When Valentine Low decided to forego his world of dinner parties with the chattering classes to take on a pastime usually indulged in by old men with flat caps and rollups, he had little idea of the sea change it would bring about in his life. A year down the line he had developed a worrying obsession with potatoes, a resourcefulness that borders on kleptomania and an ever-strengthening relationship with a cheery Irishman named Michael (who thinks that zeitgeist is something nasty you get on your cucumbers).

By turns entertaining and informative, and packed with allotment wisdom -- everything from who was responsible for the desecration of the purple sprouting broccoli (that'll be the pigeons) to how to build a proper manure heap -- One Man and His Digis an indispensable guidebook for all green-fingered urbanites.