THE
ORGANIC GARDEN BOOK - GEOFF HAMILTON
This
book was a gift from my friend Liz, who has closely followed my adventures
with taking over my late father's garden when inheriting the property
two years ago and my more recent acquisition of an allotment plot.
My
knowledge of fruit was limited to growing strawberries and leaving
raspberry canes to do whatever they do naturally - but I have a plot
with rhubarb, raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries and
strawberries now. This book provides the information required to care
for these plants and hopefully bring large crops to our household.
Whilst
not a big fan of plants, flowers, shrubs, bushes, hedges, and trees,
I do need to know more about growing them. Once again, this book
comes in handy with information about doing so, enabling me to
replace next doors hedge with one my side of the fence after it was
removed, tend to plants already in situ, and possibly purchase a few
old favs in the future. I previously had more experience of
Australian plants than local, also.
With
vegetables being my favored garden use and now owning a plot, organic
soil preparation and feeding methods are very important to learn.
There is no point just tossing in the seeds and having fun seeing
what comes up, as I would on a small patch of back yard. Now I have an allotment, I need to work on getting as
much veg produced as possible. Once again, soil preparation, crop
rotation, care and feeding of vegetables is an important matter
covered well in this book.
Overall,
the book is a useful reference source for soil preparation, care,
propogation and pest control covering most garden features -
inlcuding those I do not have such as lawns - written by a well known
gardener. In fact, he is so well known, I actually recall him from the
days I used to watch TV in my teens.
Whilst
I would not personally apply some of the insect-murdering suggestions, the
majority of the book is of great use to me - especially as I plan to
be as close to nature as possible and use organic techniques and aim at growing 75% + of my own fruit and veg.
