The season's outdoor vegetable crops are all thriving and looking great.
My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew have been very busy in my new vegetable garden. Over the last six weeks, we've planted many crops - potatoes, asparagus, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, artichokes, herbs and more. This week, we planted eggplants and peppers - both sweet and hot. I love these vegetables and always plant enough to share with my family and friends. Soon the entire garden will be filled with rows of wonderful and nutritious produce.
Enjoy these photos.
The new giant half-acre vegetable garden here at my farm is doing so well. Whenever I can, I walk through and check on our growing crops. Here are the beets. Beets are highly nutritious and very good for maintaining strong cardiovascular health. It’s low in calories, contains zero cholesterol, and is rich in folates, vitamin-A, B-complex, and antioxidants.
And look at the curly parsley. Curly parsley is an easy-to-grow type of parsley with round, curly leaves. In general, it is milder than the flat leaf variety.
Everything is looking so lush and green. This is just some of the spinach. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B2.
On this day, Ryan and Phurba planted the eggplants – all different varieties. Eggplant, Solanum melongena, also called aubergine or Guinea squash, is a tender perennial plant of the nightshade family Solanaceae. Eggplant has a flavor similar to summer squash or zucchini – tender, mild, and sweet with a slight vegetal bitterness.
The first thing I always instruct the crew to do is use twine or string to ensure the rows are perfectly straight. My gardens are often photographed and videotaped for television, print, and social media – from the ground and from up above, so it is crucial that they look their best. Ryan extends the gardening twine the entire length of this bed to mark where the center line is and where the center row of three will be planted.
Next, he measures the sides and starts to place the eggplants where they will go – equally spaced and about 16 to 18 inches apart.
Here are all the eggplants positioned in their designated spots. Some of our eggplants came from outside sources while some were started from seed right here in my greenhouse.
For planting vegetables, we use small shoveling tools. The mini trowel and mini shovel are from Gardener’s Supply. They’re perfect for making holes in the garden beds.
Phurba uses a garden trowel to dig the holes. The eggplants should be grown in soil that’s at least six inches deep.
Phurba removes the eggplant plant from its pot, teases the roots and inserts it into the hole…
…And then lightly presses the soil down around the plant. Plant eggplant in a location that gets full sun – at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. Eggplant grows best in a well-drained sandy loam or loam soil that is fairly high in organic matter.
Eggplant needs warm weather and will not thrive during a cool season. Ryan schedules when to plant things outdoors according to the weather in this area. We had an unusual late frost just a couple weeks ago – it’s important to watch the weather forecasts to prevent losing any plants.
Here is one of the eggplants in the ground. Eggplants are ready to harvest as soon as 70 days after sowing the seeds.
It didn’t take too long to plant our entire bed of eggplants – they will do so well here. In another month, we will provide low stakes to support the growing fruits. Staking various vegetables is necessary to keep fruits off the ground and to reduce the risk of disease and rot.
And here comes Pete with our trays of peppers – also ready to get into the ground.
I plant lots of peppers – sweet bell peppers in all colors. Green peppers feature a more bitter flavor. Orange and yellow bell peppers are sweeter, with the sweetest being the red bell pepper. I also plant a variety of other peppers from mild to hot in taste.
Ryan measures the bed and decides how many rows can fit.
He uses a piece of cut bamboo as a guide for spacing the plants. Pepper plants should also be about 16 to 18 inches apart.
Here is one bed of sweet peppers all laid out and ready to plant.
Meanwhile, Ryan also makes the appropriate markers for the plants. It is always good to take the time to make markers, so one knows which varieties do best and should be planted again next year.
Phurba starts planting the peppers. Set pepper plants in a hole that is twice as wide as the seedling root ball and about one inch deeper so a portion of the stem is below soil level.
By afternoon, our peppers are in the soil and everything is ready for a good drink. Fortunately, we had a good rainstorm a couple hours after these were planted. I am so pleased with how our vegetables grow here at Cantitoe Corners. I’ll share more photos from the garden as our crops develop. I hope you have some time to plant in your gardens this holiday weekend.
I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my Bedford, New York farm. During the winter, they are all stored in special greenhouses. Once the warm weather arrives, they are all brought out for display - some go to my home in Maine, and the remainder of the plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. It is a big undertaking to move all these plants at the beginning and end of each season. Thankfully, I have the help of a strong outdoor grounds crew and some heavy-duty farm equipment to get the job done.
