Chas And His Rock 'N' Roll Allotment-Chas Hodges

WTF.I am sure that is what you were thinking when you saw that Chas Hodges had not only written a book but one about allotments.For those who do not know who Chas Hodges is,he is a musician who is most famous as the piano playing half of Chas and Dave,famed for such hits as 'Rabbit'.'A'int no pleasing you','Snooker loopy','Margate'.What is little known is that he is into growing his own vegetables.He has grown his own vegetables since the early seventies and in fact was something of a pioneer,feeding his children organic homegrown veg from a very early age.

This is no ordinary gardening book however.After all what gardening book would start with a foreward by Jools Holland.Chas starts with a brief introduction ion what to grow and also what animals to keep,then tells you what basic tools that you will need.This is all told in his own language,so to speak.In other words he is a true cockney and does not believe in mincing his words.Some of the language is therefore a bit earthy(The front of the book even has at the top of it 'This book contains stong language') so if you are easily offended you may be advised to not read it(He uses the C word which i don't particularly like but i just read past those sections quickly).There is actually a chapter on swearing where he says that he tried not to swear in the book but soon gave up on the idea.He says it is just the way he speaks so it would have been less authentic.

If you can ignore the language you will find a very interesting book about how to grow your own vegetables and also how to keep chickens.He started growing vegetables in his garden but now has his own allotment.A lot of what hr grows is produce that doesn't need to much looking after which fitted into his lifestyle of always being out on the road.This book is actually punctuated by stories of his musical life,in fact he often wanders off from talking about something to do with his allotment,before suddenly saying something like 'Oh yes.onions'.As somone who likes Chas and Daves music and music in general this did not bother me but if you are after a gardening book only you would be best to go elsewhere.

He even gives you his recipe for pickled onions after his grandaughter said that he must(How very rock 'n' roll).And right towards the back is some 'Chastyle Cookery'.These are recipes that have been 'well tested by me and tested out on Dave'.Even these are no ordinary written recipes.They are punctuated with tales.

All in all a very entertaining and informative book.In fact this should have been one of those books that had the phrase 'Laugh out loud' on it as this book made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions.Normally any book that has that phrase on it fails to do so.

                                                                                  The Monday Baker