Book Review: Grow and Eat Something Different

You know me, I love everything to do with unusual edibles. My bookshelf proudly displays Sally Cunningham’s Asian Vegetables and old favourites Growing Unusual Vegetables by Simon Hickmott and Plants for a Future by Ken Fern. So you can imagine I was rather pleased when I spotted a new book in the Wiggly Wigglers catalogue called “Grow and Eat Something Different“, by John and Shirley Murrell. It’s not widely available – it’s a self-published book and it’s odd to own one that doesn’t have an ISBN, a barcode or even a blurb on the back.

It’s main strength is that it is written by two very experienced gardeners who have also travelled widely and brought back both plants and ideas. This book is their collection of information about some ‘less common vegetables and fruit’, although some are bound to be familiar to readers of this blog.

In fact, the book is organised with the most familiar crops at the front, ranging through to the most unusual at the end. There are less than 30, so it’s a slim volume, and it won’t take you long to read through. But once you have it’s a useful book to have on the shelf to refer to when you attempt to grow something new to you.

It covers (shown here in the order in which they appear in the book) – kohl rabi, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, salsify and scorzonera, Florence fennel, winter squashes, winter salads, Asian greens, cardoons and artichokes, winter radishes, beans, sea kale, asparagus peas, sweet potatoes, tomatillos and cape gooseberries, celtuce, okra, jostaberries, Japanese wineberries, huckleberries, figs, korila (achocha) and chayote.

I’ve grown about half of those at least once. There are some on the list I am unlikely to try (I am not a big fan of celeriac) and some for which my garden is currently too small. But I still found the book interesting.

Because it is a self-published book, it has the feel that you’re listening to two very knowledgeable gardeners talk on their favourite subject. But it also has limitations – the photos are OK but not spectacular. There is some odd punctuation and the occasional minor error (leaf miners are referred to as leaf minors, but I find that description quite apt!). There is the odd omission, too – the instructions for winter radishes encourage you to sow them right through to the beginning of October, but the harvesting date is not mentioned.

This is not an all-encompassing manual on how to grow these less common crops, nor is it supposed to be. But it succeeds in its aim in passing on the Murrell’s experience, and is worth a place on your shelf if you’re interested in unusual edibles. And it’s entertaining because there is plenty of character in the writing. There are notes on the culinary uses of each vegetable, although it appears that the authors are happy to eat pretty much anything if it’s covered in cheese and breadcrumbs and grilled to become an ‘au gratin‘ dish. And apparently ‘eating too many fresh figs can make you a bit runny’, and you can’t say fairer than that :D


WigglyWigglersIf you’re new to Wiggly Wigglers then you can get £10 off your first order of £50+ by entering the Wiggly discount code FVS909 when you checkout. And you can also get a free copy of their book about the transformation of the Wiggly Garden – Bringing a Garden to Life, by Jenny Steel (normally £18, catalogue code S9292). These two offers are only valid until the end of October 2009.

Posted 19 October 2009, 14:50.   Posted in .

1 Comments for Book Review: Grow and Eat Something Different

  1. Thanks Emma – will consider purchasing this book when I next make an order from Wiggly Wigglers :) I have tried a few of the above – cape gooseberries and Florence Fennel are the latest.

    Anna · Oct 22, 06:11 PM

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