Green Reads, Summer 2010
Essex Libraries have shed-loads of gardening and cookery books. The following list was compiled by Simon Wallace at Southend Libraries

Getting Started
"Allotment Gardening for Dummies" by Sven Wombwell is a new book packed with great tips to help you plan your allotment. Included are sections on how to revive a tired plot, effective composting, simple and safe projects for kids and a handy crop calendar to help you decide the best time to grow your own produce. From the "Dummies" series, there are handy free Cheat Sheets online at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/allotmentgardeninguk

GYO
"Grow Your Own Vegetables" is a handy little book from Flame Tree Publishing. Written by Rachelle Strauss, the chapters guide you through the How, What and When of growing your own vegetables. It also has useful sections on harvesting and preserving your produce, garden-free growing and easy crops for the beginner to try.
Also from Flame Tree Publishing is "Allotment Gardening" by Jez Abbott, another title in the growing range of guides to allotmenteering. This book is very readable and includes a brief history lesson (did you know Albert Einstein was a summer visitor to his plot in Berlin-Spandau during the 1920?s!) Practical and interesting this is a good addition to the subject.

Good Life
Edited by Scheherazade Goldsmith, "A Slice of Organic Life" includes 80 simple eco-projects from baking bread and making your own wormery to keeping chickens and preserving your own harvest. Published by Dorling Kindersley, the projects are well illustrated and easy to follow.

Welsh Wonder
"The Garden in the Clouds" by Anthony Woodward (Harper Press) recalls the author?s attempts to create a garden "so special it would appear in the prestigious Yellow Book- and the famous National Gardens scheme for gardens open to the public for charity". For his grand design the author chooses a derelict small holding so high up in the Black Mountains of Wales, it is routinely lost in cloud. This is the memoir of an ambitious and hopelessly romantic gardener. Note: contains sheep, mud, lots of stones and a "Not Garden?.

Peanuts
At the 1904 St Louis Universal exposition C.H. Sumner first introduced the world to the joys of this packed lunch standard. "The Magic of Peanut Butter" is a vintage-style cookbook that features over 100 recipes for nut lovers everywhere.

Plot to Plate
"New Urban Farmer" by food writer and professional cook Celia Brookes Brown is an inspiring journal, gardening manual and cookery book rolled into one. Great photos, compliment the tasty recipes set to tempt even the most jaded "townie". Dip into this delightful read or visit www.celiabrooksbrown.com for more menus and gardening ideas..

Eastern Feasts
Silvena Rowe?s book "Feasts" inspires you to try out the unique flavours and tastes of Central and Eastern European cookery. With mouth-watering photos from Jonathan Lovekin, this book is a real treat. Why not share Khachapuri (Georgian Bread), Makowiec, a type of Polish Poppy Seed and Almond cake or Beetroot and Date Caviar.

Family Favourites
"Home Made" by Tara Ramsey is a collection of delicious recipes that are meant to be shared with family and friends. This new book compliments her two earlier books; Family Kitchen and Real Family Food and includes some nice vegetarian dishes and puddings.

The One Show
As more and more people turn to growing their own, it can be difficult to find enough space in a smaller garden, or decide between flowers over food. Why not combine them all and discover new ways to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers in the same plot. Need help? Try Graham Rice?s book "All-in-one garden" which is a good starting point.

Easy Beesy
A new title from the Teach Yourself series, "Get Started in Beekeeping" is an excellent guide to for the new or potential beekeeper. Authors Adrian and Claire Waring have over 70 years beekeeping experience between them, and share their knowledge and expertise in this practical guide. Helpful colour photos compliment a handy month-by-month bee calendar.
"Plan Bee" by Susan Brackney (Hay House) tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the humble, hardworking unsung heroines of the food chain. This is an enjoyable guided tour around the world of bees. The book also contains practical tips on attracting bees to your garden or allotment and making your own bumble bee nest box.

Mirror Man
"Back to the Garden" with Mr Digwell is based on the gardening cartoon strips that featured in the Daily Mirror newspaper from the 1950?s. The man himself was born aged 65 and remained so for the next 40 years until he hung up his flat cap and spade in the late 1980?s. Packed with How To?s, What To?s and When To?s, it?s a nostalgic and thoroughly enjoyable gardening read.

