A must-read for anyone who wants to know how to grow their own zero-food miles, pesticide-free veg, while treading gently upon our planet. Dave Goulson, author of The Garden Jungle and Gardening for Bumblebees Whether you're an experienced gardener or have ambitious plans for your allotment, this A-Z, soil-to-table guide shows you how to reduce chemical inputs; naturally enrich your growing ecology; and create a hardy, nutrient-dense and delicious crop. In The Healthy Vegetable Garden, expert organic gardener Sally Morgan explains how to use natural approaches to cope with the challenges of a changing climate through principles from regenerative gardening, agroecology and permaculture - all to help your green space thrive. The Healthy Vegetable Garden shows you how to: Combat disease and keep pests at bay with natural predators, companion planting and trap and barrier crops Choose the right plants to attract pollinators and pest predators Build a healthy soil full of organic matter, earthworms and mycorrhizal fungi Regenerate soil through no-dig practices, composting, cover crops and mulching Boost biodiversity through the use of crop rotations and polyculture Rewild your garden by creating a range of habitats, making use of walls and fences, log piles, water features and wild corners Understand plant defences and use biocontrols Make natural barriers, traps and lures A healthy, productive garden should work in harmony with nature to produce and protect delicious fruits and vegetables as well as build a rich soil that is full of life. With The Healthy Vegetable Garden, growers of all levels will start reducing incidents of pests and diseases while creating a verdant habitat - all without the need for fertilizers, pesticides or weedkillers.

In his insightful new book, Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind, contrary farmer Gene Logsdon provides the inside story of manure-our greatest, yet most misunderstood, natural resource. He begins by lamenting a modern society that not only throws away both animal and human manure-worth billions of dollars in fertilizer value-but that spends a staggering amount of money to do so. This wastefulness makes even less sense as the supply of mined or chemically synthesized fertilizers dwindles and their cost skyrockets. In fact, he argues, if we do not learn how to turn our manures into fertilizer to keep food production in line with increasing population, our civilization, like so many that went before it, will inevitably decline.

With his trademark humor, his years of experience writing about both farming and waste management, and his uncanny eye for the small but important details, Logsdon artfully describes how to manage farm manure, pet manure and human manure to make fertilizer and humus. He covers the field, so to speak, discussing topics like:

How to select the right pitchfork for the job and use it correctly

How to operate a small manure spreader

How to build a barn manure pack with farm animal manure

How to compost cat and dog waste

How to recycle toilet water for irrigation purposes, and

How to get rid ourselves of our irrational paranoia about feces and urine.

Gene Logsdon does not mince words. This fresh, fascinating and entertaining look at an earthy, but absolutely crucial subject, is a small gem and is destined to become a classic of our agricultural literature.

Written by a hard-working horticulturalist for fellow gardeners, the aim of this diary is to jog people's memories, share plant stories, demystify gardening and most importantly make the reader smile. You'll find a personal year-long diary of gardening along with favourite seasonal plants, timely reminders and entertaining tales of moving sheep, visiting RHS Chelsea Flower Show and speaking at garden clubs. Tamsin's open garden is at the heart of a working farm, so her book reflects the twists and turns of the countryside. For anyone just about to embark on a life in the country, or whose town garden is never tidy and who wonders how the professionals do it, it's a must read. Pick up tips on how to keep warm whilst gardening, get rid of chilblains and grow seasonal food from someone who lives, breathes and eats country gardening.

With growing consumer awareness about the dangers of garden chemicals, readers can turn to "The Organic Gardener's Handbook Of Natural Pest and Disease Control" as the most reliable and comprehensive guide on the garden shelf. Rodale has been the category leader in organic methods for decades, and this thoroughly updated edition features the latest science-based recommendations for battling garden problems. With all-new photos of common and recently introduced pests and plant diseases, readers can quickly identify whether they've discovered garden friend or foe and what action, if any, they should take. No other reference includes a wider range of methods for growing and maintaining an organic garden. The plant-by-plant guide features symptoms and solutions for 200 popular plants, including flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs, and fruits. The insect-and-disease encyclopaedia includes a photo identification guide and detailed descriptions of damage readers may see. The extensive coverage of the most up-to-date organic control techniques and products, presented in order of lowest impact to most intensive intervention, makes it easy to choose the best control.

