THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Seedballs
Here at Modern Mint we have now opened our webshop.
What has the distinction of being our first ever product for sale?
Seedballs!
What are Seedballs? They are a little ball of clay and compost. This little ball then creates perfect conditions for the seeds that are also in the ball of clay to germinate. It is a permaculture technique that we first read about in this book…
… we no longer have a copy as we gave ours to a Parisian theatre director about 5 years ago, in the hope they would turn it into a show. That has not happened (yet?) but the philosophies in the book still linger in our minds – to work with nature, not against – and so reduce the amount of work necessary to grow crops and other plants.
A little chilli powder is also in with the seeds, to stop the birds eating them before they have time to germinate.
When you get your tin and open it up, don’t plant the balls – just scatter them onto bare soil, or into pots. Water them (or, if you are being frugal with water, just let the rain do the work for you) and before long they will have germinated and be on their way. Just like in this Essex garden.
Brilliant idea as a gift, or as an easy way to get children interested in nature and the outdoors. Different tins have different plants, the current bestseller is the Bee Mix but that iconic flower the Poppy is running it a close second at the moment…
Or better yet, try our offer to get the best of each kind!
For more of the Japanese Farmer Masanobu Fukuoka’s words (and we highly recommend more of his words are worth it) go explore the books below…
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 …
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 …
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 …