This handbook is designed to guide the novice allotmenteer through the first year of vegetable gardening, providing the information needed to get started: preparing the soil, planting the beds and the principles of crop rotation and pest control. A month-by-month gardening calendar explains gardening tasks, and shows how a plot can keep producing all year round. A chapter on allotment design, with emphasis on both productivity and attractiveness, provides plans that can be transferred directly from the page to the ground. There is also an A-to-Z of the best fruit, herbs and vegetables, presenting unusual varieties as well as reliable easy-to-grow favourites. Ideas are offered for using excess produce, and there are lists of suppliers and useful addresses.