Bombers and Mash
Published by Michael O? Mara Books "Eating for Victory" is a collection of facsimile leaflets from the Ministry of Food, showing how millions of people in Britain made do with Home Front cooking on rations during the Second World War.
Pre-Jamie Oliver, this fascinating little book is packed with hints and tips for healthy eating; much of the advice is still relevant today. So go on - rustle yourself up Anzac Biscuits, Nettle Soup, a Welsh Wonder or Brussels sprouts a L?Italienne and eat for victory! Also available in this series is "Make Do and Mend".
Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall tells the story of how people coped with wartime food shortages,
and in the process became healthier than ever before "The Ministry of Food: Thrifty Wartime Ways to Feed Your Family Today" is still relevant in the face of rising food prices, increasing food miles and obesity levels. This book shows you how to better survive the credit crunch with a bit of wartime wisdom and ingenuity.

The Key to Self-Sufficiency
"How to Store Your Garden Produce" by Piers Warren is a modern guide to storing and preserving your crops, enabling you to eat home grown-produce all year round. All the main methods are clearly explained; Clamping, Freezing, Drying, Vacuum-packing, Salting, Bottling etc. Also included are recipes for pickles, jams, jellies, fruit butters, cheeses and fermenting (brewing) your own. Save money, cut down on packaging and reduce food miles.

Home Front
"Green Cleaning for Dummies" is a practical guide to eco-friendly housekeeping. Packed with simple green cleaning tips, the book shows how by making small changes in our housekeeping practices we can all make a positive difference to the planet. With tips on how to take recycling to the next level and reducing your water usage, Elizabeth Goldsmith?s book is a great starting point for reviewing your green impact. Check it out!

Plotted History
The humble allotment has a surprisingly turbulent political and social history, and initially plots were set up as a charitable means by which the poor could grow their own food and so stave off starvation. During the World Wars the allotment became the focal point on the home front, as families took part in the Dig for Victory campaigns. The post-war years saw a decline in the popularity as the supermarket took over from home-grown produce and successive governments ignored allotments in favour of new housing. However, with increased concerns about the environment, food safety and the interest in organic gardening and "Grow Your Own" movement, allotments are once more in vogue, with high demand and long waiting lists for vacant plots.
Twigs Way recently appeared at Southend Library to give a talk based on her recent book "Allotments". Other published titles include "Virgins Weeders and Queens: A History of Women in the Garden' (2006) "Crocodiles in the Fernery: an A-Z of Animals in the Garden', 'Allotments' and "The History of the Garden Gnome' - all published by Shire Books www.shirebooks.co.uk Recent books include "Digging for Victory: The Wartime Garden' (2009), "Topiary' (2010). For more details visit her website www.twigsway.com

First find your plot…
The Allotment Handbook by Caroline Foley neatly covers every aspect of managing a plot, beginning with the “basics” such as soil preparation, dealing with weeds, and crop rotation systems etc.
A very useful month-by-month action plan gives tips and tactics to keep your allotment productive all year round. Other books by this author include: The A-Z of Allotment Vegetables and Practical Allotment Gardening both available from libraries.

Time Management
The Half-Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz is aimed at those who want to enjoy the benefits of an allotment, but are pressed for time. Tried on her own plot, the author uses methods that could help you grow lots - in no time at all!

Beginners Class
The Allotment Book by Andi Clevely is another well-illustrated guide for anyone new to the plot. It brilliantly captures the “blood, sweat and joy” of growing your own. Recommended to allotmenteers of any age.

Small is beautiful
Successful Allotments is a little book with big ideas. Published by Impact press as part of their Green Essential series, it aims to help you easily create an organic garden or plot.
Other simple step-by-step guides include: slugs, compost, ponds, wildlife etc. For more details visit www.impactpublishing.co.uk

Bob A Job 
The No-Work Garden by Bob Flowerdew is a book many people will find instantly appealing - a sort of gardening without the boring bits. As you’d expect from the organic guru, some of his suggestions are off the (tyre) wall, but it could help you get the most out of your garden for a lot less effort.

A Little Green Book
Allotment Gardening: An Organic Guide for Beginners by Susan Berger is no coffee-table book, but a simply presented guide for beginners. Packed with practical advice it gives helpful tips for anyone wishing to grow organically.

