A Wonderful Herb Fair at John Jay Homestead
Right down the road from my farm in Bedford is the 62-acre John Jay Homestead Historic State Park. John Jay, (1745 to 1829), was one of America's principal founding fathers. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the revolutionary War, and also the Federalist Papers, which aided ratification of the US Constitution. He served as president of the Continental Congress, as US Secretary for Foreign Affairs, first Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, and as the second governor of New York State. In 1801, after his distinguished career in public service, John Jay retired to Bedford, where he created a comfortable home and a working farm. After his death, this profitable farm was looked after by four succeeding generations of the Jay family, before it was declared a State Historic Site. Many events take place on the grounds of the Homestead, including this week's 63rd annual Herb Fair, sponsored by the New York Unit of the Herb Society of America, which maintains a showcase garden on the site. You may recall my blog about this event from two years ago. Enjoy!
1 This is the main house, which looks basically the same as it did when finished in 1801. John Jay lived here for the last twenty-nine years of his life.
2 This is the herb garden, created in 1991 on the site of an historic cutting garden and greenhouse.
3 It was designed by Page Dickey, a garden designer, writer, and member of the New York Unit of the Herb Society of America.
4 The main paths radiating from the center divide the beds into four quadrants of herbal plants: medicinal, culinary, fragrant, and pest repellent.
5 Horseradish was dubbed the Herb of the Year for 2011.
6 As in years past, the fair was held under a tent, which was a good thing as the skies were threatening.
7 The motto of the Herb Society of America
8 There were lots of fresh herbs for sale.
9 The very reasonable prices
10 The variety was amazing.
11 Horse radish root - The jarred horse radish was ground the night before and preserved with just a little white wine vinegar.
12 Beautiful tiny tomatoes
13 And tiny herb baskets
14 Numex Twilight peppers start out purple and ripen to yellow, orange, and then red.
15 These fresh herb wreaths are very popular.
16 And also very fragrant
17 There was an herbal butter demonstration.
18 This butter mixed with spring herbs was very delicious.
19 The pantry section had many wonderful jarred creations.
20 Lemon verbena syrup and mint syrup for ice cream or seltzer
21 Chile pepper vinegar
22 Raspberry and other fruit vinegars
23 And, of course, there was a great variety of herb plants for sale.
24 And lovely floral bouquets
25 There were many herb-related products for sale. I like these slate garden markers.
26 Many styles of gardening gloves
27 Nice aprons
28 Sibylle Tornow from Merrimack, NH demonstrated some of her pottery techniques. She uses a roller to make an impression of an herb image into wet clay.
29 Sage leaves made a nice impression.
30 Some of her finished pieces
31 The baked goods table was very popular.
32 Delicious looking granola
33 Our friend, D.J. Haverkamp of Bedford Bee Honeybee Service was manning his station. http://bedfordbee.com/
34 He had a frame of live honeybees on display.
35 D.J. is very involved with teaching people of all ages about the importance of pollinators to our food supply. He also conducts a beekeeping school with live bees in an apiary on the John Jay site.
36 A gorgeous sheath of wheat
37 Very nice packaging on these pure beeswax candles
38 Fragrant lavender sachets
39 Very effective herbal moth repellent
40 Vibrant dried flowers
41 A colorful and very fragrant potpourri
42 The raffle prizes were really great, including a 'Goodies Basket' of local veggies and award winning goat cheeses from my friend, Lisa Schwartz of Rainbeau Ridge. http://www.rainbeauridge.com/cms/content/view/21/43/
43 And also a beautiful framed needlework of herbs hand embroidered by a chapter member
44 A Classic Wrap from Woolworks http://www.sustainablewool.com
45 The lunch counter was very busy.
46 The menu
47 The lunch bags
48 And their wonderful emblem
49 This is the New York Unit's lovage soup served every year at the fair. It's made with leeks, onions, potatoes, chicken broth, half & half, and shredded lovage leaves.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
The house is beautiful, and so is the herb garden. I'd like to see more of the house and surrounding buildings.
All of the herbs and other products look delicious.
Thanks for taking us along.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | September 23rd, 2011 at 7:58 am
Hi Martha, OMG! What a beautiful, historic place to be able to visit! I vaguely recall seeing your original posting 2 years ago and will look it up again. Thanks also for both of the beautiful websites you added to this blog-will view completely soon. All of your photos are superb and the information about all of the herbs and the variety of uses is fantastic! Love touring it with you and would love to visit it so will add to my list of places to visit in New York someday. Sure would love to have the herbal moth repellent! What herbs are in it? The prices certainly were great and I would buy so many of those items! I'll bet the lunch was delicious, too! How fun to see DJ Haverkamp again-great beekeeper guy! Also loved seeing the pottery items made by Sibylle Tornow-actually loved seeing everything at John Jay Homestead! Hope you have a wonderful, equinox weekend! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | September 23rd, 2011 at 9:52 am
Martha,
What fascinates me about John Jay's life, which I didn't know until this blog, is that he lived to see Queen Victoria to be born. She had such a tremendous dysfunctional childhood even though her reign as Queen of England was inevitable.
