Meredith Kirton

Very Australian book -- the original subtitle referred to Australian gardening, not seasonal gardening. Not sure why our local library here in Ontario Canada acquired it. Pretty sure why it wasn't popular enough for them to keep it. Although the seasons follow one another in the southern hemisphere as they do in the north, the specifics are rather different. Spring task #1: prune passion fruit. Mind blown.

There's a lot on decorative plants, not my forte as a gardener, but I don't recognize most of them. A lot of photos of exotica. I think the book is rather bloated with pretty photos. It's too heavy to hold comfortably, yet not big enough in surface area to make a good coffee table book.

The author explains in the preface how the photos come from a year of her garden and a plethora of others. If she explains her philosophy of gardening I missed it. From the title I expected some method of garden digging, but it's just a title. In skimmming the book I found a confusing mixture of compost, all-purpose artificial fertilizers, systemic pesticides (she says dormant oil spray is one, must research that) and encouraging insects in the garden. Not organic but not super chemical-dependant either.

I can't rate it, I'll leave that to the Aussies who can evaluate the horticultural information.… (mer)

I'm always on the lookout for books that will help me use what my garden produces to the fullest, and I've been consistently disappointed with the limited scope of everything I've found thus far. Until now.

I found this book on the sale table at my local bookshop while Christmas shopping. It caught my eye because it is drop dead beautiful, with gorgeous board covers and a rich dark purple edging on the pages. The price seduced me and I bought it after a quick flip through. I started reading it as soon as I got home and it is just what I've been looking for.

The first half of the book has 2-3 page briefs on growing different types of fruit, vegetables and herbs. Growing descriptions aren't the focus here although they do include a few really useful tips. The focus here is the different ways each plant/fruit can be preserved and includes some of the more unique options instead of just the standard bottling and canning. This was just what I've been looking for.

The second half of the book is recipes: unique combinations of salsas, chutneys, butters, curds and more. I'm not as interested in this section, but there are a few that I'll definitely be trying (MT is keen to try the apricot and cinnamon curd).

I highly recommend this book to any gardeners interested in the different ways of preserving their bounty. It's published in Australia, but the authors were very careful to use both metric and standard measurements as well as keeping the growing tips hemisphere agnostic, something I've rarely seen done in any gardening book.

Possibly my best find of 2016.… (mer)