I think almost every gardener I know has a favorite garden book, or perhaps a favorite gardener who influenced them when they first started gardening. I’ve gardened for as long as I remember. Even as a small child I always commandeered a corner of the garden in every house we lived in. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents all enjoying their gardens and passing on bits of knowledge here and there to me.
My great grandfather on my mum’s side Walter Gillian was a fine old gardener and wonderful character. He survived an underground colliery explosion, being sent off to war and at 80 years old being knocked off his bike by a truck. He lived a full life owning a village pub along with keeping livestock and growing both food and ornamental on the small holding behind it. By the time I knew him he had long retired to a council house in Knottingley that had a large corner garden that kept him busy until shortly before his death at 82 years. He always kept a greenhouse where he grew gorgeous dahlia’s that he loved to cut and present to the ladies with a twinkle in his eye.
The next generation, my grand parents I didn’t get to know so well as they emigrated to Australia and returned to the UK three times in total over a thirty year period. They were in Oz however throughout most of my childhood. They did return for a period when I was around fourteen or fifteen years old and it was on their first Christmas home that they bought me the Marks & Spencer’s ‘St Micheal’s All Colour Book of Vegetable Gardening’ I pored over this book for many hours as an adolescent. Trying to adopt as many of the principles as I could into my parents garden in Walton and hoping to grow as many of the varieties listed as possible.
I still own the book today over forty years later, and even having completed three years at horticultural college and running my own horti business for the last twenty four years the book still comes out every year at seed sowing time. I adopted Mr H G Witham Fogg’s four plot crop rotation system many years ago and have never found the need to change it. The book is a great reminder each year of what goes where and I’ve spent many a winter’s evening beside the fire compiling my seed order for the coming spring with Mr Witham Fogg’s help.
My gardening books now span several book shelves and cover many specialist subjects but this one will always have a special place in my gardening heart.
Plot 1. Early, main and late crop potatoes
Plot 2. Peas, broad, runner and dwarf beans, celery, leeks, onions.
Plot 3. Root crops, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, salsify. Land manured previous year well prevent forked / misshapen roots.
Plot 4. Brassicas. Cabbage, brussles sprouts, brocolli, kale (yuk!), cauliflower, turnips, swedes. Will benefit from ground being limes prior to planting.
Quick growing crops such as radish, spinach, lettuce etc can be fitted in wherever there is space. Likewise herbs can be found a space at the edge of beds or you may prefer like me to create a separate herb bed.
