In the last few years more people have been trying to grow plants in a more natural way without the dubious assistance of chemicals.  If you want to grow your own vegetables and help the environment (as well as your own health) then this is a place to start.

It didn’t take me long to discover that it is an extremely good place to start if you are a beginner.  For a slim volume, it covers an impressive array of topics and answers a number of important questions.  To start with you need to take a look at your garden and see what is right for you, taking soil, size, aspect, weather,etc into consideration as well as aesthetics.  Make your own compost and discover exactly what you can and cannot put into it, sow seeds, raise transplants and discover what is meant by good organic practice.  There are sections on a large number of different vegetables from the traditional to the exotic, how to plant and look after them, with notes on pests and how to get rid of them harmlessly.  This book is ostensibly for the British gardener, but anybody with a similar temperate climate ought to get plenty out of it too.  I was impressed by the way the author managed to cut through the obfuscation of all the things an expert knows that the rest of us don’t need to and come up with a readable, sensible modern book.