Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Basic information for beginners but some stuffing and vague about important detail in parts, 09 Aug 2008
A standard work often provided in starter kits and it covers the basics in a simple easy to read fashion. Katie Thear is an experienced keeper and she includes some useful tips she's picked up from her own experiences. However I find the subject poorly researched and the information rather sketchy in places and lacking in consistency. It's rather like she has written it just from her own knowledge and experiences only. Some areas she dwells on in uneccessary detail for beginners needs while others which need a more detailed explaination are just skimmed over. There's also some uneccessary padding with brief chapters on showing and breeding which aren't of much interest to beginners and don't contain enough detail to enable anyone to get involved anyway. She has written a book on incubation so I suspect if you want to expand your hobby to breeding you can read that. The chapter on breeds is probably more comprehensive than beginners need and covers far more breeds than is really neccessary. If you are going to cover breeds their suitability for beginners should be at least be discussed but it reads a bit like a indiscriminating ragbag list of breeds she has come across with each breed being described in an inconsistent manner. It only gives a passing coverage to raising birds for the table and really is aimed at keeping layers. The index is just attrocius making it useless as a quick reference. Having said all this it does contain some sound advice for beginners from an experienced keeper though it falls well short of a decent reference book.

Good info but few colour pics, 17 Jul 2008
This book has a fair amount of good information but disapointingly it has mostly black and white pictures - which seems very old fashioned these days. It has a large section on purebreeds which I think could've been reduced in order to make way for more of the useful information on care and/or health.

Heritage breeds not mentioned, 23 May 2008
This book is okay and gives a good amount of information. However, it would have been good to mention that there are so-called heritage chicken in most countries. These chicken breeds are endangered and many countries have special programs of conserving them. It is, of course, nice to have dozens of fancy chicken breeds to choose from but it would be a good thing to remind people that own, national, culturally and historically important heritage breeds should always be the priority. Also, those are the chicken breeds that are most accustomed to local climate. For example, in Scandinavian area, there are many breeds that survive in harsh conditions and like to go out even in the snow. It is of course understandable that a small book cannot review all the breeds in the world. However, just a small note of the existence of heritage breeds would encourage people to search for more information on the topic. Other than that the book is okay and I really like the general tone of promoting self-sufficient lifestyle.

Great starter book, 17 Oct 2007
Very helpful book if you're thinking of keeping chooks in your back garden, all basic information you'll need, I found though that a lot of space was given over to the different breeds which could have been used for more details on looking after chickens, but would recommend it to anyone.

A great book & British too!, 24 Aug 2007
There are a lot of great books out there for beginners, but most of them are American, so the resources pages are not helpful to those of us starting out in the UK.

This book is published by Broad Leys, who are a small independent British publishers specialising in books for smallholders, homesteaders, poultry keepers and organic gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Basic information for beginners but some stuffing and vague about important detail in parts, 09 Aug 2008
A standard work often provided in starter kits and it covers the basics in a simple easy to read fashion. Katie Thear is an experienced keeper and she includes some useful tips she's picked up from her own experiences. However I find the subject poorly researched and the information rather sketchy in places and lacking in consistency. It's rather like she has written it just from her own knowledge and experiences only. Some areas she dwells on in uneccessary detail for beginners needs while others which need a more detailed explaination are just skimmed over. There's also some uneccessary padding with brief chapters on showing and breeding which aren't of much interest to beginners and don't contain enough detail to enable anyone to get involved anyway. She has written a book on incubation so I suspect if you want to expand your hobby to breeding you can read that. The chapter on breeds is probably more comprehensive than beginners need and covers far more breeds than is really neccessary. If you are going to cover breeds their suitability for beginners should be at least be discussed but it reads a bit like a indiscriminating ragbag list of breeds she has come across with each breed being described in an inconsistent manner. It only gives a passing coverage to raising birds for the table and really is aimed at keeping layers. The index is just attrocius making it useless as a quick reference. Having said all this it does contain some sound advice for beginners from an experienced keeper though it falls well short of a decent reference book.

