His minimalist approach uses techniques such as no-dig, raised beds, perennial vegetables and self-seeding salads as ground cover, and mulching when appropriate. Growing our own food is not only a satisfying and enjoyable thing to do, but it’s also one of the most positive actions we can take to turn our negative ecological impact into a beneficial one.

While the home had a garden, since they were only staying a short time, not too much was done with it. Patrick was born on 11th February 1949 in Devizes, Wiltshire and brought up on a smallholding in Somerset. The following 16 chapters each cover a specific aspect in detail and I found helpful wisdom and instruction in each but especially enjoyed the chapters on seeds and plants, shady gardening, slug controlling, perennial vegetables, pruning and building paths and steps.There is also a whole section on fruit that could be a great time saver, learning from others’ experience.

The key is knowing the right questions, examining what you want from your garden and knowing how to understand the unique characteristics of the space. He was a consulting editor of Permaculture magazine, featured on BBC, and taught permaculture design courses with his wife, Cathy. The best thing we can do as gardeners is to experiment, keep on watching and learning, and most of all enjoy the garden and the fruits of our labour. Especially if neighbouring growers have spent years putting huge effort into digging, clearing, weeding, eliminating undesirables and feel proud of their efforts to keep their plot one of the most exemplary for well dug neatness.This section gave me the confidence and interest to be able to volunteer at the next pruning session in a nearby orchard and gain some hands on experience. His acquired wisdom from this life-long passion is now distilled into the pages of a new book, published by Permanent Publications, entitled The Minimalist Gardener.

If this was his aspiration, he came fairly close at times, with his modest suburban garden looking something like a miniature Garden of Eden.I found easy to understand instructions, examples, illustrations and loads of professional guidance passed down from Patrick’s long experience. Patrick Whitefield (1949 – 2015) was an early pioneer of permaculture, adapting Bill Mollison’s teachings with a strong Southern Hemisphere bias to the cooler, maritime climate of the British Isles.