Enjoy these photos.
This is the inside of one of three large plastic hoop houses where most of my tropical plants are stored during the cold weather. They actually spend about seven months of the year in these temperature-controlled shelters, but they definitely thrive.
These structures are built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel tubing. I chose this gothic style because of its high peak to accommodate my taller plants.
Every year, these tropical plants are taken out of storage, cleaned up and repotted if needed, and then moved to their warm-weather locations.
The crew is always very careful when moving these container plants. I have a large variety of special planters – antiques and reproductions, planters made of stone, lead, fiberglass and resin, and in a wide array of shapes and sizes.
As the plants are removed from the hoop house, they’re grouped by type. Here are several potted bird’s nest ferns. Bird’s-nest fern is a common name for several related species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Asplenium.
Here is one of my bird’s nest ferns, Asplenium nidus. The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Sago palms prefer to be situated in well-drained soil, and like other cycad plants, do not respond well to overwatering.
Below the foliage is the bare section of trunk where leaves were once cut. The rough trunk becomes leafless as it ages.
Here is a closer look at one of the fronds. The tips are quite pointy and sharp, so it’s best to keep it away from lots of foot traffic.
Here’s Phurba moving one of the heavy container plants by hand. This is a potted Beaucarnea recurvata, the elephant’s foot or ponytail palm – a species of plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí in eastern Mexico. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the true palms. In fact, it is a member of the Agave family and is actually a succulent. It has a bulbous trunk, which is used to store water, and its long, hair-like leaves that grow from the top of the trunk like a ponytail, gives the plant its name.
I go through all the potted specimens and decide where they will be displayed for the season. I always try to vary their locations.
This is a Bismarkia palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
Bismarckia is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family endemic to western and northern Madagascar, where they grow in open grassland. The genus is named for the first chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck and the epithet for its only species, Bismarckia nobilis, comes from Latin for ‘noble’.
This potted agave is one of many in my collection. It is so beautiful, but be sure to keep agaves in low traffic areas, as their spikes can be very painful. And always wear gloves and eye protection when potting them up or dividing as the sap can burn. Agaves are exotic, deer-resistant, drought-tolerant plants that can live happily in containers. This blue agave has gray-blue spiky fleshy leaves. And do you know… tequila is actually distilled from the sap of the blue agave?
Agave plants spread without flowering by growing offshoots, called pups. These pups grow into new plants once they are separated from the main plant. They can easily be removed by exposing the connecting root and cutting through it. Once separated it can be replanted in another container.
In this area – more ferns. I have all different types with interesting foliage. It is so nice to see them all again after the long cold season. The weather this week has been in the high 60s and 70s, which is perfect for taking all the plants out of storage.
Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, is a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves that grow up to 18-inches long out of a main crown in a clump. Look closely, these plants have actually evolved to create splits along their lateral leaf seams to allow the wind to pass by. In doing so, they eliminate the risk of being snapped in half by strong tropical gusts.
Here is a green colocasia. In contrast to Alocasia, the leaf tip of colocasia points downwards.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white.
Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at Bedford.
I also have several Norfolk Island pine trees, Araucaria heterophylla. These are native to the South Pacific, so Norfolk Island pines prefer warmer, wetter climates between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit – similar needs as my citrus trees. The foliage is medium green and needlelike with an awl shape.
And here is a tall pygmy date palm tree, Phoenix roebelenii. This tree grows to about 10-feet tall or more. Phoenix roebelenii is a popular ornamental plant and needs little pruning to develop a strong structure. The slender trunk has decorative protuberances along its entire length from where fronds were once attached, but have fallen off as the tree matured.
It’s amazing how many plants can fit in these durable hoop houses. I am so fortunate to be able to store all these plants during the cold season, and then enjoy them all around my farm when it gets warm. There are just a few more to take out. I’ll share photos of where I placed them around the farm in an upcoming blog.