Good info but few colour pics, 17 Jul 2008
This book has a fair amount of good information but disapointingly it has mostly black and white pictures - which seems very old fashioned these days. It has a large section on purebreeds which I think could've been reduced in order to make way for more of the useful information on care and/or health.

Heritage breeds not mentioned, 23 May 2008
This book is okay and gives a good amount of information. However, it would have been good to mention that there are so-called heritage chicken in most countries. These chicken breeds are endangered and many countries have special programs of conserving them. It is, of course, nice to have dozens of fancy chicken breeds to choose from but it would be a good thing to remind people that own, national, culturally and historically important heritage breeds should always be the priority. Also, those are the chicken breeds that are most accustomed to local climate. For example, in Scandinavian area, there are many breeds that survive in harsh conditions and like to go out even in the snow. It is of course understandable that a small book cannot review all the breeds in the world. However, just a small note of the existence of heritage breeds would encourage people to search for more information on the topic. Other than that the book is okay and I really like the general tone of promoting self-sufficient lifestyle.

Great starter book, 17 Oct 2007
Very helpful book if you're thinking of keeping chooks in your back garden, all basic information you'll need, I found though that a lot of space was given over to the different breeds which could have been used for more details on looking after chickens, but would recommend it to anyone.

A great book & British too!, 24 Aug 2007
There are a lot of great books out there for beginners, but most of them are American, so the resources pages are not helpful to those of us starting out in the UK.

This book is published by Broad Leys, who are a small independent British publishers specialising in books for smallholders, homesteaders, poultry keepers and organic gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Excellent book for someone considering beekeeping, 11 Jun 2008
I bought this book knowing virtually nothing about bees (they exist, they live in hives and they make honey was about the sum total of my knowledge).
I have been considering keeping bees for a while and thought that a little reading would help guide me to a decision.

From memory, the book covers: types of bees (not just honey bees), types of hives, the gear required by the beekeeper, where bee hives can be situated, how bees can be purchased, the maintenance of the colony & hive, pests and how to mitigate their impact, the social structure of the bee colony, the way honey is produced by the bees, the 'swarming' of bees, how to harvest honey from the hive and how to store the harvested honey. There's definitely more - my memory just isn't good enough.

The book material is pitched at the level of the layman/novice. In particular areas the book is usefully pratical and in-depth e.g. There are guides to setting up the hive and putting in the colony, checking the colony's health after setting up your apiary, harvesting the honey, controlling swarming and spring-cleaning the hive. There are also little practical tips throughout that will obviously help you avoid common mistakes e.g. Approach your hive from the side, approaching the front entrance will only wind-up your bees!

To sum up. I thought the book was excellent and was written at exactly the right level for someone in my position. It increased my knowledge greatly (admittedly i started with none), it informed me that i have a more-than-reasonable environment for a hive, it convinced me that i'd be capable of performing the duties required to keep the bees happy and healthy, it told me how to go about performing the duties required, it told me what equipment i'd need to keep bees and finally it was a thoroughly pleasant read into the bargain.

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Basic information for beginners but some stuffing and vague about important detail in parts, 09 Aug 2008
A standard work often provided in starter kits and it covers the basics in a simple easy to read fashion. Katie Thear is an experienced keeper and she includes some useful tips she's picked up from her own experiences. However I find the subject poorly researched and the information rather sketchy in places and lacking in consistency. It's rather like she has written it just from her own knowledge and experiences only. Some areas she dwells on in uneccessary detail for beginners needs while others which need a more detailed explaination are just skimmed over. There's also some uneccessary padding with brief chapters on showing and breeding which aren't of much interest to beginners and don't contain enough detail to enable anyone to get involved anyway. She has written a book on incubation so I suspect if you want to expand your hobby to breeding you can read that. The chapter on breeds is probably more comprehensive than beginners need and covers far more breeds than is really neccessary. If you are going to cover breeds their suitability for beginners should be at least be discussed but it reads a bit like a indiscriminating ragbag list of breeds she has come across with each breed being described in an inconsistent manner. It only gives a passing coverage to raising birds for the table and really is aimed at keeping layers. The index is just attrocius making it useless as a quick reference. Having said all this it does contain some sound advice for beginners from an experienced keeper though it falls well short of a decent reference book.

