'Diary, manual and love letter. An honest, moving, and beautiful book . . . It felt like an honour to read this' NIGEL SLATER'A beautiful, lyrical memoir . . . I was so moved' AMY KEY, author of ARRANGEMENTS IN BLUE'Incredibly rich. Eagle gives us an earthy philosophy of time through the returning seasons of one small patch of land' REBECCA MAY JOHNSON, author of SMALL FIRES'Honest and intimate, Thom Eagle writes with tenderness' VICTORIA BENNETT, author of THE APOTHECARY BY THE SEAFebruary produces an abundance of leeks; May inspires blackberry ketchup. June's courgettes demand endless recipes; August's blight strikes the tomatoes. October sees beans soaking in home-made broth, red wine and barley. December's branches 'die back', yet life still stirs under the soil. The Allotment Diaries documents a year of growing, pickling and unknowingly saying a last goodbye. Above all, it is a melodious, nourishing month-by-month portrait of the earth we all have in common.