Vertical pallet planter DIY
We’d all love to have acres of space outside our back doors – giant lawns where we can sit out for breakfast, embark on elaborate landscaping projects and perhaps host a small football match.
Sadly, as our city-dwelling readers will know, this isn't always a possibility. Which is why we love Fern Richardson so much. Her blog (and book), Life on the Balcony, is a haven of tricks and tips for those of us who only have a small space to work with but still want to get a little mud under our fingernails.
One of her most genius ideas is this vertical pallet planter DIY. It ticks all the boxes of a good small-scale gardening project - easy to do, looks great and takes up barely more ground space than a plant pot. If you make like Fern and hunt out a second hand pallet, it’s dirt cheap too!
Do any of our readers have useful ideas for making the most of small gardening spaces that they’d like to share? We’re always on the hunt for inspiration!
Design your own fabric at Spoonflower
What do you get when an internet geek marries a crafter? Well, in the case of techie Stephen Fraser, you get Spoonflower, an online fabric shop with a difference.
At Spoonflower, users create their own custom fabrics, and then sell their designs in the Spoonflower marketplace. There are too many gorgeous, unusual designs to mention here, but top marks for creativity go to The Boer War for their hand-painted flower and veggie print, and Weaving Major's floral fabric using real pressed flowers.
If you need convincing further that this is a totally genius idea, pop over to the Spoonflower blog to see what crafters have been stitching up with their fabric. Our current favourite is a sundress sewn from fabric printed with an old beach snap from Hello Beautiful blogger Emma. Surely the best way to show off your holiday pics, right?
Newsletter exclusive! The Simple Things issue 13
We're all going on a simple summer holiday with plenty of new adventures in store. What are you looking forward to the most?
WIN! A year of organic veg boxes
This summer Abel & Cole, the organic veg box scheme, celebrates its 25th birthday. It’s come a long way since founder Keith Abel started delivering potatoes in South London after failing his bar exams. With the help of a couple of organic farmers (and his mum), he branched out to create the scheme that now delivers to more than 70,000 homes across England. To celebrate, Abel & Cole have teamed up with The Simple Things to bring you a taste of organic heaven.
Starting this August one winner will receive a prize of a year’s supply of weekly fruit and veg boxes (52 boxes in total across the year), any size up to the largest worth £25 per week. It can include fruit and veg, just veg or just fruit depending on what suits the household. The first box will also include the Veg Box Companion cook book (worth £12.99) with 252 pages of recipes to try.
How to enter First check that you live in an Abel & Cole delivery area by visiting www.abelandcole.co.uk and filling in your postcode then click here for your chance to win.
Enter by 2nd August 2013.