Grow Your Own Vegetables - Joy Larkom

[Shetty]

This book has never been put back into my bookshelf since I first got it. I always have it handy, to check or discover new vegetables. I got it from an old friend, who called it his bible, I think when it comes to growing veg, he is right.

[Scytheman]

I've just bought it. I gather it's something of a classic, first published, as 'Vegetables from Small Gardens', in 1976, and revised a few times since. It has a nicely old-fashioned feel to it - lots of solid, useful text, and none of the colour photos that modern gardening books are replete with (not that there's anything wrong with photos within reason, but I like the no-nonsense style of this book). Also lots of useful charts, and I like the idea of rating each vegetable according to its value-for-space, i.e. how much edible material you get per unit of area.