Alys Fowler Books

With over 30 fun, easy to follow and rewarding growing projects, foraging activities, experiments and arts and crafts activities, you'll never be bored again! From growing your own air plants to foraging for edible flowers, gardener, TV presenter and forager Alys Fowler will take you through a range of indoor and outdoor activities that are sure to ignite a lifelong passion for plants! You don't need a garden or any fancy equipment - a homemade pot and watering can, seeds from the kitchen cupboard and a sunny windowsill will do. With Alys's expert guidance you can grow your own avocado tree, make wildflower seed paper, forage for tasty roots to add to your favourite recipes and even grow neon pink beetroot in the dark! Welcome to the wonderful world of plants - what will you discover?

This the story of how, over the course of a year, Alys, the Guardian gardening writer, learns how to keep bees; It is the best rule-breaking, wildlife- friendly, guerilla, urban gardening, insect-identifying, honey-tasting, wax- dripping, epistolary how-to book you could ever hope to own.

Fresh produce is a joy: crunchy lettuce, sun-warmed tomatoes, juicy berries - their flavours are immediate - but a winter of those summer flavours preserved, now that's a feeling of satisfaction.

Alys Fowler takes a fresh look at foraging, encouraging you to look closer to home, from the weeds in your garden to the trees in your street, rather than the fields and hedgerows of the countryside. Alys showcases her favourite edibles with a plant directory packed with useful information - photographic identification, plant description and tips on how to grow and how to eat it (including recipes such as fruit leathers and chutney) - that will give you the confidence to identify plants yourself. The book also features innovative ideas for eating your local landscape, from community gardens in Todmorden, UK to Edimental (edible ornamentals) gardens in Norway - this is a fast-growing, global phenomenon that is fun, environmentally friendly and thrifty!

Thrifty and resourceful ways to take the good life and refashion it to fit into city life, by throwing out the old rules of gardening and combining the beautiful with the edible Abandoning the limitations of traditional gardening methods, Alys Foster describes how she has created a beautifully productive garden where tomatoes sit happily next to roses, carrots are woven between the lavenders, potatoes grow in pots on the patio, and all of it is produced in a way that mimics natural systems, producing delicious homegrown food for her table. She also shares her favorite recipes for the hearty dishes, pickles, and jams she makes to use up her bountiful harvest, proving that no one need go hungry on her grow-your-own regime. Good for the pocket, good for the environment, and hugely rewarding for the soul, this guide urges urbanites everywhere to chuck out the old gardening rules and create their own haven that's as good to look at as it is to eat.

Alys Fowler takes a fresh look at foraging, encouraging you to look closer to home, from the weeds in your garden to the trees in your street, rather than the fields and hedgerows of the countryside. Alys showcases her favourite edibles with a plant directory packed with useful information.

Pre-order this charming, modern miscellany of herbs - for gardeners, cooks and armchair botanists alike.Lovingly collated by horticultural expert and Guardian columnist Alys Fowler, this charming miscellany celebrates everything there is to know about herbs and their significance in our gardens, kitchens, medicine cupboards and daily lives.With her unparalleled horticultural experience, Alys explores the abundance of uses of these incredible plants and writes beautifully about how herbs have become entwined in our lives past and present. Designed to inform, entertain and delight, this book offers a fusion of botanical, practical, cultural and historical information, accompanied by beautiful line illustrations, and will be a welcome and well-thumbed addition to every potting shed, kitchen shelf and bedside table.

Create an edible garden brimming with wildlife that provides you with food every day of the year Imagine a garden that is as beautiful as it is productive, that gives you fresh, wholesome, chemical-free food with flavors that go beyond anything shops can offer. In Eat What You Grow, Alys shows you how to create a rich, biodiverse garden that feeds not only you, but supports a wide range of pollinators, bees and butterflies, as well as other wildlife. From perennial vegetables that come back year after year, to easy-to-grow delights, she has selected plants that hold their own in both the garden and on the plate. And tells you how to raise these plants, guiding you through the process of feeding your soil, saving seed and taking cuttings to increase your supplies. The book covers every size garden with tips on what can grow in containers (for smaller gardens) as well as harvesting throughout the year. She also teaches you simple and effective design tools that will ensure your garden looks striking and wild, brings joy to your world and feeds you day after day.

Forget makeover culture, forget the garden centre and all your gardening preconceptions, this is a witty, wise and practical take on how to create a stylish garden. The Thrifty Gardener is about creating the garden of your dreams, regardless of resources or limited space. It will eliminate the intimidation factor and reveal the ins-and-outs of soil, seeds, sowing and growing. At the heart of this book is a DIY ethic that says you don't always have to buy what you need – you can make it, take it or swap it with friends. From creating window boxes out of champagne cases to creating your own elegant compost bin, from bulking up perennials to finding plants for free, this book is packed with offbeat projects for a new generation of gardeners.

Forget makeover culture and all your gardening preconceptions, this is a witty, wise and practical take on to how to create a garden that suits you.