Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Very thorough , 02 Dec 2008
Because this book is a bit on the large side and has some fantastic photos it seems to double as a coffee table book and an instruction manual . Its an excellent book and Alan Titchmarsh is at his best here .

The first sixty or so pages is concerned with what Alan calls the ground rules and you get advice on everything from planning and design to feeding and composting . The rest of the book contains the directory where you get a run down on all the common fruit veg and herbs found in most gardens . Now this is pretty comprehensive so expect a little information overload . But personally I think its great to have all this info under the one cover . Definitely a book I will continue to refer to again and again .

A great book!, 05 Oct 2008
I was given this book as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I concur with other reviewers so won't waffle on about how good it is. Why only 4 stars? There's nothing on the importance of companion planting when using organic methods and without this, my veg patch wouldn't survive. This info can be researched elsewhere, so other than that, I would recommend this book, especially for a beginner. I'm just about to buy another copy for my best friend who is just that!

Good but slighly flawed, 05 Aug 2008
No one (apart from the late, great Geoff Hamilton) does gardening books for beginners like Alan Titchmarsh. Plenty of practical, common sense advice delivered in an encouraging but non-patronizing tone to reassure the total novice. Clear text together with a good 'directory' of fruit & veg make this ideal for the newcomer to the veg patch. This book could have been improved by fewer photos of Titchmarsh and more clearly captioned pictures of gardening tasks/pests & diseases/plant cultivars etc. I was also irritated by his statement that organic matter such as manure or compost is insufficient to maintain healthy soil without the addition of a general purpose fertilizer. This is total nonsense & an irresponsible statement from a celebrity gardener who claims to be organic. I was also disappointed by his advice to store rainwater for use 'during hosepipe bans'. Again, I would expect an 'organic' gardener to be encouraging the maximum use of rain & 'grey' water at all times. But apart from these minor quibbles, this book would be an ideal companion for the first time veg grower. (Those with more experience will probably prefer Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Veg book instead.)

A Fruit and Veg 'Bible', 01 Aug 2008
An absolute pleasure to browse through and a thorough 'how to' guide. Clearly laid out. Doubt it could be bettered!

Fantastic Book!, 11 Apr 2008
I'm not a gardener, I'm someone who has a bash at growing a few tomatoes, and would like to keep her blueberry bush alive. That's about it.

This book as absolutely wonderful! The information is practical,concise and very easy to follow. There's just the right about of information - not enough to overwhelm you, and not too little that just leaves you with unanswered questions (as with Carol Klein's book). There's also the obvious bonus that this book covers fruit as well as vegetables, whereas most 'grow your own' books are vegetables only.

Alan's book has inspired me to add to my little vegetable patch this year. My tomatoes will be joined by some new ideas, and I now know how to perk up that blueberry bush!

An absolute bargain of a book. A joy to read and a pleasure to work from.

Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Very thorough , 02 Dec 2008
Because this book is a bit on the large side and has some fantastic photos it seems to double as a coffee table book and an instruction manual . Its an excellent book and Alan Titchmarsh is at his best here .

The first sixty or so pages is concerned with what Alan calls the ground rules and you get advice on everything from planning and design to feeding and composting . The rest of the book contains the directory where you get a run down on all the common fruit veg and herbs found in most gardens . Now this is pretty comprehensive so expect a little information overload . But personally I think its great to have all this info under the one cover . Definitely a book I will continue to refer to again and again .

A great book!, 05 Oct 2008
I was given this book as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I concur with other reviewers so won't waffle on about how good it is. Why only 4 stars? There's nothing on the importance of companion planting when using organic methods and without this, my veg patch wouldn't survive. This info can be researched elsewhere, so other than that, I would recommend this book, especially for a beginner. I'm just about to buy another copy for my best friend who is just that!

Good but slighly flawed, 05 Aug 2008
No one (apart from the late, great Geoff Hamilton) does gardening books for beginners like Alan Titchmarsh. Plenty of practical, common sense advice delivered in an encouraging but non-patronizing tone to reassure the total novice. Clear text together with a good 'directory' of fruit & veg make this ideal for the newcomer to the veg patch. This book could have been improved by fewer photos of Titchmarsh and more clearly captioned pictures of gardening tasks/pests & diseases/plant cultivars etc. I was also irritated by his statement that organic matter such as manure or compost is insufficient to maintain healthy soil without the addition of a general purpose fertilizer. This is total nonsense & an irresponsible statement from a celebrity gardener who claims to be organic. I was also disappointed by his advice to store rainwater for use 'during hosepipe bans'. Again, I would expect an 'organic' gardener to be encouraging the maximum use of rain & 'grey' water at all times. But apart from these minor quibbles, this book would be an ideal companion for the first time veg grower. (Those with more experience will probably prefer Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Veg book instead.)

A Fruit and Veg 'Bible', 01 Aug 2008
An absolute pleasure to browse through and a thorough 'how to' guide. Clearly laid out. Doubt it could be bettered!

Fantastic Book!, 11 Apr 2008
I'm not a gardener, I'm someone who has a bash at growing a few tomatoes, and would like to keep her blueberry bush alive. That's about it.

This book as absolutely wonderful! The information is practical,concise and very easy to follow. There's just the right about of information - not enough to overwhelm you, and not too little that just leaves you with unanswered questions (as with Carol Klein's book). There's also the obvious bonus that this book covers fruit as well as vegetables, whereas most 'grow your own' books are vegetables only.

Alan's book has inspired me to add to my little vegetable patch this year. My tomatoes will be joined by some new ideas, and I now know how to perk up that blueberry bush!

An absolute bargain of a book. A joy to read and a pleasure to work from.

Start beating the credit crunch and digest Food For Free!, 11 Oct 2008
I do like a bit of hedgerow and it's great to enjoy the free gifts from Mother Nature, but until I got my hands on a copy of this pocket sized guide, it was a little unclear.

This book is ideal and helps you understand what's under your nose in the gardens! So many common plants can be used in cooking and yet still we pay mini-fortunes for little bags of this and that in the shops. This book certainly helped me to identify and try some of the more obscure plants that I had absolutely no idea I could eat.

It's clear descriptions of what they look like alongside nice imagery of the plants themselves help you feel brave enough to give them a pluck and cook and the warnings are there to be heeded, particularly when it comes to mushrooms (personally, I'd only go for a puffball, you can't go wrong there)....

Although it's an academic book, it's written in an entertaining style and makes for an enjoyable read too.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who's trying to pull in their belts a bit, not because it will give them 'all' the answers, but it WILL help them to understand that all food doesn't come from the shops and that's a great step forward. As is cooking from fresh which of course this book sings out loud and clear.

There's always a really good reason why a book reprints and there are too many to list for this little fella.

Order it and don't leave it to fester on a shelf somewhere - keep it handy in your bag or coat pocket.

Tracey Smith
Author of 'The Book of Rubbish Ideas'
The Book of Rubbish Ideas: An interactive, room-by-room, guide to reducing household waste.

An excellent little book, 18 Jul 2008
This little gem of a book should be in every backpackers back pocket. Concise, focused and descriptive you'll have no trouble identifying the plants and shellfish. There has been some comments about lack of information on animals to eat, this is probably because rabbits, pheasants and such are classed as game and will belong to the landowner. Whilst it's ok to pick a few plants, mushrooms and shellfish it will probably be frowned on if you start blasting away at the countryside or setting traps!

A Handy Pocket Volume, 13 Aug 2007


Richard Mabey is the author of several books on flora and fauna so he is well qualified to write a book such as this. Over one hundred edible plants are featured together with recipes and other culinary information. There is also information on how to pick and when to pick and the regulations on picking which are very important. As I come from farming stock I have to say that food for free does not mean going into a field and digging up a few potato plants or for that matter cabbages.

