THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Pesticide Free City
What do Paris, Seattle, Tokyo, Toronto and Portland all have in common?
They are pesticide free cities.
This is an amazing idea, one supported by River of Flowers in the UK. Basically, it wants people to stop deliberately putting poisons and toxins into our environment.
To see what happens when you stop using pesticides, take a look at the Opera House roof in Paris where Jean Paucton, a prop man now in his 70’s, began keeping bees. In the pesticide free city of Paris he received twice the yield of honey than he did from his hives in the countryside.
Perhaps it will take longer to stop people using pesticides in agriculture, but our cities can stop right now.
Go to River of Flowers for more information about how you can help – we can add London to the list of pesticide free cities above!
Or to see pictures of Jean Paucton, visit Modern Mint’s Pinterest site and check out the Bees board.
Why I Wrote The Book Modern Topiary
I have written this book, Modern Topiary, because I wanted a collation of useful information that would give people access to everything they need to know in order to start making topiary. Topiary is an amazing (and niche) line of work to follow – amazing because it offers up opportunities to travel all over the world, making gardens, meeting people… but also, the work is intensely physical, hands-on, yet requires creative thinking in order to solve the puzzle of how to make the shapes you want. This mixture of the craft and the art is what I love the most …
Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book
This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!
What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book
Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “I love your book, the advice is so straightforward and your writing is so …