A beautifully illustrated manual of great-tasting vegetables and their history, cultivation and preparation.

Simon Akeroyd is a garden writer with a passion for both kitchen gardening and cooking. He contributes to numerous magazines including Grow Your Own (as the Allotment Gardener) and was also a garden and food writer for the BBC. His books include Shrubs and Small Trees, Lawns and Ground Cover, the Allotment Handbook, A Small Course in Veg and Fruit and (as co-author) Grow Your Own Fruit. He was previously a Garden Manager for the Royal Horticultural Society, and worked at both RHS Wisley and Harlow Carr. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the UK's largest gardening charity, dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. Its charitable work includes providing expert advice and information, training the next generation of gardeners and promoting the ecological, aesthetic and psychological benefits of gardening in an urban environment. The RHS has 411,000 members.