Eat What You Grow: How to Have an Undemanding Edible Garden That Is Both Beautiful and Productive

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Split into three main sections, the book takes a holistic approach by building from the basics, which are edible perennials in a variety of sizes and growth habits, up to fillers that self-seed, through to toppings, which are annual plants that will thrive in this mixed system. Among the many possibilities, there are familiar faces such as fig trees, rocket and beetroot, as well as less commonplace plants and varieties such as Korean celery (Dystaenia takesimana) and mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum), a flowering plant from the Andes with edible tubers. If the initial age verification is unsuccessful, we will contact you asking you to provide further information to prove that you are aged 18 or over.

informative and interesting too, i learnt a lot and the idea of polyculture gardens has my brain buzzing. Interesting and well written, but a huge disappointment after Alys's previous book, The Edible Garden. Fowler suggests that it is far less time consuming to garden alongside nature rather than being a chore that includes constant weeding and back-breaking digging. However, the book does work as a concept with its own focus and I think if you haven't read Fowler's earlier work then this is actually the best place to start.This book proposes a way of gardening where edible plants are incorporated into gardens, rather than being the sole preserve of allotments and kitchen gardens.

There are lots of interesting new edibles throughout the book, which may or may not be shown in the photos, but you can't tell, so you haven't a clue what they look like. Her approach, which she describes as a polyculture, hinges upon ‘a good backbone of perennial edibles’ that can be relied on year after year to produce a healthy harvest, alongside a complement of annual plants that you can sow and grow to suit your tastes as well as your capacity.I was especially intrigued by the Edible Water Garden section, as this is entirely unknown territory for me and I’d love to try my hand at growing edible aquatic plants. What I enjoyed most about this book is that it is a galvanising treatise on the possibility of a truly nature- centric edible garden, a celebration of biodiversity as well as deliciousness. She has an allotment and an urban back garden with two chickens, lots of flowers and plenty of vegetables.

Even if you have read her earlier books The Edible Garden then there's still something to be gained from Eat What You Grow as there's a lot more introductory information about Polycultures in the latter. She is fascinated by urban nature and how we make space for it and was a creative consultant on public spaces and recently helped design the Greenwich Peninsula Gardens.It suggests building a garden out of three components, "basics" (perennials), "fillers" (self-seeders that look after themselves) and "toppings" (more labour-intensive annuals). The whole thing feels rushed and low-budget, without the care, grace, and commitment of The Edible Garden, which is a jewel of a book.

In ‘Eat What You Grow’, Alys Fowler shows you how to create a rich, biodiverse garden that feeds not only you, but supports a wide range of pollinators, bees and butterflies, as well as other wildlife.The book sets out the argument for gardening in this way in the introductory pages and then splits into subsequent sections.