CONTENTS

Introduction 7 PART 4 AUTUMN

PART 1 GETTING STARTED
1 Your growing space 10
2 Planning 26
3 Wildlife gardening 42
4 Paths, hedges and fences 55
5 The living soil 70
6 Water 81
7 Treasure in the trash 99
8 Wood 103
PART 2 SPRING 32 Tools 226
9 Acquiring seeds 116
10 Protecting from the cold 120
11 Seed and potting compost 128
12 Raising new plants 132
13 Plant labels 141
14 Growing in containers 143
15 Gathering ‘wild’ extras 147
23 Harvesting 182
24 Saving seed 186
25 Propagating plants 191
26 Storing crops 193
27 Making leaf mould 201
28 Gathering ‘wild’ extras 203
PART 5 WINTER
29 Winter protection 210
30 Small-scale construction 212
31 Building large structures 217
Final words 232
Resources 233
Index 236

PART 3 SUMMER
16 Growing upwards 152
17 Dealing with weeds 155
18 Feeding plants 157
19 Dealing with pests
and diseases 160
20 Propagating plants 169
21 Making the most of your crops 171
22 Gathering ‘wild’ extras 176
INTRODUCTION
When you shuffle off this mortal coil, would
you like your memories to be of those drives
to an out-of-town retail estate? Will you think
fondly of that time you argued with your
partner all day and filled the back of the car
up with all the things you thought you
needed for your new vegetable plot? Or
perhaps you’d like to reminisce about the day
your new shed was so late that you spent an
hour on hold to a call centre?

As your grandchildren gather around your

deathbed, you could regale them with stories
of the time your new fence plunged you so far
into your overdraft that you took on a
part-time job just to pay off the interest. It
would be such a loss for shared wisdom such
as this to miss a generation.
Free garlic – from cloves saved from last year’s crop.
A well-tended garden holds as many memories
as a photo album, and you, as the gardener,
choose what goes into that album. and use up dwindling resources. This is in
marked contrast to a plot with a self-built
The difference between building a productive shed, bench and raised beds, and crops
garden with what you have around you, grown from saved seed. The latter will be a
rather than buying everything in, is rather like totally unique reflection of your personality,
the difference between a home-cooked meal quite unlike any other garden. What’s more,
and a microwave dinner. A garden that relies you will be able to save yourself a small
on the garden centre or garden mega-store fortune as you ‘grow your food for free’. . .
will look like countless others, cost money (well, almost).
Chapter 3
WILDLIFE GARDENING
Striking a balance between the natural world
and the plot you desire can sometimes seem
like fighting a losing battle. It need not be this
way, however, as the nearer you come to a
natural system the less work you have to do.
Attracting predators such as lacewings,
ladybirds and birds can vastly reduce greenfly
numbers, and attracting larger predators, such
as slow-worms, hedgehogs and frogs, can
help keep numbers of slugs and snails down.
It’s amazing what you can find in the garden. Photo: Lou Brown
A plot in balance with nature is not only a
healthy one, it is also one that will be cheaper
to manage as there will be no need for
expensive measures to combat or protect
against pests and diseases.
As with most of us, until recently much of my
knowledge about wildlife gardening was
based on what I’d read in populist books and
magazines, my observations of the many
 CHAPTER 3 l Wildlife gardening 43

allotments and gardens I’ve found myself in
over the years, and finally good old fence-
leaning advice from other gardeners. The
knowledge passed on from other gardeners
was always similar to that in books and
magazines: plant native plants, grow a patch
of nettles, keep it scruffy, leave the grass to
grow long and dig a pond.
I’ve since read the brilliant book No Nettles
Required by Ken Thompson, which confirms or
dispels many of the urban myths surrounding
wildlife gardening, including the following.
planted the main vegetable beds and planted
and extended the two herb patches to include
perennials or self-seeders like marjoram and
sorrel.
A lot of the work was intuitive but some was
merely dictated by what I had to hand, what
was cheap or what was given to me. Eventu-
ally a huge mix of pollinators arrived, along
with a family of slow-worms, frogs and many
tiny visitors I couldn’t even begin to name.

