Alan and Gill Bridgewater have gained an international reputation as promoters of the self-sufficient lifestyle. They produce gardening, woodworking, and DIY books on a range of subjects, including furniture-making, hand tool techniques, stone and brickwork, decks and decking, wood-carving and woodturning. They have written more than 50 highly successful books to date, including The Self-Sufficiency Specialist and The Wildlife Garden Specialist. Alan and Gill frequently contribute articles and designs to national magazines.

David Squire has worked for many years as a gardening writer and editor. He has contributed to numerous gardening magazines and is the author (or co-author) of more than 80 gardening and plant-related books. His books include four titles in the new Home Gardener's Specialist Guide series (Fox Chapel Publishing) plus The Scented Garden (Orion) which won the “Quill and Trowel Award” of the Garden Writers of America. David trained as a horticulturist at the Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and at the Royal Horticultural Society, where he was awarded the Wisley Diploma in Horticulture. He was awarded an N.K. Gould Memorial Prize for his collection of herbarium specimens of native British plants. In 2005, this collection of plants was accepted by the Booth Museum of Natural History to become library and museum exhibits. He has a passionate interest in the uses of native plants, whether for eating and survival, or for their historical roles in medicine, folklore and customs.