Orchard fruits can be some of the most enjoyable crops that come from the garden. Fruit trees can be decorative, grown either individually or trained as fans and espaliers. In this book, the main types of tree fruits are described and illustrated, and there is key advice on preparing the soil and making compost, choosing, planting and supporting fruit trees, and harvesting and storing the fruit. A section on practical cultivation details essential information on growing and caring for each type of tree fruit, including when and where to plant trees, and how to keep fruit in good condition. The book is perfect for all gardeners who would like to grow their own fruit.

Many people want to grow fruit on a small scale but lack the insight to be successful orchardists. Growing tree fruits and berries is something virtually anyone with space and passionate desire can do - given wise guidance and a personal commitment to observe the teachings of the trees. A holistic grower knows that producing fruit is not about manipulating nature but more importantly, fostering nature. Orcharding then becomes a fascinating adventure sure to provide your family with all sorts of mouth-watering fruit.

The Holistic Orchard demystifies the basic skills everybody should know about the inner-workings of the orchard ecosystem, as well as orchard design, soil biology, and organic health management. Detailed insights on grafting, planting, pruning, and choosing the right varieties for your climate are also included, along with a step-by-step instructional calendar to guide growers through the entire orchard year. The extensive profiles of pome fruits (apples, pears, asian pears, quinces), stone fruits (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums), and berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currants, and elderberries) will quickly have you savoring the prospects.

Phillips completely changed the conversation about healthy orcharding with his first bestselling book, The Apple Grower, and now he takes that dialogue even further, drawing connections between home orcharding and permaculture; the importance of native pollinators; the world of understory plantings with shade-tolerant berry bushes and other insectary plants; detailed information on cover crops and biodiversity; and the newest research on safe, homegrown solutions to pest and disease challenges.

All along the way, Phillips' expertise and enthusiasm for healthy growing shines through, as does his ability to put the usual horticultural facts into an integrated ecology perspective. This book will inspire beginners as well as provide deeper answers for experienced fruit growers looking for scientific organic approaches. Exciting times lie ahead for those who now have every reason in the world to confidently plant that very first fruit tree

There is nothing quite like growing your own strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries and currants to provide a reliable crop of the finest taste and quality. In this informative kitchen garden handbook, all the most popular soft fruits are illustrated, with useful information on their origins, growing habits, nutritional content and culinary uses. A techniques section explains how to train and support fruit bushes, pruning, sheltering plants from the weather and harvesting and storing crops. Whether you have a large kitchen garden, a small garden plot with some space in the borders, or room for a few containers, this book is a must for all fruit growers.

Over the past four or five years in the UK, the grow-your-own phenomenon has meant that more and more people have been producing their own food. From salads and root crops to apples, cucumbers, squashes and strawberries, home-grown food is enjoyed in ever-increasing quantities. And why not? Growing your own provides exercise, nutritious food, and gardeners can choose their favourite varieties for taste or yield. But what about those who want to grow their own, but perhaps have a small garden, and do not want to lose its decorative appeal? How can they combine growing their own food with flowers and colour? Growing for Food and Colour shows that it really is possible to cultivate fruits, vegetables and herbs alongside flowers - and that the beauty of the garden can be enhanced rather than compromised by productive plants. Following the advice in this book will enable the reader to enjoy home-grown food that is fresher, healthier and tastier - but which also looks fantastic.

Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for organic gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields -- resilience science, climatology, climate change, ecology, anthropology, paleontology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, health, and medicine. In the last half of The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends and illustrates these principles with detailed information about growing and using five key crops: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.

In this book you'll learn how to:

-Garden in an era of unpredictable weather and climate change

-Grow, store, and use more of your own staple crops

-Garden efficiently and comfortably (even if you have a bad back)

-Grow, store, and cook different varieties of potatoes and save your own potato seed

-Grow the right varieties of corn to make your own gourmet-quality fast-cooking polenta, cornbread, parched corn, corn cakes, pancakes and even savory corn gravy

-Make whole-grain, corn-based breads and cakes using the author's original gluten-free recipes involving no other grains, artificial binders, or dairy products

-Grow and use popbeans and other grain legumes

-Grow, store, and use summer, winter, and drying squash

-Keep a home laying flock of ducks or chickens; integrate them with your gardening, and grow most of their feed.