Good info but few colour pics, 17 Jul 2008
This book has a fair amount of good information but disapointingly it has mostly black and white pictures - which seems very old fashioned these days. It has a large section on purebreeds which I think could've been reduced in order to make way for more of the useful information on care and/or health.

Heritage breeds not mentioned, 23 May 2008
This book is okay and gives a good amount of information. However, it would have been good to mention that there are so-called heritage chicken in most countries. These chicken breeds are endangered and many countries have special programs of conserving them. It is, of course, nice to have dozens of fancy chicken breeds to choose from but it would be a good thing to remind people that own, national, culturally and historically important heritage breeds should always be the priority. Also, those are the chicken breeds that are most accustomed to local climate. For example, in Scandinavian area, there are many breeds that survive in harsh conditions and like to go out even in the snow. It is of course understandable that a small book cannot review all the breeds in the world. However, just a small note of the existence of heritage breeds would encourage people to search for more information on the topic. Other than that the book is okay and I really like the general tone of promoting self-sufficient lifestyle.

Great starter book, 17 Oct 2007
Very helpful book if you're thinking of keeping chooks in your back garden, all basic information you'll need, I found though that a lot of space was given over to the different breeds which could have been used for more details on looking after chickens, but would recommend it to anyone.

A great book & British too!, 24 Aug 2007
There are a lot of great books out there for beginners, but most of them are American, so the resources pages are not helpful to those of us starting out in the UK.

This book is published by Broad Leys, who are a small independent British publishers specialising in books for smallholders, homesteaders, poultry keepers and organic gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Excellent book for someone considering beekeeping, 11 Jun 2008
I bought this book knowing virtually nothing about bees (they exist, they live in hives and they make honey was about the sum total of my knowledge).
I have been considering keeping bees for a while and thought that a little reading would help guide me to a decision.

From memory, the book covers: types of bees (not just honey bees), types of hives, the gear required by the beekeeper, where bee hives can be situated, how bees can be purchased, the maintenance of the colony & hive, pests and how to mitigate their impact, the social structure of the bee colony, the way honey is produced by the bees, the 'swarming' of bees, how to harvest honey from the hive and how to store the harvested honey. There's definitely more - my memory just isn't good enough.

The book material is pitched at the level of the layman/novice. In particular areas the book is usefully pratical and in-depth e.g. There are guides to setting up the hive and putting in the colony, checking the colony's health after setting up your apiary, harvesting the honey, controlling swarming and spring-cleaning the hive. There are also little practical tips throughout that will obviously help you avoid common mistakes e.g. Approach your hive from the side, approaching the front entrance will only wind-up your bees!

To sum up. I thought the book was excellent and was written at exactly the right level for someone in my position. It increased my knowledge greatly (admittedly i started with none), it informed me that i have a more-than-reasonable environment for a hive, it convinced me that i'd be capable of performing the duties required to keep the bees happy and healthy, it told me how to go about performing the duties required, it told me what equipment i'd need to keep bees and finally it was a thoroughly pleasant read into the bargain.


Best Basic Pig Book for Small Scale Pigkeeping, 05 Aug 2008
I've read at least 10 pig books in the past couple of years, but this gets my vote as the best one for the small-scale pig keeper. Covers everything you need to know (including what to do if you have to raise piglets without the mother's help, something a surprising number of books ignore) without going into too much mind-boggling detail. There are a lot of great pig books out there, but most of them are aimed at pig farms. This is more geared towards the smallholder, pet pig owner or hobbyist. And isn't the pig on the front cover just great?!!!

