Skip to main content

An Orchard Odyssey - reviews and media

Reviews and Praise 

Listed by The Guardian among The Best Gardening Books of 2016, "Fruit trees offer the least work for the greatest return...Let this book be your starting point."   
Jane Perrone, The Guardian, December 2016. Read more here.

"Inspiring"
Constance Craig-Smith, Daily Mail, December 2016

"A horticultural fairytale, it also provides a roadmap to getting started – even in the tiny modern garden."
James Wong, ethnobotanist, TV presenter, garden designer and writer

" The sumptuous nostalgic images in the book inspire the gardener to incorporate fruit wherever possible either as part of a mixed planting, hedge or orchard setting. More so, the book encourages the reader to delight in the harvest whether owned or foraged."
Sarah Morgan, The Garden Design Journal, Autumn 2016 

“For over 30 years I have grown ornamentals with never a thought for planting fruit trees, until now. Naomi combines a dream of yore with a challenge for the future. Count me in.”
Roy Lancaster, broadcaster, plantsman, gardener and author

"An ambitious book...Her zeal comes across on every page and the inclusion of numerous case-studies make this a fun and engaging read throughout." 
The English Garden, October 2016

 "Naomi Slade offers fresh thoughts on growing fruit in the smaller gardens of many modern grow your own gardeners... It is, as the title suggests, an endless journey with helpful nuggets of information and anecdotes that mark the way."
Barbara Segall, 'Herbs' - The Journal of the Herb Society, Spring 2017

 "Naomi Slade's new book is worthy of a place on everyone's coffee table or bookshelf, providing readers with the tools 'for the job'"
Malcolm Withnall, The Horticulturist, Winter 2017


  "This delightful book takes us on a sensual stroll through the orchard landscape, conveying both the romance and the practicalities of growing fruit trees."
Ben Pike, author of The Fruit Tree Handbook

"A brilliant resource book for fruit lovers and growers, no matter how novice or experienced or how constrained or lavish the planting opportunities."
The Optimistic Gardener blog, December 2016. Read more here.

 "A sumptuous mix of history, interesting anecdotes, and a practical guide to having your own orchard. The official definition is a mere 5 trees, so with a careful choice of rootstock even the smallest of gardens can have one!"
West Green House website, December 2016. Read more here.

Articles 

How green are my valley apples
Jane Powers, Sunday Times, 6th November 2016

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Metamorphosis

Writing a book is often likened to having a baby. And with some justification. There is the giddy conception and whirlwind of excitement, then the warm glow of a contract signed. It then the process starts to lag and become heavier; sweetmeats are deployed to maintain performance – pregnancy, like literature, is an endurance sport. My new book, Published by Green Books, 22nd September  2016 Finally, fat and fecund with promise the manuscript is delivered to the publisher, for supervision and medical intervention if necessary. And, finally, the screaming and anguish suddenly stops. The Author's desk (the buns have already been eaten) And here is where the process differs. After months of to-ing and fro-ing, deliberations about nuanced argument and tone of voice, followed by concerns about stacking words in a column and balanced captions, it is confiscated. They just take it away. To put it another way, it is like watching caterpillars. They eat and eat and eat and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Adventures in Floristry

Ingredients for a bouquet Back in the summer I went on a floristry course to Green and Gorgeous in Oxfordshire. Historically, I have not been at all keen on formal floristry. It seemed rigid and stuffy, coming up with arrangements that had names like ‘Orchid and Sphagnum on a Tortured Twig’. But at G&G they laid my demons to rest with an intensive day learning how to make fashionable naturalistic bouquets. Since then I have had little need to use these dark arts, but as the autumn colours intensified the floristry bug intensified too. Venturing out with the secateurs I acquired Pyracantha berries, bronze and gold forsythia leaves, soft grey goldenrod seedheads (cunningly stabilised with a blast of extreme-hold hairspray to stop the seeds dropping off), and some Sedum flowers. I bought some Physalis and cellophane from Lulu Flowers round the corner – where they also gave me a quick refresher in wrapping them for travel. So, with much garden wire and raffia, I assemb...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Essential Apocalypse Skillset

Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, I was painting the bathroom of a house in Bristol. The window was open and it was a pleasant sort of day and people were wandering past. Around about four o’clock I heard a couple of sets of feet come down the hill and then stop. “Look, cherries!” said one voice (female, mid to late teens). “No, I don’t think they are. They can’t be.” Said the other, doubtfully (ditto). “Well, they look like cherries. Let’s try them!” “No, they are probably berries. Completely different. Some of them are not red, they are blackish. They are probably poisonous.” “Oh. Yes, I suppose so.” (disappointed) The feet moved on. I looked out of the bathroom window at the large and heavily laden cherry tree leaning over the wall of the garden opposite and wondered what the world was coming to. Red Sky in the Morning, Shepherds Warning ((c) N Slade) I am actually still wondering. When my grandfather was a child, he and his brothers (and a dog) ...
7 comments
Read more