THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Lovely to see one of our favourite companies trending on the BBC today…. Hiut Denim Jeans.
Not only do they make brilliant jeans, but they have been a massive inspiration to us.
Their philosophy, to make the best jeans they can, not the most jeans they can, reminds us all the time that at Modern Mint, it is okay not to sell the same tools and products as the garden centres.
Because we don’t like those tools. We like these tools….
These tools are the ones that will last you, that are sharp and strong yet light, and will be something you love to use every single day in the garden.
The best tools, not the most popular tools.
Having coveted a pair of Hiut Denim jeans for awhile, we finally ordered one pair at the start of the year.
We waited while they were made.
Since they have arrived, back in March, we have worn them pretty much every single day. We did not wash them, as is the way of raw denim, for 9 months.
This is what they looked like after 9 months without water, each and every crease made by my frame and movements…
They looked ready for a wash, didn’t they?
But the benefits of the No Wash Club are strong, particularly that you will have a pair of jeans that are unique to you.
When I did wash them, in lukewarm water in the bathtub, turned inside out so that the true indigo only lightly bled…. they looked like this…
Really loved where they have faded. Where they are creased. It is like looking at my copper tools after so much use….
So there you have it. A Welsh company making jeans is an inspiration for Modern Mint. Because they want to sell you something excellent, that will do you a great job. And last you a long time.
Sounds very much like the lovely items we have here on our shop!
EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum
Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …
Modern Topiarist @ Garden Masterclass Poland
My video on Modern Topiary for Garden Masterclass has been translated into Polish, for the keen gardeners (and happy pruners!) of Garedn Masterclass in Poland. Tickets for the first showing and q and a were available here. But it will become available on the Garden Masterclass Poland website at some point in the near future – so if you are a keen clipper and want to know more, but speak Polish and not English, then I suggest you visit the website and get watching. (Of course, if you don’t speak English, you may not be able to read this…. hmmm… …
Topiary Hotline
The European Boxwood & Topiary Society are to run a Topiary Hotline for keen gardeners and people who love to clip. Date is tomorrow, April 16th 2024, and you can get a ticket for the Zoom meeting here – Topiary Hotline. Run by Chris Poole and myself, we set this up as an antidote to the huge amount of questions we have to answer about topiary throughout the summer. The plus is that their is an excitement around topiary and pruning. The problem is we need to help people in a better way… … so we will be giving people …