Today’s Facebook prize is a carefully selected choice of gardening book with a total value of over £40. Here is a little break down of what each has to offer. To be in with a chance of winning, head over to our Facebook page and tell us why you think we should choose you. Who would they make a great gift for? Or why would you want to keep them for yourself? On Monday, we’ll choose our favourite comment and will send them out to that person! Good luck everyone and we hope you’re all having a lovely Christmas season so far. Enter now.

Gardener’s World Top Tips

What the panel of the world’s longest running garden program don’t know about horticulture really isn’t worth knowing. Their best knowledge is condensed into this indispensable book, packed with gems about the best time to prune, mulch and pot out.

Garden Wisdom by Leslie Geddes-Brown

Described by The Guardian as:

‘Gardening anthologies are ten-a-penny these days: what sets this book apart, though, is Geddes-Brown’s careful selection of extracts. Every single one is a gem, from Margery Fish on the joy of compost to Penelope Hobhouse on garden style. Angie Lewin’s gorgeous bold prints make this feel like a different kind of gardening book; one you’ll find yourself dipping into regularly.’

Forgotten Fruits: The Stories behind Britain’s Traditional Fruit and Vegetables by Christopher Stocks

Described by The Guardian as:

‘In his delightful celebration of Britain’s forgotten fruit and veg, Christopher Stocks reveals that our food heritage is under threat. In the past 50 years, 75% of our apple orchards have been dug up, and we now import three-quarters of our apples. A seed company that boasts 12 varieties of peas stocked 53 in 1852. Once, every small town had a nursery selling local varieties, a “euphonious litany” of plants such as the Warwickshire Drooper (plum), the Orange Jelly (turnip) and Hero of the Nile (gooseberry). Many of these nurseries have gone and the old varieties are disappearing too, thanks in part to the EU’s national list of saleable seeds. There are some wonderful anecdotes, from the malicious rumour (started by Pepys) that eating too many cucumbers could kill you, to why carrots are orange (they were developed as an “underground resistance symbol” in honour of William I of Orange). It is an intriguing hybrid of narrative history and encyclopaedia. Maps and a gazetteer also raise the possibility of vegetable tourism: eccentric perhaps, but, as Stocks says, that “seems an excellent reason to start doing it”.’