room to grow some kind of fruit - whether it be a small apple tree in a front garden, a grape vine up a trellis or strawberries in a window box. Gardeners seeking a concise, easy-to-follow approach to fruit growing and maintenance need look no further; this book will provide all the practical advice and information that they need. With guidance on which fruits to choose, when and how to plant, propagate, harvest and store them, plus a comprehensive directory of popular varieties to grow - it won't be long before readers are discovering the delights of their own home-grown organic fruit.

For those without the time or stamina to spend hours maintaining a garden, well-known experts Alan and Gill Bridgewater offer an easy-care method with minimal digging and weeding. They show how to make raised beds, build up soil with mushroom compost, cover weeds with mulch, and protect plants with nets and plastic--all using organic methods whenever possible. A must for every gardener.

No dig organic gardening saves time and work. It requires an annual dressing of compost to help accelerate the improvement in soil structure and leads to higher fertility and less weeds. No dig experts, Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty, explain how to set up a no dig garden. They describe how to: Make compost, enrich soil, harvest and prepare food and make natural beauty and clean ing products and garden preparations. These approaches work as well in small spaces as in large gardens. The Authors' combined experience gives you ways of growing, preparing and storing the plants you grow for many uses, including delicious vegetable feasts and many recipes and ideas for increasing self reliance, saving money, living sustainably and enjoying the pleasure of growing your own food, year round. Charles' advice is distilled from 35 years of growing vegetables intensively and efficiently; he is the acknowledged no dig guru and salad expert both in the UK and internationally. Stephanie, a kitchen gardener, grows in her small, productive home garden and allotment, and creates no dig gardens for restaurants and private estates.She presents truly delicious seasonal recipes, made from the vegetables anyone can grow. She also explains how to use common plants you can grow and forage for to make handmade preparation for the home and garden.

No matter how small your space, green-fingered Sam Corfield (aka The Hairy Horticulturist) shows you how simple it is to grow your own edible garden. Covering over 50 roots, shoots, flowers, leaves and fruits, he'll guide you through his foolproof three-step method of sow-grow-gather, while providing useful tips and tricks along the way. Showcasing delicious vegetables, fruits and herbs that anyone can easily grow at home, Sam will also introduce you to some more unusual and colourful veggies (like purple carrots, rainbow radishes and cucamelons!) to show just how exciting growing-your-own can be. Whether you have a small garden, balcony or windowsill, Sow Grow Gather will demystify the growing process, explain useful gardening equipment and reveal how to fit different containers and pots into every corner of your space. With beautiful photography and advice on which plants will suit your plot, as well as how to care for them, you'll go from veg-patch beginner to edible-garden-expert in no time, and have fun during the process.