The Edible Garden

A tie-in to a 6 x 30 BBC2 prime-time series, Alys's Backgarden Fruit and Veg follows Gardeners’ World’s presenter Alys Fowler as she takes up the challenge to live veg-supermarket free for six months.

But Alys, rather than taking up an allotment, will be serving up feasts using produce she has grown in her small suburban backgarden. And there’ll be no sign of dreary raised beds either, spoiling the gorgeousness of her precious and beautiful outside space. Alys will transform her garden into an area where tomatoes sit happily next to roses, carrots are woven between the lavenders and potatoes share space with the hedge. Always on the look-out for new ideas, she’ll also visit other backgarden success stories, such as the backgarden orchard, the backgarden mushroom farm and even the backgarden chicken coop, to see what more she can learn for her own project. Her hearty dishes will show that nobody will be going hungry on her grow-your-own regime, and she’ll meet experts who will teach her how to preserve, pickle and store her wares, too.

Alys will inspire urbanites all over the country to take one step closer to self-sufficiency with this thrifty, resourceful and hugely rewarding new style of gardening. On the TV, she’ll be demonstrating to city dwellers everywhere how they too can enjoy the pleasures of growing their own food, however small their space, and this essential companion to the series will provide all the information they’ll need to succeed.