Growing fruit at home is a delicious & altogether more enjoyable alternative to buying it in the shops. Mark Diacono offers a practical & accessible guide to making the most of your garden & what it has to offer. The first part of the book is an A-Z of the different varieties of fruit with old favourites like apples cherries plums blackcurrants white currants redcurrants strawberries blueberries gooseberries raspberries & rhubarb as well as more exotic species like figs grapes cranberries Japanese wine berries & apricots. Each is accompanied by a photograph with detailed advice on when & how to grow & harvest. In the second part of the book Mark gives straightforward guidelines on techniques like pruning & training as well as how to deal with problems or pests. There is a section dedicated to growing under covers & in containers. Introduced by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall & with 30 delicious recipes beautiful full-colour photographs & a directory of useful addresses this is the ideal reference for any aspiring fruit grower. ...

This is a new edition of a classic of early 17th-century food writing. The book was written by the Italian refugee educator & humanist Giacomo Castelvetro who had been saved from the clutches of the Inquisition in Venice by the English ambassador Sir Dudley Carleton in 1611. When he came to England he was horrified by our preference for large helpings of meat masses of sugar & very little greenstuff. The Italians were both good gardeners & had a familiarity with many varieties of vegetable & fruit that were as yet little known in Engl&. He circulated his Italian manuscript among his supporters dedicating it to Lucy Countess of Bedford herself a keen gardener & patron of literature. Gillian Riley's translation of this hitherto unpublished document has been recognised as being fluent entertaining & accurate from its first appearance in 1989. Castelvetro takes us through the gardener's year listing the fruit & vegetables as they come into season with simple & elegant ways of preparing them. Practical instructions are interspersed with tender vignettes of his life in his native city of Modena memories of his years in Venice & reminiscences of his travels in Europe. He writes of children learning to swim in the canals of the Brenta strapped to huge dried pumpkins to keep them afloat; Venetian ladies ogling passers-by from behind screens of verdant beanstalks; sultry German wenches jealously hoarding their grape harvest; & his intimate chats with Scandinavian royalty about the best way to graft pear cuttings & discomfort the Pope. English cooking was on a cusp. It had yet to absorb the new ways of Europe although some of the best practice of Dutch & French gardening was having its effect on our diet. But there were still many new styles of cooking & recipes to absorb as well as new plants to enjoy (for instance broccoli) & new ways to set them out on the table. This treatise anticipates many of the changes that were to come about over the next one hundred years. Castelvetro urges that we should eat more salads with the same enthusiasm that was evinced by John Evelyn in his book on salad-stuff of 1699. This edition is printed in two colours has a graceful typography (using the Galliard typeface) & generous layout & is equipped with a knowledgeable & informative introduction by the translator. ...

Fruit & Vegetable Carving: Food Craft at Your Fingertips" is a treasure trove of unusual ideas for vegetable garnishes with step-by-step instructions on how to make them. Within the shape of a cucumber the author visualizes a boat a bird or a lily & shows you how to reveal that shape. All you need is a small sharp knife
- no fancy equipment is required. Lets Have a Party offers recipes presented with a flair
- a Peacock crafted from carrots & spring onions flaunts the Pinwheel Sandwiches in his tail
- a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. In Vegetable Sculpture onions are reborn as Chrysanthemums; Swans fly out of radishes & Goldfish emerge from carrots. There are Coconut Palms & Carts
- but most of all there is inspiration to let your own imagination take over. Table Celebrations transform your table with lively tableaux
- an apple-red Santa sits on a Reindeer-drawn pumpkin Sleigh for Christmas waving to a jolly turnip Snowman... Snow White in a cabbage leaf skirt with her loyal Seven Dwarfs gather in front of their charming cucumber Cottage... Chinatown introduces the elegant Corn Doll who is Entertained by three Musicians with a banjo trumpet & drum near a Pagoda that is Intricately sculpted from a single carrot. Create a stamp of distinction an aura of excitement a mood of mellowness... Strike magic on your table & turn your next party into an unforgettable event."




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GARDEN MEDIA GUILD PRACTICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2012 Fruit & vegetables have formed a fundamental part of the Scottish diet for thousands of years. This fascinating & practical book explores the history of fruit vegetable & herb growing in Scotland & provides a contemporary guide to the best techniques for growing produce whether in a garden allotment patio or window box. Packed with hundreds of colour photographs drawings & descriptive diagrams this is a detailed & comprehensive bible for the gardener. In addition to advice on climate & soil conditions it has contacts for organisations specialist societies nurseries & suppliers as well as a detailed bibliography & list of useful websites. This is an essential reference book for anyone aiming to get the best possible results from their garden produce north of the border. ...

