Exploding myths

I have been talking tosh. Well, not entire tosh, but certainly substantial dollops of wishful thinking and airy, groundless supposition. I have come to this conclusion after reading a book by a plant scientist called Ken Thompson. However, it is written in such an engaging, amiable and witty way that it doesn’t hurt too much; especially since I can console myself that almost everybody else has been as deluded as me.

Ever since Ken Thompson’s first book — An Ear to the Ground; Garden Science for Ordinary Mortals — was published in 2003, I have been a big fan. He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield, who left his academic papers briefly to attempt to teach gardeners horticultural science in a way that they could understand without feeling patronised. As I read it, I could hear the deafening boom and crump of exploding myths.