There’s no denying that houseplants are enjoying their moment right now.
While it’s true that they cannot even remotely be considered a new phenomenon, with early historical records appearing to suggest that ornamental and fruiting plants were potted indoors by those as early as the Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greeks, Sumerians, Romans and even in ancient China, the popularity of houseplants has been on a sharp rise over the past few years.
If that rise wasn’t sharp enough as it is though, along came lockdown.
As the country was placed under COVID-safe restrictions, and the public told to “stay at home” for the foreseeable, the upward trajectory of houseplant popularity grew astronomically, with dedicated retailers all across the country reporting a significant surge in sales over the last 11 months.
So, what is to account for such rise then? Well, it’s simple. For those stuck at home, which has been the vast majority of us at one point or another, houseplants have seemingly offered a way of brining the outside in, a way of injecting greenery into our homes, and not to mention, they have provided the perfect pastime and place to focus our attentions.
A prominent link between the keeping and tending to of houseplants, and positive benefits for our mental health, has also been identified.
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And it’s the latter concept that has particularly resonated with one Manchester-based student.
Sam Garrington – a third year Environmental Science student at Manchester Metropolitan University – shares in the nation’s burgeoning love for houseplants to such an extent that he decided to start his very own “side hustle” selling them.
Alongside his studies, Sam founded the independent online houseplant nursery RootsNShoots from his Withington home last summer, and has been supplying homegrown, hand-potted and organic houseplants at affordable prices ever since.
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His main aim was to provide people with “beautiful plants that will aid the aesthetic of any room”, but this start-up is about so much more than just selling plants.
“I want to improve mental health, without breaking the bank.” Sam told The Manc.
“We operate with small batches of plants that are rooted from cuttings and then potted, and customers receive plants in the adolescent stage of growth, which provides the benefit of being able to watch your very own plant baby grow up.”
He continued: “Since starting at university, I’ve wanted to run my own business on the side of studying, but kept putting it off and never took the plunge [and] to be honest, even though I’ve always loved house plants and have loads of my own, I never really planned this and kind of just fell into it instead”.
“It all started back in the summer of 2020 when I was gifted 20 spider plant babies.
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“I rooted and potted them up, and then couldn’t decide what to do with them all, so I just posted about them on the main student Facebook page [Manchester Students’ Group], only expecting a couple of interested people to message me, but to my surprise, all 20 had been taken within half an hour and I even had people offering to pay for them once I’d told them that I’d already promised them to other people.
“This was the birth of RootsNShoots”.
Unsplash / Leonardo Iheme
And what a journey it’s been in such a short space of time.
Sam continued: “From there, I started potting up all the cuttings I could get my hands on and kept posting on Facebook until it got to the point where I needed to solidify my progress and start a properly-branded business.
“All my stock remains homegrown and hand-potted in small batches of whatever is available to me, but now I’ve invested in grow lights and shelving, as well as branded paper bags.
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“I’ve even had people who went home to their parents for lockdown ask me to send them plants via the post.”
While the chance to spread his love for houseplants and their benefits among the student population, and eventually as far and wide as possible, is what’s at the heart of RootsNShoots, Sam is also keen to demonstrate and help fly the flag for young people with entrepreneurial spirit too.
“I really endorse the sense of community within the student population,” Sam continued.
“I believe we are stronger as a unit and I’m sick of the stereotypical view that ‘students do nothing but study and party’, when in fact, many of us pursue creative and entrepreneurial avenues to prove we are much more than just students”.
With the popularity of RootsNShoots continuing to develop by the day though, where does Sam see his “side hustle” heading in the future?
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“In all honesty, I’m just taking things gradually and seeing where it ends up.” he admitted.
“I don’t particularly see this as a job and much more as a hobby.
“I love plants and want other students to discover the beauty of foliage, so at the moment, I see this as a way to get some extra money to supplement my loan and to help pay for my own plant addiction”.
He continued: “It’s hard to say where I see it going in the future as it’s so dependent on where I end up after graduating, but I’m eventually planning on launching an online store and doing postal deliveries, which means I can target a much larger customer base than just the students of Fallowfield.
“I’ve also recently started offering terracotta pots that are designed and hand-painted by my housemate who studies Fine Art at MMU too, which have turned out to be very popular and work well with the vibe I’m trying to convey.
