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Introduces heritage fruits and vegetables. This title offers descriptions of each type of fruit and vegetable and includes stories about their origins, development, the reception they received upon introduction to various countries, as well as the folklore associated with them.
Book Details
Publisher:
THAMES & HUDSON
Publication Date:
16-Apr-2012
ISBN:
9780500516133
Observer review
Heritage Fruits & Vegetables by Toby Musgrave and Clay Perry review
Kendra Wilson the observer Sat 28 April 2012
This book is not preachy. The author describes the drastic decline in heritage varieties since the beginning of the last century as "shocking and disturbing" but it is an unexpected pleasure that this book is a great read, and the technical detail is handled well. Photographer Clay Perry has drawn on the still-life paintings of 16th-century Spain, cleverly avoiding soft-focus nostalgia. Cabbages hang from string as they did in ancient larders, to keep fresh. The pictures are reminiscent of colour plates in antique books, with very static arrangements and lashings of black. RHS-endorsed, this is a call to grow your own. A heritage variety is by definition outside of large-scale commercial cultivation: you have to grow it yourself. These varieties are recognised now as vital in maintaining genetic diversity and yet we continue to buy from supermarkets, which demand uniformity. Plough your own furrow!
Some good news: big suppliers do offer some heritage seeds, because ordinary gardeners want them. Plus, the more rarefied varieties are not so hard to find among smaller seed companies and through Garden Organic. Finally and very importantly: there are no celebrity gardeners in this book.
