Whenever I go to Skylands, my home in Seal Harbor, Maine, the days are always filled with lots of great activities and good quality time with family and friends.
This summer was especially memorable. I hosted more than 17 guests my entire stay. The weather was pleasant. The flowers from my gardens were abundant and beautifully arranged, and with the vegetable gardens in Bedford and at Skylands producing so much bounty, our meals were interesting and sensational - we all ate and ate and ate so many delicious foods.
This is the first blog featuring some of the highlights of this summer in Maine - enjoy.
I never tire of the stunning photos taken from the terraces at my home at Skylands. This was captured in the early morning hours. It is a super sturgeon moon on August 1st. The full moon in August is called sturgeon moon because of the large number of sturgeon fish that were once found and more easily caught in the Great Lakes in North America during this time of year. It was a name used by native American tribes. My granddaughter Jude and I took several photos of this gorgeous moon over Seal Harbor.
One of the first meals I enjoyed this summer at Skylands was made with freshly picked chanterelle mushrooms. Jude and her friends carefully harvested these after a good rain at Skylands. Chanterelles are among the most popular of wild edible mushrooms. They are orange, yellow or white, meaty and funnel-shaped.
We enjoyed them that evening served with a delicious pasta.
We’ve had such an abundance of cucumbers this season. I made a giant batch of bread and butter pickles. Here they are in a big bowl with onions – also from my garden.
I enjoy canning and do so every year.
These old-fashioned bread and butter pickles have a crisp texture and a well-balanced sweet and sour flavor.
I enjoyed several boat rides out on the Harbor. The skies were just amazing.
On this day, it was also a little chilly. Here I am “under cover.”
This summer at Skylands was very busy. I had more than 17-guests stay with me. The kitchen table was always full.
On one night we enjoyed a Japanese themed dinner with miso. Here are the vegetables all cut and prepared – mis en place.
We made miso soup all from scratch. The word miso means ‘fermented beans’ in Japanese. Miso paste is nearly always made with fermented soy beans, and is a staple of Japanese cooking.
We also made miso cod from scratch.
And miso eggplant using eggplant from my garden. The eggplants have been growing so wonderfully. The meal was excellent – everything was devoured.
On another day, we had a survival expert come out to teach the children how to survive in the woodland. Here I am in the teepee the children built.
This year, my gardener Wendy Norling arranged all the flowers cut from the gardens. She did such an amazing job. This is just one of them – an all white hydrangea arrangement sitting in the alcove just outside my dining room.
And look at the beautifully display of yellow lilies on the table – all flowers freshly picked the same day. This table was set for another themed dinner – Mexican night.
Chef Lazaro made a delicious spread with homemade salsas, dips, tortillas, and all the fixings.
Carnitas, literally meaning “little meats”, is a dish of Mexican cuisine that originated in the state of Michoacán. Carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork in oil or lard until tender.
We also had tamales. A tamale, or in Spanish tamal, is a traditional dish made of masa, a corn dough, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaves.
And here is Jude’s plate – another wonderful meal, grandchild approved. Healthy, homemade and so flavorful. Tomorrow, I will share more photos from my summer in Maine. Stay tuned.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, there are still so many fresh, organic vegetables to pick and enjoy.
Many of you often ask what I do with all the many vegetables I grow. Most of them are shared with my daughter, Alexis, and her children, Jude and Truman – they love all vegetables. I also use them for my parties and share them with friends. Some are used for various media shoots or when we test recipes here at the farm. This week's harvest was shared with my hardworking crew. Nothing is ever wasted – whatever isn’t used goes to my beloved chickens, geese, and peafowl.
Enjoy these photos.
Despite an unusually wet summer, this has been one of our most productive growing seasons here at the farm. My new vegetable garden continues to provide bounties of fresh, nutritious vegetables.
And, since we practice succession gardening, we are always able to pick something. Right now, we have an abundance of cucumbers, eggplants, and peppers. And while I am away traveling, I instructed my gardeners to harvest and share with all the staff.
Brian picked the eggplants. We have one large bed of eggplants and there are so many ready to pick.
It is good to pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Try to pick a little early, which will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.
Elvira picked bush beans. Bush beans are second only to tomatoes as the most popular vegetables in home gardens. Bush beans are eaten when the seeds are small. They are also called string beans because of a fibrous string running the length of the pod. She started with the green string beans, but they also come in yellow and purple.
My crew loves hot peppers, and I grow many of them to share.
Be careful when picking peppers – always keep the hot ones separated from the sweet ones, so there is no surprise in the kitchen.
Ripe squash will be firm, fairly heavy for its size, and vibrantly colored. We also picked quite a few. Some are already too big, but still delicious. And don’t get confused… all zucchini are squash, but not all squash are zucchini. The term “squash” refers to the plant species within the gourd family, which is divided into winter squash and summer squash.
These round squash are called pattypans. Pattypan squash is a varietal group of summer squash notable for its round and shallow shape, and scalloped edges, somewhat resembling a flying saucer.
This is our best year for cucumbers. We’ve harvested buckets of cucumbers. Cucumbers require a long growing season, and most are ready for harvest in 50 to 70 days from planting. The fruits ripen at different times on the vine, but it is important to pick them when they are ready. If they are left on the vine too long, they tend to taste bitter.
Elvira picks cucumbers from both inside and outside the trellis. Those cucumbers which are too large are given to my chickens, geese, and peafowl – they love to pick at the seeds.
