Here, we’ve tested a variety of gardening and growing-your-own books, compiled by gardening writers, bloggers and industry experts alike (The Independent/iStock)
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It’s hardly surprising home-grown fruit and vegetables can taste a million times more flavoursome than their shop-bought counterparts.
It’s fresher, as it doesn’t have to go through the often lengthy transportation process that supermarket produce does, and growing your own gives you complete control over the use of pesticides or fertilisers.
Taste factors aside, growing your own also harbours many additional benefits, from promoting positive mental health to helping you to keep active. It's no wonder many of us have chosen to embrace the greener sides of life, particularly since lockdown.
While the idea of growing your own can be exciting in principle, it can equally be daunting, particularly for beginners, which is where well-researched guides, written by experts, come into their own.
Here, we’ve tested a variety of gardening and growing-your-own books, compiled by gardening writers, bloggers and industry experts alike.
Quite simply, we were looking for books which laid out the main tenets of growing fruit and vegetables clearly and simply. While we were after informative titles, we were also keen to avoid text-heavy tomes in favour of at-a-glance reads which can be consulted as and when.
Finally, we were interested in finding books which were illustrated with high res imagery and diagrams because, let’s face it, when growing your own, nobody wants to eat weeds!
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
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‘RHS Grow Your Own Veg & Fruit Bible’ by Carol Klein, published by Mitchell Beazley
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Featuring environmentally-friendly methods for growing more than 75 fruit and vegetables, this is a must-have for gardening novices and pros alike. The 416-page book covers basics such as tending to fruit and vegetables in small spaces, creating raised beds, making container gardens, protecting tender plants and improving soil. It also catalogues how to grow a whole host of produce, with advice on where, when and how to cultivate each ingredient. Information is laid out in a practical and digestible way, and text is broken up with helpful imagery. One for the coffee table; it’s as aspirational as it is practical.
‘Grow Food For Free: The Easy Sustainable Zero-cost way to a Plentiful Harvest’ by Huw Richards, published by DK
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If you’re hoping to set up your own fruit and veg supply, this book from self-sufficiency pioneer Huw Edwards is wonderfully insightful. From the necessary tools to creating raised beds and sowing, harvesting and storing produce, Grow Food for Free covers all the basics to get you started, but with an added twist – the idea is to borrow, swap, share or make your own resources where possible, without having to spend a penny. Overall, the book is wonderfully resourceful and particularly relevant in the current climate.
‘Allotment Month by Month: Grow your own Fruit and Vegetables, Know What to do When’ by Alan Buckingham, published by DK
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Covering more than 60 crops, this book provides a month-by-month breakdown of what to do when. From digging over your plot in January to sowing and planting in February, it can be used as a to-do list to inform your growing and harvesting. On top of an annual overview of things to do, there’s also a “crop planner” chapter which covers how to grow a number of ingredients in a handy at-a-glance fashion.
‘How to Grow: A guide for gardeners who can’t garden yet’ by Hollie Newton, published by Orion Spring
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From its jazzy jacket to trendy minimalist design inside, How to Grow is one for green-fingered millennials. Written by self-taught gardener Hollie Newton in her pint-sized London garden, this book will inspire avid gardeners to grow their own, no matter what space they’re working with. On top of being practical, it’s an enjoyable – and funny – read.