There are plenty of hedgerow plants available for free, if you are prepared to look for them and suffer the odd few scratches. There is nothing better than a bowl of freshly picked blackberries or raspberries, if you can get them home before they are all eaten.

Plants that are edible are fully illustrated and described and the recipes are both old and new. Other fascinating information is how the plants have been used through the ages. An ideal book for all those who are nature lovers and like the idea of something for nothing. I think the last part covers 99.9% of the population.

Good Introduction, 02 May 2007
I bought this book recently through a desire to understand the countryside around me and try some of its natural foodstuffs.
The book is very well presented and includes an excellent foreword by the author. It provides a basic explaination of the various flora, a little of their natural and culinary history and there are nice photographs with identification hints.
I think I would like to have seen more recipies and ways in which they might be implemented. In the section dedicated to Spring I think there are only three recipies with much of the other suggestions directed towards salads. On balance a satisfactory purchase but I think that if my interest in wild foods develops I will certainly have to follow up my purchase with something more wholly dedicated to the culinary.

Excellent pocket sized guide, 05 Feb 2006
This is a 2004 version and worthy addition to the very popular and pocket-sized Collins Gem series. ISBN 0-00-718303-8. Food For Free - A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore.

The book starts with an introduction by the author Richard Mabey. It then has short sections titled 'Roots', 'Green Vegetables', 'Herbs', 'Spices', 'Flowers', 'Fruits', 'Making Jellies and Jams' and 'Nuts'. They include general advice, observations and uses. The main section of the book is given over to identification, with at least two pages per entry. An interesting section follows titled ’Picking Rules’ which gives advice on how to pick correctly how to stay safe. The last section before the main body of the book is a summary calendar which groups the picking times for entries into a colour-coded calendar - very useful as a quick reference.

Every entry is accompanied with a drawing. Most of the drawings are excellent, but one or two are a little small and thus less detailed. Fortunately, almost every entry also has a photograph. The combination of colour drawings and colour photographs is what makes this little pocket book a true 'gem'. If the drawing is a little weak, the photo will be excellent and vice-versa. Almost fool proof.

Each entry starts with the common English name (Latin is in small type at the top of the page)a colour illustration and description. Taking Beech (at random), it says: 'Widespread and common throughout the British Isles, especially on chalky soils. A stately deciduous tree, with smooth, grey bark, to 40m (130ft). Leaves: bright green, alternate, oval. Flowers: male drooping, stalked heads; female in pairs. Fruit: four inside a prickly brown husk, Sept-Oct. When ripe this opens into four lobes, this liberating the brown, three-sided nuts.' The illustration depicts a leaf, spring twig with unopened buds, an opening husk revealing nut inside and bare nut. The article continues with headings; Harvest/Pick, Uses, Beech Nut, Beech Nut Oil, Beech Leaf Noyau. The photo at the end of the entry is a good close-up of a twig with a cluster of husks. (I didn’t know, for example, that ‘fresh from the tree Beech leaves are a fine salad vegetable, as sweet as a mild cabbage though much softer in texture’.)

The book, in line with its title, covers Plants and Trees, Fungi, Seaweeds and Shellfish. There is a glossary at the end and a page devoted to further reading. There is a List of Recipes and finally an index of entries in common English or Latin.

There aren't that many books devoted to 'British' wild foods so to find one which lists over 100 edible plants, berries, mushrooms, seaweed and shellfish is most welcome. Given the true pocket size measurements of the Collins Gem series of books, the price of a fiver (£4-99) and the quality of each entry, this is as good as it gets. Obviously not a benchmark reference work or field-guide, but at least this fits in the pocket - which is the main purpose of such books, isn't it? Five stars!

Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Very thorough , 02 Dec 2008
Because this book is a bit on the large side and has some fantastic photos it seems to double as a coffee table book and an instruction manual . Its an excellent book and Alan Titchmarsh is at his best here .

The first sixty or so pages is concerned with what Alan calls the ground rules and you get advice on everything from planning and design to feeding and composting . The rest of the book contains the directory where you get a run down on all the common fruit veg and herbs found in most gardens . Now this is pretty comprehensive so expect a little information overload . But personally I think its great to have all this info under the one cover . Definitely a book I will continue to refer to again and again .

A great book!, 05 Oct 2008
I was given this book as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I concur with other reviewers so won't waffle on about how good it is. Why only 4 stars? There's nothing on the importance of companion planting when using organic methods and without this, my veg patch wouldn't survive. This info can be researched elsewhere, so other than that, I would recommend this book, especially for a beginner. I'm just about to buy another copy for my best friend who is just that!

Good but slighly flawed, 05 Aug 2008
No one (apart from the late, great Geoff Hamilton) does gardening books for beginners like Alan Titchmarsh. Plenty of practical, common sense advice delivered in an encouraging but non-patronizing tone to reassure the total novice. Clear text together with a good 'directory' of fruit & veg make this ideal for the newcomer to the veg patch. This book could have been improved by fewer photos of Titchmarsh and more clearly captioned pictures of gardening tasks/pests & diseases/plant cultivars etc. I was also irritated by his statement that organic matter such as manure or compost is insufficient to maintain healthy soil without the addition of a general purpose fertilizer. This is total nonsense & an irresponsible statement from a celebrity gardener who claims to be organic. I was also disappointed by his advice to store rainwater for use 'during hosepipe bans'. Again, I would expect an 'organic' gardener to be encouraging the maximum use of rain & 'grey' water at all times. But apart from these minor quibbles, this book would be an ideal companion for the first time veg grower. (Those with more experience will probably prefer Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Veg book instead.)

A Fruit and Veg 'Bible', 01 Aug 2008
An absolute pleasure to browse through and a thorough 'how to' guide. Clearly laid out. Doubt it could be bettered!

Fantastic Book!, 11 Apr 2008
I'm not a gardener, I'm someone who has a bash at growing a few tomatoes, and would like to keep her blueberry bush alive. That's about it.

This book as absolutely wonderful! The information is practical,concise and very easy to follow. There's just the right about of information - not enough to overwhelm you, and not too little that just leaves you with unanswered questions (as with Carol Klein's book). There's also the obvious bonus that this book covers fruit as well as vegetables, whereas most 'grow your own' books are vegetables only.

Alan's book has inspired me to add to my little vegetable patch this year. My tomatoes will be joined by some new ideas, and I now know how to perk up that blueberry bush!

An absolute bargain of a book. A joy to read and a pleasure to work from.

Start beating the credit crunch and digest Food For Free!, 11 Oct 2008
I do like a bit of hedgerow and it's great to enjoy the free gifts from Mother Nature, but until I got my hands on a copy of this pocket sized guide, it was a little unclear.

This book is ideal and helps you understand what's under your nose in the gardens! So many common plants can be used in cooking and yet still we pay mini-fortunes for little bags of this and that in the shops. This book certainly helped me to identify and try some of the more obscure plants that I had absolutely no idea I could eat.

It's clear descriptions of what they look like alongside nice imagery of the plants themselves help you feel brave enough to give them a pluck and cook and the warnings are there to be heeded, particularly when it comes to mushrooms (personally, I'd only go for a puffball, you can't go wrong there)....

Although it's an academic book, it's written in an entertaining style and makes for an enjoyable read too.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who's trying to pull in their belts a bit, not because it will give them 'all' the answers, but it WILL help them to understand that all food doesn't come from the shops and that's a great step forward. As is cooking from fresh which of course this book sings out loud and clear.