The Resilient Gardener is both a conceptual and a hands-on organic gardening book, and is suitable for vegetable gardeners at all levels of experience. Resilience here is broadly conceived and encompasses a full range of problems, from personal hard times such as injuries, family crises, financial problems, health problems, and special dietary needs (gluten intolerance, food allergies, carbohydrate sensitivity, and a need for weight control) to serious regional and global disasters and climate change. It is a supremely optimistic as well as realistic book about how resilient gardeners and their vegetable gardens can flourish even in challenging times and help their communities to survive and thrive through everything that comes their way -- from tomorrow through the next thousand years. Organic gardening, vegetable gardening, self-sufficiency, subsistence gardening, gluten-free living.

Press your own right at home - homemade oils for cooking and health. The Complete Guide to Seed and Nut Oils is a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated and photographed, full-color guide to growing, foraging, and pressing nut and seed crops to produce high-quality oils for culinary and other uses. Coverage includes: A brief history of seed oil extraction Culinary and health benefits of home-pressed oils versus factory produced oils Presses and other equipment options for ease, cost, and convenience How-to for growing, harvesting, processing, and pressing nuts and seeds Profiles of over 40 nuts and seeds to grow, forage, or source including hempseed, flax, peanuts, sunflowers, walnuts, okra, and more. Oil processing, storage, and culinary and other uses Scaling up for community or small-scale commercial production. Whether you want to produce oils for cooking, balms and salves, self-sufficiency and resiliency or for small-scale commercial or community production, The Complete Guide to Seed and Nut Oils is a one-stop shop to get you started.

Live sustainably with style - grow fruits and vegetables, cook them, create natural dyes, then make your own clothes with five full-size pattern sheets. Focused around five crops (blackberry, nettle, onion, red cabbage, and rhubarb) that can be foraged or grown in an allotment, planter, or container, Bella Gonshorovitz - fashion designer, dressmaker, and writer - shows you how to embrace a holistic garden-to-garment lifestyle. - Learn how to forage, sow, and harvest with straightforward grow guides - Enjoy your produce with advice on the best vegan pantry ingredients and recipes - Create natural dyes from your food waste to upcycle fabrics in beautiful seasonal shades - Transform your fabrics into five exclusively designed, essential pieces of clothing, including a shirt dress and duster coat Swap food waste and fast fashion for homegrown produce, delicious vegan dishes, and a contemporary capsule wardrobe with the help of Bella's friendly, accessible approach to sustainable living.

It's wonderful to grow your own fruit and vegetables but what do you do when it all ripens at once? How do you cope with the glut which threatens to overwhelm you? Will help all those who grow their own fruit and vegetables to store their produce properly so that it will last for months and feed the family when the garden's bare. Easy and practical advice on how to bottle, dry, freeze and even salt home grown fruit and vegetables. Discover the taste of your delicious homemade jams, chutneys and ketchups. John and Val Harrison reveal just what you can do with that bountiful harvest and share their 30 years' experience of growing fruit and vegetables and you'll never waste another tomato or courgette again. Praise for John Harrison: 'Britain's greatest allotment authority'. Indpendent on Sunday.

A one-stop treasure trove from the experts at RHS that covers every aspect of gardening! Dreaming of having the perfect garden? Does it have a vegetable patch? Classic borders or flowers to attract wildlife? A picturesque garden for all to marvel at is achievable with this gardening guide giving you the vital tools to achieve whatever you desire for your dream garden. Delve into this concise and practical guide to find all the gardening ideas and advice you need to create a spectacular, thriving garden. Here's what you'll find inside: - A comprehensive guide covering everything from growing in containers to planting a garden from scratch - Fully illustrated with detailed step-by-steps and inspirational gardening ideas - Detailed beginner's guide to garden design, including step-by-step instructions for simple hard landscaping such as building a raised bed, creating a pond, or laying a patio - Covers all aspects of planting styles, including "recipes" to make the most of different types of plants - Easy-to-follow guides on how to water, feed, prune and propagate your garden - Advice on problem-solving and controlling weeds and pests - A chapter full of Plant Chooser galleries to help you grow the right plant in the right place at the right time Learn how to plan, sow, plant, and protect your garden throughout the year with expert tips and techniques that will see your garden flourish. Discover how to design with plants by using colour and texture to create inspirational displays, and keep them at their best with jargon-free guides to pruning and preventing pests and diseases. Undertake a new endeavour of DIY landscaping projects, which include laying your own patio or lawn, or building a raised bed ready for you to grow your own fruit and vegetables. Choose from a catalogue of hundreds of different ornamental plants to find varieties that will thrive in your garden's climate and provide seasonal interest throughout the year. The Complete Gardener's Manual is the perfect all-around practical book for gardening beginners, also for those looking for a step up from a beginners' gardening book.

