James Canton bought a house on the Essex-Suffolk border 20 years ago and, seeing that an adjoining piece of land was also available, decided to extend his mortgage to buy that field too.

He knew nothing about land management, he said, but was eager to learn, soon deciding to let the grass, plants and trees do their thing without too much intervention from him. This initially caused some consternation among his neighbours who saw only messy, uncared-for foliage, but a compromise was soon reached.

Canton is fascinated by the concept of 'Rewilding', as popularised by the Knepp Estate in Sussex, and the 'Wild East' spearheaded by a group of East Anglian landowners. In this book he introduces his own response which is less expansive but still an important contribution, he argues, and we can all do the same, whether we have a window box or acreage to our name.  

The book is presented as a memoir detailing his own story (particularly his delight in scything rather than mowing!). He records his discoveries of plants and wildlife through diary entries. He also attends conferences and interviews others around this subject and his conversations and conclusions are presented in a very engaging, informative and inspirational account. It's a very engaging, uplifting book which I'm pleased to have read.