I am so excited.  While at my mum’s,  I came across some information that blows the normal gardening books out of the water.

This book is a breath of fresh air.

It has a huge range of exciting new plants, fruit, and herbs that are not normally mentioned in your usual allotment books, that you can grow.

When I showed this to my sister she went and got one, then my other sister saw it when she visited and was reading it within minutes.  She now has a copy!

Who is it for?

Anyone who wants to grow something more than the normal range of fruit,  herbs, and vegetables.  Or if you want to try something new and different.

Many of the exotic plants that you would think would be hard to grow are in fact (according to the book, experiments are being done now) surprisingly easy.  Each is marked with growing difficulty as well as the usual needs and sizes.

I see no reason, therefore why someone new to gardening should not have the joy of planting these exciting range of plants, bushes, and trees.  In fact, from what he says many are more pest resistant than many of the old time favourites.

 

James Wong's Homegrown Revolution


Who isn’t it for

If you are looking for information on how to choose and/or set up an allotment then this book isn’t for you – yet.  That is not to say it isn’t worth getting, only that it does not cover this area.  If you are just starting out the best types of books to get are those that give great advice on choosing and starting out on your exciting allotment journey.

James Wong’s Homegrown Revolution Book is a Breath of Fresh Air For Growers

James Wong wrote this book because he was fed up with the same old, same old books with the same plants, fruits, and herbs in them, all pretty much saying the same old thing.

He says that we are stuck in the war era with our growing.  The government decided then what we should grow and we haven’t for the most part, moved on from that.

There is nothing wrong with what we grow, it is just we as a nation have moved on with what we will eat but still grow the same tired old stuff.  Now, I love cabbage, runner beans, and broccoli and many of the others so will still be growing many of the favourites.  However, there is a whole new world of growing out there to be explored.  It is so exciting, I can’t wait.

This book explores that world and opens up a whole new and exciting world of planting.  Some, I admit are in fact old herbs forgotten and unloved while others like the Cucamelon and the Inca Berry are not so well known here.

The book is well written.  I love the way James Wong writes, his voice clearly coming through and making the book come to life.  While clearly knowledgeable, he has an informal approach that is refreshing and easy to connect with.

It is also laid out well with beautiful pictures and clear explanations.  If I were to fault it at all, it would be that each of the sections was all in a sage green so you cannot easily see where the fruit starts and herbs end, for example.  But this is nitpicking and so minor.

Due to the unusual nature of many of the plants he has included a recipe idea which is a great idea.  There is also a recipe on the seed packets.

 The Experiments

This year I will be taking some of these ideas and trying them out for myself.  You will be able to see the results here in the experiments section.