HEIRLOOM VEGETABLES

"Vegetables are masterpieces of human Ingenuity - their pasts and futures are in our hands."

How often do you hear someone complain that tomatoes don't taste like they used to? It's becoming a common concern, as food production is increasingly controlled by multinational corporations more interested in profit than flavour. People who care about their food are growing their own vegetables in droves - and especially heirlooms for their wonderfully diverse flavours, shapes and colours. Not to mention their rich history and weird and wonderful names - who could resist a lettuce called 'Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed', not be intrigued by the potato that 'Makes the Daughter-in-Law Cry', or fail to be moved by the 'Cherokee Trail of Tears' bean?

In this lively, passionate and at times political introduction to the world of heirloom vegetables, gardener Simon Rickard describes the history of many of his favourite varieties, encourages you to get growing yourself, and explains why he believes edible gardening is so important to our future - and the future of the planet.

Simon Rickard has been gardening since he was a boy. In 2001 he moved to Victoria to take a gardening job at the Diggers' Club flagship garden, Heronswood. There he set about renovating the herbaceous and annual borders and the grey garden. In 2002 Simon became Diggers' head gardener, overseeing both Heronswood and her sister garden, the Garden of St Erth. After three-and-a-half years living and working at Heronswood, Simon transferred to the Garden of St Erth where he worked as manager and head gardener until 2009. He is now a writer and leads tours to beautiful gardens around the world. He is also a bassoonist for Pinchgut Opera.