The Reading Warehouse

This book takes us on an original and inspiring adventure around the temperate world, introducing us to the author's top eighty perennial leafy-green vegetables. We are taken underground gardening in Tokyo, beach gardening in the UK, and traditional roof gardening in the Norwegian mountains. . . . There are stories of the wild foraging traditions of indigenous people in all continents: from the S mi people of northern Norway to the Maori of New Zealand, the rich food traditions of the Mediterranean peoples, the high-altitude food plants of the Sherpas in the Himalayas, wild mountain vegetables in Japan and Korea, and the wild aquatic plant that sustained Native American tribes with myriad foodstuffs and other products.

Around the World in 80 Plants will be of interest to both traditional vegetable and ornamental gardeners, as well as anyone interested in permaculture, forest gardening, foraging, slow food, gourmet cooking, and ethnobotany. A thorough description is given of each vegetable, its traditions, stories, cultivation, where to source seed and plants, and how to propagate it. Sprinkled with recipes inspired by local traditional gastronomy, this is a fascinating book, an entertaining adventure, and a real milestone in climate-friendly vegetable growing from a pioneering expert on the subject.

Stephen Barstow has devoted thirty years to trialing perennial vegetables from around the world. It is unlikely that anyone anywhere has tried as many different species of edible plants - just witness his salad comprising 538 varieties in 2003 - earning him the title of 'Extreme Salad Man'! Stephen's garden in Norway has over 2,000 edible plants, and each has an ethnobotanical story to tell.