@earthFgardener has written such a brilliant planet-friendly guide to growing and nurturing a beautiful garden. So many top tips! And any gardening book that opens with nettles is going to be great ! Chris Packham, December 2023; Overall, The Vegan Gardener anchors veganic gardening to more familiar organic gardening ideas, an area where few are better versed than John Walker, who has written an admirable addition to the canon, which needs all the help it can get to reach a wider audience. HortWeek, February 2024; Vegan Gardener is a new book by the brilliant garden writer John Walker, who you may better know as The Earth Friendly Gardener. I came across Johns work and writing years ago now, and was always struck by his passion and how directly he follows his instinct for using gardening as a way to better the world. His approach to living on this earth may be soft, light but his writing is the opposite hard, useful, straight talking advice on improving soils, not wasting sunlight and balancing garden predators with those who prey on your plants. Darren Lerigo, Modern Mint Gardening, March 2022;A great introduction to gardening using vegan organic techniques. Walker focusses on planet-friendly methods, with chapters on peat-free, avoiding plastic, repurposing tools and no dig. Theres good detail on how to make your own compost, using cold and hot methods, worms and different mulches. This can often be challenging for a vegan gardener and I found it useful advice, even for my non-vegan veg garden. I enjoyed the beautiful illustrations exploring possible designs, including a greenhouse for food and wildlife and the one, two and five year designs for an urban garden, with rainwater harvesting, wildlife pond, perennial and annuals and examples of how to gradually prepare the plot. Wildlife is a key, with many chapters on welcoming different wildlife and the final section exploring must-grow plants is helpful for any beginner. Permaculture magazine, January 2023