There's always a really good reason why a book reprints and there are too many to list for this little fella.

Order it and don't leave it to fester on a shelf somewhere - keep it handy in your bag or coat pocket.

Tracey Smith
Author of 'The Book of Rubbish Ideas'
The Book of Rubbish Ideas: An interactive, room-by-room, guide to reducing household waste.

An excellent little book, 18 Jul 2008
This little gem of a book should be in every backpackers back pocket. Concise, focused and descriptive you'll have no trouble identifying the plants and shellfish. There has been some comments about lack of information on animals to eat, this is probably because rabbits, pheasants and such are classed as game and will belong to the landowner. Whilst it's ok to pick a few plants, mushrooms and shellfish it will probably be frowned on if you start blasting away at the countryside or setting traps!

A Handy Pocket Volume, 13 Aug 2007


Richard Mabey is the author of several books on flora and fauna so he is well qualified to write a book such as this. Over one hundred edible plants are featured together with recipes and other culinary information. There is also information on how to pick and when to pick and the regulations on picking which are very important. As I come from farming stock I have to say that food for free does not mean going into a field and digging up a few potato plants or for that matter cabbages.

There are plenty of hedgerow plants available for free, if you are prepared to look for them and suffer the odd few scratches. There is nothing better than a bowl of freshly picked blackberries or raspberries, if you can get them home before they are all eaten.

Plants that are edible are fully illustrated and described and the recipes are both old and new. Other fascinating information is how the plants have been used through the ages. An ideal book for all those who are nature lovers and like the idea of something for nothing. I think the last part covers 99.9% of the population.

Good Introduction, 02 May 2007
I bought this book recently through a desire to understand the countryside around me and try some of its natural foodstuffs.
The book is very well presented and includes an excellent foreword by the author. It provides a basic explaination of the various flora, a little of their natural and culinary history and there are nice photographs with identification hints.
I think I would like to have seen more recipies and ways in which they might be implemented. In the section dedicated to Spring I think there are only three recipies with much of the other suggestions directed towards salads. On balance a satisfactory purchase but I think that if my interest in wild foods develops I will certainly have to follow up my purchase with something more wholly dedicated to the culinary.

Excellent pocket sized guide, 05 Feb 2006
This is a 2004 version and worthy addition to the very popular and pocket-sized Collins Gem series. ISBN 0-00-718303-8. Food For Free - A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore.

The book starts with an introduction by the author Richard Mabey. It then has short sections titled 'Roots', 'Green Vegetables', 'Herbs', 'Spices', 'Flowers', 'Fruits', 'Making Jellies and Jams' and 'Nuts'. They include general advice, observations and uses. The main section of the book is given over to identification, with at least two pages per entry. An interesting section follows titled ’Picking Rules’ which gives advice on how to pick correctly how to stay safe. The last section before the main body of the book is a summary calendar which groups the picking times for entries into a colour-coded calendar - very useful as a quick reference.

Every entry is accompanied with a drawing. Most of the drawings are excellent, but one or two are a little small and thus less detailed. Fortunately, almost every entry also has a photograph. The combination of colour drawings and colour photographs is what makes this little pocket book a true 'gem'. If the drawing is a little weak, the photo will be excellent and vice-versa. Almost fool proof.

Each entry starts with the common English name (Latin is in small type at the top of the page)a colour illustration and description. Taking Beech (at random), it says: 'Widespread and common throughout the British Isles, especially on chalky soils. A stately deciduous tree, with smooth, grey bark, to 40m (130ft). Leaves: bright green, alternate, oval. Flowers: male drooping, stalked heads; female in pairs. Fruit: four inside a prickly brown husk, Sept-Oct. When ripe this opens into four lobes, this liberating the brown, three-sided nuts.' The illustration depicts a leaf, spring twig with unopened buds, an opening husk revealing nut inside and bare nut. The article continues with headings; Harvest/Pick, Uses, Beech Nut, Beech Nut Oil, Beech Leaf Noyau. The photo at the end of the entry is a good close-up of a twig with a cluster of husks. (I didn’t know, for example, that ‘fresh from the tree Beech leaves are a fine salad vegetable, as sweet as a mild cabbage though much softer in texture’.)

The book, in line with its title, covers Plants and Trees, Fungi, Seaweeds and Shellfish. There is a glossary at the end and a page devoted to further reading. There is a List of Recipes and finally an index of entries in common English or Latin.

There aren't that many books devoted to 'British' wild foods so to find one which lists over 100 edible plants, berries, mushrooms, seaweed and shellfish is most welcome. Given the true pocket size measurements of the Collins Gem series of books, the price of a fiver (£4-99) and the quality of each entry, this is as good as it gets. Obviously not a benchmark reference work or field-guide, but at least this fits in the pocket - which is the main purpose of such books, isn't it? Five stars!

All you need to know about preserving., 31 Oct 2008
Good, informative and really helpful book. Packed full of helpful hints and tips. Very useful and I'll be dipping into it time again.

Essential Reading, 30 Jul 2008
An essential guide for everyone who is a gardener who wants to preserve their own produce.



Indispensable guide, 19 Jul 2008
How did I manage without this book? My colleagues at work regularly share our surplus produce from our gardens and allotments. This book has provided much needed inspiration for us. The plum chutney recipe is a real winner! The second edition is much improved with many more recipes.
I shall not be short of ideas this summer!

A useful reference book, 10 Jul 2008
This is a very useful reference book and whilst some of the advice might not be practical for some of us, it is nevertheless very interesting.

My copy is very well thumbed!

Even if you do not anticipate a glut of a particular vegetable at the moment, you never know what the next season's weather will bring. Maybe this WILL be a good year for beetroot!

Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Very thorough , 02 Dec 2008
Because this book is a bit on the large side and has some fantastic photos it seems to double as a coffee table book and an instruction manual . Its an excellent book and Alan Titchmarsh is at his best here .

The first sixty or so pages is concerned with what Alan calls the ground rules and you get advice on everything from planning and design to feeding and composting . The rest of the book contains the directory where you get a run down on all the common fruit veg and herbs found in most gardens . Now this is pretty comprehensive so expect a little information overload . But personally I think its great to have all this info under the one cover . Definitely a book I will continue to refer to again and again .

A great book!, 05 Oct 2008
I was given this book as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I concur with other reviewers so won't waffle on about how good it is. Why only 4 stars? There's nothing on the importance of companion planting when using organic methods and without this, my veg patch wouldn't survive. This info can be researched elsewhere, so other than that, I would recommend this book, especially for a beginner. I'm just about to buy another copy for my best friend who is just that!

Good but slighly flawed, 05 Aug 2008
No one (apart from the late, great Geoff Hamilton) does gardening books for beginners like Alan Titchmarsh. Plenty of practical, common sense advice delivered in an encouraging but non-patronizing tone to reassure the total novice. Clear text together with a good 'directory' of fruit & veg make this ideal for the newcomer to the veg patch. This book could have been improved by fewer photos of Titchmarsh and more clearly captioned pictures of gardening tasks/pests & diseases/plant cultivars etc. I was also irritated by his statement that organic matter such as manure or compost is insufficient to maintain healthy soil without the addition of a general purpose fertilizer. This is total nonsense & an irresponsible statement from a celebrity gardener who claims to be organic. I was also disappointed by his advice to store rainwater for use 'during hosepipe bans'. Again, I would expect an 'organic' gardener to be encouraging the maximum use of rain & 'grey' water at all times. But apart from these minor quibbles, this book would be an ideal companion for the first time veg grower. (Those with more experience will probably prefer Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Veg book instead.)

