My Summer at Skylands 2020, Part Two
My time in Maine is always fun and packed with activities.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments you’ve shared - I am glad you’re enjoying these photos from my annual trip to Maine. During my stay, I also enjoyed boating, biking, antiquing, visiting nearby gardens, and of course, spending time at my beloved home, Skylands.
Here are some more images, enjoy.
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- Whenever I arrive at Skylands, one of the first things I do is tour the gardens and terraces to see all the wonderful growth since my last visit. Here is a view looking at the house from my large “cracked ice” terrace. So much has grown – the container plants, the lilies, and the kiwi vines, which are original to the home, just thrive here.
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- In one area, I grow mushrooms. Hopefully we will have many, many mushrooms to harvest soon. A mushroom is the fleshy spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus. Fungus thrives in moist areas and loves growing on decaying wood.
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- Here is a closer look of some of the golden-yellow oyster-like mushrooms growing on the side of this piece of wood. The process of growing mushrooms is very interesting, and very different from growing other crops.
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- In early August, we also had an abundance of lilies growing around Skylands and in the cutting garden.
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- In Maine, we grow flowers in sections – a bit different from my cutting garden at my Bedford farm. Growing here are lilies, snapdragons, rudbeckia, and asters.
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- Here are some freshly cut lily flowers. The best time to do cut is early in the morning before the sun and wind have a chance to dry the flowers. One can also cut late in the evening after they are rehydrated. And remember, when handling lilies and bringing them indoors, be sure to also pull the anthers off of each flower. Pollen is notorious for staining flesh and fabric. Removing the anthers prevents any pollen from getting on the flower petals, which can eat away at the delicate flower parts and shorten the life of the blooms.
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- Along the back wall of the cutting garden, I also grow many hydrangeas – these flowers also look so gorgeous this year.
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- Whenever we could, we enjoyed lots of boat rides on Skylands II, my Hinkley picnic boat. My grandchildren, Jude and Truman, love going out on the water.
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- Here is a view of Mt. Desert Island in the distance.
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- Here’s a photo of my dear friends, Douglas Friedman and Kevin Sharkey.
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- Our group went all the way out to Frenchboro – a town in Hancock County, Maine, located on Long Island, southeast of Swans Island. Here I am with Kevin and Stefano Tonchi – at our stop, we all enjoyed blueberry pie a la mode. this photo was taken by Douglas – an excellent photographer. Be sure to see more of his photos on his Instagram page @DouglasFriedman.
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- On another day we also visited the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden. The garden was designed by the legendary landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand, for John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller in the 1920s.
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- This is a reproduction of the Moon Gate created by Beatrix Farrand in 1926. We all stood in the center to see who best fit inside. Do you know about The Vitruvian Man? It is a drawing made by Leonardo da Vinci in about 1490. The drawing depicts a man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart, inscribed in a circle and square, and represents ideal human body proportions.
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- According to Leonardo’s notes with the drawing, the measurements of the ideal body include four fingers equal one palm, four palms equal one foot, six palms make one cubit, four cubits equal a man’s height, four cubits equal one pace, and 24 palms equal one man.
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- I also stood in the Moon Gate. Vitruvian Man was da Vinci’s own reflection on human proportion and architecture. The purpose of the illustration is to bring together ideas about art, human anatomy and symmetry in one distinct image.
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- And the closest to the ideal measurements was Kevin.
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- I call this the “slit” – I just love how the moss covers the area.
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- We saw many frogs in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden pool – they all seemed very curious about all the visitors.
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- One of my favorite summer farm stand stops is at the Triple Chick Farm in Town Hill, Maine. Whenever I am in Bar Harbor, I always try to visit Triple Chick Farm – they hand select their best, freshly-picked produce each morning, to sell at the stand. They grow the most lush vegetables and fruits, and all their produce is organic and chemical free. This is the side of one of their many chicken coops.
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- While antiquing, I just had to buy this crate – I am sure you can figure out why…
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- I also love biking. On this day, I took a ride on my Interceptor e-bike from Pedego, an e-bike manufacturing and retail sales company in Irvine, California. Pedego e-bikes can be operated manually or electrically, and the battery-powered “pedal-assist” motor provides just enough boost to zip up hills or cruise over challenging terrain whenever needed. And don’t worry, this straw hat is also a bike helmet. I got it from Bike Pretty – it’s sold out now, but they’re making more!
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- Back home, this is my front circle driveway in front of Skylands.
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- These moss-covered steps lead up to Aristide Maillol’s ‘La Riviere’.
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- The vegetable garden is also full of wonderful produce. Here we have squash, zucchini, potatoes, and leeks.
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- And look at all the growing artichokes.
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- We harvest in the early morning. I like picking many vegetables while they are still a bit small. These artichokes are perfect.
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- And look at all the delicious cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.
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- And here are just some of the other tomatoes we picked on this day – red, yellow, purple. We grow many different varieties. It’s a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. And be sure to grow the right types for your area.
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- All the potted plants look so vibrant on this ledge leading to my Western Terrace.
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- These ferns, Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’, hang from the Western Terrace every year. They are among the most popular varieties with its frilly leaves and long, hanging fronds.
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- This is my long stone trough planted with succulents. We planted it in color blocks with pink gravel – the same pink gravel that covers the carriage roads at Skylands. These are some of the succulents that were rooted over the winter from cuttings and pups.
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- Cheryl captured this photo of the almost-full moon from my terrace and through the trees.
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- This photo was taken soon after a soaking rain. The pink gravel lights up the carriage road. Skylands is so magical this time of year. I can’t wait to return.
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