A Vegetable Gardener’s Year

This book is for vegetable gardeners and nature-lovers everywhere. It is a ‘grow your own’ manual, a recipe book, and a store of fascinating observations about natural history in the garden. The author writes a deeply personal account of the changing year based on his first-hand experience and a real affection for his subjects and locality. Journeying week-by-week through the vegetable and fruit growing calendar, this mix of practical advice, humour and information on and around the plot satisfies armchair gardeners and full-on nature enthusiasts alike. Thought provoking, inspiring – occasionally challenging – this is a book that can be taken to bed as an end-of-day muse; or get dogeared and dirty as an essential aid to cultivating and cooking home-grown food. Contents: Part 1:Gardening With Dirty Nails; February; Week 1: Frogs & bonfires; Cats; On disturbing a Queen wasp; Week 2: Pond Action; Cabbages for mid-summer; Week 3: Sowing strawberries; Tending broads; Week 4: Boosting winter purslane; In praise of Sycamores; March; Week 1: Preparing for potatoes; Preparing for kale; Week 2: Carrots; Spring onions; Week 3: First early potatoes; Peppers & tomatoes; Week 4: Spring cleaning; Second Early Spuds; Week 5: Tending globe artichokes; Planting figs; April; Week 1: Cabbages; Week 2: Maincrop potatoes; Ridge cucumbers; Week 3: Tending… Strawberries; Kale; Carrots; Cucumbers; Week 4: Watching & listening; May; Week 1: Earthing-up spuds; Greenhouse slug patrol; Week 2: Planting out kale; Looking after water-boatmen; Week 3: Succession sowing; Bird-watching; Week 4: Cucumbers; Beans; Feast & Fast; Apples; June; Week 1: Sunshine & showers; Weeds & tomatoes; Week 2: Cylindra beetroot; Week 3: Downy mildew; A much needed present; Week 4: Red cabbage; July; Week 1: Harvesting shallots; Potato Blight; Week 2: Harvesting garlic; Developing froglets; Working with nature; Week 3: Tending carrots; Pruning Morello cherry; Week 4: Salsify; Week 5: Tomatoes; Butterflies; Potatoes; August; Week 1: Path Clearing; Lifting & splitting globe artichokes; Week 2: Wildlife-friendly strimming; Redcurrant cordial-cum-presse; Week 3: China rose radishes; Cabbage whites; Week 4: The passing of summer; Harvesting potatoes; Week 5: Caterpillar plague; Potato scab; Bitter cucumbers; September; Week 1: Cornelian cherry jam; Week 2: Quality time in the garden; Week 3: Kale; Toads; Edible gifts; Week 4: Gathering leaves; Watching butterlies; October; Week 1: Bindweed & horsetail; Week 2: Planting spring bulbs; Week 3: Strawberries; Alpine strawberries; Week 4: Hoeing; Kestrels on the verge of winter; November; Week 1: Tending figs; Butterfly boxes; Week 2: Planting elephant garlic; Tending ice plant; Week 3: Pruning apple trees; Planning asparagus; Week 4: In the greenhouse; Watching Lesser Redpolls; Week 5: Preparing the asparagus with a friend; December; Week 1: Tending Buddleia; Harvesting kale; Week 2: Help from the birds… and hinderance; Week 3: The mid-winter lull; Week 4: Rhubarb; January; Week 1: Jerusalem artichoke fuseau; Wassailing; Week 2: Making raised beds; Week 3: Dynamite lettuce; Potting up ice plant cuttings; Week 4: First early peas; Planning for Housemartins; Week 5: Seeds; Radishes; Great Tits; Part 2: Tales From The Garden; Part 3: Jobs To Do Each Week; Part 4: Veg On The Menu; Part 5: Glossary Of Terms; Part 6: Index.