Living off-grid is that great dream of self-sufficiency which burns strongly in many people. Here, OnTheMarket looks at how you can make it a reality. Off-grid living explained Why be reliant on state-run utilities for water and electricity when, with a bit of effort, you can generate your own? Why drive to a supermarket to […]
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Festivities are on hold at this double-fronted home. But zingy colours, playful details and a bubbling hot tub mean it’s still a house of fun
Their friends will tell you that Paul Price and Fletcher Cowan know how to throw a good party. In summer it’s not unusual to find at least 100 guests spilling out, brimming margaritas in hand, from the kitchen of their north London home into the garden with its bubbling hot tub. Those previral bashes are, of course, on hold for now. But even without the revellers, here’s an interior to lift the spirits. The tutti-frutti carpets, lagoon-blue cocktail bar and walls bustling with modern art add up to a home that’s sociable – and comfortable.
Price and Cowan are quick to credit the interior designer Peter Mikic with the exuberant effect. They all met, inevitably, at a dinner party. Before founding his business 10 years ago, Mikic used to run a fashion label. Price is the CEO of a luxury fashion brand and Cowan, who presents a fashion show on US channel E!, studied fashion at Central Saint Martins. So the three share a taste for art, colour and unpredictable juxtapositions.
Continue reading...Festivities are on hold at this double-fronted home. But zingy colours, playful details and a bubbling hot tub mean it’s still a house of fun
Their friends will tell you that Paul Price and Fletcher Cowan know how to throw a good party. In summer it’s not unusual to find at least 100 guests spilling out, brimming margaritas in hand, from the kitchen of their north London home into the garden with its bubbling hot tub. Those previral bashes are, of course, on hold for now. But even without the revellers, here’s an interior to lift the spirits. The tutti-frutti carpets, lagoon-blue cocktail bar and walls bustling with modern art add up to a home that’s sociable – and comfortable.
Price and Cowan are quick to credit the interior designer Peter Mikic with the exuberant effect. They all met, inevitably, at a dinner party. Before founding his business 10 years ago, Mikic used to run a fashion label. Price is the CEO of a luxury fashion brand and Cowan, who presents a fashion show on US channel E!, studied fashion at Central Saint Martins. So the three share a taste for art, colour and unpredictable juxtapositions.
Continue reading...It won’t feed your family, but there’s much joy to be had from tending your own harvest
With so many of us cooped up at home, there’s been a flowering of interest in all things horticultural. Over recent weeks, news outlets have reported a 250% surge in seed and compost sales, with some online suppliers having unprecedented backlogs of orders of fruit and veg crops. This has been accompanied by a flurry of social media advice that growing your own is a cheap and easy way to access food in these uncertain times.
I was recently sent a picture via Twitter of a single raised bed that could not have been more than 3 sq m, accompanied by the text “My family will not go hungry!” Another wrote that absolutely everyone should start to supplement their diets, even those in flats, with “micro greens on a windowsill”. Over on Facebook, some companies are supplying fancy veg kits with the discount code “Covid-19”, while activist groups claim domestic food growing should replace “commercial” farming altogether.
Continue reading...It won’t feed your family, but there’s much joy to be had from tending your own harvest
With so many of us cooped up at home, there’s been a flowering of interest in all things horticultural. Over recent weeks, news outlets have reported a 250% surge in seed and compost sales, with some online suppliers having unprecedented backlogs of orders of fruit and veg crops. This has been accompanied by a flurry of social media advice that growing your own is a cheap and easy way to access food in these uncertain times.
I was recently sent a picture via Twitter of a single raised bed that could not have been more than 3 sq m, accompanied by the text “My family will not go hungry!” Another wrote that absolutely everyone should start to supplement their diets, even those in flats, with “micro greens on a windowsill”. Over on Facebook, some companies are supplying fancy veg kits with the discount code “Covid-19”, while activist groups claim domestic food growing should replace “commercial” farming altogether.
Continue reading...A full moon and the long weekend mean it’s back to life on the allotment – and there’s lots to do
Easter. April, the month of showers, the last threat of late frost – mostly absent already in the south. Wednesday’s full moon was a seed moon, also paschal moon, the first after the equinox, the one by which Easter is calculated. But it is seed time we are focusing on here. This is the long weekend when many of us remember we have a garden, start thinking about plant shopping and plan what to grow when.
The list for outdoor sowing is impressive: leeks, broccoli, cabbage, brassicas, salsify, spinach, chard (we have sown Fordhook Giant, Bright Lights and Ruby), lettuces, oriental and salad leaves. Root crops, too, though we will stick to radishes, beetroot, perhaps turnips if we can find room. We don’t tend to do well with carrots. It is time to finish planting potatoes: second early and main crops can all go in now. Earth up any from earlier.
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