Allotment holders at the Trap Grounds site, North Oxford, greet the New Year with a store of vegetables they harvested in the autumn and their own recipe book devised to encourage them all to cook their produce more imaginatively. The book, with its colourful cover designed by local artist Neil Drury, contains more than 70 tried and tested recipes, growing tips and a few poems written by allotment-holders.

As expected, the majority of the recipes feature vegetables that are straightforward to grow and that thrive best on North Oxford soil. This means the inevitable inclusion of recipes for vegetables such as courgettes, which suddenly present themselves in profusion during the summer and simply don't stop growing until killed off by the first frosts.

One such is Carol Jarvis's recipe for courgette blinis, which she says are a great way of getting children to eat vegetables as the courgette is grated before being placed in the batter, making it hard to detect. Carol has written up a courgette and prawn recipe, too, which sounds delicious.

In his introduction to the book, which has been appropriately entitled Dig & Dine, Tony Hollander, the chair of the Trap Grounds Allotment Association, states that cooks connect gardeners with gourmets.

He goes on to say: "In this book the three are one. As practical people, allotment holders relish the freshness of the fruits of our labours and garnish them with the spices of a global cuisine.

"Gardeners know that the energy of intake is usefully balanced by the labours of love which are undertaken when we weed, hoe, dig, rake and harvest."

With more than 700 copies already sold at £3 each, from a run of 1,000, the allotment holders believe their book is a real winner.

Stuart Skyte, who helped organise the project with his wife Gillian, who acted as editor, says that the allotment committee thought that this would be a great way for people to share their expertise. They were convinced that a collection of recipes that call for fresh fruits and vegetables would inspire the allotment holders to grow even more produce this year.

Gillian said:" Nearly all the recipes are the contributors' own creations, or the origins are lost in the mists of family history. They are certainly all tried and tested favourites that make much of our produce."

Stuart and Gillian's New Year resolutions include spending more time on the allotment, which will ensure that they get enough exercise to keep fit, and eating even more fruit and vegetables by cooking up the recipes in their Dig & Dine book. If you would like a copy of Dig & Dine, you can phone Stuart on (01865) 559618.

The Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation will be delighted with their resolutions as they are encouraging us all to eat more fruit and vegetables and less meat.

The foundation is launching their new V-Plan Diet this month, which they describe as the antidote to fad diets that don't work. They are convinced that by enjoying a diet of fruit and vegetables people can cut the risk of chronic conditions such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes and certain cancers. For further information on their V-Plan Diet Guide, which sells at just £2.50, go to www.vegetarian.org.uk or phone them on:(0117) 970 5190.

Meals created primarily from fruit, vegetables, grain and fish, all gently prepared without heavy sauces and cream, is the foundation of the Japanese cuisine. Traditionally, Japanese meals are based largly on what are known as the seven pillars of home cooking: fish, vegetables, soya, fruit, noodles, tea and rice. Meat is included in the Japanese meal, but in smaller amounts than we would normally eat, so that it's almost a garnish, rather than the central dish.

Eating in this way embraces some of the healthiest new trends in dieting, as this diet includes good fats like omega 3 from oily fish, good plant-based carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and loads of fibre from the vegetables. Besides, plating up food in an attractive manner as the Japanese do is a great way of practising portion control.

A recently published book entitled The Japan Diet, by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle (Ebury Publishing, £6.99, paperback), is a 30-day plan which explains how we can incorporate Japanese eating habits and techniques into our own lives and ensure a gradual weight loss. The interesting thing about this book is that it doesn't focus on Japanese food all the time - rather, it encourages us to apply the Japanese principles of healthy eating to our diets. By eating lots more fruit and vegetables, and lightening up our beverages by chosing unsweetened tea rather than fizzy drinks, weight can easily be conrolled. This diet also stresses the importance of eating mindfully. This means eating at a leisurely pace - not gobbling it down.

This diet also calls for us to get physically active with moderate exercise such as walking.

The F2 Cookbook by Audrey Eyton (Bantam Press, £12.99) highlights a high-fibre diet that is considered a fast way to lose weight, too. Fibre-rich meals are not just healthy, they are said to have a unique stomach-filling power that takes the hunger out of dieting.

As you can incorporate fibre into your diet by eating peas, beans and lentils, jacket potatoes and all manner of vegetables that have not been peeled, this also sounds like a diet that could suit people who want to get rid of their excess weight by eating home-grown produce.

Whichever way you decide to get rid of the Christmas excess, it's worth remembering that most sensible diets call for fresh fruits, vegetables and exercise - which is exactly what the Trap Grounds allotment holders have in abundance.