My calendar is always filled with business meetings, events, and speaking engagements.
Last week, I made a quick visit to Utah for the Qualtrics X4™: The Experience Management Summit in Salt Lake City. After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, more than 10-thousand experience management professionals representing 52-countries gathered at the Salt Palace Convention Center for the three-day conference. I was honored to be one of several headline speakers. I shared my thoughts on social media and technology, brand partnerships and collaborations, and the importance of learning in an ever-evolving environment. Afterwards, my team and I also enjoyed a visit to Rawtopia Living Cuisine and Beyond, where they serve Mediterranean-inspired raw, organic, and vegetarian fare.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Salt Lake City lies in a mountain valley with the Wasatch Mountains to the east and north, and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west. On this day, the skies were so clear, we had stunning views from the plane.
There was lots of snow – a very different winter scene than what we’ve had on the east coast this season. In general, Salt Lake and the surrounding mountain ranges receive at least 500-inches of snow every year.
Snow-capped mountains could be seen for miles. Among the many mountains in the region, the tallest mountain found within the Salt Lake City boundaries is Grandview Peak, which rises 9,410 feet above sea level. In comparison, Salt Lake City sits at an altitude of around 4,200 feet above sea level.
The Qualtrics X4: Experience Management Summit was held at the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center, named after Utah’s 11th governor. For those unfamiliar with its history, the first Salt Palace in Utah was built in 1899, but was destroyed by fire in 1910. An indoor arena was completed in 1969 for area concerts and other large events. And then this convention center opened its doors in 1996. Over the years, expansions increased the building’s size to nearly one-million square-feet. (Photo by Qualtrics)
The X4 event featured hundreds of sessions covering topics such as customer care, customer research and insights, digital experience and employee experience for several key industries including professionals in education, government, healthcare, and financial services. (Photo by Qualtrics)
The host company Qualtrics started in 2002 and grew from a basement startup to a multi-billion-dollar business focused on helping organizations in more than 100 countries manage the four core experiences of business: customer, employee, product, and brand experience. Qualtrics has 25 offices around the world with nearly 17,000 customers and more than 5,000 employees. (Photo by Qualtrics)
More than 10-thousand were in attendance at the conference. It was nice to see such an enthusiastic crowd. (Photo by Qualtrics)
The event was well-organized and well-managed by the Qualtrics team – so important in a venue this large. (Photo by Qualtrics)
I was interviewed by Gina Sheibley, Chief Communications Officer at Qualtrics. Gina leads global communications for the company, including analyst relations, public relations, executive communications, internal communications and the customer office. (Photo by Qualtrics)
During my interview, I talked about one of my biggest mantras – to learn something new every day. I need to always learn new things in order to teach others. I also feel it is important to take risks – in business and in everyday life. In business, one must expect that there will always be bad partnerships and good partnerships… and great partnerships. (Photo by Qualtrics)
While at the Summit, I met up with another speaker, Olympian Shaun White. He recently started a new brand of snow boarding products called Whitespace. Here I am with Shaun and his business partner, Miles Nathan.
After the event, we had just enough time to eat lunch at Rawtopia Living Cuisine and Beyond. This is tabouli with no bulgur wheat. It’s an authentic Lebanese mix of parsley, tomato, hemp seeds, red onion, scallion, mint, lemon, olive oil, Celtic sea salt – served with cabbage and lettuce. It was fresh and delicious.
We also had miso soup, along with their signature homemade veggie seed crackers.
These are deep leafy greens topped with avocado, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, celery, red onion, olive, parsley, crunchy falafel crust, served with a side of tahini dressing.
This taco was served on an organic corn tortilla filled with sautéed wild-caught cod, topped with bell pepper, tomato, onion, avocado, cilantro, and cashew-lime cilantro sauce.
We also enjoyed coconut water straight from the coconut.
My team and I headed back to New York that afternoon. It was definitely a quick trip, but I always enjoy visiting Salt Lake City. See you soon, Utah!
