‘It’s a secret garden’: National Theatre turns roof into a riot of colour with dye plants

Textile artists are reshaping how the theatre makes its costumes with the aim of replacing harsh synthetic dyes

Squint at the roof of the grey, brutalist National Theatre on London’s South Bank and you might be able to spy a riot of colour spilling from the concrete.

This is the theatre’s new natural dye garden, from which flowers are being picked to create the colours for the costumes worn in the theatre’s plays.

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* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

‘It’s a secret garden’: National Theatre turns roof into a riot of colour with dye plants

Textile artists are reshaping how the theatre makes its costumes with the aim of replacing harsh synthetic dyes

Squint at the roof of the grey, brutalist National Theatre on London’s South Bank and you might be able to spy a riot of colour spilling from the concrete.

This is the theatre’s new natural dye garden, from which flowers are being picked to create the colours for the costumes worn in the theatre’s plays.

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here

Plant winter radishes now and they will be ready to harvest in just eight weeks

Radishes aren’t just for salads – grow winter varieties to enjoy in soups and stir fries

Winter radishes are notably different from the smaller, brighter and often punchier ones you can grow from spring onwards. Winter radishes are left to grow for longer, so they can become larger, and while they can be eaten raw, there are many recipes for cooking them in soups and stir-fries, or roasting them like other root vegetables.

The first winter radish I ever encountered was the ‘Black Spanish Round’ (Raphanus sativus). This heritage variety develops into tennis ball-sized spheres with a rough black skin that conceals bright white, crisp flesh. I didn’t even realise the mooli – or daikon – was a winter radish when I was eating it pickled in a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich or fermented into kimchi. They develop an impressively long, conical root with a mild flavour and pleasingly crunchy texture, and I would grow them if only my heavy clay soil would allow it. The watermelon radish is my personal holy grail. It’s the prettiest radish that I’ve failed to grow despite trying these past few seasons. They’re not much to behold until they’re sliced open to reveal a vibrant fuchsia flesh. I blame end‑of‑summer exhaustion for all the times I’ve tried but haven’t succeeded in growing what ought to be a fairly easy crop.

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* This article was originally published here

Get a dog – or just a dog sign: 14 expert ways to protect your home

From lighting and alarms to shed security and TV simulators, specialists share their top tips for making your house a tougher target

Whether you are going away, moving house, or have just become a bit complacent, there are many simple things that you can do to make your home safer. Here, security experts advise on the best ways to avoid being burgled.

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* This article was originally published here

Keir Starmer’s delivery is one nobody wants | Brief letters

Politics of online shopping | No change | Olives aplenty | On the pulse | The Sun’s necessity | Inefficient energy drinks

“Delivery, delivery, delivery” is the politics of online shopping (Keir Starmer may have just served up the worst political slogan of all time, 2 September). You order something you desperately want, take a leap of faith in the courier, the tracking information is baffling, the wrong parcel is delivered, your parcel is thrown over the hedge a week later, it’s damaged and unrecognisable; you lack the will to re-order.
Helen Datson (with apologies to our efficient local couriers)
Spelsbury, Oxfordshire

• Re Simon Hattenstone’s article on the “worst slogan”: what on earth happened to Change?
David Morriss
London

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* This article was originally published here

Ask a Vet: My dog’s achy bones are slowing him down. What can I do?

How to maintain a dog's joint health and relieve arthritis symptoms.

* This article was originally published here

Country diary 1905: Autumn ‘chintz’ becoming more noticeable

6 September 1905: The Virginia creeper is turning crimson, and promises to adorn houses and cottages with its glowing colours

What a Surrey woman described to me as autumn “chintz” are daily more noticeable on the trees; the ends of the long-fingered leaves of the horse-chestnuts are curling and brown, the sycamores show sickly patches here and there, the oaks are growing richer in colour, and crisp beech leaves are falling. The Virginia creeper is turning crimson, and promises to adorn houses and cottages with its glowing colours. Some of the laburnums are wrecks already, for there are few leaves remaining on them to wither; instead, the consumers of the leaves, small yellow grubs, hang in long strings from the stripped twigs.

The blue tits have been busily at work picking off the grubs they could find on twigs or leaves, but they are not so agile as the willow wrens, which, like fly-catchers, hover in the air and snap the wind-swayed caterpillars from their silken cords. But the willow wrens which came to one tree, at least, have not been visible for two or three days; perhaps they have drifted southward, leaving their work unfinished.

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* This article was originally published here