Tuesday morning, just got home from a  very soggy school run (jeans are just starting to dry out). It looks to be brightening up a little, but these days, who knows?

By my bed there is a large and very untidy pile of gardening books and magazines which I tend to dip into  before I goto sleep. One of my favourite books and a book that really inspired me is this one.....

The programme had been on tv a few years ago, Alys Fowler's aim was to grow and forage sufficient that she wouldn't buy any supermarket fruit or veg for a year. I bought the book (at a reduced price, as I mostly do). What intrigued me was the idea of polyculture, something I'd never heard of before. "true polyculture is to grow a variety of plants together that will benefit from being in an ecological community". I don't know enough about gardening, maybe lots of people do this and it's along the lines of "companion planting" like planting marigolds and basil with tomatoes because it helps keep the bugs away and some say enhances the flavour of the toms. Alys Fowler wrote, "I find myself somewhere between polyculture and edible landscaping, dipping in to both to steal the best bits from each". I like the idea of polyculture and my gardening is somewhere along these lines, that and just trying to maximise my use of space. Well, I find myself open to all ideas, I'm learning. This book is a lovely read, I have dipped into it again and again. It gives loads of advice on varieties to try, how to plant/sow, has some recipes at the back and is just a really pleasing book to look at again and again.

This was the second book I bought.

To me, cookery and gardening books should have lots of photos. This book is great for photos, is very simple to follow and does exactly what it says on the tin. I like that it has a breakdown, month by month of what to sow, what to plant and what to harvest. It doesn't go in to a huge amount of detail but I found it a great help when I first started and I can see myself still finding it useful for a long time to come.