My Bookshelf for Winter

I browsed through Amazon last week and ordered these, my winter reading material. They have been dropping through my letter box all week.I did not buy the new copies just all second hand but they arrived as new anyway.

Left to right:

The Allotment Handbook; Caroline Bradley,

All of the allotment information applies to the UK but there is a month by month section of what to plant and jobs to do, there is also a comprehensive plant directory.

The Biodynamic sowing and planting Calender; Maria Thun,

On first glance through it, it seems a bit technical but does have a calender for the year on which days to plant/harvest, Roots,leaf, fruit and flower. ie;onions,beetroot,carrots and potatoes are best harvested on root days and they will keep throughout the winter.

The Allotment Keeper's Handbook : Jane Perrone, Easy to read ,practical, again a monthly to do list, crop rotation, watering,and composting. Jane has an allotment for years and admits her own mistakes over the years so you know when she gives advice it has been learned the hard way!

The Organic Gardening Catalogue; I have finally gotten a seed catalogue to browse through and plan for next year! One thing that struck me on reading this was, I did not have a clue of the names of the varieties of anything we have sown this year so cannot discuss the merits or otherwise of any variety we have! This catalogue has a nifty build a ball system for making frames and structures for netting or fleece to protect crops. This one was free, just log on to http://www.organiccatlogue.com/ for information and it arrives in the post a couple of days later

Carrots Love Tomatoes;Louise Riotte, It is all about companion planting, some plants as in the human world just do not get on with unsuitable neighbours! When planted in favourable company they thrive.Take the Tomato for instance...tomatoes and all members of the brassicas repel each other and should be kept apart, they also do not like the company of potatoes or fennel. A bit of a minefield, like who to put sitting next to who at a wedding! There is an A to Z of vegetables and their likes and dislikes, should make good reading and hopefully planning for next year.