l ‘Plant native plants.’ This is not necessar-
ily true, as non-natives can have longer
flowering times and offer more diversity
for wildlife.
l ‘Keep a patch of nettles.’ Untrue – nettles
aren’t exactly an endangered species!
l ‘Build a pond.’ True – any variety of
habitat will help attract wildlife.
l ‘Keep it scruffy.’ Only true if it makes for a
mixed habitat.
l ‘Leave the grass to grow long.’ True – long
grass can be important for overwintering
species.
I was still going by older pre-Ken-Thompson
knowledge when I first took on my plot in
Bristol. One of the most striking things about
the plot back then was the complete lack of
wildlife, large or small. In fact, with the
exception of brambles and creeping cinque-
foil, there was a decided lack of anything on
the plot.
Why my wildlife garden worked
It seems that through my intuition, improvisa-
tion and generally making the most of what
was there I stumbled upon many of the
methods I later read to be successful for
wildlife gardening.
Inadvertently I took care of the very base of
any food chain, and everything above it
flourished – a ‘look after the pennies and the
pounds will look after themselves’ approach.
The long grass meant there was a place for
overwintering insects, leaving some plants to
seed meant small birds had something to eat,
and of course the pond added an extra habitat.

Over time I tried to redress this balance: I put

in a pond in, around which I grew a mix of
grasses and flowering plants. In places I let
the grass paths and fringes grow long. I also
sowed and planted clover, camomile and
various other low-lying plants such as mints,
valerian and golden rod around these Natural pest control.
neglected areas. In addition I companion-
62 GROW YOUR FOOD FOR FREE (WELL, ALMOST)

HOW TO MAKE A BRICK OR STONE PATH

1
Use string and pegs
to measure the length
and height of the path.

2
Dig out the path, removing all
weeds and weed roots. Dig a deep
trench if you intend to use heavy
material such as stone for the path
surface, but if using brick just dig to
about twice the depth of the brick.

3
Put in edging material if
needed – either plank or brick
(not needed if the path is flush
against raised beds or a
building). Check the level: this
should be straight or tilted away
from buildings at about a 2° angle to
allow for drainage.

4
Fill with hardcore or gravel,
allowing room for the surface
and sub-base layer (the layer
between the path surface and the
base/hardcore layer), and tamp
down with a plank or a tamper,
checking the level as you do so.
 CHAPTER 4 l Paths, hedges and fences 63

5
Top with a layer of
sand (or use scalpings
and then sand), tamping
down and checking levels
as you do so. For larger
stones you may choose to
use a dry mortar mix here.

6
Press the stones into the
sand in the pattern you
require, carefully tap them in
place with a soft-headed mallet
or a wood board. Check the
levels of each one and only
move on to the next one when
they are perfectly level.

7
Fill in the gaps with more
sand (or mortar if using),
ensuring the bricks/stones are
tightly in place.

8
If you suffer from a short temper, make up
with everyone you lost your temper with
during the path-laying process – if necessary
cook an evening meal, preferably of humble pie.
PART 2
SPRING
As the slow hand of winter retreats, birds
are busy raising their young, beekeepers
see a rise in hive activity and the self-
employed busy themselves into the new
tax year. And spring is, of course, a very
busy time for the gardener. You have to
keep your eye on the ball in spring – it is
far too easy to miss the short window of
opportunity and fall behind.

It is true that things will quite often catch

up: even if a seed packet says ‘sow by end
of May’ you can usually squeeze in a few
seeds at the beginning of June. However,
for a staggered harvest rather than a glut,
planting at the right time and in succes-
sion will mean there is more on the table
in the coming months.

