The Minimalist Gardener: Low Impact, No Dig Growing

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This is low maintenance, year round, no dig gardening that provides your kitchen with delicious fresh food, whilst not breaking your back. Patrick was born on 11th February 1949 in Devizes, Wiltshire and brought up on a smallholding in Somerset.

Since 1984, Chelsea Green has been the leading publisher of books about organic farming, gardening, homesteading, integrative health, natural building, sustainable living, socially responsible business, and more. Putting the right plant in the right place, so that it thrives rather than looking ill because the conditions don’t suit it. As for making compost – throw the material on the ground and it will turn into compost right where it sits – why do you need to give it a special place to do what it wants to do anyway? There were plenty of other suggestions to try out as well including pink purslane, sea beet, and herb patience as well as more familiar perennial kales and broccoli.Low input, year-round “no-dig” gardening that provides your kitchen with fresh healthy food, without breaking your back Written by an acknowledged expert, this friendly guide will help you grow food in whatever space you have – large or small, rural or urban – with minimal purchased inputs, and maximum satisfaction. Chapter one succinctly describes permaculture approaches to minimalist gardening with very clear, simple explanations that completely demystify the terms whilst gently and convincingly introducing some of the more revolutionary permaculture techniques that newbies can find a bit dubious. This book was written for the English climate, there’s some crossover for me but the varieties he recommended are not likely to be available in the states. Patrick describes how to select plants based on what you like to eat and how to combine them in polycultures that confound would-be pests. This collection of Patrick Whitfield's pioneering writings explores the cutting edge of permaculture gardening that is eminently practical and visionary all at the same time.

I found it almost a complete practical gardening course that you can use as needed, a series of easy to follow practicals you will be itching to get out and try. Growing our own food is not only a satisfying and enjoyable thing to do, but it’s also one of the most positive actions we can take to turn our negative ecological impact into a beneficial one. You have the right to view these pages and where applicable, to copy these pages and any images to a cache for reference by yourself only at a later date. We're always happy to answer any questions or queries you might have, please get in touch using one of the methods below.

He mixes annual hybrids, heritage varieties and perennial vegetables and has a pragmatic approach to selecting seeds and seed saving. The Minimalist Gardener makes it all possible – we can all benefit now from the depth of experience and wisdom handed down to us by Patrick. This section gave me the confidence and interest to be able to volunteer at the next pruning session in a nearby orchard and gain some hands on experience. Patrick Whitefield spent many years tending his vegetable garden and feeding himself and his wife Cathy with it’s produce.

These grow in clumps of long, thin, knobbly roots a bit similar to the Jerusalem artichoke and were a regular crop in Patrick’s plot. I went straight to the chapter on Patrick’s favourite perennial vegetables hoping to discover some new tried and tested food plants that just keep delivering without needing to be sown each year. Like most people, Patrick did not have access to a huge amount of land to support himself from but, like many people, he did manage to grow an awful lot of fresh food. After Patrick's death, there were obituaries in The Telegraph, The Guardian and on BBC Radio 4, and tributes to him from all over the world on social media. The best thing we can do as gardeners is to experiment, keep on watching and learning, and most of all enjoy the garden and the fruits of our labour.Packed with design principles and examples for small gardens, Patrick's down-to-earth legacy continues to inspire. For example, the concepts and practice of no dig, polycultures, element placement and beneficial relationships. Big thanks are due to Permanent Publications for bringing these articles together into this very accessible and easy reading new reference book.

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On Valentine’s day this year (2024) Modern Mint, the company I started when I moved to Essex to explore a fresh, contemporary approach to gardening, will be 10 years old.