Spring is a delightful season to celebrate any occasion!
Around this time every year, when my herbaceous peonies are in full bloom, I love to show off their splendor with a casual garden tour and luncheon. Not long ago I invited our friends from Maman and some colleagues up to my farm - perhaps you saw photos on my Instagram page @mMarthaStewart48. We enjoyed garden Grissini, beet soup and a green salad with vegetables from my garden, wild Alaskan salmon with peas and herbs, my farm fresh asparagus served with cured lemon vinaigrette, steamed baby potatoes, assorted pastries, and several delicious desserts. It was a wonderful meal prepared by our own Sarah Carey and Alex Utter.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
For just a short time from the end of May through the first weeks of June, my herbaceous peony bed is full of blooms in shades of pink and white. I planted 11-double rows of 22-peony types, all selected for their colors, their forms, and their long blooming periods.
Anyone who tours my gardens this time of year always asks to see these wondrous flowers in all their splendor.
I love to use plants and flowers to decorate my table whenever I entertain. Here are peonies in simple glass vessels lined up down my dining room table.
I also like to fill vases and place them in various locations around my home. This vase of dark pink peonies is in my servery, where all my guests can see them when they arrive.
At many of my luncheons, I serve pomegranate iced tea using concentrate from our friends at POM Wonderful – this one with fresh lime and berries.
This time, I also served a black mint tea with fresh mint and strawberries.
A tray of fresh citrus and strawberries was also offered for extra garnish.
Have you ever had Grissini? They are long, thin breadsticks infused with vegetables or herbs in the dough. We used parsley, carrot, and beet. The recipe is in my book, Martha Stewart’s Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations, Clarkson Potter 2011.
My garden produced so much asparagus this year – all thick, delicious and tender spears. This was prepared with cured lemon vinaigrette, fried capers, toasted breadcrumbs and parsley.
Also on the menu – steamed new potatoes served with sugar snap peas, English peas, spring onions, and spinach sautéed in a beurre blanc sauce and garnished with chive blossoms and lemon zest. It was a big hit.
The wild Alaskan salmon was baked with citrus and served with spring peas and herbs.
I also served a beautifully colored beet soup with beets from my garden. The soup is topped with crème fraîche, golden and red beets, cucumber, and dill blossoms.
And here’s a serving of the fresh green garden salad with lettuces from my garden, avocado, radish, pickled yellow carrot, toasted pistachio, and a rice vinegar dressing.
I never forget dessert! Sarah and Alex prepared an array of tarts and cookies.
These are giant triple citrus sugar cookies.
And these are my daughter Alexis’s famous chocolate chip cookies.
We enjoyed apricot tartlets served with whipped cream.
And my fresh rhubarb was used to make this beautiful tart also served with whipped cream.
These are strawberry shortcake cream puffs topped with pink craquelin.
The desserts were so good, every guest had a piece of everything.
Outside, many of the trees were also showing off lovely flowers. These are two of my horse chestnut trees at the foot of my long Boxwood Allée. The day was a little overcast, but still excellent for a spring gathering.
The gardens are glistening with color at my farm - so perfect for a spring day garden tour.
Yesterday, I opened my gardens for a private showing to a lovely group from the United States Seniors' Golf Association. Every now and then, I agree to these guided walks to show visitors what is blooming at the time. The weather was perfect - sunny with temperatures in the low 80s. Unfortunately, because of my busy travel and work schedule, I wasn’t able to join this group, but they had a very thorough and enjoyable tour with my head gardener, Ryan McCallister.
Here are some pictures, enjoy.
This group included 40 guests. I like to schedule these tours early before it gets too warm. This day was perfect and everyone was so enthusiastic.
The group started with a walk through my main greenhouse and out through the flower garden. So many flowers are blooming now.
The peonies are showing so beautifully this year. And so are the alliums.
And the lupines are everywhere. The flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on an erect spike, each flower about one to two centimeters long. The pea-like flowers have an upper standard, or banner, two lateral wings, and two lower petals fused into a keel.
Ryan talked about the how the flower garden is organized with all sorts of different perennials. I wanted the plants to be mixed, so every bed in this garden would be interesting and colorful.
Just outside the head house is another garden of peonies.
The group was amazed to see so many peonies, but at this point of the tour, they had not seen my giant herbaceous peony garden yet.