This is a time for real money saving: plants

raised from seed come at a fraction of the
cost of seedlings from a garden centre. A
tray of cabbage seedlings might cost the
same as fully grown cabbages from a
grocer. This makes no financial sense
whatsoever – buying seedlings is only
worth it if you have really fallen behind
and they are being sold cheaply.
If you’re buying your seeds, modules, pots,
potting compost and plant labels, costs
can really begin to mount up – and usually
at a time (with winter fuel bills and the
expense of Christmas starting to take its
toll) when most of us can least afford it.
There are also environmental issues to
consider when buying in new rather than
recycling, adapting or making do with
what you have. Pots and plant labels are
usually made of plastic, adding to landfill
waste; propagators and greenhouses may
be heated by non-renewable energy; and
many potting composts contain peat – a
wildlife-depleting, non-renewable resource.
The best approach is to work out what you
actually need for each job, rather than what
a garden catalogue tells you you need.
JOBS FOR SPRING
l Acquire seeds
l Protect from the cold
l Buy or make seed/potting compost
l Make plant labels
l Raise new plants
l Plant out or grow in containers
l Gather ‘wild’ extras
158 GROW YOUR FOOD FOR FREE (WELL, ALMOST)

Making liquid feeds

Bag method Half- or quarter-fill a hessian or Holes in the bottom of a

porous bag with manure or your chosen plant bucket will allow rotting
material, tie a rope around the top and drop it into comfrey liquid to drip
through – with no smell!
a water container, with the rope hanging outside for
easy retrieval. There may not be any need to dilute
the feed if the bag is steeped in a large container full of
water, but you will need to if water levels are low during dunking.

Wet method Half-fill an average-sized bucket with comfrey and top up

with water. This should be left for a week or two until it smells abso-
lutely foul. Water down by a ratio of around 8:1. You can also add
nettles (or use just nettles) for added nitrogen, to use on leafy plants,
or other plant material with a high nutrient content .

Dry method Cut holes in the bottom of a plastic bucket and half-fill it
with comfrey. Place the bucket into another bucket and weigh down the
leaves with stones. A concentrated liquid feed will slowly drip from the
top bucket into the bottom one, and should be watered down by around
8:1 or 10:1. Again, you can also add nettles or other high-nutrient plants.

minerals than others. They can be dug in as a
green manure, used as a plant feed or added
to the compost heap for extra nourishment.
They should be used before they go to seed
as their nutrients will be ‘locked’ up in the
seeds to ensure the next generation.
The two most commonly used mineral
accumulators are comfrey and nettle. A mix of
the two will make a very well-balanced feed
suitable for pouring on your tomatoes and
courgettes to encourage fruit. Even added to a
compost heap, many of these mineral
accumulators can provide added minerals and
trace elements to your compost, which in turn
will be added to your soil to be taken up by
your growing plants and eventually included
in your and your family’s diet.
Other common mineral accumulators include
borage, carrot, cleavers, plantain, chicory,
mint, lemon balm, yarrow and strawberry.
IDENTIFYING NUTRIENT
DEFICIENCIES
The two charts on the right detail possible
nutrient-deficiency symptoms, the role of
each mineral and the plants you could apply
as a liquid feed to deal with the deficiencies.
Adding plenty of compost and organic matter
should deal with deficiencies in many minor
nutrients such as copper and zinc. Towards
the end of the season plants start to naturally
look a little nutrient deficient – most notably,
tomatoes will show signs of magnesium
deficiency. Adding a liquid feed may help a
 CHAPTER 18 l Feeding plants 159

little but usually it is an indication that the
season is coming to an end and the plant has
given you all the fruit it is capable of that year.
URINE AS FEED
Green leafy crops like a lot of nitrogen, and
human urine contains ammonia, which breaks
down into nitrogen. Once you get over the
‘yuck’ factor, using urine as a plant feed makes
a lot of sense. Farmers spend huge amounts
of money on nitrogen fertilisers and sewage
companies spend huge amounts of money
removing nitrogen from the water supply.
You can ‘harvest’ urine in a good old-fashioned
piss pot or in a plastic bottle with a funnel in
the top. Water it down by around 8:1 for leafy
crops ; 20:1 for non-leafy crops, and use
about once a fortnight. Nitrogen aids leaf
growth, so this is a good feed for salad leaves
and cabbages. Urine also makes a great
compost activator, breaking down carbon-rich
‘browns’ such as cardboard, sticks and stems.

