It was rather fitting that I was reading The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden during the several days of torrential and nonstop rain we’ve had recently. Never has adapting growing to our changing climate ever seemed more important.
Watching the garden gradually drowning under the downpour, I could only agree with author Kim Stoddart’s observation that “with these topsy-turvy conditions, it is no longer gardening as usual”.
The award-winning journalist and author has long championed a greener approach to gardening – she’s the co-author of The Climate Change Garden.
In this book, she takes those principles of low cost growing – both in terms of pounds spent and the cost to the planet – and focuses in on vegetable growing.
(I was given a copy of the book in return for a fair review.)
The key to better growing that will withstand whatever the weather throws at us is, we learn, to “break gardening rules if they require breaking”. These ‘rules’ range from traditional ways of planting, the design of vegetable gardens, and the crops we grow.
Kim favours what she calls ‘free-planting’, abandoning the idea of crop rotation and instead having mixed beds rather than different blocks of single crops. Avoiding mono cultures makes it harder for pests to find crops and slows down the spread of disease.
It’s just one tip in a book packed with ideas. Others include the idea of repairing not replacing when it comes to garden tools and equipment; making plants from supermarket herbs; allowing tomatoes to ‘grow wild’ to increase their reslience and decrease the amount of watering they need.
Given its title, The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden also tackles the extremes of weather many gardeners are now facing. There’s advice on protecting against wild fires – building in fire barriers and having moveable planters – and thoughts on how to deal with flooding. Increasing perennial planting and using permeable materials are just two ideas. Her mantra is “slow it, spread it, sink it”.
There’s advice on making compost and leaf mould, suggestions for vegetables to grow and ways to cut the use of plastic in your gardening, while the book ends with a ‘troubleshooting’ section.
And improving the resilience of the gardener as much as the garden is the driving force behind the book and we are urged to “Let nature sooth, amaze and inspire you.”
After all “Being in tune with your outside space and with yourself will make you a better gardener.”
Easy to read with lots of photographs, this book is ideal for anyone who wants to adapt their garden to our changing world.
The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden by Kim Stoddart is published by Cool Springs Press with an RRP of £22. You can buy it here for £13.40. (If you buy via this link, I receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.) Alternatively, you may wish to buy from an independent bookseller here. All prices correct at time of publication of this post.
Top image: Kim’s polytunnel. Picture: © Kim Stoddart.
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