THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Plant Trees With Ecosia
This came to our attention about a year ago. But we’ve only just realised we hadn’t told enough people about it!
Ecosia. A search engine that plants trees, every time you use it.
How amazing is that? Helping the planet green up each and every time you search for something. We think it is just as good as Google for most things you need to search for (please don’t send me your search items it couldn’t find. Your private searches are your own.) Plus, it takes you away from giving information (and so more power) to Google. Something some of you may be interested in.
Another search engine that does that is called DuckDuckGo. They are also very good and using them means you are ‘sticking it to the man’.
So if you are not looking for some presents at Modern Mint this year, why not continue your search on the search engine that plants trees? Use Ecosia – for a greener kind of window shopping!
We Also Have Our Own Grove Of Trees You Can Add To – Visit Trees For Life To Help Plant More!
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …
Waltham Place Topiary Workshop 2026
With the European Boxwood and Topiary Society, I run two workshops each year at Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens. The next topiary workshop there will be on Friday September 4th 2026. Details and how to book yet to be announced, but get in touch with them now to get on the waiting list, as last year we had double the amount of people wanting a place than we had space for. The Waltham Place website is here – topiary workshop 2026. See the teaching page for how else I can help you with the topiary in your garden …
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …