Hot Beds: How to grow early crops using an age-old technique: New edition

by Jack First

Overview

A fully updated practical guide on cultivating out-of-season vegetables in small spaces, using the age-old technique of growing in hot beds.

The ancient method of growing vegetables in hot beds harnesses the natural process of decay to cultivate out-of-season crops. Now in its second edition, in Hot Beds, Jack First shares essential tips on how to reap the rewards available from modernising and adapting this remarkable technique used by the Victorians and the Romans. With just stable manure (or alternatives), a simple frame and a small space to build your bed, you can be harvesting salads in March and potatoes in early April.

This accessible guide has been redesigned to clearly illustrate everything you need to understand how to use this highly productive, low-cost, year-round, eco-friendly gardening system. The new edition also features a foreword by Huw Richards and revised text throughout, as well as updated photos and diagrams to show how you too can grow early veg without fossil-fuel energy or elaborate equipment.

Make the most of compact space with this low-cost, sustainable approach.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399419635
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	02/10/2026
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 7.48(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jack First is an experienced horticulturalist who has pioneered, developed and fully tested the methods covered in this book. Jack studied agriculture in the late 1960s and has been involved with farming and horticulture ever since. During the late 1970s he travelled for eighteen months around New Zealand, Australia and the far east. He was a Soil Association symbol holder in Yorkshire for ten years, taught organic gardening at Shipley College, has given public talks to allotment associations and worked in schools setting up organic gardens. He also worked in a wholefood cooperative, producing, wholesaling and retailing organic produce. Before his retirement, Jack worked for seventeen years with volunteers on a large plot in Keighley and managed a horticultural project for people with mental health problems. He is married and has three sons. His hot beds have been featured on BBC's Gardeners' World.

Jack shares gardening tips and tricks on his Instagram: @jackfirst42

Table of Contents

Foreword by Huw Richards

Introduction

Hot beds are nothing new

How hot beds work

The advantages of hot beds

Preparing the hot bed

Creating the hot bed

Planning and sowing

What to grow, and varieties

Management of your hot beds

Case studies

Further possibilities

Resources