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“Regardless of what happens after I graduate though, I’ll always find a way to spread my love of houseplants”.
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You can find more information about RootsNShoots, as well as view the plants in stock and place your orders via the company’s Instagram account here.
Feature
Albert’s Schloss – Manchester’s busiest nightlife hotspot is also serving some of the city’s best roasts
Daisy Jackson
If someone were to ask me the root cause of most of my adult hangovers, I would turn and point at Albert’s Schloss quicker than you could say ‘stiegl’.
I’m not the only one either – this nightlife hotspot on Peter Street is busy all. the. time.
Whether it’s a few happy hour drinks straight after work or dancing on the benches into the early hours, there is always something going on in this Bavarian beer hall.
With a ‘Showtime’ programme of events that includes some sort of live entertainment every night of the week, it’s easy to see why most of us start and end our nights out here.
It all started back in 2015 and quickly grew, becoming one of the country’s most voracious venues with a footprint in multiple cities almost a decade later.
But despite us all knowing Albert’s Schloss so well, do we really know and appreciate everything it’s got going on beyond the party atmosphere?
Because I’ll bet a load of you didn’t know that Albert’s Schloss is also whipping up one of Manchester’s very best Sunday roasts.
Schweins in blanketsThis huge pork knuckle is one of Albert’s Schloss Sunday roastsCauliflower fondue
And that’s along with a pretty impressive, Bavarian-inspired food menu that’s always ticking away in the background.
I already proved that the city is slightly oblivious to the venue’s culinary prowess when The Manc Eats posted these pictures of the pastries made fresh here, and our audience were flabbergasted to learn that Schloss can be as much about viennoiserie as it is about Viennese beers.
So, back to those Albert’s Schloss roasts.
The huge venue hosts Sunday Service every week, where the house band serves up grooves to go with the gravy.
Alpine croquettesHummus and pickles
As you’re serenaded by goosebump-worthy harmonies, you can tuck into gigantic roasts and other comforting plates, like sides of fondue cauliflower and schweins in blankets.
The roasts themselves centre (obviously) around meat, with dry-aged beef, roast chicken, and a no-nut roast on offer, but the star of the show has and always will be the schweinshaxe, an enormous pork knuckle roasted to perfection and served with apple sauce.
If you’re not fancying a roast (who are you), there are other mains like a humble kroissant pie, pan-roasted salmon, and the venue’s signature cheeseburger.
Push for gravy buttons as the Albert’s Schloss Sunday roast
Groups should come ready to banquet. There’s a Bavarian Feast for sharing, which comes with – brace yourselves – roast pork knuckle, chicken schnitzel, bratwurst, kaiserwurst, chilliwurst, pork belly, sformoto, braised red cabbage, seasonal greens, bier jus, kraut, and pickles.
Oh and please, please, if you have even a hint of a sweet tooth, don’t leave without trying the black forest brownie, liberally flavoured with Amarena cherries.
There are also pretzel doughnuts ripe for dipping in a pot of melted chocolate, and classic apple strudel with vanilla sauce.
And all of it’s available for £29 for three courses.
So now with evening beers, late-night dancing, pastries, lunches AND Sunday roasts covered, Albert’s Schloss is bringing back the old 24 Hour Party People mantra.
Desserts included in Albert’s Schloss Sunday roasts menu
Moor Hall – What it’s like to eat at officially the best restaurant in England
Daisy Jackson
There are a lot of good places to eat around the north west. Some are even great. But very few are exceptional – and only one can claim to be the best not just in our region, but in the entire country.
The restaurant in question is Moor Hall.
This two Michelin-star spot, just outside Greater Manchester in Lancashire, opened back in 2017. It achieved its first Michelin star at break-neck speed, proudly mounting a red plaque within six months of opening. A year later, it got its second. It’s been named the Best Restaurant in England two years in a row at the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards. And that’s just the tip of the glittering iceberg.
All this might seem quick, but I doubt anyone has walked through these doors without emphatically agreeing that Moor Hall deserves every accolade on its shelves. If I had the power, I’d give it another star on the spot.
The experience begins before you’ve even got through the door.
You’ll drive through the stone gates and down the winding driveway, passing a lake, a group of geese pottering about on the lawn, and around the back of the beautiful former mansion house.