A Fruit and Veg 'Bible', 01 Aug 2008
An absolute pleasure to browse through and a thorough 'how to' guide. Clearly laid out. Doubt it could be bettered!

Fantastic Book!, 11 Apr 2008
I'm not a gardener, I'm someone who has a bash at growing a few tomatoes, and would like to keep her blueberry bush alive. That's about it.

This book as absolutely wonderful! The information is practical,concise and very easy to follow. There's just the right about of information - not enough to overwhelm you, and not too little that just leaves you with unanswered questions (as with Carol Klein's book). There's also the obvious bonus that this book covers fruit as well as vegetables, whereas most 'grow your own' books are vegetables only.

Alan's book has inspired me to add to my little vegetable patch this year. My tomatoes will be joined by some new ideas, and I now know how to perk up that blueberry bush!

An absolute bargain of a book. A joy to read and a pleasure to work from.

Start beating the credit crunch and digest Food For Free!, 11 Oct 2008
I do like a bit of hedgerow and it's great to enjoy the free gifts from Mother Nature, but until I got my hands on a copy of this pocket sized guide, it was a little unclear.

This book is ideal and helps you understand what's under your nose in the gardens! So many common plants can be used in cooking and yet still we pay mini-fortunes for little bags of this and that in the shops. This book certainly helped me to identify and try some of the more obscure plants that I had absolutely no idea I could eat.

It's clear descriptions of what they look like alongside nice imagery of the plants themselves help you feel brave enough to give them a pluck and cook and the warnings are there to be heeded, particularly when it comes to mushrooms (personally, I'd only go for a puffball, you can't go wrong there)....

Although it's an academic book, it's written in an entertaining style and makes for an enjoyable read too.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who's trying to pull in their belts a bit, not because it will give them 'all' the answers, but it WILL help them to understand that all food doesn't come from the shops and that's a great step forward. As is cooking from fresh which of course this book sings out loud and clear.

There's always a really good reason why a book reprints and there are too many to list for this little fella.

Order it and don't leave it to fester on a shelf somewhere - keep it handy in your bag or coat pocket.

Tracey Smith
Author of 'The Book of Rubbish Ideas'
The Book of Rubbish Ideas: An interactive, room-by-room, guide to reducing household waste.

An excellent little book, 18 Jul 2008
This little gem of a book should be in every backpackers back pocket. Concise, focused and descriptive you'll have no trouble identifying the plants and shellfish. There has been some comments about lack of information on animals to eat, this is probably because rabbits, pheasants and such are classed as game and will belong to the landowner. Whilst it's ok to pick a few plants, mushrooms and shellfish it will probably be frowned on if you start blasting away at the countryside or setting traps!

A Handy Pocket Volume, 13 Aug 2007


Richard Mabey is the author of several books on flora and fauna so he is well qualified to write a book such as this. Over one hundred edible plants are featured together with recipes and other culinary information. There is also information on how to pick and when to pick and the regulations on picking which are very important. As I come from farming stock I have to say that food for free does not mean going into a field and digging up a few potato plants or for that matter cabbages.

There are plenty of hedgerow plants available for free, if you are prepared to look for them and suffer the odd few scratches. There is nothing better than a bowl of freshly picked blackberries or raspberries, if you can get them home before they are all eaten.

Plants that are edible are fully illustrated and described and the recipes are both old and new. Other fascinating information is how the plants have been used through the ages. An ideal book for all those who are nature lovers and like the idea of something for nothing. I think the last part covers 99.9% of the population.

Good Introduction, 02 May 2007
I bought this book recently through a desire to understand the countryside around me and try some of its natural foodstuffs.
The book is very well presented and includes an excellent foreword by the author. It provides a basic explaination of the various flora, a little of their natural and culinary history and there are nice photographs with identification hints.
I think I would like to have seen more recipies and ways in which they might be implemented. In the section dedicated to Spring I think there are only three recipies with much of the other suggestions directed towards salads. On balance a satisfactory purchase but I think that if my interest in wild foods develops I will certainly have to follow up my purchase with something more wholly dedicated to the culinary.

Excellent pocket sized guide, 05 Feb 2006
This is a 2004 version and worthy addition to the very popular and pocket-sized Collins Gem series. ISBN 0-00-718303-8. Food For Free - A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore.

The book starts with an introduction by the author Richard Mabey. It then has short sections titled 'Roots', 'Green Vegetables', 'Herbs', 'Spices', 'Flowers', 'Fruits', 'Making Jellies and Jams' and 'Nuts'. They include general advice, observations and uses. The main section of the book is given over to identification, with at least two pages per entry. An interesting section follows titled ’Picking Rules’ which gives advice on how to pick correctly how to stay safe. The last section before the main body of the book is a summary calendar which groups the picking times for entries into a colour-coded calendar - very useful as a quick reference.

Every entry is accompanied with a drawing. Most of the drawings are excellent, but one or two are a little small and thus less detailed. Fortunately, almost every entry also has a photograph. The combination of colour drawings and colour photographs is what makes this little pocket book a true 'gem'. If the drawing is a little weak, the photo will be excellent and vice-versa. Almost fool proof.

Each entry starts with the common English name (Latin is in small type at the top of the page)a colour illustration and description. Taking Beech (at random), it says: 'Widespread and common throughout the British Isles, especially on chalky soils. A stately deciduous tree, with smooth, grey bark, to 40m (130ft). Leaves: bright green, alternate, oval. Flowers: male drooping, stalked heads; female in pairs. Fruit: four inside a prickly brown husk, Sept-Oct. When ripe this opens into four lobes, this liberating the brown, three-sided nuts.' The illustration depicts a leaf, spring twig with unopened buds, an opening husk revealing nut inside and bare nut. The article continues with headings; Harvest/Pick, Uses, Beech Nut, Beech Nut Oil, Beech Leaf Noyau. The photo at the end of the entry is a good close-up of a twig with a cluster of husks. (I didn’t know, for example, that ‘fresh from the tree Beech leaves are a fine salad vegetable, as sweet as a mild cabbage though much softer in texture’.)

The book, in line with its title, covers Plants and Trees, Fungi, Seaweeds and Shellfish. There is a glossary at the end and a page devoted to further reading. There is a List of Recipes and finally an index of entries in common English or Latin.

There aren't that many books devoted to 'British' wild foods so to find one which lists over 100 edible plants, berries, mushrooms, seaweed and shellfish is most welcome. Given the true pocket size measurements of the Collins Gem series of books, the price of a fiver (£4-99) and the quality of each entry, this is as good as it gets. Obviously not a benchmark reference work or field-guide, but at least this fits in the pocket - which is the main purpose of such books, isn't it? Five stars!

All you need to know about preserving., 31 Oct 2008
Good, informative and really helpful book. Packed full of helpful hints and tips. Very useful and I'll be dipping into it time again.

Essential Reading, 30 Jul 2008
An essential guide for everyone who is a gardener who wants to preserve their own produce.



Indispensable guide, 19 Jul 2008
How did I manage without this book? My colleagues at work regularly share our surplus produce from our gardens and allotments. This book has provided much needed inspiration for us. The plum chutney recipe is a real winner! The second edition is much improved with many more recipes.
I shall not be short of ideas this summer!

A useful reference book, 10 Jul 2008
This is a very useful reference book and whilst some of the advice might not be practical for some of us, it is nevertheless very interesting.

My copy is very well thumbed!

Even if you do not anticipate a glut of a particular vegetable at the moment, you never know what the next season's weather will bring. Maybe this WILL be a good year for beetroot!