It's always so nice to repurpose materials and put them to good use in projects around my Bedford, New York farm.
Recently, my outdoor grounds crew used dozens of pressed red clay bricks that used to surround my pool at my former East Hampton home to line a footpath inside my Silkie chicken pen. It looked so good, I decided to create a similar path outside the yard. I also thought the bricks would look pretty edging the garden bed in front of the enclosure, where we planted a hedge of European beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Gold' - a deciduous and relatively low-maintenance tree with a narrowly upright and columnar growth habit. The area now looks entirely different and more manicured.
Here are some photos of the project.
I have thousands of these red clay bricks. “Pressed red” is the general term given to solid red bricks traditionally manufactured from clay, pressed into individual molds by hand, and then heated at very high temperatures. Each of these antique bricks measures about eight and-a-half inches by four inches.
Before this project, we were using these flat pavers as a footpath to the pens; however, we didn’t have enough for all the footpaths I wanted to create, so I decided to use the bricks and pea gravel. I wanted everything to look uniform. Here, Moises removes the old stones. They will be saved and used for a future project.
Twine is secured to make sure the edges of the bricks are completely straight. We use a lot of twine for our outdoor projects here at the farm – it is easy to put up and creates a straight and accurate line every time.
Once again, Pete removes the grass and some soil along the line, creating a narrow trench just wide enough for the bricks and about five inches deep.
And then one by one, he angles the bricks and positions them in a sawtooth style, laying one on another at a 45-degree angle. It isn’t hard to do, but it must be done carefully, so everything is straight and perfect. The string also helps to make sure the points are at the same level.
Pete uses the end of the hammer to gently tap the brick into place. In time, the soil will fill in any gaps and keep the bricks secure.
From this angle, one can see how helpful the twine is to keeping the bricks straight. Using bricks to line the footpaths handsomely defines the boundaries between grass and path.
On this side, Pete uses the side of the air conditioner pit as his guide for laying the bricks.
Once all the bricks are in place, Fernando cuts the weed cloth to size within the path.
And then Pete follows behind to hammer in sod staples at various points.
These sod staples secure the weed cloth and are easy to get at any garden shop or big box store with gardening supplies.
Next, is the gravel. All around the farm, I like to use quarter-inch native washed stone. Each stone is about the size of a pea. This same gravel stone is also used to line the paths in my flower cutting garden. It s nice to keep everything uniform when possible.
Fernando uses our trusted Scenic Road wheelbarrow to transport the gravel from the truck to the path. We have more than a dozen of these wheelbarrows – they’re great for so many jobs around the farm.
The gravel is spread evenly with a hard rake. Afterwards, Fernando will go over it with a gravel tamper. A tamper is a tool with a long handle and a heavy, square base used for leveling and firmly packing gravel, dirt, clay, sand, and other similar materials.
Next, Pete digs another trench along the garden bed, where I planted a long European beech hedge three years ago.
The ganders are watching every move – guarding their mates. Here’s “Bear” coming to the front of the pen to see what is going on.
These two are also watching all the activity from inside their enclosure. The birds are always so curious.
Pete places the same bricks in the sawtooth pattern along the garden bed.
Every so often, Pete looks at the bricks from above to make sure they are all in alignment. He uses his feet to gently press any that look out of place.
These bricks look great marking the edge of the bed. They will also look very pretty this spring when the grass grows.
And here is the footpath leading to the Silkie chicken yard – so much neater and more tidy. Spring officially starts next week – what do-it-yourself projects are on your list? Share them with me; I’d love to hear from you.
Here in New York City, one of the first signs spring is coming is the start of the annual Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden. I love attending this show every year. Held inside the magnificent Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, it is known as the nation’s largest exhibit of its kind.
This year, the show's theme is "Natural Heritage" designed by landscape artist, Lily Kwong. It features a wide array of colorful orchids, both popular and rare. If you’re in the area, I encourage you to visit - the show runs through April 23rd. And please watch my latest episode of "Martha Gardens," a Roku Original, when I walk through this exquisite display of stunning blooms and talk with Marc Hachadourian, the director of glasshouse horticulture and senior curator of orchids at the NYBG to review how to best care for these amazing plants at home.
