How not to kill a houseplant

THE HOUSE PLANT IS BACK (and not a spider plant in sight!). Create an pretty indoor country garden like this one or a striking display of succulents (the minimalist houseplant perfect for the lazy gardener). Don't be put off by any previous disasters, follow the golden rules of how to keep your house plants happy and your indoor garden will thrive.

9 ways not to kill your house plants

1. Position with care. Choose plants that suit the light levels and temperature of the room in which they'll be positioned - don't expect a sun-loving plant to thrive in a cold, shady area.

2. Avoid extremes. Windowsills in direct sunlight will be too hot for most houseplants. Don't place houseplants over direct sources of heat, such as radiators. Make sure you keep delicate plants away from drying draughts.

3. Seek the light. Ensure there's sufficient light for your plants to photosynthesise effectively.

4. Pot on regularly. You should aim to repot your house plants into larger pots every two years or so to help them thrive. Use a good compost such as GroChar from Carbon Gold.

5. Be well equipped. Use the proper tools for indoor gardening. You'll need a long-spouted watering can, a mister, a long-handled fork and a pair of scissors.

6. Water wisely. Don't overwater house plants - adding drainage material to the bottom of the pot will help to keep roots aerated and ensure they don't drown.

7. Allow to rest. During the winter, move plants to a cooler position - most plants are dormant at this time, so don't need as much sunlight. Reduce the amount of water and food you provide to prevent mould and root rot. Move plants away from windows, which will be too cold in winter.

8. Be vigilant. Learn to recognise potential problems early on before a pest infestation or other physiological problems kill off your plants. Danger signs for low air humidity include flower buds falling off, leaves withering and leaves with brown tips. Signs of high humidity include mould, rot and soft growth.

9. Think long-term. Some popular house plants have a short growing period, so choose plants that will thrive for longer if you want a year-round display.

Read more about how to create your indoor garden in The Green Room, Issue 20 of The Simple Things, out now.

The House Gardener by Isabelle Palmer. Photography Helen Cathcart. Cico Books.

Enchanting Limoges

'It's spring when both nature and the city come back to life and there's a real feeling of excitement in the air.' Yearning for a spring break? Gillian Harvey's personal tour of her home city, Limoges, will remind you of all you love about France and inspire you to hop on a plane.  Discover the side to the city that only locals know, from the best places to view art or pass a sunny day to where you can indulge a passion for chocolate.

Read more of My City: Limoges in Issue 20 of The Simple Things, on sale now.

Photograph: Getty Images

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Win his 'n' hers vintage shoes! (closed 28th February 2014)

agnes & norman

TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY we've teamed up with agnes & norman to give away two pairs of beautiful, handmade vintage design shoes - a pair for each of you (or two pairs for you if you like!). Enter our competition below - but first let us tell you a bit about this exciting new vintage shoe brand...

In 1927 Agnes Stafford & Norman Simpson got married. It was snowing so Agnes had to be carried to the church so as not to spoil her shoes. Eight children and 22 grandchildren later, in 2001, one of those granddaughters became a shoe designer, travelling to shoe factories around the world. Several years later in 2008 she launched her own bridal shoe company. Four years on, with the bridal shoe company firmly established, Rachel Simpson returned to her roots to launch her latest venture and in 2013 a brand new and exciting vintage shoe brand was born.

Now agnes & norman want to bring together love birds everywhere and are giving away a pair of his 'n' hers* shoes, perfect for that first date, anniversary dinner or simply walking somewhere hand in hand. One lucky couple could win a pair of shoes each from agnes & norman by clicking here. Competition closes 28th February 2014.

T&Cs * Prize is equivalent to two pairs of shoes from the current online collection. No cash alternative, subject to availability. Prize can be his 'n' hers, hers 'n' hers, or his 'n' his. 

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Gone are the days of cheesy and cringeworthy wedding videos. The London Wedding Film Co. create wedding films which are unique and beautiful, telling the story from start to finish, capturing the energy and essence of the day so that it can be relived forever. We film weddings across the UK so don't hesitate to enquire. www.thelondonweddingfilmco.com

Sponsored post: Cooking made easy with Gousto

Our mission at Gousto is to make it easy for you to cook quick and delicious meals at home with quality ingredients. Our chefs devise the recipes which you choose from online and then we deliver all the ingredients to you in exact portions with step-by-step instructions. That way you can enjoy restaurant-standard meals in your own home with no food waste.

To ensure you get the freshest and healthiest produce, we source our ingredients from a carefully selected network of British suppliers. Our meat comes from a farm in Devon and most of our fish is Scottish.  Our chefs regularly devise new menus taking advantage of the best British harvest has to offer.

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Gousto are offering The Simple Things readers £20 off your first box of delicious ingredients. Simply place your order at www.gousto.co.uk and enter the code SIMPLETHINGS at checkout.