Ryan stops at various locations to point out specific allées and garden beds. He talked about the history of the farm and how it has evolved over the years. He also answered many gardening questions. I am glad everyone wore comfortable, cool clothing – there’s always a lot of walking during these tours.
The tour walked to the pool, where guests saw my antique staddle stones. I bought the staddle stones in 2017 from the annual NYBG Garden Furniture & Antiques Fair. Staddle stones were originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. Lining two sides are my six Ginkgo biloba Goldspire™ Obelisk trees.
Then the group walked through the orchard, where I have more than 200 fruit trees.
Ryan led the group down my long Boxwood Allée. Some stopped to say hi to the donkeys in their pasture.
And no tour is complete without a stop at the bird enclosures. Here is one of my peacocks showing off his tail feathers.
Next, the group walked through my formal Summer House Garden. I began planning this formal garden more than 12 years ago. The focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space that is original to the property. Over time, I’ve planted American and English boxwood, smaller ginkgo trees, smoke bushes, Siberian weeping pea shrubs, peonies, hostas, lilies, alliums, snowflakes, and so much more.
Next was my peony bed – it’s an extra special treat when guests can see this garden in bloom. My herbaceous peony collection includes 11-double rows of peonies, and 22 different varieties of peony plants – two varieties in each row.
One of the reasons these peonies thrive here at my farm is because of the soil. It has a pH of 6.5 to 7.0, which is ideal. It is also amended with superphosphate and Azomite, a natural product mined from an ancient mineral deposit in Utah. These natural additives improve root systems and overall plant vigor, resulting in this fantastic profusion of blooms.
The peony is any plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America.
Peonies are one of the best-known and most dearly loved perennials – not surprising considering their beauty, trouble-free nature, and longevity.
The peony’s fragrance can vary, but most have sweet, clean scents. And, do you know… pink peonies tend to have stronger fragrances than red peonies? Double form white peonies are also very aromatic.
Some asked what I do with all the flowers. Aside from using them for various video and photography shoots, I always cut fresh flowers whenever I entertain. Here is one vase of flowers on my Martha Stewart table from Pollywood. I always like to offer my guests a snack and cool beverage during these guided tours.
Enma pours glasses of pomegranate juice made using concentrate from our friends at POM Wonderful.
And here’s Patricia pouring glasses of refreshing iced coffee.
And of course, everyone enjoyed a cookie, or two. These are my delicious Ultimate Kitchen Sink cookies made by Maman. These cookies are so delicious and so easy to make – one doesn’t even need a mixer. The recipe is from my book, Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection. The recipe calls for dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, rolled oats, coconut. It’s all in there – everything but the kitchen sink. It was a wonderful end to a beautiful tour.
Baker Island in Maine is one of the outermost Cranberry isles located at the southwestern entrance to Frenchman Bay. A majority of the 162-acre property is owned by Acadia National Park and preserves a historical 19th century Light Station and homestead along with many archeological artifacts found along its shores.
During my most recent visit to Maine with family and friends, my niece, Sophie Herbert Slater, and her family had the opportunity to visit Baker Island and learn about its rich past.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Baker Island is best known for its Light Station, built in 1828 on the order of President John Quincy Adams to warn mariners nearby.
The island is accessible by private boat or chartered water taxis. (Photo by Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)
Here’s Captain Aubin Dupree.
Beginning in 1806 and lasting for more than 120 years, Baker Island was home to William and Hannah Gilley and their descendants. (Photo by Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)
The tour group walked the grounds that were once used for growing crops and raising oxen, cattle, sheep and other farm animals. (Photo by Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)
Sophie’s husband, Dan Slater, looks down from the top of the Lighthouse. which is still in use today. (Photo by Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)
Sophie, Silas and Felix also climbed to the top. (Photo by Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)
These are the wrought iron stairs of the Lighthouse Station.
Beautiful views of the island and Frenchman Bay in the distance.
Many of the historical structures of the Gilley Family, including the home, are still standing.
Here’s another view of the family home and Lighthouse Station.
The barns were built for the family’s many animals. (Photo by Rhiannon Johnston/Friends of Acadia)
Here is the Baker Island Cemetery.
Dan, Sophie, Silas, and Felix after a very interesting and informative tour of Baker Island.
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