City Veg: Inspiration from an Urban Garden
£19.00
The perfect season-led book to help you grow the best organic vegetables, fruit and herbs in a small urban space
Many of us are trying to be more mindful in our approach to eating by choosing seasonal ingredients, and growing our own fruit and vegetables can benefit our health, the environment and even our wallet.
Written over a year, City Veg is the candid account of an urban grower from her productive city plot – the size of two classic 1970s VW camper vans – with all the triumphs and minor woes that come with a small, suburban location. From planning and designing the garden in January to harvesting and using home-grown produce throughout the growing season, Cinead McTernan takes you on a personal journey that will entertain experienced growers and share plenty of practical information with newbie gardeners.
With helpful growing advice, harvesting guides, tips and inspiration for garden projects, City Veg also includes quick and easy recipe ideas to help make the most of your bountiful yield.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Wildlife (31 Mar. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 288 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1472987845 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1472987846 |
| Dimensions | 16 x 3.3 x 22.23 cm |
by Lady Aga
This is a charming book with lovely photographs aplenty. Many of the photos are self-explanatory as they are set next to the writing which ties to them but there are many where I wish there were a wee note beneath, explaining what exactly is in that photo, and what some of the plants are. This book is written as a diary, following entries for the months and what is happening in Cinead’s garden at that time, coupled with topics such as composting, hot box planting, planting seedlings and so forth. On your journey through the year with Cinead she gives very many excellent tips & techniques, I was particularly smitten with her non-smelly way of collecting comfrey liquid – brilliant. This would make a great gift for any gardener – I am thinking stocking filler – it would be perfect to curl up at Christmas at a roaring fire & read this book at a time when getting into the garden is mainly off limits, but inspiration for the coming year is brewing. There are also recipes, & loose ideas to inspire a cooking session, always well received in a book about growing veg & fruit.
I am enjoying Cinead’s writing style. I am about halfway through the book & glad to notice there is an index so I can easily go back & locate certain subjects which I read about earlier. I do not live in the city, I am out in the Scottish countryside with quite a large garden, but still, this book is of use & interest to me. It would have been helpful if Cinead had mentioned where in the UK her garden is, no need to give her exact address, but simply the area, e.g., London, southwest coast of England etc. Since I live on the west coast of Scotland chances are many of the plants which succeed in southern parts of the UK will be non-starters for me, so information about her locality would be helpful to other gardeners to apply, or not, depending on their location.
No mention of Bokashi composting for food waste, which surprised me since it is a great system for people with very limited space or conversely large gardens, you can select how you choose to carry out part two of the system at the earth factory stage, after the initial 2-week ferment in your kitchen Bokashi bin, relevant to the space you have in your grounds. Just a wee correction, protein’s primary function in the body is rebuilding cells, not for energy as stated in the book, only in extreme cases does the body use protein for energy when carbohydrate and fat sources are in short supply, I am nitpicking here. It is still a lovely book which I wholeheartedly recommend.
Katy Thompson – Home Economist, Professional Plant-Based chef, Nutritionist