If they're forgotten, this is a great reminder, 21 Aug 2008
Christopher Stock's book is such a nice, anti-market forces type of book. Stocks has gone all over Britain to research the stories of heritage fruit and veg varieties - the kind that taste really good but maybe don't look quite as uniform, neat and tidy. There's the right amount of history - from the French spy Frézier to Charlotte Knight, cherry breeder - and he's not pretending to have solved every puzzle - the Bascombe Mystery remains just that.

Each variety is treated in a section that's just the right length - about a page or so. The first section alone, Apples, made me want to go to an Apple day and actually try some of the fragrant fruit he enthuses about - the Cornish Gilliflower, the Crawley Beauty. There's lots of practical info in there too - Dumelow's seedling has better flavour and texture than a Bramley for mincemeat and baking, for example. Good lists of suppliers and historic veg gardens to visit, too.

i don't know whether I will ever read it all the way through, but it's such a treat for a bathroom - ten minutes in the bath with this utterly relaxing book and you feel the woes and stresses of everyday life sink away as you ponder the Long Green Ridge Cucumber and other marvels of yesteryear.

My only, only complaint would be that the two sections of colour photos seemed like a bit of a waste of time. The black and white engravings which pepper the text are much more evocative.

My favourite bit: finding out that the radish was "rated so far above other foods" in Ancient Greece that "in the Temple of Apollo a radish modelled in gold was dedicated as a votive offering."

Delectable!, 28 May 2008
A charming glimpse into the highways and byways of England's horticultural (and culinary) history, illuminated by fascinating anecdotes. Perfect for dipping into and strongly recommended for gardeners and cooks alike.

Good enough to eat, 07 May 2008
Like the best fruit and veg, this delicious book appeals to all the senses at once. Meticulously researched, it dispels a few allotment myths, fixes facts and sets the record straight in a number of instances. It will be devoured greedily by hard-headed horticulturists and dewy-eyed nostalgics alike; for the historian it supplies a ticklish, oblique insight into Britain's social history. This is a serious and definitive work of fact liltingly well written, bathed in warm, light humour. It is both a work of delight and a work of reference. For lovers of language there is a euphony in plant names which places them right up there with Dorset place names. They taste as well in the mouth as their subjects. Savour them: Cranston's Excelsior, Vaux's Self-Folding, Hero of the Nile, Long Prickly...

This book has no rivals. It deserves to be established in discriminating bookshelves everywhere, planted where it can be easily and frequently reached.

Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Very thorough , 02 Dec 2008
Because this book is a bit on the large side and has some fantastic photos it seems to double as a coffee table book and an instruction manual . Its an excellent book and Alan Titchmarsh is at his best here .

The first sixty or so pages is concerned with what Alan calls the ground rules and you get advice on everything from planning and design to feeding and composting . The rest of the book contains the directory where you get a run down on all the common fruit veg and herbs found in most gardens . Now this is pretty comprehensive so expect a little information overload . But personally I think its great to have all this info under the one cover . Definitely a book I will continue to refer to again and again .

A great book!, 05 Oct 2008
I was given this book as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I concur with other reviewers so won't waffle on about how good it is. Why only 4 stars? There's nothing on the importance of companion planting when using organic methods and without this, my veg patch wouldn't survive. This info can be researched elsewhere, so other than that, I would recommend this book, especially for a beginner. I'm just about to buy another copy for my best friend who is just that!

Good but slighly flawed, 05 Aug 2008
No one (apart from the late, great Geoff Hamilton) does gardening books for beginners like Alan Titchmarsh. Plenty of practical, common sense advice delivered in an encouraging but non-patronizing tone to reassure the total novice. Clear text together with a good 'directory' of fruit & veg make this ideal for the newcomer to the veg patch. This book could have been improved by fewer photos of Titchmarsh and more clearly captioned pictures of gardening tasks/pests & diseases/plant cultivars etc. I was also irritated by his statement that organic matter such as manure or compost is insufficient to maintain healthy soil without the addition of a general purpose fertilizer. This is total nonsense & an irresponsible statement from a celebrity gardener who claims to be organic. I was also disappointed by his advice to store rainwater for use 'during hosepipe bans'. Again, I would expect an 'organic' gardener to be encouraging the maximum use of rain & 'grey' water at all times. But apart from these minor quibbles, this book would be an ideal companion for the first time veg grower. (Those with more experience will probably prefer Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Veg book instead.)

A Fruit and Veg 'Bible', 01 Aug 2008
An absolute pleasure to browse through and a thorough 'how to' guide. Clearly laid out. Doubt it could be bettered!

Fantastic Book!, 11 Apr 2008
I'm not a gardener, I'm someone who has a bash at growing a few tomatoes, and would like to keep her blueberry bush alive. That's about it.

This book as absolutely wonderful! The information is practical,concise and very easy to follow. There's just the right about of information - not enough to overwhelm you, and not too little that just leaves you with unanswered questions (as with Carol Klein's book). There's also the obvious bonus that this book covers fruit as well as vegetables, whereas most 'grow your own' books are vegetables only.

Alan's book has inspired me to add to my little vegetable patch this year. My tomatoes will be joined by some new ideas, and I now know how to perk up that blueberry bush!

An absolute bargain of a book. A joy to read and a pleasure to work from.

Start beating the credit crunch and digest Food For Free!, 11 Oct 2008
I do like a bit of hedgerow and it's great to enjoy the free gifts from Mother Nature, but until I got my hands on a copy of this pocket sized guide, it was a little unclear.

This book is ideal and helps you understand what's under your nose in the gardens! So many common plants can be used in cooking and yet still we pay mini-fortunes for little bags of this and that in the shops. This book certainly helped me to identify and try some of the more obscure plants that I had absolutely no idea I could eat.

It's clear descriptions of what they look like alongside nice imagery of the plants themselves help you feel brave enough to give them a pluck and cook and the warnings are there to be heeded, particularly when it comes to mushrooms (personally, I'd only go for a puffball, you can't go wrong there)....

Although it's an academic book, it's written in an entertaining style and makes for an enjoyable read too.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who's trying to pull in their belts a bit, not because it will give them 'all' the answers, but it WILL help them to understand that all food doesn't come from the shops and that's a great step forward. As is cooking from fresh which of course this book sings out loud and clear.

There's always a really good reason why a book reprints and there are too many to list for this little fella.

Order it and don't leave it to fester on a shelf somewhere - keep it handy in your bag or coat pocket.

Tracey Smith
Author of 'The Book of Rubbish Ideas'
The Book of Rubbish Ideas: An interactive, room-by-room, guide to reducing household waste.

An excellent little book, 18 Jul 2008
This little gem of a book should be in every backpackers back pocket. Concise, focused and descriptive you'll have no trouble identifying the plants and shellfish. There has been some comments about lack of information on animals to eat, this is probably because rabbits, pheasants and such are classed as game and will belong to the landowner. Whilst it's ok to pick a few plants, mushrooms and shellfish it will probably be frowned on if you start blasting away at the countryside or setting traps!

A Handy Pocket Volume, 13 Aug 2007


Richard Mabey is the author of several books on flora and fauna so he is well qualified to write a book such as this. Over one hundred edible plants are featured together with recipes and other culinary information. There is also information on how to pick and when to pick and the regulations on picking which are very important. As I come from farming stock I have to say that food for free does not mean going into a field and digging up a few potato plants or for that matter cabbages.

There are plenty of hedgerow plants available for free, if you are prepared to look for them and suffer the odd few scratches. There is nothing better than a bowl of freshly picked blackberries or raspberries, if you can get them home before they are all eaten.

