Forgotten Fruits: A Guide to Britain's Traditional Fruit and Vegetables [Hardcover]

... handsome and readable ... will be enjoyed by people interested in the diversity of British fruit and vegetables and the stories behind their development. --Joy Larkcom, The Garden, September 2008

...my favourite book of the year. Written with passion and real knowledge of his subject ... you will be inspired. --Monty Don, Daily Mail

a feast of pleasure . fantastic, meticulously researched, wonderful descriptions, lots of anecdotes, lots of practical advice . a serious work and fascinating read ... plenty of humour . hugely important. --Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time - a Book of the Year.

'[a] captivating book ... written with a wonderfully light and assured touch.'

'... a great source of inspiration ...'

'fascinating ... a delicious trawl through the grocery box of Britain's traditional fruit and vegetables'

'From D'Arcy Spice apples to Orange Jelly turnips, all sorts of fruit and vegetable varieties are lovingly described here ... fascinating ... bound to inspire.'

'This gem of a book is learned and you will be able to disarm your guests with erudite lore ...'

'beguiling ... Packed with facts and stories, it's a great source on how to grow your own rarities.'

'scholarly and fascinating ... conjures a lost world from the humble gooseberry, leek and apple ...'

5 STARS '... superbly written ... do your bit to keep Britain's varied heritage going.'

'... makes the reader behave as though they are clutching a gripping novel ... much more than a historical guide.'

In an era when supermarket conformity rules, it is refreshing to discover that there are still wonderful, traditional varieties of fruit and veg out there waiting to be grown and tasted. What about Glaskin's Perpetual rhubarb, quick to settle in and ready to be cut in its first year? Or Alderman peas, deliciously sweet even when they reach the size of marbles? Not to mention Ashmead's Kernel apple, as devoured and praised by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: 'exploding with champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom'.But Forgotten Fruits is more than a guide to these unusual varieties. It's also a fascinating work of natural and social history. Did you know, for example, that beetroot was instrumental in ending the slave trade? Or that observing gooseberries helped Charles Darwin to arrive at his theory of evolution? Or that there are over 2,000 varieties of cooking and eating apples in Britain alone? If you want to grow a bit of history in your garden, if you'd like to get a real taste of the huge variety of local produce that Britain has to offer, or even if you just want to find out a bit more about how rural life in the UK has evolved over the past centuries, Forgotten Fruits; will prove irresistible - and enlightening - reading.

Shortlisted for the Andre Simon Book Awards 2008

In an era when supermarket conformity rules, it is refreshing to discover that there are still wonderful, traditional varieties of fruit and veg out there waiting to be grown and tasted. What about Glaskin's Perpetual rhubarb, quick to settle in and ready to be cut in its first year? Or Alderman peas, deliciously sweet even when they reach the size of marbles? Not to mention Ashmead's Kernel apple, as devoured and praised by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: ‘exploding with champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom'.

But Forgotten Fruits is more than a guide to these unusual varieties. It's also a fascinating work of natural and social history. Did you know, for example, that beetroot was instrumental in ending the slave trade? Or that observing gooseberries helped Charles Darwin to arrive at his theory of evolution? Or that there are over two thousand varieties of cooking and eating apples in Britain alone?

If you want to grow a bit of history in your garden, if you'd like to get a real taste of the huge variety of local produce that Britain has to offer, or even if you just want to find out a bit more about how rural life in the UK has evolved over the past centuries, Forgotten Fruits will prove irresistible -- and enlightening -- reading.

Discover Britain's traditional fruit and vegetables

Christopher Stocks is a writer and journalist who has written for, among others, Harpers & Queen, ES Magazine and Country Living, and was a contributing editor to Wallpaper magazine. Most recently he was the gardens correspondent of the Independent on Sunday. A keen allotment holder, he lives on the Isle of Portland off the Dorset coast, in a fisherman's cottage overlooking Chesil Beach. Forgotten Fruits is his first book.