A Worthwhile buy, 19 Nov 2007
If you're new to pig keeping this is a good book to start with, very good sound advice offered which will help you through those first nerve wracking weeks of pig keeping. Mine is somewhat tattered and coffee stained and well thumbed. Highly recommended

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Basic information for beginners but some stuffing and vague about important detail in parts, 09 Aug 2008
A standard work often provided in starter kits and it covers the basics in a simple easy to read fashion. Katie Thear is an experienced keeper and she includes some useful tips she's picked up from her own experiences. However I find the subject poorly researched and the information rather sketchy in places and lacking in consistency. It's rather like she has written it just from her own knowledge and experiences only. Some areas she dwells on in uneccessary detail for beginners needs while others which need a more detailed explaination are just skimmed over. There's also some uneccessary padding with brief chapters on showing and breeding which aren't of much interest to beginners and don't contain enough detail to enable anyone to get involved anyway. She has written a book on incubation so I suspect if you want to expand your hobby to breeding you can read that. The chapter on breeds is probably more comprehensive than beginners need and covers far more breeds than is really neccessary. If you are going to cover breeds their suitability for beginners should be at least be discussed but it reads a bit like a indiscriminating ragbag list of breeds she has come across with each breed being described in an inconsistent manner. It only gives a passing coverage to raising birds for the table and really is aimed at keeping layers. The index is just attrocius making it useless as a quick reference. Having said all this it does contain some sound advice for beginners from an experienced keeper though it falls well short of a decent reference book.

Good info but few colour pics, 17 Jul 2008
This book has a fair amount of good information but disapointingly it has mostly black and white pictures - which seems very old fashioned these days. It has a large section on purebreeds which I think could've been reduced in order to make way for more of the useful information on care and/or health.

Heritage breeds not mentioned, 23 May 2008
This book is okay and gives a good amount of information. However, it would have been good to mention that there are so-called heritage chicken in most countries. These chicken breeds are endangered and many countries have special programs of conserving them. It is, of course, nice to have dozens of fancy chicken breeds to choose from but it would be a good thing to remind people that own, national, culturally and historically important heritage breeds should always be the priority. Also, those are the chicken breeds that are most accustomed to local climate. For example, in Scandinavian area, there are many breeds that survive in harsh conditions and like to go out even in the snow. It is of course understandable that a small book cannot review all the breeds in the world. However, just a small note of the existence of heritage breeds would encourage people to search for more information on the topic. Other than that the book is okay and I really like the general tone of promoting self-sufficient lifestyle.

Great starter book, 17 Oct 2007
Very helpful book if you're thinking of keeping chooks in your back garden, all basic information you'll need, I found though that a lot of space was given over to the different breeds which could have been used for more details on looking after chickens, but would recommend it to anyone.

A great book & British too!, 24 Aug 2007
There are a lot of great books out there for beginners, but most of them are American, so the resources pages are not helpful to those of us starting out in the UK.

This book is published by Broad Leys, who are a small independent British publishers specialising in books for smallholders, homesteaders, poultry keepers and organic gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Excellent book for someone considering beekeeping, 11 Jun 2008
I bought this book knowing virtually nothing about bees (they exist, they live in hives and they make honey was about the sum total of my knowledge).
I have been considering keeping bees for a while and thought that a little reading would help guide me to a decision.

From memory, the book covers: types of bees (not just honey bees), types of hives, the gear required by the beekeeper, where bee hives can be situated, how bees can be purchased, the maintenance of the colony & hive, pests and how to mitigate their impact, the social structure of the bee colony, the way honey is produced by the bees, the 'swarming' of bees, how to harvest honey from the hive and how to store the harvested honey. There's definitely more - my memory just isn't good enough.

The book material is pitched at the level of the layman/novice. In particular areas the book is usefully pratical and in-depth e.g. There are guides to setting up the hive and putting in the colony, checking the colony's health after setting up your apiary, harvesting the honey, controlling swarming and spring-cleaning the hive. There are also little practical tips throughout that will obviously help you avoid common mistakes e.g. Approach your hive from the side, approaching the front entrance will only wind-up your bees!