Arty folks versus Artichokes
Allotment Folk by Chris Opperman is a humorous celebration of the diversity and eccentricity of the modern allotment community; Great black and white photos portray a world where individuality still is king (or queen).
Shed Men by Gareth Jones features a further cast of eccentric shed-heads. Weird and wonderful - all at the same time!

‘Doing A Delia’
As big as a dinner plate, this glossy title from the BBC, Delia’s Kitchen Garden shows you how to grow and then cook your home grown vegetables. Delia comes up with the double cream, rather than double digging, but the book and the finished recipes are still a feast for the eyes.

Cooking the Books
Having successfully grown all your own veg, why not try some of the new recipes given in Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Supercook. Flavour-filled weekday meals and menus from all over the world inspire without spending hours in the kitchen.

Old Skool
Interested in the recent history of allotments? Travel back in time with the Ration Book Cookery from English Heritage. With recipes adapted for the modern kitchen, this fascinating book provides a true taste of the times, including Mock Marzipan, Curried Carrots and Passion Dock Pudding!
Other titles about the “Dig for Victory” era include Bombers and Mash by Raynes Minns, Spuds, Spam and Eating for Victory by Katherine Knight, We’ll Eat Again by Marguerite Patten and The Wartime Kitchen and Garden by Jennifer Davies’, featuring BBC veterans Harry Dodson and Ruth Mott.
All Muck, No Medals by Joan Mant is a fitting tribute to the vital role played by the Women’s Land Army and the ‘Land Girls’ who helped keep food on the nation’s table during wartime.

What a Year
Allotted Time: Twelve Months, Two Blokes, One Shed, No Idea records the first year on a plot with Robin Shelton (and his mate Steve). This book offers an insight into the benefits allotments offer anyone looking for a slice of the good life, or simply somewhere to chill out and de-stress.

Tricks with String
101 things to do in a shed by Rob Beattie (Ebury Press) is part homage to Boy’s Own Annuals of the 1930’s and part DIY manual. Are sheds simply a place where post-modern man (or woman) goes to find him / herself? Welcome to the sanctuary of the shed!

Gutter Press
The Great Vegetable Plot by Sarah Raven is a visual treat that also comes packed with simple, speedy tips on how to sow, grow and cook great looking vegetables - some of which start life in lengths of plastic roof guttering!

Plot to Pot
Michelin-starred chef Paul Merrett and family share their experiences of breaking free from supermarket shopping to live off the produce from a small London allotment. Using the Plot - Tales of an Allotment Chef is an honest and amusing memoir / cookbook of how one family tries to make a difference.

Food for free
Seaweed and Eat It is a memoir, natural history guide and cookbook rolled into one. This inspirational book shows you how to make use of the wild larder by getting the whole family involved in foraging for free feasts. Packed with recipes and clear advice it puts the adventure back into mealtimes.

Shaker Table
Get back to basics with Norma MacMillan’s cookery book In a Shaker Kitchen.
This fantastic collection of 100 traditional American recipes is based on home-grown ingredients, simply prepared and beautifully presented. Included are vegetarian dishes, breads, puddings and thirst-quenching fruit and herb drinks.

The Best things in life…
Fun shouldn’t be a costly or stressful business. The Book of Idle Pleasures by Tom Hodgkinson and Dan Kieran lists 100 simple, free delights such as Libraries, Garden Sheds, and Looking at Maps, Gathering Food from Hedgerows, Whittling, Slippers, Cloud Watching and Learning the Names of Trees.

New Kid on the Plot
Valentine Low decides to quit the world of dinner parties and take on an allotment. One Man and His Dig charts the entertaining first year in the life of a plot novice coming to terms with Sheds, Slugs and Squirrels.

Green Guerrillas
Richard Reynolds new book On Guerrilla Gardening looks at the world-wide green revolution that’s transforming neglected public areas and unloved shared spaces through innovative and inspirational illicit cultivation.

Free ‘Reading Spaces Toolkit’.
This practical and easy-to-follow guide for any individual or community group shows you how to transform an unused outside space into a permanent reading garden. Visit the NYR website (www.yearofreading.org.uk) for more ideas.