Grow your own, the River Cottage way... (Veg Patch: River Cottage Handbook No.4 - Mark Diacono)

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	Veg Patch: River Cottage Handbook No.4 - Mark Diacono
Date:	29/09/09 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inspiring, humorous, informative, well laid out

Disadvantages: Needs more details on problems & pests, needs more photographs/diagrams

2009 was the year I decided to get serious about growing my own vegetables. It all started with a few free packets of seeds and a couple of pots on the windowsill. But then it snowballed into buying a raised bed, growing herbs in containers and saving toilet rolls for next year's seed plantings.

I will happily admit that I am a novice gardener and that I have pretty much winged my way through the sowing, planting out and harvesting of my vegetables. I have used the Internet as a resource for when I have been completely clueless (which was most of the time) and unfortunately it wasn't able to provide the answers to my most pressing problems. So I decided it was time to invest in some books to guide me and prevent me from making the same mistakes next year.

I had read very favourable reviews about Veg Patch: River Cottage Handbook No.4 so I decided to buy it. Mark Diacono, who is the gardener at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage, has written a book that is informative but at the same time humorous and full of personality. Mark's passion for what he does shines through in his writing and I love the way he injects humour into his instructions. A prime example is how to harvest asparagus...

"Sit on your hands, go on holiday in May, do whatever you have to, but don't take spears in the first two years".

It is called a Handbook and the size of it is certainly handy, measuring just 8 x 5.5 inches and 1 inch thick. This makes it very portable, in case you need to carry it down to your allotment or around the garden centre as you peruse all the wonderful things that are on offer. The hardback cover gives it a ruggedness that gardeners will appreciate.

The first section of the book is titled Growing Your Own Food and is basically an introduction on choosing what to grow. It is an inspiring section of the book, however Mark loses points when he encourages the reader to grow something you actively dislike. When space is at such a premium in the garden, I do not want to be growing courgettes where I could be growing squash instead!

The Essential Terms section is quite useful to demystify some of the gardening jargon, however Mark states this section is extremely limited as most of the terms are explained as they crop up in the book. For example, 'pinching out' is not in this section, but it is explained under Tomatoes.

Which leads me onto the main section of the book, which is the Vegetable A-Z. The most commonly grown vegetables are here, as well as some more unusual ones that I've never heard of (Cardoons anyone?). It is easy to find what you're looking for by simply flicking through the A-Z or alternatively you can refer to the Index, which will also tell you the other pages that the vegetable appears. There are a good number of recipes featured in this book, so the Index is a good way of finding out how to pull all the ingredients together into a tasty dish.

Each vegetable has information on when to plant and the necessary spacing, plus Mark takes into account whether you might want to grow things under cover in his sowing times. There are also tables at the beginning of the book for a quick-glance reference. For a beginner like me, this is invaluable information. However, now that I have grown things and experienced some problems, I need to know how to fix them. For example, my squash did terribly and from what I read on the Internet, it was due to a virus or mildew. But Mark makes no mention of these problems and just states that the only thing to worry about is slugs or snails. So if you're looking for a book that will help diagnose any problems, then this isn't it.

The humour makes it is an enjoyable book to read, but I feel that important details are sacrificed as only a couple of pages are dedicated to each plant. I would also have preferred a lot more diagrams and more practical photos, rather than the coffee table book photography that has been used. There are some great ideas in the book, such as building an X-frame for supporting peas, but a diagram or photo would have been so useful in knowing how to execute these ideas.

Overall, this book is a handy little guide to help you get started with choosing varieties, the sowing and planting, but it lacks detail in overcoming problems such as pests and diseases. I think it is also aimed at the gardener who has ample space, rather than those who are relying on containers to grow their produce, as there isn't a lot of detail on pot sizes.

I am happy to have this book in my collection as it is an entertaining read, but it is definitely not a definitive guide, as I have had to refer to other books for information.

Summary: A good book, but definitely not perfect.