To sum up. I thought the book was excellent and was written at exactly the right level for someone in my position. It increased my knowledge greatly (admittedly i started with none), it informed me that i have a more-than-reasonable environment for a hive, it convinced me that i'd be capable of performing the duties required to keep the bees happy and healthy, it told me how to go about performing the duties required, it told me what equipment i'd need to keep bees and finally it was a thoroughly pleasant read into the bargain.


Best Basic Pig Book for Small Scale Pigkeeping, 05 Aug 2008
I've read at least 10 pig books in the past couple of years, but this gets my vote as the best one for the small-scale pig keeper. Covers everything you need to know (including what to do if you have to raise piglets without the mother's help, something a surprising number of books ignore) without going into too much mind-boggling detail. There are a lot of great pig books out there, but most of them are aimed at pig farms. This is more geared towards the smallholder, pet pig owner or hobbyist. And isn't the pig on the front cover just great?!!!

A Worthwhile buy, 19 Nov 2007
If you're new to pig keeping this is a good book to start with, very good sound advice offered which will help you through those first nerve wracking weeks of pig keeping. Mine is somewhat tattered and coffee stained and well thumbed. Highly recommended

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Basic information for beginners but some stuffing and vague about important detail in parts, 09 Aug 2008
A standard work often provided in starter kits and it covers the basics in a simple easy to read fashion. Katie Thear is an experienced keeper and she includes some useful tips she's picked up from her own experiences. However I find the subject poorly researched and the information rather sketchy in places and lacking in consistency. It's rather like she has written it just from her own knowledge and experiences only. Some areas she dwells on in uneccessary detail for beginners needs while others which need a more detailed explaination are just skimmed over. There's also some uneccessary padding with brief chapters on showing and breeding which aren't of much interest to beginners and don't contain enough detail to enable anyone to get involved anyway. She has written a book on incubation so I suspect if you want to expand your hobby to breeding you can read that. The chapter on breeds is probably more comprehensive than beginners need and covers far more breeds than is really neccessary. If you are going to cover breeds their suitability for beginners should be at least be discussed but it reads a bit like a indiscriminating ragbag list of breeds she has come across with each breed being described in an inconsistent manner. It only gives a passing coverage to raising birds for the table and really is aimed at keeping layers. The index is just attrocius making it useless as a quick reference. Having said all this it does contain some sound advice for beginners from an experienced keeper though it falls well short of a decent reference book.

Good info but few colour pics, 17 Jul 2008
This book has a fair amount of good information but disapointingly it has mostly black and white pictures - which seems very old fashioned these days. It has a large section on purebreeds which I think could've been reduced in order to make way for more of the useful information on care and/or health.

Heritage breeds not mentioned, 23 May 2008
This book is okay and gives a good amount of information. However, it would have been good to mention that there are so-called heritage chicken in most countries. These chicken breeds are endangered and many countries have special programs of conserving them. It is, of course, nice to have dozens of fancy chicken breeds to choose from but it would be a good thing to remind people that own, national, culturally and historically important heritage breeds should always be the priority. Also, those are the chicken breeds that are most accustomed to local climate. For example, in Scandinavian area, there are many breeds that survive in harsh conditions and like to go out even in the snow. It is of course understandable that a small book cannot review all the breeds in the world. However, just a small note of the existence of heritage breeds would encourage people to search for more information on the topic. Other than that the book is okay and I really like the general tone of promoting self-sufficient lifestyle.

Great starter book, 17 Oct 2007
Very helpful book if you're thinking of keeping chooks in your back garden, all basic information you'll need, I found though that a lot of space was given over to the different breeds which could have been used for more details on looking after chickens, but would recommend it to anyone.

A great book & British too!, 24 Aug 2007
There are a lot of great books out there for beginners, but most of them are American, so the resources pages are not helpful to those of us starting out in the UK.

This book is published by Broad Leys, who are a small independent British publishers specialising in books for smallholders, homesteaders, poultry keepers and organic gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Excellent book for someone considering beekeeping, 11 Jun 2008
I bought this book knowing virtually nothing about bees (they exist, they live in hives and they make honey was about the sum total of my knowledge).
I have been considering keeping bees for a while and thought that a little reading would help guide me to a decision.

