Visiting Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture on Facebook

October 1, 2016

Visiting Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture on Facebook

If you're ever in the New York City area, please plan a visit to Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, about 45-minutes outside Manhattan - it is one of my favorite places.

Stone Barns Center is a four-season farm and educational facility whose mission is to celebrate year-round farm-to-table agriculture and to promote the connection between farming and eating. Stone Barns is open to the public all year long, so visitors can learn about the innovative gardening and farming techniques they practice.

This week, I went to Stone Barns for The New York Times "Food for Tomorrow" Conference. While there, I hosted a special Facebook LIVE with farm director, Jack Algiere. But first, I sat down with NYT food editor, Sam Sifton, for a very fun and interesting interview for their Facebook LIVE broadcast. Enjoy these photos. And, if you missed either of the shows, just click on the highlighted links above.

: Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a nonprofit organization located in Pocantico Hills, New York. Stone Barns is also home to the famous restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns owned by Chef Dan Barber.

: I brought several colleagues with me to the event. Here I am joined by food editorial director, Sarah Carey, director of food development, Thomas Joseph, and digital marketing director, Marci Greenfield.

: First on the schedule was an appearance and interview on The New York Times Facebook LIVE broadcast for the “Food for Tomorrow” conference.

: I was interviewed by The New York Times food editor, Sam Sifton. We talked about inspiration – where I get inspired and how I try to inspire others.

: We discussed two of our newest ventures, including Martha & Marley Spoon, our meal kit service, and how it is helping others to not only cook more efficiently, but to also try more foods and recipes – all healthy, organic and delicious dishes.

: We spoke to an audience of top chefs, policy makers, innovators and leaders from diverse fields. It was a great audience of interesting and enthusiastic people.

: I also spoke about my 87th book, “Martha Stewart Vegetables” – an advanced primer on the art of cooking delicious, fresh vegetables. Did you pick up your copy yet? You’ll love all the recipes.

: Marci and my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, enjoyed the interview. If you missed it, you can still catch it. https://www.facebook.com/nytfood/videos/1258537560857375/

: Sam and I stopped for a quick photo after the interview.

: I also bumped into Nikhil Arora, mushroom farmer and founder of Back to the Roots, one of our American Made past winners.https://backtotheroots.com/

: We held our own Facebook LIVE in the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture Greenhouse. There, I was joined by its farm director, Jack Algiere.

: It was great to be able to bring our Facebook LIVE crew to Stone Barns – Marci reads the viewer questions while Luiz Schiel holds the boom microphone. Director of photography, Sam Schutz, shot the broadcast on our trusted iPhone system.

: Jack and I talked about several tomato and vegetable varieties – how they taste and how they grow. We are holding “Martha’s Red” tomatoes – delicious, sweet and just the right amount of juice. And, no – they were not named after me, Martha. Watch the show to find out more.

: We talked about the different carrots, and what makes one variety sweeter or tastier than another.

: We had time to walk through the greenhouse. This greenhouse is a cold system that allows them to produce vegetables all-year long. Stone Barns grows cold tolerant plants in the winter and heat tolerant plants in the summer.

: All the beds are so neat and tidy.

: There are many different seeds growing on sliding tables. The trays are covered in netting to protect the seeds from pesky animals.

: There are also many young seedlings planted underground, covered in the same netting to shield them from the rabbits and birds that occasionally get inside.

: These are ginger plants – I love ginger, and enjoy some in my green juice every day.

: We pulled out one of the plants to look at it. This grows eight to 10 times the volume here at Stone Barns. It is so healthy and delicious.

: We walked through the tomato crops where Jack taught us how underplanting tomatoes with white clover adds nitrogen to the plants.

: Jack also showed us the interesting pulley system they use to create tighter, more efficient rows for their tomatoes.

: We cut open a bright yellow ‘Badger Flame’ beet that was bred to be non-geosmin, the earthy flavor and aroma that can sometimes turn people away from beets.

: And, we learned about many of the tools Jack uses – many of which were developed by Eliot Coleman, a writer and expert in four-season farming. Eliot inspired me to build my indoor greenhouse at my Bedford, New York farm.

: Here’s a nice photo of Jack and me just outside the greenhouse. I have been coming to Stone Barns for 13-years and every visit is always so interesting and informational – I encourage all of you to make a stop if you’re ever in the area. If you missed our Facebook LIVE, go to our page. https://www.facebook.com/marthastewart/videos/10154593567981289/