The Minimalist Gardener: Low Impact, No Dig Growing

Product Information

Patrick describes how to select plants based on what you like to eat and how to combine them in polycultures that confuse pests. If you know a gardener who complains of backache, blistered hands and who has little leisure time in the growing seasons this book could be a life changer! He wrote a number of seminal books, including Permaculture in a Nutshell (1993), How to Make a Forest Garden (1996), The Living Landscape (2009), How To Read the Landscape (2014) and his magnum opus, The Earth Care Manual (2004), an authoritative resource on practical, tested, cool temperate permaculture. The advice that Patrick offers through his articles is so helpful because of the way he encourages the reader to think.

Patrick describes an evolving system that is totally chemical free, requiring little input from outside the garden gate. the true significance of Whitefield's ideas was not adequately acknowledged during his lifetime, but his influence will survive him. Through observing, season after season, he found the middle road, the sweet spot between productivity and ease. The Minimalist Gardener has the potential to regenerate some of these plots and re-enthuse the disillusioned as once a minimalist design is implemented that is the end of hard labour and the beginning of abundant harvesting with minimal management. Both novice and expert gardeners, conventional, organic and permaculturists will find new inspiration, ideas and step by step instructions – literally, on the dry stone step and path building section!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. 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. They look as though they would just need a good scrubbing to prepare and are apparently very tasty, sweet and a good source of carbs cooked or raw.

His apparent excitement in showing off his splendid leeks, while casually grazing on some perennial broccoli was contagious, and the series of short films he made about growing vegetables leave one in no doubt of his passion for it. Putting the right plant in the right place, so that it thrives rather than looking ill because the conditions don’t suit it. If you purchase an audiobook from our site, it will only be available through our partner, Glassboxx via the Glassboxx player for iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac. Patrick appeared in several BBC TV programmes, popular gardening videos, and taught many permaculture and other practical courses, throughout the UK.If you love lawns then sweep away the flowerbeds that clutter up your precious gardening time and go, tend your lawn. Patrick Whitefield spent many years tending his vegetable garden and feeding himself and his wife Cathy with it’s produce. We're always happy to answer any questions or queries you might have, please get in touch using one of the methods below. Patrick Whitefield (1949 – 2015) was an early pioneer of permaculture, adapting Bill Mollison’s teachings with a strong Southern Hemisphere bias to the cooler, maritime climate of the British Isles. For example, the concepts and practice of no dig, polycultures, element placement and beneficial relationships.