Alys Fowler

'An astounding memoir' Gay Star News 'Hidden Nature is one of the most thrilling things I've read in a long time' Waterways World 'She writes wonderfully about the species that have carved out a place for themselves amid the discarded shopping trolleys, condom packets and industrial waste' Guardian 'This candid book is as much about mapping the heart as it is about mapping the paths of waterways. Lovely.' Simple Things 'A beautiful memoir' Good Housekeeping 'Gentle, brave and acutely observant' Woman's Weekly Leaving her garden to the mercy of the slugs, the Guardian's award-winning writer Alys Fowler set out in an inflatable kayak to explore Birmingham's canal network, full of little-used waterways where huge pike skulk and kingfishers dart. Her book is about noticing the wild everywhere and what it means to see beauty where you least expect it. What happens when someone who has learned to observe her external world in such detail decides to examine her internal world with the same care? Beautifully written, honest and very moving, Hidden Nature is also the story of Alys Fowler's emotional journey and her coming out as a gay woman: above all, this book is about losing and finding, exploring familiar places and discovering unknown horizons.

A Voyage of Discovery

Hidden Nature

Have a small patch of soil? Or just a window box? Not a problem. Garden Anywhere shows how anyone can create an oasis in the smallest of spaces. We're not talking just a simple pot of marigolds, here. Garden Anywhere outlines everything an aspiring gardener needs to know to sow a bounteous, thriving garden. Alys Fowler, trained at the New York Botanical Garden, guides readers through the process from the ground up—from planning the garden to composting, pruning, harvesting, and propagating. Stylish photos illustrate the how-tos while Alys shares tips on creating gorgeous container gardens, herb gardens, kitchen gardens and more, without spending a fortune.

Garden Anywhere

Alys Fowler takes you through all the different ways of preserving - bottling, drying, fermenting, freezing, pickling, suing sugar - with delicious recipes that make the most of your produce. This book is a must for anyone that wants to store and preserve their garden bounty.

How to Store and Preserve Your Garden Produce

Abundance

Imagine a garden that is as beautiful as it is productive, that gives you fresh, wholesome, chemical-free food with flavours that go way beyond anything the 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. 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.

Eat What You Grow

Forget makeover culture; forget the garden centre and all your gardening preconceptions, this is a witty, wise and practical take on to how to create a stylish garden. The Thrifty Gardener is about creating the garden of your dream 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.

The Thrifty Gardener

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!

The Thrifty Forager: Living off your local landscape

Houseplants are more than just decorations. They turn a room into a living space and breathe life into our interiors. Houseplants are more than just decorations. They turn a room into a living space and breathe life into our interiors. Not all of us can have a garden or even a window box, but everyone can own a houseplant - and everyone should. Not only are they an affordable and attractive way to add a decorative and personal touch to a space, indoor plants also have unique air purifying properties and their presence is good for our health and wellbeing. In this practical yet inspiring guide, gardening expert Alys Fowler explores all the possible indoor plant options available, helping you to find the perfect plant for any location, from cool, shady bedrooms to warm, sunny kitchen windowsills. As well as more traditional indoor plants, Alys looks at specialist plant groups such as indoor tropical edibles, orchids, cacti, succulents and climbers. With her encyclopedic knowledge and trademark inspirational style, this definitive guide will give you all the knowledge you need to care for your plants.

Love, Care and Repair

House Plants

Houseplants are more than just decorations. They turn a room into a living space and breathe life into our interiors. Not all of us can have a garden or even a window box, but everyone can own a houseplant - and everyone should. Not only are they an affordable and attractive way to add a decorative and personal touch to a space, indoor plants also have unique air purifying properties and their presence is good for our health and wellbeing. In this practical yet inspiring guide, gardening expert Alys Fowler explores all the possible indoor plant options available, helping you to find the perfect plant for any location, from cool, shady bedrooms to warm, sunny kitchen windowsills. As well as more traditional indoor plants, Alys looks at specialist plant groups such as indoor tropical edibles, orchids, cacti, succulents and climbers. With her encyclopedic knowledge and trademark inspirational style, this definitive guide will give you all the knowledge you need to care for your plants.

Plant Love

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?

Fun things to do with plants

KEW: Grow, Forage and Make

Fun Things to Do with Plants

Plant-based medicine for a calmer, healthier life It's easy to turn to the pharmacy when we're stressed, sick or feeling under the weather, but what if you turned to your garden instead? In this accessible and easy to use manual, horticultural expert, former Gardener's World presenter and Guardiancolumnist, Alys Fowler, shows how to take control of your health by adopting a more natural lifestyle. For thousands of years, people who had no access to clinical medicine knew how to boost their well-being by using the ingredients they found in plants. Herbs are the people's medicine; often freely available and abundant, they are ready and waiting to be plucked from around you to soothe and heal your body and mind. With guides for how to use and grow over 100 herbs - for example how to use fennel for indigestion, camomile for anxiety and nettle for hayfever - you'll soon be heading into the garden, rather than opening the medicine cabinet. Offering a fusion of botanical, practical, cultural and historical information, A Modern Herbal reveals how common herbs are the simple, cleansing way to better health and happiness.

A Modern Herbal

In this timely new book, BBC star and Gardening World's thrifty and resourceful Alys Fowler shows that there is a way to take the good life and re-fashion it to fit in with life in the city. Abandoning the limitations of traditional gardening methods, she has created a beautifully productive garden where tomatoes sit happily next to roses, carrots are woven between the lavenders and potatoes grow in pots on the patio. And all of this is produced in a way that mimics natural systems, producing delicious homegrown food for her table. And she 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, The Edible Garden 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.

How to Have Your Garden and Eat It, Too

The Edible Garden

Steve Benbow

This the story of how, over the course of a year, Alys, the Guardian gardening writer, learns how to keep bees; and Steve, the urban beekeeper, learns how to plant a pollinator-friendly garden. Part beautifully designed coffee-table book, part manifesto, this collection of engaging letters, emails, texts, recipes, notes and glorious photos creates a record of the trials, tribulations, rewards and joys of working with, rather than against, nature. And along the way, you will pick up a wealth of advice, tips and ideas for growing food and keeping pollinators well fed. Letters to a Beekeeper is for lazy gardeners, novice beekeepers and everyone in between. 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.

Letters to a Beekeeper

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. If you are going to truly try and attain a little more self-sufficiency (and save some money at the same time), think about what you can store to get you through the leaner months. Alys takes you through all the different ways of preserving - bottling, drying, fermenting, freezing, pickling, using sugar - with delicious recipes that make the most of your produce. This book is a must for anyone who wants to store and preserve their garden bounty.

Alys Fowler

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