This book could have been titled the “invisible kitchen garden”. It offers suggestions for edible plants which are easily grown in ornamental gardens or allotments. The book gives detailed advice on how to grow and eat the produce from these plants, many of which you may already be growing. Your front garden won’t look like an allotment, but you’ll still harvest a significant amount of food.

It includes plants which are bona fide ornamentals which, to many people’s surprise, have edible parts. Then there are species which are grown as ornamentals in many countries, but which are considered vegetables elsewhere. Hosta is a good example; in Japan it’s grown as an agricultural crop. Finally there are lesser-known edible plants, like the Cinnamon Vine (Dioscorea batatas) which is a charmingly-perfumed climber also known as Chinese yam the roots of which can be eaten raw or roasted.

Mat Coward