Growing fruit and veg for an almost complete novice - book recommendations please

[ChairmumMiaow]

We've been tinkering with growing stuff in our garden the last couple of years and have had some success this year. We'd like to do a bit more each year until we're growing as much stuff as we can, but while we're not complete novices we don't really know what we should be doing.

So, I'm looking for a book that will tell me things like: In August, if you want to grow XYZ, at the moment you should be doing ABC. The idea is that I can prepare for next year properly, instead of having odd things sprouting up everywhere and causing havoc (DH planted the cucumber plant his mother gave us right up next to the spinach which has gone crazy and seems to have killed the cucumber!)

Anyone got any good starter guides?

TIA!

We ahve this www.amazon.com/Growing-Vegetables-Encyclopedia-Practical-Gardening/dp/1840001526

which is quite good but not organic. It has a thing in hte back with all the months and what you shoudl be doing month by month which is very handy but could do with expanding this section greatly.

we also the Grow your own veg book from the TV series with Carol whatsername from Gardens World which is great for tips and unusual veg.

If you find anything good let me know cos I'm looking for somethign similar too.

Thanks Shaun - I've ordered that an another from the library. I'll try to remember to let you know what I think of the other one!

Geoff Hamilton - The Organic Garden Book.
Large A4 sized book. Very very basic, lots of pictures, goes through each fruit and veg in turn telling you how to grow it. Also includes some more general gardening stuff - composting, flowers, but mostly its for fruit and veg.

I know it might not sound right from the title but have a look at "The Allotment Book" by Andi Clevely with a forward by Jekka McVicar.
I started from scratch in January without a single clue and this year have grown:
Peas, cabbage, cauli, french beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes, onions potatoes, courgettes and am waiting on my pumpkins!

Good luck!

I would get Grow Your Own Vegetables by Joy Larkcom, its the clearest & best book I know (and I have read a lot of gardening books in my time), and it has exactly that thing of a month by month guide of what you should be sowing, planting out etc. Its all organic.

(Its an update of an earlier book called Vegetables for Small Gardens btw which your library might also have.)

Yes, I second Takver's recommendation, it is a great book.
I also like Sarah Raven's The Great Vegetable Plot.
I must admit I thought Andi Clevely's Allotment Book was rubbish, it tried to cover too much and didn't do it very well.

This is the best book I've found - great for bedtime reading or to put in the shed:

www.amazon.co.uk/21st-Century-Smallholder-Allotments-Without-Leaving/dp/190391969X

A5 size with lots of tips and a gardener's diary thingy!