THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Oct16

Hygge Essentials by Modern Mint

Autumn has officially begun, with the evenings drawing in earlier its time to get ‘hygge’! That’s right – here at Modern Mint HQ we are all into adopting the Danish concept of all things cosy and making the ordinary things in life beautiful and warming.

Embracing Hygge

Today we fully embraced it. After a few longs weeks and weekends of working at either shows or with our garden design and topiary work, today was finally a day off.

So what did we do?

It started with a fantastic brunch. Scrambled eggs (always a winner) with wilted kale seasoned by chilli, garlic and feta (all organic), bagels and veggie sausages … and lots of tea. This really was a delightful brunch, absolutely delicious… so delicious we felt we needed to share the recipe. The rest of day was spent reading, knitting and continuing to drink lots of tea! Hmmm …  hygge.

Modern Mint Brunch

Start cooking some veggie sausages in the grill. A nice easy start, yes? Then, when that is done we get to the great bit, the winner – the garlic, chilli and feta wilted kale.

Gently fry chopped garlic (a few cloves) for a few minutes in olive oil and then add about half a chilli (chopped small) into the pan. Continue frying for a few more minutes., until both are soft and smell delicious. A little pinch of sea salt will help bring out the flavours too. Add in 4 or so large handfuls of chopped kale and continue to fry for a few more minutes until the kale starts to wilt. At this point add in cubed feta and allow the feta to melt down into the kale, giving it a good stir so everything gets a coating.

Pop some bagels into the toaster, and start to prepare the scrambled eggs. For the scrambled eggs mix 4 eggs, a dash of milk, generous amount of black pepper and oregano.

Once the bagels are toasted place the kale mixture on one half of the bagel. Don’t clean the pan that you cooked the kale in. Add in the scrambled eggs and cook in the same pan so it soaks up the flavour. Once done add the scrambled eggs to the other half of the bagel.

By this point the veggie sausages should be cooked, and – Voila! – the brunch is done – enjoy!

Want to try out hygge for yourself?

You will need one or all of the following….

1. A Good Book

Nothing beats sitting down with a good book and a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon. Our range of books from John Walker are a must for any organic gardener. Full of essential tips and ideas to make your green space even greener.

Eco garden

 

weeds-front-cover-featured-image

 

See more of these great books now.

2. Get Crafty

We have some beautiful embroidery sets perfect for beginners. You may quickly find you give up the TV a few nights a week and take this up as a hobby.

Embroidery Kit Cat Product Image 2

See our embroidery stitch kit now.

3. Get outdoors when the sun is shining!

And finally, hygge doesn’t just have to be indoors. When the sun is shinning get outside in the fresh air. Go for walks, plant those bulbs, and get outside before it gets dark again! Just make sure you wrap up warm. That cup of tea and cake always tastes better after being outside.

Boot insole

 

We hope you find time for some hygge in your life!

 

Nov18

Michael Gibson, New York Topiary Art!

In the New York Times earlier this year was a lovely interview with Michael Gibson, who makes topiary and gardens in New York. The article is here but you may not have access… however, search the internet, find it and have a read. It is great! His philosophy of pruning is especially worth it… Sacred geometry in topiary? Yes please! What a phrase! I think (and speak) of balance, of major and minor, of leaf volume… but sacred geometry might well make it into my topiary teaching lexicon! And the idea of directional trimming? I realise I do this, but …

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Nov18

Topiary Library

I do a lot of teaching topiary. I had the opportunity from my mentor, Charlotte Molesworth, to work on her garden and experiment and test techniques and generally try making shapes without the worry of failure, or being fired, or being sued and run out of business for getting it wrong. This opportunity was essential (along with Charlotte’s insistance that pruning standards had to be high!) in becoming better at topiary. When I look around the world at our cultural vitamins, what we see in the media day in and day out, I see the stupidest and grossest of people …

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Nov06

Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue

With Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society we visited Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue in Rutland. Do you know it? Amazing place! Chris and I were teaching a topiary workshop in order to give local people the skills and technique, and tenacity! to help with the pruning of the avenue and elevate it to something even more special than it already is. Read more about the workshops here. We hope to run a further workshop in September 2026, as well as teach an advanced course too. Check the teaching page through the year as it will be updated …

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