I am currently reading My Life On A Hillside Allotment by Terry Walton, the voice of the allotment gardener from the Rhonda Valley in Wales on The Jeremy Vine Programme on the radio.
It was an impulse buy from a bookshop in Oban. I had already chosen a book on Communism but was persuaded to look for a "gardening book" to satisfy my current interest in gardening and I suspect to move me along to the Pancake Place.
I have been a little disappointed to read some of the bookish reviews of this book. They appear to have been written by people who are bored to tears by gardening.
If you like gardening and are particularly interested in allotment or community gardening then you will love this book. Walton is so passionate about a hobby he has pursued on the same piece of land for over 50 years. He has a lot of great tips and there are some very interesting home made recipes which I will try if I ever manage to grow vegetables.
I really like Walton's description of his early years in the Rhondda Valley, a place in Wales heavily dependent on the coal mining industry. Walton talks about his early childhood of tin baths in front of a coal fire and eating rhubarb dipped in sugar instead of sweets.
However, what I most like about this book is Walton's absolute commitment to the principle of people growing their own vegetables and of the benefits that this gives to health and a sense of co-operation amongst people. He gives the example of the miners who were the last to return after the 1926 strike and were only sustained by the food grown in local gardens and allotments.
I am not a big reader, I would rather wait for the film but I can't put this book down. It is as heartwarming as I imagine his food and his company would be.
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