Plant is a stylish, practical, modern guide to the world of house plants by the Guardian houseplant columnist, Gynelle Leon. House plants can change a home in an instant. A flash of colour, a calming influence, they are adaptable, affordable and - if you know how - easy to care for. In Plant, horticultural expert and author of Prick, Gynelle Leon, gives you all the knowledge you need to help your plants thrive. Featuring: - A plant gallery showcasing some of the very best house plants - A chapter of styling ideas to inspire you to show your plants and their best - A care guide with all you need to know to help your plants thrive

We have lost touch with the planet that feeds us and its relationship to our health, happiness and climate. Through thought-provoking conversations with inspiring thinkers and writers, and seasonal recipes created by leading chefs, Recipes to Reconnect provides a blueprint for a better way of eating and living. Organised seasonally, each conversation is paired with a selection of recipes, carefully created by chefs in response to the ideas discussed. Themes explored include gut health, rewilding, mushrooms, farming, microbes, soil, fasting, sleep and mental health. Among the recipe and conversation pairings, Harry Boglione's discussion of regenerative farming is followed by Jeremy Lee's foraged dishes, Isabella Tree and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are paired on the theme of rewilding, Rachel de Thample's fermented recipes respond to Dr Alanna Collen's discussion of microbes, Simon Rogan's mushroom recipes are inspired by Merlin Sheldrake's passion for fungi and following Charlie Morley's interview on lucid dreaming are Skye Gyngell's recipes, all designed to enable good sleep.

If you love the joys of eating home-garden vegetables but always thought those joys had to stop at the end of summer, this book is for you. Eliot Coleman introduces the surprising fact that most of the United States has more winter sunshine than the south of France. He shows how North American gardeners can successfully use that sun to raise a wide variety of traditional winter vegetables in backyard cold frames and plastic covered tunnel greenhouses without supplementary heat. Coleman expands upon his own experiences with new ideas learned on a winter-vegetable pilgrimage across the ocean to the acknowledged kingdom of vegetable cuisine, the southern part of France, which lies on the 44th parallel, the same latitude as his farm in Maine. This story of sunshine, weather patterns, old limitations and expectations, and new realities is delightfully innovative in the best gardening tradition. Four-Season Harvest will have you feasting on fresh produce from your garden all through the winter. To learn more about the possibility of a four-season farm, please visit Coleman's website www.fourseasonfarm.com.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, landscape gardening had divided into at least two branches. The geometric style promoted strictly ordered gardens, while the natural style, for which the period is known, preserved characteristics of untamed vistas. Edited by a former professional rival, John Claudius Loudon (1783 1843), this one-volume collection of the works of Humphry Repton (1752 1818) first appeared in 1840. Featuring more than 250 engravings, it illuminates the principal styles and contemporary debates of landscape design. Including perspective tricks to disguise differing water levels, and instructions on the use of cattle as a natural measure of scale, Repton's writings reflect the attention to detail that was involved in planning and executing major projects. The collection is prefaced with a biographical notice believed to have been written by the architect John Adey Repton (1775 1860), who collaborated with his father on many schemes."

A little plant science grows a long way Plant Science for Gardeners empowers growers to analyze common problems, find solutions, and make better decisions in the garden for optimal plant health and productivity. Most gardeners learn by accumulating rules - water once a week, never dry out snowdrop bulbs, prune lilacs after flowering, plant garlic in October-the list is endless. Rules take years to learn and yet leave you floundering when the unexpected strikes and plants look unhealthy, produce poorly, or die. There is a better way. By understanding the basic biology of how plants grow, you can become a thinking gardener with the confidence to problem solve for optimized plant health and productivity. Learn the science and ditch the rules! Coverage includes: The biology of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers Understanding how plants function as whole organisms The role of nutrients and inputs Vegetables, flowers, grasses, and trees and shrubs Propagation and genetics Sidebars that explode common gardening myths Tips for evaluating plant problems and finding solutions. Whether you're a home gardener, micro-farmer, market gardener, or homesteader, this entertaining and accessible guide shortens the learning curve and gives you the knowledge to succeed no matter where you live.

Reconnect. Restore. Reciprocate. Repairing landscapes and reconnecting us to the wild plant communities around us. Integrating restoration practices, foraging, herbalism, rewilding, and permaculture, Wild Plant Culture is a comprehensive guide to the ecological restoration of native edible and medicinal plant communities in Eastern North America. Blending science, practice, and traditional knowledge, it makes bold connections that are actionable, innovative, and ecologically imperative for repairing both degraded landscapes and our broken cultural relationship with nature. Coverage includes: Understanding and engaging in mutually beneficial human-plant connections Techniques for observing the land's existing and potential plant communities Baseline monitoring, site preparation, seeding, planting, and maintaining restored areas Botanical fieldwork restoration stories and examples Detailed profiles of 209 native plants and their uses. Both a practical guide and an evocative read that will transport you deep into the natural landscape, Wild Plant Culture is an essential toolkit for gardeners, farmers, and ecological restoration practitioners, highlighting the important role humans play in tending and mending native plant communities.

