Bob Flowerdew’s Organic Gardening Bible (Successful growing the natural way) Kyle Books £8.99

Picked up in Shoe Lane library on the hottest day of the year last Thursday whilst making full use of their air conditioning this book is what it says it is, a “gardening bible”. It’s an ideal reference for across the board organic gardening (vegetables, fruit, flowers and livestock) with tons of top tips. There’s a great section on harvesting and storing harvests and some interesting alternative pest and disease control methods.

In a typical Bob Flowerdew style there’s some corkers in here when it comes to unconventional gardening, take this one for a start: “Human liquid waste is not a health hazard in temperate climates and it is wasteful to flush away such a rich source of fertility. Saved in a bucket, it can get whiffy…the whiffiness is much reduced if you add some sugar”. We’re ones for pouring the odd bit of urine from a bottle on the compost heap from time to time but not when the neighbours are watching. Bob Flowerdew we salute you, we urge all gardeners to buy or borrow this book!