The essential guide to growing all types of fruit. Everything you need to know about: Choosing the best apples pears & plums for your garden. Planting & caring for tree fruit. Buying & growing soft fruit. Getting the best taste from your fruit. How to prune. Dealing with fruit problems & pests. Shop-bought fruit. Reliable easy-to-follow advice & information from EXPERT books
- the world's best-selling gardening series.
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Award-winning original fiction for learners of English. At seven levels from Starter to Advanced this impressive selection of carefully graded readers offers exciting reading for every students capabilities. Five entertaining stories about the power of discovery set in countries across the globe. A perfume made from some very unusual ingredients becomes more effective than expected. A remarkable change in a womans life leaves her family to make a decision. The secret & danger of high intelligence are revealed to a university student. A teacher discovers a way of making time stand still. & a book tells a young manager more than he wants to know. Contains a paperback & 2 Audio CDs with complete text recordings from the book. ...

Spanning 1979-1987 The Fry Chronicles" charts Stephen Frys arrival at Cambridge up to his thirtieth birthday. " Heartbreaking a delight a lovely comfy book". (" The Times"). " Perfect prose & excruciating honesty. A grand reminiscence of college & theatre & comedyland in the 1980s with tone-perfect anecdotes & genuine readerly excitement. What Fry does essentially is tell us who he really is. Above all else a thoughtful book. & namedroppy too & funny & marbled with melancholy". (" Observer"). " Arguably the greatest living Englishman". (" Independent on Sunday"). " Extremely enjoyable". (" Sunday Times"). " Frys linguistic facility remains one of the Wildean wonders of the new media age. The patron saint of British intelligence". (" Daily Telegraph"). Welcome to Stephen Frys " The Fry Chronicles" one of the boldest bravest most revealing & heartfelt accounts of a mans formative years that you will ever have the exquisite pleasure of reading. Stephen Frys film stage radio & television credits are so numerous & wide-ranging that there is not space here to do them justice. It is enough to say that he has written produced directed acted in or presented productions as varied as " Wilde" the TV series " Blackadder" & " Jeeves & Wooster" the sketch show "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" the panel game "QI" the radio series " Frys English Delight" & documentaries on subjects as varied as manic depression disappearing animals & the United States of America. Hes also the bestselling author of four novels
- " The Stars Tennis Balls" " Making History" " The Hippopotamus" & " The Liar"
- as well as a volume of autobiography " Moab is My Washpot" & sundry works of non-fiction."

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Thirteen years ago Moab is my Washpot " Stephen Fry's autobiography of his early years was published to rave reviews & was a huge bestseller. In those thirteen years since Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere both as a public figure & a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian & actor but also an author director & presenter. In January 2010 he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public & his peers Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the country. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank honest & poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent & least well known years of his life with writing that will excite you make you laugh uproariously move you inform you & above all surprise you. Unabridged. Read by Stephen Fry." ...

The FT Guide to Business Coaching shows you everything you need to know about becoming a business coach from how to find out if youve got what it takes through the basic tools & models that really work. This book gives you a step-by-step guide to the tools the market knowledge & the crucial new techniques from psychology you need to become an exceptional business coach. Clear compelling & comprehensive covering classic & fresh material from both business & psychology this is the first book to cover both the critical elements of world-class business coaching. This book takes you through a tried & trusted process developed specifically for senior business leaders. It will help you: * Know when to coach & when to lead. * Build powerful listening skills. * Get to grips with the most useful & up-to-the minute coaching tools & psychological techniques. * Calculate if -- & crucially how
- you can make a living as a business coach. * Decide if how & when to go for accreditation as a coach.
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London 1913--the era of Sherlock Holmes Dracula & the Invisible Man. A time of shadows secret societies & dens filled with opium addicts. Into this world comes the most fantastic emissary of evil society has ever known... Dr. Fu-Manchu. The insidious doctor returns to Great Britain with his league of assassins the dreaded Si-Fan. He seeks to subvert the realm at the highest levels but Fu-Manchu has his own secrets--which he will protect by any means. ...