Stéphanie Alice

I thought that it would be fun to make a video about my houseplants. I really enjoy watching houseplant home tours and seeing what other plant people are growing. Here is my collection of hoya, aeschynanthus and dischidia plants. It's the first part of my home tour, in the second part I will share my other plants. That said, most of my plants are hoyas as I love them so much. They're my favourite genus.

Subtitles are available if you'd prefer to watch this video in another language! Just turn CC on in your video settings. If the burnt in captions are too hard to see against white backgrounds, you can also turn the English CC on for better visibility.

I grew almost all of these from small, unrooted cuttings. I choose to do this because cuttings are much cheaper than established plants, I enjoy the challenge, and if something goes wrong and I kill a plant, I feel less guilty about it! All of these cuttings were readily available in the UK, and I bought them as cuttings via eBay and Etsy from other hobby growers across the UK. None of them were imported. Some of them might be rare in your country, but common in the UK, and vice-versa.

I personally choose not to buy the really commercially rare hoyas because they are very expensive, and fashions in plants come and go. There are a few species I'd love to grow - namely Elliptica or Callistophylla - as I really like the prominent veins on these species, but at the moment they sell for silly prices in the UK. I'm a crazy plant person, but I have my limits!

To jump to specific plants in my collection:

Hoya Linearis 00:29
Hoya Kerrii 00:47
Hoya Polyneura 01:16
Hoya Lacunosa 01:49
Hoya Mathilde 02:08
Hoya Memoria 02:44
Hoya Carnosa (+ Rubra + Tricolour) 03:09
Hoya Wayetii (+ Variegata) 03:43
Hoya Verticilatta (aka Parasitica Heart or Acuta) 04:01
Hoya Verticilatta (aka Pallida) 04:21
Hoya Sp. Aff. Burtoniae & Hoya Rosita 04:28
Hoya Carnosa (Krinkle 8) 05:25
Hoya Sunrise & Hoya Rebecca 05:47
Hoya Sipitangensis 06:22
Hoya Bella & Hoya Retusa 06:56
Hoya Fungii 07:36
Hoya Obovata Variegata 08:32
Hoya Obscura 08:46
Hoya Serpens 09:25
Hoya Curtisii & Hoya Cumingiana 09:36
Aeschynanthus Longicaulis (aka Marmoratus) 10:04
Dischidia Ruscifolia 11:04
Dischidia Ovata 11:23

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk

Every Saturday Ed or I walk to the vegetable market in our city to buy vegetables for the week. We've done this for twelve years now, with small breaks where we got too lazy or life got too busy.

Buying our vegetables from the outdoor market is a simple way to reduce our plastic waste, as the vegetables are mostly sold loose, and we use our own reusable cotton tote bags rather than single use plastic carrier bags.

The outdoor market is also a lot cheaper than the supermarket, and there is a lot more variety. I don't know where else we'd be able to buy three pomegranates for £1 or several different types of aubergine.

In the second part of this video I am listening to a podcast whilst I make soup. That podcast is called "Completely Arbotrary" and you can listen to it here:

https://arbortrarypod.com/

If you like houseplants, trees, nature, and the natural world, then I think you'll really enjoy their episodes. Each episode is about a different tree. It's very nerdy, but in the best possible way!

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk

We went camping! This was our first overnight trip together since we visited Cumbria in October 2019, so it felt extra special. We stayed in a "Land Pod" (a camping hut) at YHA Penzance and went for lots of walks up on the cliffs looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

The weather was dry but windy, and it was lovely to see the ocean and spend lots of time outdoors. I've really missed camping, and I've really missed the coast, so it was lovely to be able to have this opportunity to spend some time in one of England's most beautiful counties.

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk

This video was not sponsored by YHA, we paid for our accommodation ourselves. We often stay with YHA and have camped with them as well as stayed in their hostels many times. YHA properties are very well situated across England and Wales and really good places to stay if you intend to spend a lot of time outdoors and just want simple, clean, comfortable self-catered accommodation. They're family friendly, but not just for families.

I spent my first evening alone since the start of the pandemic as Ed was away overnight for a race this weekend. Join me for a a peaceful afternoon of white noise, folding clothes, tidying the flat, playing piano, and going for an evening walk where I cross paths with a tawny owl. It's a quiet, peaceful kind of vlog.

The two piano pieces I am playing are by Chopin, they're his nocturnes in C sharp minor and E minor. The video I am watching on my phone as I eat dinner is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPREwj7ItKE

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk

Today I am making green tea and red bean paste mochi. Mochi is a traditional Japanese sweet treat, and the combination of green tea (matcha) and sweet red bean paste (anko) is a classic. It's the first time I have made mochi, and I had a lot of fun.

Please remember to turn CC on for translated subtitles.

Mochi is vegan by default - or at least this flavour combination is. The ingredients are glutinous rice flour, sugar, soya milk, matcha powder, and adzuki beans.

As you will see, I make some small mistakes with the dough as it is my first time making mochi, and the recipe I followed wasn't very reliable. As such, I haven't shared quantities in the video or here in the description, as I wouldn't want to share a recipe that didn't work too well. Next time I need to use less liquid in my dough so that the mochi are easier to handle and to shape.

If you enjoy this video, please remember to like, comment, and subscribe. You might also enjoy some of my other vegan baking and cooking videos, I have a playlist for them available on my YouTube profile.

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk/hello

Join me as I go for an early autumn walk in the woods and visit my library. I'm experimenting with videos, and thinking of sharing moments from my everyday life in vlog style videos like these, I'm not sure how interesting they'll be to other people but I hope you enjoy them, and find them relaxing.

Please remember to turn CC on for translations.

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk/hello

Join us as we deep clean and tidy the balcony for autumn, and I share my love for quiet mornings and living in a big city. I thought I would try to film some more vlog type videos for my 'The Quiet Things' playlist, sharing everyday moments and scenes.

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk/hello

Please make sure to turn CC on for translated subtitles.

A fruit galette or 'tarte rustique' is a relaxed, open top pie filled with seasonal fruit. Today I am sharing a video of me making a blackberry galette with some of the blackberries I picked with family last month. Blackberries and other seasonal fruits freeze well, and so when I find a glut of fruit, either on the trees or at the market, I like to prepare it - removing stones if necessary - and freeze the fruit so that I don't have to use it all in a rush.

A fruit galette is one of the easiest deserts to make, it scales well and the messier and more free form it is, the better it looks! This is one of those puddings you can put together very quickly when you fancy something sweet, and then feel very accomplished with as it takes so little effort but looks very pretty.

This recipe is accidentally vegan. Some people like to make pastry with butter, but it's very easy to make pastry with dairy free margarine, and there are plenty of options on the market these days for dairy free icecream.

My work in other places:
https://www.stephaniegarstin.co.uk/hello