The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley

The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley
Buy The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Home and Family
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: Marketed as a series for the first-time gardener, this book is going to be a gem for everyone who likes to get their hands into the soil. Highly recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 176	Date: March 2023
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0760378137
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If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need. It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting. There's also a good glossary. So, is it any good?

I came to this book from a strange direction. We recently moved house. I left behind a massive raised vegetable bed, fruit bushes in containers and a greenhouse which kept us in tomatoes and cucumbers. I needed three freezers to store all the excess produce. Then we moved. I now have a stunning formal garden, the sort that makes you think that you need to be a grown-up gardener to do it justice but you don't know if you're that grown up. There's a big disadvantage though: there is nowhere to grow food. I've now relocated the bin area and I'm going to grow some food there in containers – but I'm having to start from basics.

I was hooked by the first picture I saw: a container of vegetables, interplanted with herbs and flowers. It's practical and beautiful. That's a good start. It also assumes that you know very little and explains many of the terms which other books assume you understand. If it's not explained in the glossary, you can contact the author via her website. There's advice about what you should look for when buying plants which are gold dust. By the time you're through this section, you feel confident.

Grow what you like to eat might seem obvious advice but you'd be surprised how few gardeners follow it. There's an excellent quick planting guide which tells you all you need to know about planting – the container size, when to plant, sun or not, water and fertilizer requirements and when to harvest. It covers fruit, herbs and vegetables and by the time you've worked your way through it, your mouth will be watering. For more gold dust, have a look at the section on companion – and repellent – planting. There are some one-sentence gems: kids who grow vegetables love to eat vegetables. There are some lovely examples of what they could grow that are also decorative.

If you wouldn't eat out of it, don't grow in it is excellent advice when choosing containers, but this isn't a book that's precious about what you use as a planter. Size and drainage matter but upcycling is encouraged. I liked the advice on which containers to avoid - and why - but I was particularly impressed by the (simple) idea of how to winterise your containers. Moving onto what you put into the containers, I'm now going to make my own potting soil: it has got to be better than some of the stuff I spend money on.

My new area for the container-grown food is protected from the prevailing westerly winds, sheltered from the north and open to the south and east. I've now got a list of plants which will thrive in each of the areas. From being a problem, this is now starting to feel like fun. I've also got the watering sorted out – and a water butt appropriately placed.

You're also going to learn about pollinators and how we can attract them. How about a bee bath? Fertilising has always been a bit hit and miss for me, but Pamela Farley gives us a simple guide which takes all the mystery out of the subject. She's equally good on mulches: not all are created equal.

The final section is on troubleshooting, with the best advice being 'don't panic'. This book was a quick, easy read but it's one which I know I'm going to return to time and time again. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley at Amazon.com.

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