The Self Sufficient Gardener

A brief note about one of my favourite (gardening) books and authors ....  John Seymour's book “The Self Sufficient Gardener”(1979) was my gardening bible in the 1980's and now for the second time it is once again inspiring and teaching. A insightful book and highly recommended.

The Self Sufficient Gardener

The title says it all. The pages of my book are falling out and popular sections are worn and unfortunately sometimes torn, and there are post it notes and scraps of paper stuck between the pages. When one of our (adult) children wanted to start vegetable gardening this was the book  loaned to her.

Chapters I particularly love to read are the vegetable and herbs section and the essentials of gardening.   The practical, detailed information has all you need to know to grow your own vegetable garden.  There is all sorts of additional information on garden structures, care and maintenance with lots of other great suggestions for preserving and canning.  I also enjoy looking at the beautiful illustrations especially the brilliant colour plate illustrations of the fruit and vegetables.

One other book Mr. Seymour wrote, which was recently acquired, is “Blueprint for a Green Planet” (1987) co-authored with Herbert Girardet.  Again, so relevant to our world today. The chapters on a hazard free home and the low energy home, were particularly meaningful to me and we are trying to implement many of his suggestions in our “suburban” lifestyle. Of course, eating without additives is also of importance personally as are the other chapters of this “handbook of positive and realistic alternatives.”

Both these books are  insightful and thought provoking,  and highly recommended.

Notes & References 

• “The Self Sufficient Gardener” 1978 and (New Self Sufficient Gardener 2008)
• “Blueprint for a Green Planet” by John Seymour and Herbert Giradet, Illustrated by Ian Penney (Dorling Kindersley 1987)
• More about John Seymour who passed away in 2004

The beginning of a journey is the first step. . .