Sometimes, getting out of the office and enjoying a business meeting over lunch, al fresco, is a very good thing.
Yesterday, I hosted a small luncheon at my farm for a group of colleagues. I served chicken salad sandwiches, steak sandwiches, beet salad garnished with dill, a light and delicious chicken soup, and bread pudding with whipped cream for dessert - all homemade using vegetables just picked from the garden. Temperatures were in the low 70s, so we dined outside on my terrace parterre. It was an excellent lunch and a most productive and interesting meeting.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The garden is still providing lots of wonderful, delicious vegetables. I am often asked what I do with all the vegetables I grow. Of course, I share most of them with my family, but I also use them for video and photography shoots, and for entertaining. These beets were just picked for my business luncheon.
Inside my Winter House, I decorated the rooms using flowers grown right here at the farm. These are amaranth and dahlia blooms.
Amaranth is an annual ornamental plant characterized by long colorful flower clusters in orange, gold, purple, red, white, or pink – some that are trailing and these that produce upright plumes.
The dahlias are also still going strong. Dahlias bloom from midsummer until the first fall frost. Here at my farm, I had dahlias blooming in June, and hopefully they’ll continue until Halloween.
I like to display seasonal flowers or plants throughout my home whenever I entertain. This is an all dahlia arrangement in bold shades of pink.
And here are some dahlias on my servery counter in shades of orange.
For my salad, I boiled the beets, removed the skins, and sliced them uniformly.
To prepare my sandwiches, I cut thick slices of bread, buttered each one lightly, and then dressed with chicken salad.
I took the following photos to show each stage.
My chicken salad includes celery, diced apples, mayonnaise, and a touch of salt.
On top, I added fresh arugula just picked from my garden.
Each plate included a side of beets garnished with dill, also from my garden.
For the two gentlemen at my table, who needed more than just one sandwich, I made steak sandwiches, also dressed with fresh garden arugula.
And as a vegetarian option, a mozzarella and beet sandwich.
Everything looked so delicious on the table served on my Martha Stewart Gilded Drabware Wedgwood plates.
I served a light and refreshing chicken soup in tea cups and saucers. My soup includes freshly picked vegetables, and pasta.
More dahlias were picked just minutes before lunch to decorate the table.
Joining us outdoors – my beautiful Empress Qin and Luna Moona. Where is Crème Brûlée?
And for dessert, we enjoyed bread pudding I made the day before, with dollops of fresh whipped cream.
And here is my handsome Emperor Han looking on with curiosity, and hope for something to fall his way. It was a perfect day for a homemade luncheon at Cantitoe Corners.
The onion, Allium cepa, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. Onions are hardy, easy to grow, and can be grown in a variety of soils and climates. We plant a lot of onions every year. I use them in my cooking, and in sandwiches and salads. I also share many of them with my daughter, Alexis, and my grandchildren, Jude and Truman.
Enjoy these photos.
Every year we harvest lots of wonderful, fresh onions – it’s one of most favorite crops to pick here at the farm.
My onions are started from seed in the greenhouse and then planted outdoors in the garden bed in spring.
This year, we planted two large beds for red onions, white onions, and yellow onions.
Here they are in late June – the plants are now well rooted and established in the bed. The onion, Allium cepa, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. They are planted when temperatures are still a bit cool. Early planting gives the onions time to develop tops and store energy for the bulbs.
In July, the plants are much more developed and the leaves are quite tall, bright green, and sturdy.
In early August, the onions are starting to show through the soil, but they are still small and the top leaves are still very green.
Some of the onion leaves have fallen over, but they are still very green in color. Onions require 90 to 100 days to mature from seed, which is around four months. From sets, onions are ready to harvest after around 80 days, or just under three months.
And this week, the tops of the onion plants have turned brown naturally – an indication they are fully mature and ready to harvest.
The onion leaves are also quite dry. This happens at the “neck” of the onion, where the leaves meet the bulb, and signals that the plant has stopped growing.
To pick, Enma carefully loosens the surrounding soil and then gently pulls the onion up by its top. It’s important to keep the stem intact to prevent the possibility of rot.
Onions can be harvested at any size. Most of these are medium to large.