Plants that are edible are fully illustrated and described and the recipes are both old and new. Other fascinating information is how the plants have been used through the ages. An ideal book for all those who are nature lovers and like the idea of something for nothing. I think the last part covers 99.9% of the population.

Good Introduction, 02 May 2007
I bought this book recently through a desire to understand the countryside around me and try some of its natural foodstuffs.
The book is very well presented and includes an excellent foreword by the author. It provides a basic explaination of the various flora, a little of their natural and culinary history and there are nice photographs with identification hints.
I think I would like to have seen more recipies and ways in which they might be implemented. In the section dedicated to Spring I think there are only three recipies with much of the other suggestions directed towards salads. On balance a satisfactory purchase but I think that if my interest in wild foods develops I will certainly have to follow up my purchase with something more wholly dedicated to the culinary.

Excellent pocket sized guide, 05 Feb 2006
This is a 2004 version and worthy addition to the very popular and pocket-sized Collins Gem series. ISBN 0-00-718303-8. Food For Free - A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore.

The book starts with an introduction by the author Richard Mabey. It then has short sections titled 'Roots', 'Green Vegetables', 'Herbs', 'Spices', 'Flowers', 'Fruits', 'Making Jellies and Jams' and 'Nuts'. They include general advice, observations and uses. The main section of the book is given over to identification, with at least two pages per entry. An interesting section follows titled ’Picking Rules’ which gives advice on how to pick correctly how to stay safe. The last section before the main body of the book is a summary calendar which groups the picking times for entries into a colour-coded calendar - very useful as a quick reference.

Every entry is accompanied with a drawing. Most of the drawings are excellent, but one or two are a little small and thus less detailed. Fortunately, almost every entry also has a photograph. The combination of colour drawings and colour photographs is what makes this little pocket book a true 'gem'. If the drawing is a little weak, the photo will be excellent and vice-versa. Almost fool proof.

Each entry starts with the common English name (Latin is in small type at the top of the page)a colour illustration and description. Taking Beech (at random), it says: 'Widespread and common throughout the British Isles, especially on chalky soils. A stately deciduous tree, with smooth, grey bark, to 40m (130ft). Leaves: bright green, alternate, oval. Flowers: male drooping, stalked heads; female in pairs. Fruit: four inside a prickly brown husk, Sept-Oct. When ripe this opens into four lobes, this liberating the brown, three-sided nuts.' The illustration depicts a leaf, spring twig with unopened buds, an opening husk revealing nut inside and bare nut. The article continues with headings; Harvest/Pick, Uses, Beech Nut, Beech Nut Oil, Beech Leaf Noyau. The photo at the end of the entry is a good close-up of a twig with a cluster of husks. (I didn’t know, for example, that ‘fresh from the tree Beech leaves are a fine salad vegetable, as sweet as a mild cabbage though much softer in texture’.)

The book, in line with its title, covers Plants and Trees, Fungi, Seaweeds and Shellfish. There is a glossary at the end and a page devoted to further reading. There is a List of Recipes and finally an index of entries in common English or Latin.

There aren't that many books devoted to 'British' wild foods so to find one which lists over 100 edible plants, berries, mushrooms, seaweed and shellfish is most welcome. Given the true pocket size measurements of the Collins Gem series of books, the price of a fiver (£4-99) and the quality of each entry, this is as good as it gets. Obviously not a benchmark reference work or field-guide, but at least this fits in the pocket - which is the main purpose of such books, isn't it? Five stars!

All you need to know about preserving., 31 Oct 2008
Good, informative and really helpful book. Packed full of helpful hints and tips. Very useful and I'll be dipping into it time again.

Essential Reading, 30 Jul 2008
An essential guide for everyone who is a gardener who wants to preserve their own produce.



Indispensable guide, 19 Jul 2008
How did I manage without this book? My colleagues at work regularly share our surplus produce from our gardens and allotments. This book has provided much needed inspiration for us. The plum chutney recipe is a real winner! The second edition is much improved with many more recipes.
I shall not be short of ideas this summer!

A useful reference book, 10 Jul 2008
This is a very useful reference book and whilst some of the advice might not be practical for some of us, it is nevertheless very interesting.

My copy is very well thumbed!

Even if you do not anticipate a glut of a particular vegetable at the moment, you never know what the next season's weather will bring. Maybe this WILL be a good year for beetroot!

If they're forgotten, this is a great reminder, 21 Aug 2008
Christopher Stock's book is such a nice, anti-market forces type of book. Stocks has gone all over Britain to research the stories of heritage fruit and veg varieties - the kind that taste really good but maybe don't look quite as uniform, neat and tidy. There's the right amount of history - from the French spy Frézier to Charlotte Knight, cherry breeder - and he's not pretending to have solved every puzzle - the Bascombe Mystery remains just that.

Each variety is treated in a section that's just the right length - about a page or so. The first section alone, Apples, made me want to go to an Apple day and actually try some of the fragrant fruit he enthuses about - the Cornish Gilliflower, the Crawley Beauty. There's lots of practical info in there too - Dumelow's seedling has better flavour and texture than a Bramley for mincemeat and baking, for example. Good lists of suppliers and historic veg gardens to visit, too.

i don't know whether I will ever read it all the way through, but it's such a treat for a bathroom - ten minutes in the bath with this utterly relaxing book and you feel the woes and stresses of everyday life sink away as you ponder the Long Green Ridge Cucumber and other marvels of yesteryear.

My only, only complaint would be that the two sections of colour photos seemed like a bit of a waste of time. The black and white engravings which pepper the text are much more evocative.

My favourite bit: finding out that the radish was "rated so far above other foods" in Ancient Greece that "in the Temple of Apollo a radish modelled in gold was dedicated as a votive offering."

Delectable!, 28 May 2008
A charming glimpse into the highways and byways of England's horticultural (and culinary) history, illuminated by fascinating anecdotes. Perfect for dipping into and strongly recommended for gardeners and cooks alike.

Good enough to eat, 07 May 2008
Like the best fruit and veg, this delicious book appeals to all the senses at once. Meticulously researched, it dispels a few allotment myths, fixes facts and sets the record straight in a number of instances. It will be devoured greedily by hard-headed horticulturists and dewy-eyed nostalgics alike; for the historian it supplies a ticklish, oblique insight into Britain's social history. This is a serious and definitive work of fact liltingly well written, bathed in warm, light humour. It is both a work of delight and a work of reference. For lovers of language there is a euphony in plant names which places them right up there with Dorset place names. They taste as well in the mouth as their subjects. Savour them: Cranston's Excelsior, Vaux's Self-Folding, Hero of the Nile, Long Prickly...

This book has no rivals. It deserves to be established in discriminating bookshelves everywhere, planted where it can be easily and frequently reached.

Fantastic!, 24 Oct 2008
This book is a great basic guide on how to prepare a vegetable bed and advice on how to plant various veg. Cant wait to start planting up my new veg plot next year! :)

A Darn good start, 30 Jul 2008
I have a small back garden, and wanted to plant some veg, but had no idea where to start, what would survive, how much space I'd need & what would grow in small spaces.

This book gave me a darn good start! It gave me an idea of space required per vegetable, what would grow, and, this sumnmer, I have courgettes & pumpkins in my flowerbeds, carrots, peas, beans, beetroot and spinach in big pots, potatoes in tyres and a HUGE amount of enthusiasm for next year!

