GROW FRUIT & VEGETABLES IN POTS

AARON BERTELSEN, PHAIDON, H/B, $70

New Zealander Aaron Bertelsen is the vegetable gardener and cook at Great Dixter in Sussex. In this book he demonstrates that lack of space is no barrier to being able to enjoy the pleasures of growing – and eating – your own. The book splits equally between growing advice and recipes, though being a British-based gardener I’m not sure how the advice on pests and planting seasons will translate to our conditions. Start small if you are a novice, with some salad greens or herbs – got to be worth a try just to make the vibrant lettuce soup or basil jelly. His key piece of advice is ‘grow what you want to eat’ so based on that I’ll be hanging out until spring to plant blueberries for the baked custard with blueberries, and potatoes and parsnips for farls (apparently I’ll need some long Tom pots). So curl up over winter with this book while you plan, then roll on springtime, we’ll be ready for you. TW