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Ooh la la! The new issue is on sale today

HAVE A FLICK through the brand new issue of The Simple Things by clicking here.

And don't forget our special offer – Save 50% – 2 years for the price of 1 when you subscribe today!

On sale from 31st January in all major supermarkets, WHSmith, M&S and larger newsagents.

Sponsored post: Found! The gift that goes straight to his heart

Struggling for gift ideas for the men in your life? The Man Box Collection from award-winning Ross & Ross Food could be the answer to your problems.  The Cotswold-based fine food company specialises in handmade pates and terrines using the best British ingredients. Each Man Box has a combination of English craft beer, British charcuterie, chutney and Great British pork crackling to form the ultimate snack box. The products are either made in-house or from local artisan producers. What man wouldn't be happy with a box full of fine British beer and his favourite snacks? 

Available in Original, Spicy and XL. Prices start from £20. The Man Box is available online at www.rossandrossfood.co.uk and NotontheHighStreet.com

Ross & Ross Food are recent winners of the Bursary Award and the Midland Street Food in the BBC Good Food Show and were Finalists in the Cotswold Life Best Local Producer. The pair currently supply their award winning pate and terrines to the likes of Harrods and Daylesford as well as number of quality fine food stores and delis.

3 tips for small business success

You'll never guess number 3… Nick Cooper, the creative force behind successful small business Stamp Shoes, shares the top 3 things he's learned from setting up his own bespoke shoe workshop.

NICK COOPER, founder of Stamp Shoes, lives in Northampton and creates beautiful bespoke footwear from his own designs.

After my religious studies degree I tried admin at a charity in London but didn’t last long! I ended up moving back to my parents in Shropshire and shelf filling at a supermarket. At this point I asked myself, “What do I really want to do?” I arrived at ‘craft’. I ended up moving to the 'shoe capital' of Britain, Northampton, to learn about shoes. I wanted to create my own set-up as soon as I could, make the designs that I wanted to make and then work out how to generate money from it! Nothing happened for about a year, but then I found a workshop space at the Innovation Centre in Northampton University. I bought a little bit of machinery and some materials and started experimenting. It's all taken off from there.

3 THINGS SETTING UP STAMP SHOES HAS TAUGHT ME

1. Don’t give up your day job until you’re established. Go part-time if you can and develop your passion alongside your other work, or at the weekends. Start your business gradually and slowly scale back your hours of employment when you know you can.

2. I never set a goal of making even a single penny. It was daunting setting up a business so I set my goals fairly low. I just wanted to have a complete shoemaking workshop and create a collection of shoes I was happy with, with designs that I’d wear myself.

3. If you’ve never done it, go and stay in a monastery for at least a week, even if you’re sceptical of religious belief. Every summer I go and stay with some monks in the Burgundy countryside. It’s perhaps the only time when I feel completely safe and fully myself. The monks do ‘simple’ on a daily basis and in a way that enables people to experience a complete and lasting joy.

Read more about Nick in our regular series, Beyond The Nine-to-Five in issue 20 of The Simple Things.

www.stampshoes.com.

Say it with a poem

You'll notice we're in rather a romantic mood in the next issue of The Simple Things (Issue 20, on sale 31st January). In the wonderfully nostalgic The Lost Art of Writing a Love Letter we uncover the principles of penning the perfect love note. A few lines from a beautiful poem can capture a feeling perfectly. If you're looking for inspiration check out three of our favourite love poems. Click here to read Carol Ann Duffy's 'Words, Wide Night', here for Frank O'Hara's 'Animals', and here for 'You're Beautiful' by Simon Armitage. Get your tissues at the ready..

Those who can, do

IF YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF Do Lectures you're missing out on free talks on big ideas and clever thinking from very bright people. Think Tim Smit of the Eden project, the chief of the Sioux nation, the man who reinvented meditation for modern living and the woman who directed Pixar's Brave. For starters.

You can read our interview with the inspiring Hieatts (David and Clare) who began Do Lectures in issue 20 of The Simple Things. And when they are not doing Do they have got a town in Wales making jeans again.

Make your own simple spit

    In the new issue (on sale 30 January), our adventurous River Cottage chef Gill Meller wraps up warm and prepares fire-roast leg of lamb. But first you need your fire – and something to roast it on. Gill used an old estate railing he found but for those of us not so lucky, click here for instructions to make your own. And if that's too much trouble, you can buy one here. How to light the fire? You're on your own there.