Value for money, 24 Nov 2008
This is an excellent purchase, what would you get for under a fiver nowadays? As a novice gardener I found the chapters on planning the gardening year and getting the most from your land absolutely vital.This guide covers the basics in a very comprehensive manner indeed and although a little lacking in the visual side of things the quality of information contained more than compensates.The brief guide to vegetables is excellent and I can safely say this guide will continue to be used as a reference even after my garden is well established.Worth every penny.

Jane, 21 Nov 2008
I bought this book and was really happy that I had. It isn't full of glossy photos but it has lots of information and really tells you what you need to know to get growing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants no nonsense information.

Wrongly titled, 31 Oct 2008
A down-to-basics book this may be. However, it was purchased purely for the Month by Month guide which occupies only pages 119 to 164. The design and format of this information is poor and the author and publisher have no excuse for such a literary piece when superior examples abound. The style could be reminiscent of Isaac Walton. This book is about basic gardening and its poor presentation is reflected by its price. Not worth a buy.

Purchased this book based on Amazon Reviews - They are Right!, 31 Oct 2008
The title says it all.
Book was purchased as an after-thought when purchasing another book.
This offers more practical advice, & costs little more than a magazine.
BUY!

Get it with free seeds!, 11 Oct 2008
I can second all other positive comments on here but let you all know that if you get it from www . allotment . org . uk / book / index . php it will cost you £6.99 including postage but, and here's the good bit, you get £10 worth of seeds with it for free!!! (apologies for putting spaces between all the dots and slashes but I have a feeling Amazon don't let you submit reviews containing web links)

Very thorough , 02 Dec 2008
Because this book is a bit on the large side and has some fantastic photos it seems to double as a coffee table book and an instruction manual . Its an excellent book and Alan Titchmarsh is at his best here .

The first sixty or so pages is concerned with what Alan calls the ground rules and you get advice on everything from planning and design to feeding and composting . The rest of the book contains the directory where you get a run down on all the common fruit veg and herbs found in most gardens . Now this is pretty comprehensive so expect a little information overload . But personally I think its great to have all this info under the one cover . Definitely a book I will continue to refer to again and again .

A great book!, 05 Oct 2008
I was given this book as a gift and thoroughly enjoyed it. I concur with other reviewers so won't waffle on about how good it is. Why only 4 stars? There's nothing on the importance of companion planting when using organic methods and without this, my veg patch wouldn't survive. This info can be researched elsewhere, so other than that, I would recommend this book, especially for a beginner. I'm just about to buy another copy for my best friend who is just that!

Good but slighly flawed, 05 Aug 2008
No one (apart from the late, great Geoff Hamilton) does gardening books for beginners like Alan Titchmarsh. Plenty of practical, common sense advice delivered in an encouraging but non-patronizing tone to reassure the total novice. Clear text together with a good 'directory' of fruit & veg make this ideal for the newcomer to the veg patch. This book could have been improved by fewer photos of Titchmarsh and more clearly captioned pictures of gardening tasks/pests & diseases/plant cultivars etc. I was also irritated by his statement that organic matter such as manure or compost is insufficient to maintain healthy soil without the addition of a general purpose fertilizer. This is total nonsense & an irresponsible statement from a celebrity gardener who claims to be organic. I was also disappointed by his advice to store rainwater for use 'during hosepipe bans'. Again, I would expect an 'organic' gardener to be encouraging the maximum use of rain & 'grey' water at all times. But apart from these minor quibbles, this book would be an ideal companion for the first time veg grower. (Those with more experience will probably prefer Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Veg book instead.)

A Fruit and Veg 'Bible', 01 Aug 2008
An absolute pleasure to browse through and a thorough 'how to' guide. Clearly laid out. Doubt it could be bettered!

Fantastic Book!, 11 Apr 2008
I'm not a gardener, I'm someone who has a bash at growing a few tomatoes, and would like to keep her blueberry bush alive. That's about it.

This book as absolutely wonderful! The information is practical,concise and very easy to follow. There's just the right about of information - not enough to overwhelm you, and not too little that just leaves you with unanswered questions (as with Carol Klein's book). There's also the obvious bonus that this book covers fruit as well as vegetables, whereas most 'grow your own' books are vegetables only.

Alan's book has inspired me to add to my little vegetable patch this year. My tomatoes will be joined by some new ideas, and I now know how to perk up that blueberry bush!

An absolute bargain of a book. A joy to read and a pleasure to work from.

Start beating the credit crunch and digest Food For Free!, 11 Oct 2008
I do like a bit of hedgerow and it's great to enjoy the free gifts from Mother Nature, but until I got my hands on a copy of this pocket sized guide, it was a little unclear.

This book is ideal and helps you understand what's under your nose in the gardens! So many common plants can be used in cooking and yet still we pay mini-fortunes for little bags of this and that in the shops. This book certainly helped me to identify and try some of the more obscure plants that I had absolutely no idea I could eat.

It's clear descriptions of what they look like alongside nice imagery of the plants themselves help you feel brave enough to give them a pluck and cook and the warnings are there to be heeded, particularly when it comes to mushrooms (personally, I'd only go for a puffball, you can't go wrong there)....

Although it's an academic book, it's written in an entertaining style and makes for an enjoyable read too.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who's trying to pull in their belts a bit, not because it will give them 'all' the answers, but it WILL help them to understand that all food doesn't come from the shops and that's a great step forward. As is cooking from fresh which of course this book sings out loud and clear.

There's always a really good reason why a book reprints and there are too many to list for this little fella.

Order it and don't leave it to fester on a shelf somewhere - keep it handy in your bag or coat pocket.

Tracey Smith
Author of 'The Book of Rubbish Ideas'
The Book of Rubbish Ideas: An interactive, room-by-room, guide to reducing household waste.

An excellent little book, 18 Jul 2008
This little gem of a book should be in every backpackers back pocket. Concise, focused and descriptive you'll have no trouble identifying the plants and shellfish. There has been some comments about lack of information on animals to eat, this is probably because rabbits, pheasants and such are classed as game and will belong to the landowner. Whilst it's ok to pick a few plants, mushrooms and shellfish it will probably be frowned on if you start blasting away at the countryside or setting traps!

A Handy Pocket Volume, 13 Aug 2007


Richard Mabey is the author of several books on flora and fauna so he is well qualified to write a book such as this. Over one hundred edible plants are featured together with recipes and other culinary information. There is also information on how to pick and when to pick and the regulations on picking which are very important. As I come from farming stock I have to say that food for free does not mean going into a field and digging up a few potato plants or for that matter cabbages.

There are plenty of hedgerow plants available for free, if you are prepared to look for them and suffer the odd few scratches. There is nothing better than a bowl of freshly picked blackberries or raspberries, if you can get them home before they are all eaten.

Plants that are edible are fully illustrated and described and the recipes are both old and new. Other fascinating information is how the plants have been used through the ages. An ideal book for all those who are nature lovers and like the idea of something for nothing. I think the last part covers 99.9% of the population.

Good Introduction, 02 May 2007
I bought this book recently through a desire to understand the countryside around me and try some of its natural foodstuffs.
The book is very well presented and includes an excellent foreword by the author. It provides a basic explaination of the various flora, a little of their natural and culinary history and there are nice photographs with identification hints.
I think I would like to have seen more recipies and ways in which they might be implemented. In the section dedicated to Spring I think there are only three recipies with much of the other suggestions directed towards salads. On balance a satisfactory purchase but I think that if my interest in wild foods develops I will certainly have to follow up my purchase with something more wholly dedicated to the culinary.

Excellent pocket sized guide, 05 Feb 2006
This is a 2004 version and worthy addition to the very popular and pocket-sized Collins Gem series. ISBN 0-00-718303-8. Food For Free - A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore.