Also growing well are the herbs. This is sage. Sage is commonly used to season poultry or sausage, infuse butter, or to add flavor to root vegetables like sweet potatoes or parsnips.
And our curly parsley is still going strong. Curley parsley is milder than the flat, but it is great to use as a decorative garnish, giving dishes pops of color.
Look at our onions! These are giant. These will be picked later and then cured in a warm, dry, well-ventilated location for two to three weeks until the onion tops and necks are thoroughly dry and the outer bulb scales begin to rustle.
The edamame is also growing abundantly. If you’re not familiar, edamame is the same soybean that makes tofu. Eaten as beans, they taste a bit like peas and are buttery with a hint of sweetness and nuttiness.
We also planted some nasturtium in our asparagus bed. Do you know… the leaves, stems, flowers, and young seed pods of nasturtium are all edible? All of these parts have a distinct peppery flavor similar to radishes. That kick is strongest in the seeds and lightest in the flowers.
And remember our sunflowers? They’re growing so beautifully in the center of the garden. Typically, sunflowers stay in bloom for about three weeks, but one may get a full month if lucky.
In just a short time, there was enough for my crew to share – and all picked before the pending showers. Here’s our overflowing bucket of eggplants.
And here are the beans – all three colors, and all so fresh and delicious. Yellow beans lack chlorophyll and will keep their color when cooked. Purple beans contain anthocyanins, the purple pigment, that disappear a bit when beans are cooked.
Brian moved the full buckets into the back of our Polaris off-road vehicle…
… and then spread them all out onto the large table under my pavilion. Everyone at the farm could select their own.
It’s a wonderful bounty. There will be lots of delicious cooking going on this weekend. What homegrown vegetables are you enjoying this summer?
Every year, I always plant a collection of interesting and beautiful trees. It is such a joy to watch the gardens, groves, and allées evolve and expand around my Bedford, New York farm.
This week, we planted 12 Cercis canadensis trees, or eastern redbuds - the state tree of Oklahoma. They came from Select Horticulture in nearby Pound Ridge, a nursery that offers an extensive inventory of quality specimens, including unusual and rare trees and shrubs in hard-to-find sizes. Since these redbuds are quite tall already, I decided to place them on both sides of the carriage road down by my chicken coops and hoop houses where they will all get full sun.
Enjoy these photos.
There is always so much happening at my Bedford, New York farm. On this day, we’re planting a dozen beautiful tall redbud trees, Cercis canadensis – a deciduous, often multi-trunked understory tree with a rounded crown that typically matures up to 20 to 30 feet tall with a slightly larger spread. It is noted for its stunning pea-like rose-purple flowers which bloom on bare branches in early spring.
Eastern redbud leaves are alternate, simple, broadly heart-shaped and three to five inches high and wide. These leaves are dark green now and will turn yellowish in autumn.
The seeds of the redbud tree are contained in small, brown pods that appear after the flowers fade.
Pete placed the trees where they should be planted. When choosing trees or plants and their permanent locations, be sure to consider the size of the specimens when mature as well as their light needs. These trees will grow pretty wide, so they need a good amount of space.
Before planting, I asked my gardener, Brian O’Kelly, to prune each one.
Meanwhile, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, begins digging the holes with the backhoe of our trusted Kubota M62 tractor.
Because these locations are just off the carriage road, Chhiring is able to position the tractor easily and make these holes pretty quickly.
When planting balled and burlapped trees in well-drained soils, dig the hole two to three times wider than the diameter of the tree’s rootball.
Next, Phurba begins the task of removing all the wrapping and wiring from around the rootballs.
Each tree’s wire cage is also removed. These materials hold together the rootball so that chunks of heavy soil do not fall out or tear roots. The wrapping protects the roots from dehydration and sunburn and allows trees to be safely moved.
All the plastic, burlap, wiring, and twine are all gathered in one area for disposal later.
Chhiring sprinkles a generous amount of fertilizer into the hole and the surrounding soil. Redbuds do well with a multi-purpose fertilizer, but when transplanting, one can also use a food with endo- and ecto mycorrhizae to help promote faster establishment, deeper roots, and strong soil structure. It is very important to feed the plants and trees regularly, especially when they are transplanted.
The rootballs of these trees are quite large and heavy. Here, Chhiring and Phurba slowly and carefully roll the tree into its new hole.
How many trees do you see? It is important to line them all up perfectly. There are actually four trees already in their designated holes, but it looks like just one.
A crucial step in growing healthy trees is to plant them at the proper depth. Planting a tree too deep can kill it. Plant it only at its flare – the bulge just above the root system where the roots begin to branch away from the trunk. Digging a wide planting hole helps to provide the best opportunity for roots to expand into its new growing environment.
These trees need a good drink, so Chhiring adds some water before they are completely backfilled.
Next, the hole is backfilled and tamped down lightly to establish good contact between the soil and the tree’s rootball.
Here is another redbud getting planted just across the carriage road in front of my corn garden and pumpkin patch.
These trees will get at least six hours of full sun in this location. They will thrive here. Chhiring waters the tree thoroughly. The forecast also calls for some showers on this day.
The area around the trees is raked neatly. On the left is another redbud, a weeping redbud variety.
Both of these are also redbuds. The one on the left was just planted. In spring they will have beautiful flowers.
And here are the redbuds in front of my hoop house. I know they will be so happy here. And they were planted just in time – we are expecting lots of rain today and probable thunderstorms. Everything at the farm will get a good watering.
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