Just fondue it

You don't need to live in the Alps - or, indeed the 1970s - to enjoy the fun of a fondue. Our gathering this month have reinvented this unfairly ridiculed dish into a pretty classy looking supper party. Fancy having a go yourself? John Lewis has a cast iron fondue set. And here's the recipe for a classic version:

Cheese fondue (for 4)

800 g cheese (Gruyère, Comté, Appenzeller, Beaufort)

250 ml white wine

1⁄2 garlic clove, peeled and halved

1 teaspoon cornflour

1. Cut the skin off the cheese and grate it.

2. Using the cut side of the garlic clove, rub the bottom and side of the fondue pot. Pour the wine into the fondue pot and warm over a medium heat until the wine starts to simmer.

3. Turn down the heat and add the cheese step by step, stirring constantly (drawing an eight pattern)*. When all the cheese has melted and the texture is smooth, mix the cornflour to a paste with a little water and then add to the pot. Stir well. Remove from the heat and place the fondue pot on top of the burner on the table. Serve with cubes of good quality bread.

* If your cheese starts to curdle just add extra warm white wine.

Fireside Reads

Invest in a quality book for the long winter nights (just add hot chocolate). 

Don't even think about spending your Christmas book tokens without first reading our reviews. In this month's copy of The Simple Things (Issue 19, out now), Katie Allen reviews her ten favourite fireside companions. Among her edit are Stoner by John Williams (Vintage Classics), The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough, The Story: Love, Loss and The Lives of Women, Edited by Victoria Hislop (Head of Zeus) and The Curse of Lovely by Jacqui Marson (Piatkus).

Living Mindfully

Make mindful living your one simple goal for 2014 and enjoy a happier, calmer and more productive year.

Mindfulness is about living in the present. It's about paying attention to what you're experiencing at this very moment rather than rushing around trying to do a zillion things at once. In this month's issue of The Simple Things (Issue 19, out now) writer Perri Lewis explores  how we can live more mindfully. Make a start now by downloading one of these apps.

Headspace's Meditation App Free 10-minute meditations from mindfulness guru and former monk Andy Puddicombe - or sign up to the Headspace Journey from £3.74 a month. Click here

Mindfulness Meditations with Mark Williams, £6.99 A series of 10 to 40-minute guided meditations in this iTunes album. Click here

The Mindfulness App, £1.49 An easy-to-use meditation app that allows you to meditate with a guide or just to pleasant sounds. Click here

Wordless Wednesday

 

Inntravel the Slow Holiday people.

Sponsored post: Time for some New Year TLC?

Do you need some wholesome, hearty food to get you through a cold and wintry January?  This delicious soup, brought to you by Yeo Valley, is the ultimate comfort food to keep you warm and cosy. And, what's more, it’s super speedy to make and healthy to boot! Why not put that boot camp on hold for another few days and treat yourselves to a little soul food...? Smoked Haddock and Leek Soup

Serves 4 / Prep Time 5 mins / Cooking Time 25 mins

Ingredients

2tsp oil

3 sticks of celery diced

400g potatoes cut into small cubes

1litre vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

2 leeks cut into disks

200g Sweetcorn, tinned or frozen

600g Smoked Haddock, skinned and cut into bite sized chunks

200ml 0% Yeo Valley Natural Yeogurt

Small bunch of parsley

What to do:

1.  In a large saucepan gently heat the oil then add the celery, put the lid on a sweat for 5mins. Add the stock to the pan along with the potato and bay leaves and simmer for 10 mins until the potatoes are tender.

2.  Add the leeks, sweetcorn and haddock and a good grind of black pepper. Bring back to a simmer and cook for a further 5mins until the fish is cooked through.

3. Remove from the heat, stir in the Yeogurt and check the seasoning then divide between 4 bowls and top with the parsley leaves.

 Notes:  For a change use half smoked haddock and half prawns.

Save up to 30% at People Tree

Don't miss this fantastic saving from ethical fashion brand, People Tree.

Browse People Tree's beautiful range of ethical clothing, accessories and gifts at www.peopletree.co.uk and save a fantastic £15 when you spend £50 or more. All you need to do is enter the code SIMPLE15 when you check out.

Discover how the wonderfully inspiring People Tree founder and CEO, Safia Minney, persuaded the Dalai Lama and Prince Charles to wear organic cotton and earned herself an MBE for services to Fair Trade and the fashion industry in the January issue of The Simple Things, out now.

Terms and conditions: Offer is valid from the until the 31^st January 2014. Receive £15 off a purchase of £50 or more of any products including sale products on the People Tree website, www.peopletree.co.uk. To redeem, enter promotion code SIMPLE15 on the shopping bag or during checkout on the People Tree website. Offer cannot be combined with any other promotional codes. No cash alternative.

Happy New Year!

HAVE A FLICK through our new issue by clicking here and feel instantly warmer and more cheerful, however bad your hangover! On sale from 3rd January in all major supermarkets, WHSmith, M&S and larger newsagents.

With all good wishes for 2014 from The Simple Things.