For me, every Memorial Day weekend signals a significant change of seasons. It's traditionally the weekend I go to Skylands, my home in Maine. Every year, I make the special trip to plant the outdoor urns, pots and planters. It’s quite an undertaking, but I actually enjoy the time, especially with the group that accompanies me from year to year. Many of the tropical and exotic specimens are stored in a hoop house at my Bedford farm during winter, and then carefully loaded onto a trailer and delivered to Maine for the summer months.
Yesterday, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew worked hard to prepare everything for the trip - they harvested lots of delicious vegetables from the greenhouse and prepared the plants heading north for the season. Here are some photos - enjoy.
This is the enclosed trailer that we often use when moving plants and bulky objects. The drive from Bedford to Maine takes about eight hours.
Before I leave for Skylands, I carefully go through the plants that have wintered in the greenhouses and select those that will spend the summer in Maine.
I like to take various palms, ferns and succulents in various sizes to fill the many pots I have at Skylands.
It is a tedious task, but the crew has done this every spring for several years, so they are experts at packing the plants onto the trailer.
Chhiring puts a large potted agave into the trailer.
And then carefully positions the pot, so it is secure on the floor of the trailer.
Next, Ryan and Chhiring wheel in a pair of fan palms. Fan palm refers to any of several different kinds of palms with leaves that are palmately lobed, and resembling a fan.
Fortunately, this week’s temperatures have remained in the 70s – not too hot. The most critical factor in moving houseplants is temperature. Avoid prolonged exposure to heat or cold, with temperatures below 35 degrees Fahrenheit or higher than 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
All set and ready to go!
I also like to take as many vegetables as I can from the farm. There are many vegetables and herbs thriving in the rich, loamy beds of this greenhouse.
Ryan harvests a nice selection of carrots. I always love to grow many wonderful varieties and colors of carrots!
Beets – the beetroot is the taproot of the beet plant. Beets are highly nutritious, and very good for maintaining strong cardiovascular health. It’s low in calories, contains zero cholesterol and is rich in vitamins and antioxidants.
And look at these radishes and Japanese turnips – so fresh.
Here is a generous bunch of Italian parsley – this will find its way into my morning green juice.
Kale is a popular vegetable, a member of the cabbage family, Brassica oleracea. It is related to cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens and brussels sprouts. There are many different types of kale – the leaves can be green or purple in color, and have either smooth or curly shapes.
Ryan cuts a good amount of this delicious kale. The lush green kale will also go into my green juice.
Here’s Ryan harvesting some cutting celery, another ingredient of my green juice. This hardy annual can be used in place of celery and is easier to grow. The fine green leaves and thin hollow stems are especially good to flavor soups and stews.
It’s a real treat to have lettuce like this all year long. This leafy lettuce has excellent flavor and texture.
The nutritional value of lettuce varies with the type, but it provides small amounts of dietary fiber, some carbohydrates, a little protein and a trace of fat. This lettuce will be so tasty.
In the back of my flower cutting garden, I have two large beds of asparagus. Ryan collects all the asparagus he can for my trip.
Asparagus are edible shoots that rise early in the spring from underground stems called crowns. These perennial plants require patience and at least a few years to become a well-established patch in the garden. I made sure that an asparagus crop was planted when I first bought this farm.
Purple varieties tend to have fewer fibers than their green cousins and higher in sugar content. They are grown in the same manner as the green and lose some of their color during cooking.
Shoots continue emerging from the soil throughout the spring. After a couple of months as weather starts to warm, the shoots begin to get spindly. This is when we leave them to grow into mature ferny foliage, which will feed the roots for next year’s crop.
I also requested some rhubarb. I have a healthy row of rhubarb growing in this garden as well. Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable, though it is generally used as a fruit in desserts and jams.
Of the rhubarb plant, only the stalks are eaten. These have a rich, tart flavor. Ryan cuts all the leaves off because they are poisonous when ingested.
Ryan harvests stalks that are 12 to 18 inches long. The harvest period runs about eight to 10 weeks. Look at all the beautiful rhubarb stalks.
Once all the vegetables are picked, they are brought to the flower room, where they are washed and packed for the trip. It’s so wonderful to know all these delicious, fresh vegetables come straight from my gardens.