Page 9 - ALG Issue 1 2017

Charles Dowding’s Vegetable
Garden Diary
Introduced by Darina Allen
Published by the author’s imprint No Dig Garden | £14.95 | Wire-bound
ISBN: 978-1-5272-0344-0
This is a journal with a perpetual diary; a manual of gardening to inform and inspire, packed with illustrations and an introduction by Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School.
Three quarters of Charles’s advice is on how to grow great crops, whilst one quarter is writing space for each day. Use it year after year to make the best decisions, with your notes alongside Charles’s suggestions, for future reference.
Advice in the diary section is linked to each week of the season and takes you through the whole process, from clearing weeds, feeding soil and sowing to harvests and storing vegetables.
• Advice on sowing and planting methods, plus raising plants at home
• Best sowing dates – seeds neither fail in cold nor start too late
• Advantage of no dig, saving time, giving fewer weeds and bigger crops
• How to maintain control of weeks through timely mulching and hoeing
• How to feed soil just once a year, for strong and healthy growth
• When and how to make all the harvests, with advice on storing produce too.
9
Book Reviews
The Book of Pears
Raw
by Joan Morgan
Ebury Press | £45.00 | Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-78503-147-2 Bestselling author of The Book of Apples.
Energy
This wonderfully unique
book tells the story of the
pear from its delightful taste
and wonderful appearance,
through to breeding and
cultivation, following the
fruit’s journey through history
and around the world.
Beautifully illustrated with
40 botanical watercolour paintings by RHS Gold Medallist, Elisabeth Dowle, The Book of Pears is the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to the pear.
Glass
Moving through continents and cultures, Joan Morgan celebrates the pear’s long history as both a fresh and cooking fruit. Revealing the secrets of the pear as a status symbol, some of the most celebrated fruit growers in history, and
how the pear came to be so important as an international commodity.
Best-selling author Stephanie Tourles offers more than 120 delicious, highly nutritious recipes for smoothies, shakes, green drinks, power shots, mocktails, longevity elixirs, and fermented beverages, all designed to boost your health and energy. All recipes can be 100% vegan, though honey is often offered as one of several sweetening choices. There’s even an original recipe for vegan yogurt, made with nut milks and probiotics. And no juicer is required: Tourles uses a high-powered kitchen blender to turn raw ingredients
The second half of the book, The Pear Directory, covers the world’s ancient and modern varieties of pear, with historical, geographical and horticultural details and full tasting notes.
into satisfying drinks. From Green Grapefruit Refreshers and Ginger-Lime Mocktinis to Golden Antioxidant Fusion, Aloe and Pineapple Digestive Health Elixir, and Pain-Away Chlorella Smoothies, there’s no shortage of nourishing, energizing, and irresistible choices.
This one-of-a-kind guide is the most complete history ever written and the de nitive book on over 500 varieties.
in a
by Stephanie Tourles
Storey Publishing | £11.99 | Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61212- 248-9