My new book The Productive Garden: An essential guide towards self-sufficiency will be published in March by Frances Lincoln.

The publication dates are 24th March 2026 in the US, and 26th March 2026 in the UK. RRP £25

Learn everything you need to know about growing abundant and useful crops, and how to make the most of what you produce.

The Productive Garden

In The Productive Garden I share resourceful, practical, affordable, simple and enjoyable ways of creating a more self-sufficient lifestyle – wherever you live.

With over 30 years of experience of growing food year round (both to feed my family and professionally in market gardens, for restaurants and running kitchen gardens) and practising homesteading skills, in this book I show how easy it can be to grow your own, save money, reduce your consumption, increase resilience and care for the planet – from your own garden, allotment, balcony or community garden.

Whether you want to start small, have already embarked on your self-sufficient journey, looking to increase your skills for self-reliance, save money, or live a more sustainable life – this book is for you.

 

 

“Both inspirational and highly practical, The Productive Garden is a modern gardening bible, teaching readers how to grow abundant, useful crops and make the most of everything they produce.” review in The Dirt News

The Productive Garden contains:

Part One: In the Garden.

• Planning a self-sufficient plot and creating a planting plan that works for your space 
• Effective techniques for making compost, storing water, protecting crops and improving your soil 
• Working with nature to increase biodiversity and control ‘pests’ 
• Sowing and propagating for year-round harvests  

Part Two: Seasonal Produce

• A complete guide to reliable crops and unique varieties – covering vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers – to ensure productivity across the seasons. 

Part Three: Using Your Harvests

• Recipes for a homegrown larder, including preserves, oils, ferments, vinegars, cordials and more 
• Chemical-free cleaners, soaps and fragrances for the home 
• Using produce to improve wellbeing, such as making body care products and herbal remedies 
• Garden crafts, including preserved flowers and flower-pounding techniques 

Part Four: Extra information

• Recommending reading, websites and links to more projects
• Sowing and Harvesting Schedule
• Foraging tips
• Detailed index

The Productive Garden: An essential guide to self-sufficiency comprises 256 pages. I loved writing the book, and can’t wait to share it with you.

Beautifully illustrated with Jason Ingram’s photography

This hugely practical and information book also looks gorgeous, thanks to award winning photographer Jason Ingram’s stunning photographs.

The garden photos were all taken here at my homestead in Ceredigion, in rural Wales, where I focus on producing as much food as I can year round, growing in harmony with nature, not perfection. There are nibbled leaves, there are some weeds: it is a real-life garden.

Pre-orders are open!

Many authors people to pre-order their books. This is why it is so important.

Pre-ordering is a way of helping the author (me!) and helping with the success of the book. It helps to demonstrate demand for the book to retailers (online and high street shops), encouraging the retailers to stock more copies. All pre-orders count towards the book’s first week sales, which can really help boost promotion and visibility of the book and author. Pre-ordering can help the author get more work, including future book deals.

Signed copies are available from me here (I can also write messages in them if you wish). I don’t charge for packaging. Postage is set by Royal Mail, and charged accordingly. The books will be posted when the publication is released in March 2026.

UK pre-orders from other retailers are here.
US pre-orders from other retailers are here.