An almanac of home & garden

The Flower CottageWildly Beautiful

The plate of the week

A midsummer cottage garden: stone walls, foxgloves, roses and a gravel path
From the garden journal — the midsummer border

News · No. 1111

Turning 60: Science confirms your ‘peak happiness’ finally begins today

Reaching 60 often comes wrapped in cultural clichés of slowing down and fading vitality. Yet, according to emerging scientific insights, this milestone may mark the commencement of an unexpectedly joyful phase…

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Three doorways

Where shall we begin?

Three ways into the cottage — the garden, the home, and the quiet hours between.

A cottage kitchen dresser with cream crockery and a copper kettle

Around the Home

Cleaning, keeping, mending and small domestic comforts.

The journal

The index

Latest entries

  1. 01Linkquiver : augmentez vos ventes de liens en automatique
  2. 02Stubborn toilet stains: this natural action plan removes limescale and grime better than bleach
  3. 03Few people know this: why washing bath mats in the washing machine is a bad idea
  4. 04A simple handful of cloves placed in a small bowl can effectively protect your entire home from mosquitoes
  5. 05Hygiene after 65: neither once a day nor once a week, here’s how often you should shower to stay in good health
  6. 06The simple and effective salt trick to make your bathroom look like new again with no effort
  7. 07At school, what students believe about their intelligence influences their academic performance
  8. 08Against prostate cancer, medicine aims to revolutionise patient care with promising innovations to better understand the disease

Browse the full journal

“A cottage is never finished, and a garden is never done. This is a quiet almanac of both — practical counsel for the house, seasonal notes from the garden, and small curiosities from the wider world. Kept the old way: little and often, with patience.”

The Flower Cottage

From the archive

Older entries

learn effective tips and techniques on how to grow shallots in your vegetable garden for a bountiful and flavorful harvest.

News · No. 1007

How to grow shallots in your vegetable garden

Shallots, those charming little bulbs, bring a gentle, sweet touch to your kitchen creations. They look a bit like garlic but taste like a delicate…