Charlotte Mendelson has only 6sqm of urban back garden, but boundless enthusiasm for scanning seed catalogues, squashing in squashes and adding another specimen to an over-crowded plot. She describes it as a “wildly uneconomical experiment in extreme allotmenteering”, and has filled her plot with vegetables and herbs, 20 kinds of lettuce and harvests “by the teaspoon, juneberries, wild strawberries, tame strawberries and every conceivable currant.” There are even a few flowers, but they’re edible, too. Divided by season, this inspirational, funny book, written by someone who hankers after a homesteader’s lifestyle, will make you look at even your window box in a new, more productive light. (Kyle Books)…