From memory, the book covers: types of bees (not just honey bees), types of hives, the gear required by the beekeeper, where bee hives can be situated, how bees can be purchased, the maintenance of the colony & hive, pests and how to mitigate their impact, the social structure of the bee colony, the way honey is produced by the bees, the 'swarming' of bees, how to harvest honey from the hive and how to store the harvested honey. There's definitely more - my memory just isn't good enough.

The book material is pitched at the level of the layman/novice. In particular areas the book is usefully pratical and in-depth e.g. There are guides to setting up the hive and putting in the colony, checking the colony's health after setting up your apiary, harvesting the honey, controlling swarming and spring-cleaning the hive. There are also little practical tips throughout that will obviously help you avoid common mistakes e.g. Approach your hive from the side, approaching the front entrance will only wind-up your bees!

To sum up. I thought the book was excellent and was written at exactly the right level for someone in my position. It increased my knowledge greatly (admittedly i started with none), it informed me that i have a more-than-reasonable environment for a hive, it convinced me that i'd be capable of performing the duties required to keep the bees happy and healthy, it told me how to go about performing the duties required, it told me what equipment i'd need to keep bees and finally it was a thoroughly pleasant read into the bargain.


Best Basic Pig Book for Small Scale Pigkeeping, 05 Aug 2008
I've read at least 10 pig books in the past couple of years, but this gets my vote as the best one for the small-scale pig keeper. Covers everything you need to know (including what to do if you have to raise piglets without the mother's help, something a surprising number of books ignore) without going into too much mind-boggling detail. There are a lot of great pig books out there, but most of them are aimed at pig farms. This is more geared towards the smallholder, pet pig owner or hobbyist. And isn't the pig on the front cover just great?!!!

A Worthwhile buy, 19 Nov 2007
If you're new to pig keeping this is a good book to start with, very good sound advice offered which will help you through those first nerve wracking weeks of pig keeping. Mine is somewhat tattered and coffee stained and well thumbed. Highly recommended

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


An excellent guide to growing fruit by the RHS, 15 Jan 2006
I have found this to be an invaluable book which I have used together with the Fruit Expert by Dr Hessayon. The latter is in full colour and is probably a superior guide to choosing your fruit trees and bushes with descriptions, colour pictures and ratings of lots of varieties. The RHS book is aimed at the planting, pruning and care of your fruits once chosen (although it does have short descriptions of the more popular varieties but no pictures of them). This book is in black and white and one other colour but this doesn't really detract from the numerous beatiful drawings. It has comprehensive detail with illustrations on planting and long term care of your fruit trees/ bushes. In particular it has illustrations of pruning for each fruit and each year of growth of that fruit in each of the growing styles available (eg illustrations of how to prune maiden, 2yr, 3yr, 4yr old trees, cordons, fans, pyramids, espaliers for apples with different illustrations for each fruit covered). This scores significantly over the fruit expert book which is much more limited in this regard with very generalised pruning techniques which you have to try and extrapolate to different types of fruit and different years of growth.
In summary an excellent book once you have chosen which variety to plant.

The first book to own if you want to grow fruit in yourself., 09 May 2000
The book is very well presented, with good pictures, photographs and text. Included are all the old favorites plus quite a few unusual or exotic fruits. The RHS get top marks for providing all the information that you will need to successfully grow fruit and presenting it in a very easy to understand way. Whether you are a beginner or a dedicated horticulturalist this book is definately one for the potting shed.

Proper User Guide for a Veg Plot, 31 May 2008
Too many gardening authors take time out to wax lyrical about seasons and the joys of blackbirds and dew on your runner canes. Their books end up as a decent afternoon's read, but difficult to use when you're trying to work out what's going wrong with your kohlrabi.

This book is different. Veg are listed alphabetically with clear sections on selecting varieties, planting, looking after, harvesting and cooking, with a troubleshooting guide covering disease, pests, storage and the like.