Gardens take many forms, and have a variety of functions. They can serve as spaces of peace and tranquilty, a way to cultivate wildlife, or as places to develop agricultural resources. Globally, gardens have inspired, comforted, and sustained people from all walks of life, and since the Garden of Eden many iconic gardens have inspired great artists, poets, musicians, and writers. In this Very Short Introduction, Gordon Campbell embraces gardens in all their splendour, from parks, and fruit and vegetable gardens to ornamental gardens, and takes the reader on a globe-trotting historical journey through iconic and cultural signposts of gardens from different regions and traditions. Ranging from the gardens of ancient Persia to modern day allotments, he concludes by looking to the future of the garden in the age of global warming, and the adaptive spirit of human innovation. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

A practical, accessible, and lushly photographed guide to making your garden a place of beauty and inspiration during the winter months as well as throughout the year. Why put all of our gardening effort into planting only for the magnificent but short months of summer? The dramatic stillness of the garden in winter provides its own opportunities to deepen our connection with nature. In Winterland, accomplished landscape designer Cathy Rees guides readers through the basics of creating rich and compelling all-season environments-exploring shape, scale, texture, layering, contrast, plant choices, lighting, garden structures and sculptures, and more. Design strategies are reinforced by practical advice on garden care, pruning, maintenance, and coexisting with animals and birds. Winterland gives beginning and experienced gardeners alike the tools to develop outdoor havens that will evolve over seasons and years to become true garden sanctuaries.

In this book, Sharon Amos explains how to design and create a beautiful garden for little or no money, offering tips on bartering for clippings, getting a bargain at garage sales or neighbourhood fairs, digging up suckers or adapting wild species and controlling them in a garden environment. She provides a comprehensive directory of 80 plants including detailed advice on where and how to grow a wide variety of garden favourites, from snowdrops to poppies. With beautiful illustrations, Plants for Free is the perfect gift book for cultivating your garden on a budget of next-to-nothing.

If you are concerned about the health of our planet then turn your attention to what lies under your feet. Working in the soil below are creatures that play a pivotal role in producing the food we eat and impacting the quality of our food crops. Earthworms were described by Darwin as the most important species on our planet and by Aristotle as 'the intestines of the earth'. Beginner's Guide to Earthworm Farming provides all the information you need on these remarkable creatures and how important they are to the functioning of life on Earth. The content includes how earthworms benefit the environment, your garden and the economy; the role earthworms play in reducing carbon emissions and removing heavy metals and toxins from our soil; how you can set up your own earthworm farm or compost heap; recyling, how waste negatively impacts water and the environment, how to effectively reduce kitchen waste; and much more.

One of House & Garden's book picks for 2020: 'Whether you dream of a Mediterranean oasis, a rose-filled retreat or a tropical jungle, Green will help you to make the most of your space, proving that small can indeed be beautiful.' One of Daily Mail's best books of the year: 'Can a really small space ever be turned into a beautiful garden? Fashionable garden designer Ula Maria shows how even the tiniest balcony or courtyard can become something special. Featuring numerous case histories and practical advice on storage, paving, furniture and lighting, this is an excellent reference source for anyone with limited space and big dreams.' 'Garden designer Ula Maria takes us on a safari through small but perfectly formed oases...to inspire your very own Eden.' - Elle Deco 'Urban garden design has inspired books ever since the Victorians started to green their sprawling new neighbourhoods. But where Maria's Green differs is that it focuses on the possibilities of growing in small spaces rather than the restrictions. The 22 gardens she has brought together (by various designers) erupt with potential...In Green urban gardens, so often prone to a twinge of pity from those who tend larger, more rural spaces, become deeply aspirational.' - Alice Vincent, the Daily Telegraph 'A must for apprehensive city gardeners and for anyone wanting to make the most out of their outdoor space, no matter how small it might be. [...] Flicking through it feels almost as enjoyable and relaxing as sitting in the garden.' - Gardens Illustrated 'The first book from rising star Ula Maria tackles the perennial challenge of how to create a garden in a small space. [...] Whether you dream of a Mediterranean oasis, a rose-filled retreat or a tropical jungle, Green will help you to make the most of your space, proving that small can indeed be beautiful.' - House & Garden 'Spending so much time outdoors in my childhood made me think of a garden as a natural extension of my home - an inseparable part of everyday life. It wasn't until I moved into a rented property in the city that I felt an undeniable urge to make the most of the little exterior space that we had and re-evaluate it. In time, creating outdoor spaces that people truly care for, no matter how small or large, became much more rewarding than perfecting any indoor space. Many say that a home is a true reflection of self, but I believe it is the garden, where personalities and relationships with our surroundings truly blossom.' - Ula Maria In Green, Ula Maria takes a completely fresh look at creating a garden in whatever outdoor space is available - be it a roof terrace, balcony, small back yard or patio. Perfect for first-time gardeners, the book approaches creating a garden as if decorating a room - exploring how to work with scale, colour and texture, to choosing the plants that will thrive in an urban space. At the heart of the book are 22 genuinely small and innovative gardens with a dazzling range of ideas to copy - from a small backyard garden using reclaimed timber, evergreens and grasses to a rental rooftop terrace in the heart of the city where a cottage-style garden has been created in simple containers. Using low-maintenance plants and affordable furniture, lighting and containers, Green offers simple solutions that don't involve major structural work but will quickly result in a stylish and hugely rewarding urban sanctuary. The book was shot by award-winning photographer, Jason Ingram.