Major nutrients

Nitrogen (N) Phosphorous (P) Potassium (K)

(sometimes called potash)
Needed for Leaf growth / Roots, stems, germination Flowers and fruit, disease
photosynthesis resistance
Deficiency Yellow leaves, Stunted growth, purpling of Scorching on edge of leaves
symptoms stunted growth, plant, small crops lacking in
premature leaf drop flavour
Suggested weed/ Chickweed, clovers, Comfrey, dock, sheep’s Chickweed; Comfrey (good
herb feed dandelion, sorrel, clovers, lemon balm, source); Tansy; Dock;
nettle, vetches goosefoot family (incl. fat hen) Borage
Alternative feeds Urine, chicken poo, Chicken poo, rock dust, worm Wood ash*, worm casts,
worm casts, casts, farmyard manure farmyard manure
farmyard manure
* Limit to 1-2 applications a year, don’t use on acid-loving crops.

Other important nutrients

Magnesium (Mg) Calcium (Ca) Sulphur (S)

Needed for Photosynthesis, making Cell structure, growth, Growth, photosynthesis
chlorophyll enzyme activity
Deficiency Interveinal chlorosis Blossom end rot, black Stunted growth, young
symptoms hearts in celery leaves mottled yellow and
green with yellowish veins
Suggested weed/ Carrot leaves, comfrey, Cleavers/goosegrass, Nettle, plantain
herb feed dandelion comfrey, dock
Other sources/ Organic matter including Egg shells, wood ash* Air pollution – deficiency
tips liquid animal-manure rare especially in cities. Add
feed, seaweed compost to balance soil.
* Limit to 1-2 applications a year, don’t use on acid-loving crops.
Chapter 23

HARVESTING
Even though the light intensity has diminished birds but there is no reason why they should
and plant growth begins to slow down at this take all the high-grade fruit and leave you
time of year, there are still plenty of jobs to be with bruised, misshapen and rotten apples!
done as summer gives way to autumn. Long-armed pruners can be useful for taking
Harvesting continues, plant debris are
composted and containers emptied. We also
try to get that little bit extra from our plants
as the main growing season comes to a close.

CONTAINERS FOR
YOUR PRODUCE
How many times have you arrived at your plot
only to find you haven’t got anything to put
your harvested fruit or veggies into? Or how
often have you been out walking and realise
you have no way of harvesting the copious
amounts of fresh, plump blackberries
hanging from the hedgerow?

At the start of my wild food walks I teach

people to get over this problem by making a
paper bag from a daily newspaper (see
opposite). Many cities now offer a free daily
paper, so finding one shouldn’t be a problem.

MAKING A FRUIT PICKER

The best fruit on any tree is always slightly
out of reach, at the very top where it will get
A simple way to reach that
the most sun. This is good news for our
out-of-reach top fruit.
feathered friends but not so much for us.
It is good to share a certain amount with the
 CHAPTER 23 l Harvesting 183

HOW TO MAKE AN ORIGAMI BAG

1 Fold the bottom corner to the top edge to

form a triangle. 5 . . . and repeat with the left-hand corner.

2 Fold the rectangular part over to the edge of

the triangle. 6 Fold down the front flap.

3 Open up the triangle and tuck in the rectangle

part – you should now have a triangle shape.

