Our top recommendation has got to be The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman. It was reading this book which began to make us realise that perhaps, after all, it might be possible to realise our dream of growing organic vegetables at least semi-commercially. We have tried out some of his methods on a small scale in our back garden and then transferred them to the field. Organising your plot, hoeing techniques, using soil blocks, extending the season - many really practical ideas. He may be writing mainly for the serious grower, but there is something for every gardener here!
You will have noticed that we grow quite a number of Oriental Vegetables, and may have wondered why. A few years ago, we found Oriental Vegetables by Joy Larkcom in the library and started reading. Here was a whole new range of vegetables we had never heard of, and ones that were apparently easy to grow and helped to fill the ‘hungry gap’ of late winter and early spring. We found that our favourite seed merchants sold some of them, and so started experimenting. So far, we have found that many of our customers like them too, proving themselves only too willing to try something new. If you want to try your hand at growing some of them, this book is the very best guide. Easy reading and fascinating. Lots of recipes and a whole section on gardening techniques.
Another excellent book by Eliot Coleman. In Four Season Harvest, Eliot shows how to go on growing vegetables and salads right through the coldest winter. It works for him in a much colder part of the world (eastern USA) and it certainly works for us here in warmer Devon! Some really good ideas and practical guidance for real 12 - month growing!