All the onions are in excellent condition. Fortunately, very few animals eat garden onions.
These onions are left to mature a little more, but they should be ready to pick in another week or so after the leaves fall over.
Enma and Elvira picked lots of red onions, which are most often used for their color and mild flavor in salads, salsas, and other raw preparations.
Here is a tray of yellow and white onions. Yellow onions are full-flavored and are a reliable standby for cooking almost anything. White onions are often used in prepared salads, white sauces, and classic Mexican cuisine. They’re also loved in soups, stews, braises, and rice pilaf.
Enma and Elvira transport the trays one by one – they’re quite heavy with onions.
Once all the onions are picked, they are taken to my carport where they can cure. Curing is a process of preparing the onions for long-term storage. During the curing stage, the outer layers of the onions dry out, tightening around the bulb and creating a protective layer that keeps the onion firm and fresh for a longer time.
Enma and Elvira place the onions in one layer on top of newspaper.
The onions need plenty of space for air to circulate, and can even be turned occasionally to make sure they dry evenly.
We’re expecting warm temperatures the rest of the week – 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. They’ll dry nicely here out of the sun.
When cured and stored properly, a good storage onion will retain its eating quality for 10 to 12 months. I can’t wait to try them. How did your onions do this year?
This time of year can be very hectic - my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are busy keeping up with all the growth in the garden beds.
Summer is coming to a close in less than two weeks, but there is still lots of work to be done - weeding, pruning, and grooming the many perennial plants and shrubs. Recently, Phurba Sherpa tackled the boxwood border on both sides of my clematis pergola.
Enjoy these photos.
These boxwood shrubs along both sides of my winding pergola were grown from small saplings nurtured right here at the farm. There are more than 300 boxwood shrubs planted here.
Phurba Sherpa is my resident boxwood pruning expert. He has been with me for many years – in fact, he helped plant these boxwood shrubs seven years ago.
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. They are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
In September 2017, this pergola went through a big transformation. I decided this area would be great if planted with a row of boxwood on both sides. This photo shows the area all ready for planting.
The boxwood we used had been growing in this patch for about three years. Finally they were ready to transplant to their more permanent spots under the pergola.
Each shrub was placed in a plastic pot and then carefully transported to the pergola. Every boxwood was positioned perfectly, two-feet apart from the next.
The shrubs were only about a foot tall when planted, but every one in excellent condition. Boxwood can grow in full sun and partial shade.
And now they’re thigh high and very full. They are all more than double the size. It is amazing to see the growth difference.
Here, one can see the newest growth. Boxwoods are slow growing compared to many other shrubs, with growth rate depending on the variety. Typically, the growth rate for most varieties is three to six inches per year. These needed a thorough grooming.
To groom the tops and sides, Phurba keeps the shears close to him with his hands midway down the handles. This allows the best control.
He turns the shears upside down to get the lower areas. I prefer this method of trimming because the cuts are very clean and smooth when done by hand.
We groom and prune the boxwood at least once a year.
Everyone on my crew uses Japanese Okatsune shears specially made for trimming hedges. These shears are user friendly, and come in a range of sizes.
Phurba also tackles the big boxwood located at the end and center of the pergola. There are four of these giant specimens.
Any clippings are blown away with our battery operated STIHL blower. It’s lightweight, compact, and so easy to use.
In the back bed, I also have Perovskia atriplicifolia, commonly called Russian sage, growing. This plant shows tall, airy, spike-like clusters that create a lavender-blue cloud of color above the finely textured, aromatic foliage. It is vigorous, hardy, heat-loving, drought-tolerant, and deer resistant.
In a matching lavender hue are these charming asters that bloom during the late summer months and into the fall.
Behind the pergola is this giant weeping copper beech tree – I love these trees with their gorgeous form and rich color.
It’s admired greatly for its weeping glossy purplish leaves.
Look how beautiful the border is after the shrubs are all groomed. They’ve grown so well here and continue to thrive.
My pergola garden is constantly growing and evolving – in spring when it blooms with gorgeous
shades of blue; in summer when it features all the bright orange lilies; and, in autumn, with all its bold greenery.
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