No nonsense, everything you need and easy to find.

The bees knees..., 04 May 2008
Having just started with a vagetable patch in the garden, I was looking for, in effect an "idiot's guide" to vegetable growing (believe me, I needed it !) - this book is marvellous - helpful illustrations,easy to follow layout & packed with information on cultivation, preperation, eating, protecting from pests & diseases, the whole lot.
The herb section is by no means as comprehensive as the veg part of the book, but it has inspired me to grow my own selection of herbs (in one of those very attractive "ornamental" wooden wheelbarrows,my wife's aunty got us for Christmas - bless) & hopefully add something a bit different, interesting & above all, tasty to the garden.
I bought this at the same time as a far glossier, bigger (& more expensive !) book I got from the garden centre - this book beats the more expensive competition hands down. A really great investment, made me burst with horticultural enthusiasm & feel like Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's cousin.


Vegetable & Herb Expert by D.G.Hessayon review, 23 Apr 2007
I have always found the Expert Garden range of books to be my most valuable gardening books - clear, simple and easy to find what you want.

Sadly they have not updated to metric units so I can no longer buy them as presents for budding gardeners, since the modern generation only know metric and there is nothing more discouraging than to use a book you cannot understand. I hope they will rectify this before long so that I can continue using them.

Great help to a novice grower, 05 Nov 2006
I got this book when I decided to get my allotment, and I found and still do a great help.

Fantastic pictures are illustrated with the information that goes with them.

The book starts at the beginning which helps if you're a complete novice to vegetable growing.

"Getting started" covers digging and preparing your land, what is the best seeds to buy and how to sow them. This section also covers the importance of crop rotation.

Other section covers the growing of vegetables, covers greenhouse growing, border planting and cover pot and windowsill planting.

Looking after vegetables section covers the dreaded weeding. But it also covers feeding, mulching and watering of the plants; also a section is covered on spotting and dealing with pests.

The book has a section about unusual types of vegetables and how to grow them.

There is a good section on vegetable troubles, how to spot and treat before it starts to do damage to other crops.

Tips on how to preserve and ripen your vegetables and of course to eat them.

This is a great book and if you're thinking of growing your own vegetables like I have done this year, this books it a must


Growing into an expert, 31 Oct 2006
Just moved from London with a shady patio to a country acre, with greenhouse and allotment sized veg patch - and not had to buy a vegetable since March. I was worried gardening was one of those things you couldn't do by book-learning, but of the four tomes I picked up, this is the only one I would use. Brilliant, and inspiring confidence straight away - I'm buying the rest of the series!



A charming introduction to keeping chickens, 15 Aug 2008
Although I kept chickens many years ago I found this book a mine of useful information. It is charmingly written, very easy to follow, I read it at one sitting. It covers all aspects (I found the cooking and storage sections a pleasant suprise) and although some things could have been covered in slightly more detail, this information is easily found in other sources.

Excellent book - highly recommended, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

Basic information for beginners but some stuffing and vague about important detail in parts, 09 Aug 2008
A standard work often provided in starter kits and it covers the basics in a simple easy to read fashion. Katie Thear is an experienced keeper and she includes some useful tips she's picked up from her own experiences. However I find the subject poorly researched and the information rather sketchy in places and lacking in consistency. It's rather like she has written it just from her own knowledge and experiences only. Some areas she dwells on in uneccessary detail for beginners needs while others which need a more detailed explaination are just skimmed over. There's also some uneccessary padding with brief chapters on showing and breeding which aren't of much interest to beginners and don't contain enough detail to enable anyone to get involved anyway. She has written a book on incubation so I suspect if you want to expand your hobby to breeding you can read that. The chapter on breeds is probably more comprehensive than beginners need and covers far more breeds than is really neccessary. If you are going to cover breeds their suitability for beginners should be at least be discussed but it reads a bit like a indiscriminating ragbag list of breeds she has come across with each breed being described in an inconsistent manner. It only gives a passing coverage to raising birds for the table and really is aimed at keeping layers. The index is just attrocius making it useless as a quick reference. Having said all this it does contain some sound advice for beginners from an experienced keeper though it falls well short of a decent reference book.