The book starts with an introduction by the author Richard Mabey. It then has short sections titled 'Roots', 'Green Vegetables', 'Herbs', 'Spices', 'Flowers', 'Fruits', 'Making Jellies and Jams' and 'Nuts'. They include general advice, observations and uses. The main section of the book is given over to identification, with at least two pages per entry. An interesting section follows titled ’Picking Rules’ which gives advice on how to pick correctly how to stay safe. The last section before the main body of the book is a summary calendar which groups the picking times for entries into a colour-coded calendar - very useful as a quick reference.

Every entry is accompanied with a drawing. Most of the drawings are excellent, but one or two are a little small and thus less detailed. Fortunately, almost every entry also has a photograph. The combination of colour drawings and colour photographs is what makes this little pocket book a true 'gem'. If the drawing is a little weak, the photo will be excellent and vice-versa. Almost fool proof.

Each entry starts with the common English name (Latin is in small type at the top of the page)a colour illustration and description. Taking Beech (at random), it says: 'Widespread and common throughout the British Isles, especially on chalky soils. A stately deciduous tree, with smooth, grey bark, to 40m (130ft). Leaves: bright green, alternate, oval. Flowers: male drooping, stalked heads; female in pairs. Fruit: four inside a prickly brown husk, Sept-Oct. When ripe this opens into four lobes, this liberating the brown, three-sided nuts.' The illustration depicts a leaf, spring twig with unopened buds, an opening husk revealing nut inside and bare nut. The article continues with headings; Harvest/Pick, Uses, Beech Nut, Beech Nut Oil, Beech Leaf Noyau. The photo at the end of the entry is a good close-up of a twig with a cluster of husks. (I didn’t know, for example, that ‘fresh from the tree Beech leaves are a fine salad vegetable, as sweet as a mild cabbage though much softer in texture’.)

The book, in line with its title, covers Plants and Trees, Fungi, Seaweeds and Shellfish. There is a glossary at the end and a page devoted to further reading. There is a List of Recipes and finally an index of entries in common English or Latin.

There aren't that many books devoted to 'British' wild foods so to find one which lists over 100 edible plants, berries, mushrooms, seaweed and shellfish is most welcome. Given the true pocket size measurements of the Collins Gem series of books, the price of a fiver (£4-99) and the quality of each entry, this is as good as it gets. Obviously not a benchmark reference work or field-guide, but at least this fits in the pocket - which is the main purpose of such books, isn't it? Five stars!

All you need to know about preserving., 31 Oct 2008
Good, informative and really helpful book. Packed full of helpful hints and tips. Very useful and I'll be dipping into it time again.

Essential Reading, 30 Jul 2008
An essential guide for everyone who is a gardener who wants to preserve their own produce.



Indispensable guide, 19 Jul 2008
How did I manage without this book? My colleagues at work regularly share our surplus produce from our gardens and allotments. This book has provided much needed inspiration for us. The plum chutney recipe is a real winner! The second edition is much improved with many more recipes.
I shall not be short of ideas this summer!

A useful reference book, 10 Jul 2008
This is a very useful reference book and whilst some of the advice might not be practical for some of us, it is nevertheless very interesting.

My copy is very well thumbed!

Even if you do not anticipate a glut of a particular vegetable at the moment, you never know what the next season's weather will bring. Maybe this WILL be a good year for beetroot!

If they're forgotten, this is a great reminder, 21 Aug 2008
Christopher Stock's book is such a nice, anti-market forces type of book. Stocks has gone all over Britain to research the stories of heritage fruit and veg varieties - the kind that taste really good but maybe don't look quite as uniform, neat and tidy. There's the right amount of history - from the French spy Frézier to Charlotte Knight, cherry breeder - and he's not pretending to have solved every puzzle - the Bascombe Mystery remains just that.

Each variety is treated in a section that's just the right length - about a page or so. The first section alone, Apples, made me want to go to an Apple day and actually try some of the fragrant fruit he enthuses about - the Cornish Gilliflower, the Crawley Beauty. There's lots of practical info in there too - Dumelow's seedling has better flavour and texture than a Bramley for mincemeat and baking, for example. Good lists of suppliers and historic veg gardens to visit, too.

i don't know whether I will ever read it all the way through, but it's such a treat for a bathroom - ten minutes in the bath with this utterly relaxing book and you feel the woes and stresses of everyday life sink away as you ponder the Long Green Ridge Cucumber and other marvels of yesteryear.

My only, only complaint would be that the two sections of colour photos seemed like a bit of a waste of time. The black and white engravings which pepper the text are much more evocative.

My favourite bit: finding out that the radish was "rated so far above other foods" in Ancient Greece that "in the Temple of Apollo a radish modelled in gold was dedicated as a votive offering."

Delectable!, 28 May 2008
A charming glimpse into the highways and byways of England's horticultural (and culinary) history, illuminated by fascinating anecdotes. Perfect for dipping into and strongly recommended for gardeners and cooks alike.

Good enough to eat, 07 May 2008
Like the best fruit and veg, this delicious book appeals to all the senses at once. Meticulously researched, it dispels a few allotment myths, fixes facts and sets the record straight in a number of instances. It will be devoured greedily by hard-headed horticulturists and dewy-eyed nostalgics alike; for the historian it supplies a ticklish, oblique insight into Britain's social history. This is a serious and definitive work of fact liltingly well written, bathed in warm, light humour. It is both a work of delight and a work of reference. For lovers of language there is a euphony in plant names which places them right up there with Dorset place names. They taste as well in the mouth as their subjects. Savour them: Cranston's Excelsior, Vaux's Self-Folding, Hero of the Nile, Long Prickly...

This book has no rivals. It deserves to be established in discriminating bookshelves everywhere, planted where it can be easily and frequently reached.

Fantastic!, 24 Oct 2008
This book is a great basic guide on how to prepare a vegetable bed and advice on how to plant various veg. Cant wait to start planting up my new veg plot next year! :)

A Darn good start, 30 Jul 2008
I have a small back garden, and wanted to plant some veg, but had no idea where to start, what would survive, how much space I'd need & what would grow in small spaces.

This book gave me a darn good start! It gave me an idea of space required per vegetable, what would grow, and, this sumnmer, I have courgettes & pumpkins in my flowerbeds, carrots, peas, beans, beetroot and spinach in big pots, potatoes in tyres and a HUGE amount of enthusiasm for next year!

Good start, 29 Jul 2008
Although this book has a lot of 5 star reviews I feel that it is slightly lacking for the modern gardener. This book did not tell me everything I wanted to know such as what to do with crops at the end of the season, and has no photographs, only sketches. Whilst a good book, I feel there are better available!

from novice to experienced -worth it, 30 Mar 2008
Bought this book 2 plus yrs ago. Brilliant. I admit was initially sad by lack of colour pictures!! but as time has gone on and have now managed to dig most of my veg. plot (rather than stare at it in hope) and made time to plan, this book has been invaluable. There's loads of info. on the web (some a little confusing and a little conflicting) but Ms Larkcom's info. is steadfast and logical and is my first and sometimes, only, port of call. It's a valuable reference for both new and experienced allotment keepers. I've given away my glossy, pretty, fairly useless allotment books and kept to hand this superbly informative and helpful reference. Cheers Ms Larkcom, it was worth every penny.

Beginners guide to reference in one volume., 16 Dec 2007
Ever wondered how to build a compost heap? a polytunnel? how to store leeks? when to sow Russian kale? Joy Larkcom's not so little volume will tell you. If Hugh and Monty have inspired you then Joy