On Valentine’s day this year (2024) Modern Mint, the company I started when I moved to Essex to explore a fresh, contemporary approach to gardening, will be 10 years old. 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. the true significance of Whitefield's ideas was not adequately acknowledged during his lifetime, but his influence will survive him.

This is the first in a collection of Patrick Whitefield’s pioneering writings, celebrating his life.Let the plants grow how they will – without fertiliser they may not grow as tall but they will be stronger and more durable for it. 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! If you asked 100 gardeners the same series of questions about how to grow vegetables, or manage the soil, or make good compost, you would get 100 different sets of answers. It can be lonely being the ‘weird’ and ‘untidy’ one on an allotment and can cause bad feeling and complaints – in some sad cases councils have ploughed up long established, productive permaculture gardens because they were reported as ‘too untidy’ or ‘neglected’ and accused of being a source of weed seeds and slugs.

The following 16 chapters each cover a specific aspect in detail and I found helpful wisdom and instruction in each but especially enjoyed the chapters on seeds and plants, shady gardening, slug controlling, perennial vegetables, pruning and building paths and steps.He qualified in agriculture at Shuttleworth College, Bedfordshire and after several years working in agriculture in the Middle East and Africa, he settled in central Somerset. The term ‘minimalist’ refers to the amount of work put into maximising harvests and may be a more comprehensible term to draw interest from conventional gardeners. This section is particularly helpful when it’s time to to start planning (or revolutionising) your plot for the next year, it’s also reassuring to conventional gardeners that they can make gains just by tweaking their existing practices and they don’t have to completely redesign from scratch. 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 bought in inputs, and maximum satisfaction. The articles have been edited and organised into a comprehensive guide for the domestic kitchen gardener, with top tips for all of the seasons, and guidance on design and the different methods you might use.