THE MODERN MINT BLOG
The Vegetable Orchestra!
We want to share with you this incredible edible orchestra!
Just take a look at 1 minute 38 seconds in, at the cucumber and red pepper trumpet!
Based in Vienna, they use both fresh and dried fruit and vegetables to create their instruments, peeling and honing each one ‘fresh’ for every concert.
At the end of the concert, vegetables are made into soup that is then shared with the audience.
Who would have thought a carrot marimba, a radish flute or a leek violin could sound so good?
Though we really aren’t sure what they do with the cabbage….
… actually, we might go into the kitchen now and find out…
Okay, the cabbage was a disappointment. But the cauliflower sounded great!
What have you got in your kitchen that will make you a musical star?
Topiary Workshop 2026 at Waltham Place
The next topiary workshop I will be teaching is now live on the website and can be booked! Just visit Waltham Place to get a ticket for the Topiary Workshop I will be teaching on Friday September 4th at Waltham Place. Myself and Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society (Buxus expert! Like, he knows everything there is to know about the plant! So worth booking just to tap into his knowledge….!) will be teaching here for the… fifth year in a row I think? The garden is a beautiful place to spend time clipping. We will teach …
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 …