Because he lived to see the next monarchy in England, America was secured it's freedom. He was able to assuage the naysayers that believed we would not become a powerful nation.
Yet to say how our country unfolded after the American Revolution is awesome.
John Jay must have played a tremendous part in the Defense of our country.
I always enjoy your lessons. Thanks.
Posted by: Sonia Smith | September 23rd, 2011 at 10:33 am
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | September 23rd, 2011 at 11:01 am
Wonderful indeed! I loved the tiny herb baskets and the slate garden stakes. Is it possible to order the stakes online?
Posted by: sherey | September 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 am
This is such a lovely blog. Wish I was there. I loved the herb wreaths! Martha, did you buy the wool wrap?
Posted by: Frances | September 23rd, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Is there anyway to purchase one of the herb wreaths and have it shipped to another state?
Posted by: Sally Palmer | September 23rd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Hi, Martha,
How very lovely that John Jay's contributions during his 84 years and his family's legacy continue to benefit Americans. I would have gone crazy buying far too many herbs had I attended. What would be the best way to preserve them? Drying, freezing, adding to oils and/or vinegars?? Every time you attend something like this and share with us, there always seems to be strong themes of sustainability and maximizing available resources. That's so impressive. It reminds me to perservere no matter what. Thank you!
Posted by: Bobbie ~ Oregon | September 23rd, 2011 at 3:02 pm
What a great way to spend an afternoon.
The herb garden is amazing. It looks great and I'm sure it smells so fantastically fragrant! I love container gardening and its really ideal for herbs, especially because they're portable- so they can be rotated for good light exposure, or placed close to a kitchen porch in season for cooking.
And, I am so glad horseradish has finally earned its place at the top of the herb list. I really love horseradish... especially on raw oysters, and my favorite sandwich is a BLT&H, with a lot of H!
What fun to see all the uses for herbs, and all of the herb-themed decorative items. I'd love an apron, and those stone garden markers with etched herb labels. GREAT!
The lemon verbena syrup and mint syrup were show-stoppers for me. Sounds so scrumptiously syrupy....
Looking forward to your new season.
Take care.
Posted by: Barbara Gookin ~ Nantucket | September 23rd, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Thanks! Martha always fun.looking forward to see what you do over the holidays.
Posted by: Elbert Collins | September 23rd, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Martha - thank you for sharing with all of us the wonderful places you visit. It makes me feel as if I have been there also - or at least to wish I could be there. I enjoyed seeing your farm and now the Herb fest. Your photography is wonderful!
Thanks again!
Do you know of the plight of D.Landreth Seed Company? It is the oldest seed company in America, and they sell only non-GMO seeds. Anyway they are asking us (gardeners) to purchase their 2012 catalog to help save the company. I have purchased one for myself and several others for gifts. It is only $5.00.
Posted by: Johannafaye Gannon | September 23rd, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Thank you, Martha. Wonderful pictures, looks like fun, and with lunch!
Posted by: Sandra Phinney | September 23rd, 2011 at 10:55 pm
What a beautiful house. I love the herb garden. Very interesting herb fair I would love to attend this one day. Thank you for an amazing tour and post. Have a wonderful weekend
Regards
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | September 24th, 2011 at 7:45 am
Dear Martha
Thank you so much for covering our HerbFair again. It is a labour of love, but also very hard work by everyone in the unit and we so appreciate that you like the results.
Sincerely,
Maggie Limburg and Ann McDuffie
Co- chairs
Posted by: Maggie Limburg | September 24th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I have canaries and LOVE Martha's canary house. I understand the blueprints were in an older copy of living. I have had no luck of getting the blue prints and would love to get them if I can. I hope someone can help me. I have some new babies and we need a pretty home for them.
Thank you in advance,
Nancy
Posted by: Nancy | September 26th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
It looked to be a fun day. I wasn't aware of the John Jay Homestead and will be adding it to my list of must see's the next time my family and I visit New York.
Great post.
Cheryl
Posted by: Cheryl Jones | October 3rd, 2011 at 1:00 am
Wonderful to see your travels and the wonderful finds you discover.
As we harvest our herbs and vegetables, please give some ideas like what to do with the Mint as we clean out our herb garden. I have something for everything but the mint--some freeze in ice cubes but I need oil or spirit ideas.
An Avid Living and Stewart follower for many years. Many wishes for continued success.
Posted by: Judythe Boswell | October 22nd, 2011 at 4:23 pm