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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Oct 2, 2015 13:46:12 GMT
Hi Folks, If you are reading this I guess you have an allotment or at least like reading about them. So do I, in fact I like all things to do with growing stuff, cooking stuff and eating it. So much so I thought I would kick off this thread loosely called Book of the Month to highlight some of my favourite kitchen garden publications. It might not be a book as such. Maybe a website, youtube channel, TV series, basically anything to do with the kitchen garden. My choice for this month is however a good old fashioned book. Kitchen Garden Experts looks at 20 restaurants around the UK that have their own kitchen gardens to grow a lot of the produce used on their menus. The head gardener and the head chef talk about their gardens and produce and each focus on one or two of their favourite ingredients before providing a recipe that highlights that particular product. The pictures are delightful and the discussions insightful but beware the recipes are not for the novice. These are proper high end restaurant dishes with a list of ingredients and processes to match. I'm no chef and I haven't tried any of them yet. I would suggest it isn't necessary to tackle a whole recipe, rather pick and choose some of the individual elements. I'm not sure I could manage Poached Rhubarb with Buttermilk Pudding, Honeycomb and Ginger Wine without giving over a whole weekend to it but the Rhubarb Sorbet element alone doesn't look so daunting. This is neither an instruction book for gardening or cooking. It is simply a visit to each garden and kitchen in turn and a sample of what they produce. It is a lovely book to dip into and I expect especially so during the winter when our plots are in hibernation and it is difficult to remember the colour and warmth of summer.
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Post by wilbarra on Oct 7, 2015 9:23:35 GMT
some of the best books on gardening i have found are the a b c books by sewell cooper written mainly in the forties by a person who actual dirtied his hands the books are easy to understand and very practical. what is more they only cost a few pence on amazon. much better than paying many pounds for a book written by titchmarsh who hasnt any idea what having an allotment is all about
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Oct 12, 2015 9:16:15 GMT
Hi Wilbarra,
I've ordered The ABC of Vegetable Gardening from Amazon. Thanks for the tip. Expect to see a bump crop on my plot next season!
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Oct 27, 2015 13:39:01 GMT
My ABC arrived a few days ago. Been a bit pre occupied (see plot 5B update for details) but just started the first few pages.
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Post by murrayc on Oct 27, 2015 15:58:02 GMT
Great illustrations. So that's what a parsnip is supposed to look like. Mine have at least 6 tails.
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Nov 13, 2015 11:48:05 GMT
My choice for November Book of the Month is not a book. It is a website. thehorticulturalchannel.info This is the work of Sean James Cameron who is quite an active vlogger blogger in the amature gardening world. His background is working in film and tv so his website and videos are quite slick. A bit more professional looking than the usual youtube efforts of folk walking round their plots. He usually puts up a video on a Thursday each week, mostly about life on his plot with a few of his plot neighbours contributing too. Their plots are in South London somewhere I believe. He also does garden visits and uploads videos of those. This week his video is a short walk around RHS Wisley allotments. Personally I don't always agree with his point if view on allotment life or some of his growing advice. But I can't help watching his videos as they are so well put together. Also he is something of a rendezvous point for youtube allotment contributors so via his site you can explorer and maybe find somebody else you like to watch.
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Post by wilbarra on Jan 27, 2016 11:26:36 GMT
Instead of an instruction book on gardening why not a biography. two that i would recommend would be: "cheerio frank cheerio everybody" by Frank Henning and "gardening tips of a lifetime" by Fred Loads The first is the life story of the great Sussex gardener Fred Streeter who was head gardener at Petworth for many years. Right from his days as a boy and his traveling round different gardens all to gain the experience he later put to such good use at Petworth and on the radio. His radio programmes pulled in an audience of over two million listeners each week at there peak. The book is packed with tips that only a man with a lifetime in gardening could give. The other is about the man who was for many years the mainstay of Gardeners Question Time and before that he spent many years as a single handed gardener. this book too is littered with tips that only men who have been there and done it could give. Both can be purchased for a penny each on amazon. What better value could you have?
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Jan 28, 2016 11:46:13 GMT
Phil lent me the Fred Loads book a while back. It was really good, I'd recommend it to anyone one here. Especially him being a local, makes it seems more relevant to our own gardening as if I remember the allotment featured was in Albourne so it is easy to relate to the experiences. Not read the other one so that is on my to do list now. Thanks for the recommendations.
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Feb 14, 2016 17:47:00 GMT
I thought a cook book might be a nice diversion this month. A relative who has won prizes for his allotment work bought this book for me. It turns out that Lebanese cooking uses a lot of what we grow on the plot. If you find yourself scratching your head sometimes how to use the latest glut then this could be the book for you. There are recipes for lentil soup with swiss chard, vegetable soup but not as we know it. And many ways to use those bags full of beans during the summer. If like me the creative juices dry up a bit in the transition from plot to kitchen then take a look this book as it has loads of interesting ideas about how to use the stuff we all grow.
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Mar 1, 2016 13:50:41 GMT
This guys youtube videos are worth a look. He is a bit of a character. But he is serious about making compost and has some interesting ideas. Not sure I have the time to set up such an organised regime but there are plenty of useful tips none the less. Mick Poultney www.youtube.com/channel/UCI03x_WOLF2A9FxZvbVhyeQ
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Post by wilbarra on Mar 7, 2016 9:48:35 GMT
MOST OF THE VEGETABLE GARDENING BOOKS OF VICTORIAN TIMES TENDED TO INCLUDE RECIPES AND ADVICE ON HOW TO COOK THE VEGETABLES THEY WERE WRITING ABOUT. THIS PRACTICE SEEMED TO DIE OUT IN THE EARLY PART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND BY THE NINETEEN TWENTIES HAD DIED OUT COMPLETELY. ONE THING I FIND INTERESTING IS THAT CONTRARY TO BELIEF IS THAT ADDING SPICES AND SUCH TO OUR FOOD IN ENGLAND IS NOT DUE TO THE TELEVISION COOKS OF THE LAST THIRTY YEARS,ONE HAS ONLY TO LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF WORDS THAT WERE DEVOTED TO THE GROWING OF AND THE TYPE OF HERBS IN THESE EARLY BOOKS TO SEE THAT WE WERE,AS A NATION.WERE WELL USED TO HOT AND SPICY FOOD. MY GUESS IS THAT PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY TENDED TO CARRY ON DOING WHAT THEY HAD DONE FOR CENTURIES AND GROW THESE HERBS IN THEIR BACK GARDEN WHILE THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN THE TOWNS AND CITIES CHANGED TO GROWING THE BASIC VEGETABLES ON THEIR ALLOTMENTS THROUGH SHEER NECESSITY. THE PRACTICE OF COMBINING THE TWO WAS BROUGHT BACK IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN A LOT OF THE PAMPHLETS THAT WERE ISSUED AT THE TIME AND IF ANYBODY CAN GET HOLD OF SOME OF THEM THEY WILL FIND OUT ALL THE BASIC KNOWLEDGE ONE NEEDS TO KNOW ON GROWING AND COOKING THE BASIC VEGETABLES. UNFORTUNATELY LIKE MOST THINGS OF THAT PERIOD THEY HAVE BECOME COLLECTABLE AND WOULD BE HARD TO FIND.
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