This latest recording gave me the opportunity to catch up with someone I’ve worked with and celebrated so many good times with over the last 30-years, Darcy Miller. Darcy is an artist, an author of the bestselling book, "Celebrate Everything! Fun Ideas to Bring Your Parties to Life," a celebration expert, and an entrepreneur. In fact, she just launched a new business, where she advises people on celebrating the most meaningful moments in their lives in the most unique, personal, and one-of-a-kind ways. Darcy was also a founding editor of Martha Stewart Weddings, and for many years its Editorial Director, working on what would become one of the most beautiful weddings magazines ever.
Here are photos of some of the good times we've had over the last three decades and don't forget to listen to my podcast.
Here I am with Darcy inside the charming Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center, where we recorded my podcast. Look closely, Darcy drew the phone and the oversized champagne coupes in the photo.
Not long ago, I visited Darcy at her “Celebration Expert” headquarters in Manhattan. It’s full of Darcy’s whimsical artwork and favors she’s created for celebrations honoring her various clients.
The studio is where all the creating, crafting, and celebrating happens—or at least where it all begins. From floor to ceiling, wall to wall, the small space is filled with everything needed to create or entertain.
Here’s a photo of her meeting table and desk. And yes, that’s Darcy’s own artwork on the wall.
I always appreciate Darcy’s attention to detail—her art is on the macarons, the cookies, the matchboxes, and even the custom confetti on the table.
Here’s a favor she created for a baby shower.
… and another favor she did for Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Here is the late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court herself, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, several years ago holding her own favor.
This photo is from an elegant dinner party Darcy threw for her parents’ 45th wedding anniversary—pictures of their life together made the most beautiful and meaningful décor.
And here I am with her girls that night. Even the girls were dressed in the event’s gold, white, and black color scheme.
Those looking for fun ways to celebrate their own occasions turn to Darcy’s book, “Celebrate Everything,” as well as her website, and her Instagram page @DarcyMiller.
One of the Celebration Expert services Darcy offers is LIVE drawings at events. Here is one she drew of me.
She also draws from photos to create portrait favors for guests at weddings or corporate affairs.
Darcy may be the Celebration Expert now, but she’s been bringing that celebratory spirit into my life for 30 years, from the day she became an Editorial Assistant at Martha Stewart Living in 1992. She was so creative and so hard-working. Darcy would do everything—from answering phones and dying Easter Eggs to styling shoots and sourcing craft supplies. I think she’s the only person who ever had me paged in a Walmart – true story.
We traveled all over the country together for shoots. Here we are in a hotel room getting ready for a wedding, the one time she towered over me, thanks to standing on that bed. I think it was the late 90s, judging by my shoes, which are back in style, by the way.
She became so indispensable that when we launched Martha Stewart Weddings in 1995, I knew she had to be a founding editor of the magazine.
Over the years, Darcy brought her magic to so many weddings and to Weddings the magazine—even though, as she was fond of saying at the time, she was “way too single to be a weddings editor.”
Some of you may know – I’m a problem solver, so I introduced Darcy to the smartest single young man I knew at the time —my lawyer, Andy. And guess what, it worked, and they eventually got married.
Their wedding was at New York City’s Four Seasons. It was such a beautiful wedding, which you might remember from the magazine. So, you’re welcome, Andy. And Darcy. And Daisy, Ella, and Pippa, their three daughters.
Over the years, I also got to attend so many of Darcy’s own amazing parties. Here I am at Daisy’s first birthday with my own Chow Chow baby.
I remember that party had a Daisy theme–the flower was everywhere. And that’s what Darcy does. She takes something meaningful, something personal, and she uses it to create a party, or a favor, or a craft, or an illustration, or a memory that no one else would ever think of.
Look at this table of treats! (Photo by Allan Zepeda)
… And she shows you how to do it too. Darcy shared some of those party ideas on my television show. Here I am with Darcy and her two older girls doing a pajama party segment. And would you believe Daisy, pictured here on the right, is in college now?
Darcy also threw me the most amazing 70th birthday party. It was themed around everything I love, from playing Scrabble to gardening to cooking.
Here’s my birthday cake – complete with a big “M” on it.
For that party, she drew all these portraits of me and used them for decorating – here I am doing yoga, sewing, antiquing…
… and of course, gardening.
If I sound like a proud mentor, it’s because I am. There’s no one I’d rather celebrate with than Darcy. And I’m thrilled that now everyone gets to celebrate with her. Please listen to our podcast today—I guarantee it’s worth celebrating.
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