Pre-order

Tiny Gardens Everywhere

Already purchased

Click to open directly in the xigxag app.

Standard price shown. Sign in for personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app

Added to cart

Continue shopping or head to checkout

View cart
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

This is a big history of little spaces, of nature in urban life, and of gardeners and their gardens through time

In the heart of bustling European and American cities lies an overlooked yet vibrant corner of resilience, ingenuity and magic: our gardens.

From pre-industrial England to modern-day Ohio, via the Paris Commune, Barackia in pre-war Berlin, Soviet allotments in Estonia, the orchards tended by Black migrants in Washington and food forests in contemporary Amsterdam, ordinary people, working with each other and with nature, cultivated life in the unlikeliest of places. Over the past three hundred years, these tiny gardens, often born from necessity and shaped by precarity, immigration and environmental crisis, have thrived by recycling nutrients, remedying contaminated soil and transforming how we think about our relationship to the earth.

Tiny Gardens Everywhere is a hymn to the most fertile agriculture in recorded human history, showing that it occurred not on farms – the product of gigantic exertions of fossil fuels and technology – but with little effort in small garden beds. And the resourcefulness, intuition and inherited methods of their growers accomplished many of today’s sustainability goals by producing local, diverse and organic food.

Acclaimed historian Kate Brown unearths the long and battered story of gardeners and their gardens, asking what happens when these urban Edens are not seen as retreats from the city but become part of its social fabric, alive with histories of displacement, conflict and resistance. This is a book about land, but also about community, repair and the quiet revolutions that begin when someone plants a seed in unloved ground.

‘What a wonder this book is! Absolutely riveting and beautifully written. I hope we can all heed its wisdom’ ISABELLA TREE

'Engaging and inspiring. A fascinating history into the quietly radical role of allotments and gardening' CHRIS FITCH

© Kate Brown 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

What a wonder Tiny Gardens Everywhere is! This absolutely riveting, beautifully written book is a blueprint for how we can transform our cities by remembering the lessons of the past - how by simply providing space for gardens we can create happier, healthier communities, grow prolific, sustainable food and construct cities that are connected with the earth and a fairer way of living. How I hope we can all heed the wisdom of this astonishing book!
author of WILDING
With enviable skill, craft, and insight, Kate Brown shows that the past of small-scale urban provisioning contains the seeds of a more resilient future for us all.
author of THE BURNING EARTH
Tiny Gardens Everywhere shows us the path between the plot and the planet. It’s an amazing, beautiful book; I couldn’t put it down.
author of THE MUSHROOM AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Engaging and inspiring. A fascinating history into the quietly radical role of allotments and guerrilla gardening. A reminder that cities are still places where plants can thrive, where people can connect to the earth, despite all the concrete, brick and asphalt. Superb.
author of WILD CITIES
'A heartening testimony to the efficacy of small, idiosyncratic projects, and the ingenuity and resilience of urban gardeners
landscape architect & author of LOST GARDENS OF LONDON
A sparkling new history of urban areas demonstrating that they have long been full of vibrant green shoots. Diving into this visionary blend of history, memoir, and political insight is like eating a salad of fresh spring greens with a sprinkling of wild strawberries – refreshing, delightful, and nourishing for both mind and spirit.
author of WILD GIRLS and ALL THAT SHE CARRIED
For urban farmers world-wide, this vibrant secret history validates our work and guides future gardeners toward better composting, radical use of common spaces, and plenty of zucchini.
author of FARM CITY and THE ESSENTIAL URBAN FARMER
This timely book ... looks at the ingenious ways that city dwellers have carved out space for cultivating their own fruit and vegetables and why growing conditions in the city may actually be healthier than the countryside … splendid ... Tiny Gardens Everywhere makes a powerful case
Mail on Sunday

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.