Good info but few colour pics, 17 Jul 2008
This book has a fair amount of good information but disapointingly it has mostly black and white pictures - which seems very old fashioned these days. It has a large section on purebreeds which I think could've been reduced in order to make way for more of the useful information on care and/or health.

Heritage breeds not mentioned, 23 May 2008
This book is okay and gives a good amount of information. However, it would have been good to mention that there are so-called heritage chicken in most countries. These chicken breeds are endangered and many countries have special programs of conserving them. It is, of course, nice to have dozens of fancy chicken breeds to choose from but it would be a good thing to remind people that own, national, culturally and historically important heritage breeds should always be the priority. Also, those are the chicken breeds that are most accustomed to local climate. For example, in Scandinavian area, there are many breeds that survive in harsh conditions and like to go out even in the snow. It is of course understandable that a small book cannot review all the breeds in the world. However, just a small note of the existence of heritage breeds would encourage people to search for more information on the topic. Other than that the book is okay and I really like the general tone of promoting self-sufficient lifestyle.

Great starter book, 17 Oct 2007
Very helpful book if you're thinking of keeping chooks in your back garden, all basic information you'll need, I found though that a lot of space was given over to the different breeds which could have been used for more details on looking after chickens, but would recommend it to anyone.

A great book & British too!, 24 Aug 2007
There are a lot of great books out there for beginners, but most of them are American, so the resources pages are not helpful to those of us starting out in the UK.

This book is published by Broad Leys, who are a small independent British publishers specialising in books for smallholders, homesteaders, poultry keepers and organic gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Excellent book for someone considering beekeeping, 11 Jun 2008
I bought this book knowing virtually nothing about bees (they exist, they live in hives and they make honey was about the sum total of my knowledge).
I have been considering keeping bees for a while and thought that a little reading would help guide me to a decision.

From memory, the book covers: types of bees (not just honey bees), types of hives, the gear required by the beekeeper, where bee hives can be situated, how bees can be purchased, the maintenance of the colony & hive, pests and how to mitigate their impact, the social structure of the bee colony, the way honey is produced by the bees, the 'swarming' of bees, how to harvest honey from the hive and how to store the harvested honey. There's definitely more - my memory just isn't good enough.

The book material is pitched at the level of the layman/novice. In particular areas the book is usefully pratical and in-depth e.g. There are guides to setting up the hive and putting in the colony, checking the colony's health after setting up your apiary, harvesting the honey, controlling swarming and spring-cleaning the hive. There are also little practical tips throughout that will obviously help you avoid common mistakes e.g. Approach your hive from the side, approaching the front entrance will only wind-up your bees!

To sum up. I thought the book was excellent and was written at exactly the right level for someone in my position. It increased my knowledge greatly (admittedly i started with none), it informed me that i have a more-than-reasonable environment for a hive, it convinced me that i'd be capable of performing the duties required to keep the bees happy and healthy, it told me how to go about performing the duties required, it told me what equipment i'd need to keep bees and finally it was a thoroughly pleasant read into the bargain.


Best Basic Pig Book for Small Scale Pigkeeping, 05 Aug 2008
I've read at least 10 pig books in the past couple of years, but this gets my vote as the best one for the small-scale pig keeper. Covers everything you need to know (including what to do if you have to raise piglets without the mother's help, something a surprising number of books ignore) without going into too much mind-boggling detail. There are a lot of great pig books out there, but most of them are aimed at pig farms. This is more geared towards the smallholder, pet pig owner or hobbyist. And isn't the pig on the front cover just great?!!!

A Worthwhile buy, 19 Nov 2007
If you're new to pig keeping this is a good book to start with, very good sound advice offered which will help you through those first nerve wracking weeks of pig keeping. Mine is somewhat tattered and coffee stained and well thumbed. Highly recommended

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide