Page 12 - ALG Issue 2 2015

Straw Bale Gardens Complete
By Joel Karsten
Published: 5th February 2015 Cool Springs Press
ISBN: 1591869072
Take your straw bale gardening to the next level; in more places, with new products, and even, sometimes, skipping the straw!
The reception and enthusiasm for straw bale gardening, introduced in 2013, has proved revolutionary in vegetable growing. Why? Because the bold promises in the book are kept: grow vegetables anywhere, earlier in the year, with no weeding. Straw bale gardening works.
The book has nearly 50 pages of all-new advice and photos on subjects
such as growing
in a tight urban
setting, making your straw bale garden completely organic, and using new fertilizers
and conditioning products. There is even information on using straw bale techniques to grow veggies in other organic media for anyone who has a hard time finding straw.
Coming soon...
Monday 16 March saw the launch of a wonderfully accessible history of the Allotment Movement by Lesley Acton; watch out for the review in the next issue of the Allotment and Leisure Gardener.
Growing Space: A History of the Allotment Movement
ISBN: 978-1910170137 280 pages, March 2015 £14.99
Five Leaves Publishing, available from Five Leaves bookshop in Nottingham and online
12
Book Reviews
Natural Birdhouses
One Magic Square
25 projects using found wood to attract birds, bats and bugs into your garden
Grow your own food on one square metre
By Amen & Maria Fisher
Apple Press | 5th March 2015
£12.99 | Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-84543-580-6
By Lolo Houbein
Published: 5th February 2015
Green Books
ISBN: 9780857842800
Fully revised for UK and Northern European climates.
This charming book contains 25 simple projects for making bird houses, feeders, bat houses, and pollinator houses using materials that
you can find in your
This book contains much more than the title suggests, along with guidance on how you can start your own productive food garden in ten minutes a day on a single square metre. It also takes a very wide ranging look at most aspects of food self- sufficiency and offers lots of easy tips and tricks for
local area. Clear instructions help
you to master the techniques you will need for building your own projects, including finding the right wood, hollowing out the logs, making fixings, decorating them, and more. You can create beautiful, natural works of art that also provide your residents with all they will need.
the allotment holder or home grower. The book also includes chapters on:
• Plot designs from basic to complex
• Ideas for specific diets and tastes
• Descriptions of food plants
• The benefits of companion planting.