4 Fold the right-hand corner to the long edge. 7 Fill with produce.
 218 GROW YOUR FOOD FOR FREE (WELL, ALMOST)

Planning permission is not needed (in the UK

HOW TO TAKE DOWN AND at least) as long as your greenhouse or shed
complies with the following rules.
REASSEMBLE A SHED
l It is not at the side or front of the house
but in the back garden (where it can’t be
TO TAKE DOWN A SHED seen).

1
Sheds are best dismantled by at least two l It is further than 2m (6 1/2 ft) from a

people – one to unscrew bolts and the boundary fence (parts of it can be nearer
other (or others) to hold the panels up. but it must be further than 2m at the
highest point).

2
Choose a day when no strong winds have l The centre of the roof and therefore the

been forecast. overall height is no higher than 4m (13ft),

with an eave height of no more than 2.5m

3


Take photos of the shed with a digital
camera to refer to when reassembling.
(8ft).
l It takes up a space no bigger than 50 per

cent of the area around the original

4
Remove any glass (if possible) – wrap each house. So no more than half of the garden
pane to protect it in the move. can consist of buildings.

5
Take the roof off first, and try to keep it in
one piece rather than in two. If you do
need to take it apart to move it, try to disturb
the roofing felt as little as possible.
A quick call to your local planning authority is
a good idea if you are in doubt, and is better
than having to take down a greenhouse
mid-growing season or dismantle a shed.
Always check first if you live in a listed

6
Unbolt one side at a time; use oil or other building or within a national park.
lubricant if the bolts have rusted in place.
Keep the bolts in a safe place.
SHEDS

7
Take everything with you, including the A salvaged second-hand shed or one built
foundation blocks if there are any. from recycled materials will represent a huge
saving to any gardener. What’s more, it will
breathe individuality into the plot and can be
TO REASSEMBLE A SHED ‘made to measure’ for the gardener’s

1
Make sure the area you wish to place your requirements.
shed is completely level.
Salvaged sheds
2


Put down blocks to raise the shed from the
ground.
The vast majority of sheds will be made up of
four side panels, two roof panels and a base/
floor. If you come across a dismantled shed,

3


Work from the base up – again, with at
least two people.
check that all the pieces are there before
taking it away. If not, you may have to
improvise the missing piece or pieces, or try

4
Refer to digital photos of the shed if to make one good shed out of the bits and
necessary. pieces of two.
 CHAPTER 31 l Building large structures 219

Unless you have the means to move it in one Building a shed

piece, a pre-assembled shed will have to be The choice of materials for a home-made shed
dismantled before you can take it to its will depend on what you have around. You
destination. could be lucky and have a stack of durable

The bare bones of a shed in progress.

“Dave’s enthusiasm for living the good life on a budget is
matched perfectly by his ingenuity and resourcefulness.
This book is packed with brilliant, money-saving tips that
are perfect for the thrifty gardener.”
Lucy Halsall, Editor, Grow Your Own
Don’t like spending money in garden centres? Think you can do it yourself
for a fraction of the price? Dave Hamilton shows you how. By recycling and
reusing materials creatively and making the most of what you have, you
can gather all you need to grow your food on a budget. Whether it’s
building your own shed from scrap, constructing a path out of recycled
materials or storing your harvest without a freezer, it’s all here.

This practical guide:

• takes you on a frugal journey through the seasons, from planning
your space and setting up a plot to raising, harvesting and storing
your produce
• offers money-saving tips every step of the way, and occasional tips
on the actual gardening!
• is crammed full of satisfying projects, from seed-saving and making
your own plant feed to building a fence or raised beds
• gives step-by-step instructions, with easy-to-follow diagrams.

Dave Hamilton has a degree in Nutrition, is a professional

foraging, food and garden writer, and occasionally appears on
TV and radio. He lives in Devon, where he grows and forages
for most of his own food and continues to study food plants.
He is co-founder and creator of www.selfsufficientish.com and
co-wrote The Self-sufficientish Bible with his brother Andy.
Photo: J P Hedge

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Publication: June 2011 • $24.95 paperback

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