You could have arrived on the set of Bridgerton (if the Bridgertons happened to have a wine list so comprehensive that the table shakes under the weight of the menu).
As each guest is given a staggered arrival time, they know who you are the second you walk through the door. Being greeted by name takes us both aback – is this how the Beckhams feel all the time? Fetch me my Birkin! Where’s my security?!
Anyway. The initial grandeur of Moor Hall carries through for the first part of your meal – drinks and snacks in the bar area, where the walls are covered in dark wood and cosy bay windows look out onto the lake.
The main dining room at Moor HallMoor Hall’s Provenance menu The experience includes a walk through the kitchens
Here, you begin to see the many, many cogs that go into making a restaurant like this function. Someone is in charge of water. Someone else is carefully slicing charcuterie into slices so thin it dissolves on your tongue like butter.
Tiny black pudding bites pack a rich, meaty punch that immediately makes me wish we were staying overnight and could eat breakfast here too (there are 14 guest bedrooms at Moor Hall plus new garden rooms being constructed in the grounds).
The next miniature mouthful bursts open with flavours of barbecued asparagus and smoky chorizo, then a dinky English muffin topped with buttered lobster turns me misty-eyed.
A pair of pretty leaf-shaped crackers, each one embossed with herbs, arrives next, alongside a tin of cod roe and caviar, like a classic pate but 1000 times richer and more interesting.
Crackers with cod roe and caviarAn English muffin with poached lobster
At this point, you’re whisked off your feet by another Moor Hall staff member, who promptly escorts you out the door. Have we done something wrong? Nope – it’s time to see the kitchen gardens.
He expertly points out all the herbs, fruits and vegetables that are grown on-site in the beautiful walled gardens, tended to by a small team of gardeners.
The tour then spits you out into the kitchen, where each of the many, many chefs whipping up your dinner will greet you with a friendly smile, and chef-patron Mark Birchall offers a warm handshake and yet another snack (this one resembles a small bird’s nest, filled with smoked eel and potato).
While the bar is dark and stately, the dining room is a modern, simple space flooded with sunlight and views of the lake.
The dishes at this stage of the Provenance menu become instantly more theatrical.
‘Royal Oak Rainbow’ – baked carrots with doddington cheese ‘snow’Rudy red Devon beef with beetroot and mustardGuinea hen with morel mushoomsGrilled cornish turbot with mussel and roe sauce
Suddenly we have people spooning brilliant white crumbles onto plates of carrots, herb-infused stocks being poured onto plates, quenelles of butter being rolled out of wooden dishes.
Some dishes are simpler, like a loaf of the best sourdough we’ve ever had, but most are unimaginably intricate, like 80-day aged beef served with beetroot and mustard, and rich guinea hen complimented by even richer morel mushrooms.
Whatever the dish (and we get through a LOT), it’s the sort of food that makes you stop in your tracks. It triggers involuntary reactions – I keep catching us smiling, or closing our eyes, or gleefully pointing out goosebumps on our arms. I actually well up at one point. I didn’t know ice cream could move me to tears, but laced with spicy stem ginger – a staple on Moor Hall’s menu from day one – apparently it can.
And throughout, Moor Hall will go to great lengths to show you where each dish has come from (because let’s be honest, fine dining sometimes gets so complicated it stops resembling food at all), whether that’s showing the huge joint of meat your dish has been carved from or handing you a tiny card telling the story of Ormskirk gingerbread.
Three of four sweet courses on Moor Hall’s Provenance menu
If you add a cheese course, you’re even escorted into the cheese room (is this… heaven?) to build your own cheese board from the huge selection of British creations inside.
There’s a refreshing level of transparency throughout and although we’re surprised plenty of times, it doesn’t feel like trickery.
It’s hard not to appreciate the meal you’re eating because you’ve seen every painstaking step and every ingredient being used before you’ve even sat down, from the gardner pruning the rosemary shrub to the sous chef placing micro herbs on bright green butter with a pair of tweezers.
It’s elaborate but intimate, complex but never intimidating.
The cheese room, where you can build your own cheese course
You might wonder how a £235 tasting menu could ever NOT be intimidating to the average person, and that really comes down to the team who work at Moor Hall.
They’re so warm and inviting, it’s like dining with friends. They could switch it up from explaining one of the most intricate menus in the world to joining in with our debate about whether it’s weird for adults to have a favourite colour.