Learn how to grow wild and exotic, medicinally important, sustainable, and deeply delicious mushrooms right at your own home, just as people throughout the world have been doing for centuries. Mushrooms are healthy, packed with vitamins and antioxidants; rich with flavor, an excellent source of the fifth flavor know as umami; and can be used medicinally in teas and tinctures. By growing your own, you can enjoy these benefits while also enriching your soil, speeding up your composting, and even suppressing weeds-though the biggest draw may be the magic of watching this unique form of life grow. Understanding how mushrooms grow is crucial to successfully cultivating them, and Mushroom Cultivation offers photo-illustrated instruction both on how mushrooms grow and how you can cultivate them yourself, with a focus on six types of mushroom-shiitake, oyster, wine cap, hericium, blewit, and agaricus. You'll learn how to: Grow mushrooms, step by step, in a variety of different mediums: logs, straw, wood chips and sawdust, and compost Troubleshoot problems, including identification, underwatering, overwatering, and insects Store, dry, and freeze your mushroom harvest Cook with mushrooms, including variety-specific cooking tips and 8 tasty recipes Find supplies and more information with the resources listed at the back of the book After reading Mushroom Cultivation, you'll discover that growing a mushroom is really no more difficult than growing a tomato. You just need a slightly different set of skills. Picking your own fresh mushrooms at the peak of their flavor and nutrition is within your reach with this comprehensive, step-by-step guide.

Selected as one of the best gardening reads of 2019 by The Daily Mail Short of outdoor space but want to grow fruit and vegetables? Congratulations. Really, lucky you. Not for you the back-breaking trudge of tending large spaces of land, the weeding, digging and pest vigilance. Gluts? They will mean nothing to you. Instead you can look forward to small but perfectly formed bursts of flavour. Handfuls of fresh leaves, berries and tomatoes, just when you want them, and at arm's reach. As more of us live in cities with restricted outside spaces, growing food becomes all the more important, not just for the delicious results, but as a mindful way to connect us to the seasons and to nature. Full of tried-and-tested, fool-proof crop ideas exclusively tailored for containers, raised beds and small gardens, Crops in Tight Spots guarantees vegetable growing success for even the most newbie of gardeners and limited of spaces.

Discover the joy of growing and using plants indoors and outdoors, no matter how limited your space. This beautifully illustrated book is a modern, fresh take on gardening that shows how anyone can grow their own vegetables, create a mini wildflower meadow or learn how to make the most of their houseplants. And you don't need your own garden to get started. Creating a thriving window box, choosing suitable plant pots for a desktop oasis or joining a local community garden are perfect ways to experience the joys of gardening. Learn which plants will encourage wildlife, discover what works best for your space (no matter how small), find inspiration, experiment with colour, texture and techniques. Whatever you choose to grow, you'll be doing one of the best activities there is to enhance your sense of well-being and improve your physical health - so grab those seeds, pick up the watering can and get growing!

