The Minimalist Gardener: Low Impact, No Dig Growing

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Patrick was born on 11th February 1949 in Devizes, Wiltshire and brought up on a smallholding in Somerset.

Whether dipping into individual sections of special interest or reading from start to finish it is a very engaging and motivating read destined to become a ‘go to’ reference book for the shed with mud stained, dog eared pages rather than sitting quietly on a bookshelf.At the same time, more people are becoming aware of the destructive and toxic nature of industrial farming practice, health and environmental impacts, monopolies and questionable ethics of agrochemical and seed companies and the big land owners.

Both novice and expert gardeners, conventional, organic and permaculturists will find new inspiration, ideas and step by step instructions – literally, on the dry stone step and path building section! There is also a whole section on fruit that could be a great time saver, learning from others’ experience. You should not sit down to read this book without a notepad to hand – you will probably need to keep a dedicated notebook for all the ideas and tips you will pick up and want to record and try out next season. You have the right to view these pages and where applicable, to copy these pages and any images to a cache for reference by yourself only at a later date. They look as though they would just need a good scrubbing to prepare and are apparently very tasty, sweet and a good source of carbs cooked or raw.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 purchased inputs, and maximum satisfaction.

His acquired wisdom from this life-long passion is now distilled into the pages of a new book, published by Permanent Publications, entitled The Minimalist Gardener.Patrick Whitefield spent many years tending his vegetable garden and feeding himself and his wife Cathy with it’s produce. If you purchase an audiobook from our site, it will only be available through our partner, Glassboxx via the Glassboxx player for iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac. He wrote a number of seminal books, including Permaculture in a Nutshell (1993), How to Make a Forest Garden (1996), The Living Landscape (2009), How To Read the Landscape (2014) and his magnum opus, The Earth Care Manual (2004), an authoritative resource on practical, tested, cool temperate permaculture.

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. I found it almost a complete practical gardening course that you can use as needed, a series of easy to follow practicals you will be itching to get out and try.

Patrick taught many permaculture and other practical courses with his wife, Cathy, and was one of the first teachers in the world to develop an online Permaculture Design Course. The introduction of the book talk how friends were visiting the author and his wife at a rented home. He used to tell students that the ultimate permaculture design would require one simply to get out of bed in the morning, walk into the garden, lay on the ground and allow the food to fall into your open mouth! This book could be a catalyst for such gardeners to explore out of their comfort zone and into the heady wilds of minimalism.