The ultimate guide for all keen gardeners and allotmenteers - The Allotment Almanac by BBC Radio 2 gardener Terry Walton gives key advice on what to do each month, key crops, main tasks and top tips of varieties and is shot through with distilled hard-won experience. Entertaining and informative, you won't need anything else! 'The perfect companion for any allotmenteer, and with Terry Walton, you can't go wrong. His friendly advice will guide you each month, with exactly what you should do on your plot' -- English Garden 'This super little book... for all keen gardeners, especially allotmenteers, who will appreciate the tales but also get some useful tips' -- Kitchen Garden 'What a lovely little book. Takes you through month by month and really well illustrated. Really pleased with it' -- ***** Reader review 'The only companion you will need in the allotment' -- ***** Reader review 'A VERY good book, written from the heart, by a knowledgeable gardener' -- ***** Reader review 'A must-have for gardeners' -- ***** Reader review 'As you read this book you feel Terry at your side chatting to you as if on the plot together - a real joy' -- ***** Reader review **************************************************************************************** From a gardener who has been working on his allotment for over 50 years, this is a brilliant guide to organic vegetable growing and allotment life in general. Month-by-month BBC Radio 2 gardener Terry Walton give us invaluable advice on: - things to do each month - what to watch out for - key crops for the month - top variety tips In addition to this, he peppers this with tales of life on his allotment, creating a charming and heart-warming guide. Taking the gardening reader by the hand and leading them through the gardening year, Terry is the perfect companion, giving technical help, quick tips, reassurance, and plenty of entertainment along the way. What are you waiting for?

This fun-filled adventure handbook is bursting with ideas to help kids discover the great outdoors and get closer to nature. Created with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK's leading gardening charity. This beautifully illustrated book is packed fun activities, handy tips and nature facts to encourage children to explore the wonderful world around them. Make a wilderness compass Grow your own herb garden Build a tepee Learn how to read a map Discover more about plants, trees and wildlife Each page is filled with inspiring ideas for discovering and exploring plants and wildlife, with exciting activities for all weathers.

"Jim Stephens knows his vegetables. Follow his advice and you will have a successful, fruitful, pest-free garden--whether it is in a pot on your deck or a quarter-acre out back."--Marina Blomberg, garden editor, Gainesville Sun With full-color photographs and detailed expert advice, this affordable paperback describes how to grow abundant vegetables and edible herbs in gardens anywhere in Florida. Whether you're planting spring peas and sweet corn or crisp cucumbers and the dill you need to can them, Jim Stephens offers clear explanations of useful gardening terms and practices and joins popular growing concepts with the expertise of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Combining his personal background with decades of experience as Florida Cooperative Extension Service vegetable specialist, Stephens explains - types of gardens (including hydroponic and organic), - site selection, - vegetable variety selection, - garden establishment and care, - soil fertilization and management, - climatic implications, - cultivation practices, and - harvesting and storing. He also addresses the challenge of pests and diseases and includes a detailed and illustrated description of all the major and minor crops usually grown in Florida. And he doesn't overlook the basic, practical advice: thin the turnips, Stephens says; keep your tools sharp and clean; don't use lawn fertilizer on those vegetables. His guide will be indispensable to county agents, school teachers, garden writers, and anyone who enjoys a juicy, homegrown tomato. James M. Stephens is professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida and State Extension vegetable specialist in charge of educational programs for home gardeners. He was a founder of Florida's Master Gardener program, the Florida Urban Gardening program, and the Organic Gardening Research and Education Center at the University of Florida. He is the author of more than 300 publications and articles and more than 200 radio and television talks on gardening

There is a fantastic array of vegetables you can grow in your garden, and not all of them are annuals. In "Perennial Vegetables" the adventurous gardener will find information, tips, and sound advice on less common edibles that will make any garden a perpetual, low-maintenance source of food.
Imagine growing vegetables that require just about the same amount of care as the flowers in your perennial beds and borders--no annual tilling and potting and planting. They thrive and produce abundant and nutritious crops throughout the season. It sounds too good to be true, but in "Perennial Vegetables" author and plant specialist Eric Toensmeier ("Edible Forest Gardens") introduces gardeners to a world of little-known and wholly underappreciated plants. Ranging beyond the usual suspects (asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke) to include such "minor" crops as ground cherry and ramps (both of which have found their way onto exclusive restaurant menus) and the much sought after, anti-oxidant-rich wolfberry (also known as goji berries), Toensmeier explains how to raise, tend, harvest, and cook with plants that yield great crops and satisfaction.
Perennial vegetables are perfect as part of an edible landscape plan or permaculture garden. Profiling more than 100 species, illustrated with dozens of color photographs and illustrations, and filled with valuable growing tips, recipes, and resources, "Perennial Vegetables" is a groundbreaking and ground-healing book that will open the eyes of gardeners everywhere to the exciting world of edible perennials.