Here are some photos and a short video, enjoy.
The Orchid Show is held in NYBG’s elegant Conservatory every year. As the nation’s largest Victorian glasshouse, it is among the grandest indoor spaces in the world.
In addition to the Orchid Show, this enormous glass structure is home to a tropical rain forest, a cactus-filled desert, and an ever-changing landscape of flowers and foliage.
This beautiful display of mixed orchids is enchanting. One walks in and is immersed in a glorious array of colorful orchid blooms. There are tens of thousands of plants. Orchids thrive in warm temperatures and moderate light. And although generally thought of as a tropical plant, orchids grow on every continent, from the Arctic Circle to the southernmost jungle, except Antarctica.
Among them is this Phalaenopsis Timothy Christopher x KS Snow Lip. Phalaenopsis, the moth orchid, is perhaps the best orchid for growing in the home and is a favorite with greenhouse growers. Well-grown plants can flower often, sometimes with a few flowers throughout the year, though the main season is late winter into spring. The key to growing these plants is to keep the root systems strong and healthy. These plants have no bulbs or stems to store moisture and nutrients, so it is important to maintain their roots.
This is Phalaenopsis Giant Lin Duo Er-Guen – a beautiful dark coral to fuchsia colored hybrid.
Rule of thumb – orchids that receive a proper balance of light, humidity and temperature will have healthy bright green leaves. Too little light would make the leaves very dark. The size, shape, and texture of leaves depend on the habitat. Orchids that live in dry climate have large, thick leaves covered with wax, while species that live in warm and humid areas have thin, elongated leaves. And certain species of orchids do not have leaves at all.
Optimum temperatures for orchids in winter are 45 to 55-degrees Fahrenheit at night and 65 to 75-degrees Fahrenheit during the day. When plants are in bud, temperatures must be as constant as possible.
Here’s another moth orchid, Phalaenopsis Fuller’s Gold Stripe.
This one is Phalaenopsis Chi Yueh Purple Smile with its beautiful white and pink-purple blooms.
Phalaenopsis Fuller’s Sunset is an award-winning hybrid with bright, fresh yellow flowers and a lovely contrasting pink lip.
This Phalaenopsis orchid shows off pristine white petals and deep pink and yellow markings.
Vanda orchids are fragrant and have flat petals. This is Vanda Huifen Chan “Kaleidoscope.” It features butter yellow flowers with dark chocolate spotting and a burgundy lip.
Vanda Yano Blue “Ploenpit” orchids have large white petals with intense violet markings.
Paphiopedilum orchids are often called ‘lady slippers’ or ‘slipper orchids’ because of their unique pouch-like flowers. This is Paphiopedilum Winston Churchill “Indomitable” x Hamana Freak g. ‘#1’.
Paphiopedilum Vanguard is a hybrid – this one with a purple pouch and yellow-green petals with dark purple spots and markings.
Cattlianthe Gold Digger ‘Orglade’s Mandarin’ is also a hybrid which blooms in a cluster of golden yellow flowers with a densely spotted red throat. This orchid is also quite fragrant.
This is called Phalaenopsis Little Gem Stripes – a wonderful orchid with white and red petals with faint pink stripes.
Dendrobium is a large orchid genus, with more than a thousand species. This is Dendrobium Jaquelyn Thomas ‘Uniwai Mist’ – a medium sized orchid variety with charming white blooms.
The NYBG also offers orchid evenings as part of the exhibit. Here is the Conservatory at sunset. Originally constructed in 1902, the steel and glass Conservatory includes an impressive 90-foot tall domed Palm Gallery. If you’re in the area, please go see NYBG’s Orchid Show. And be sure to go to the Roku Channel right now and stream “Martha Gardens.” You’ll learn so much about these exquisite plants!
If you didn't catch this on my social media platforms, here's a preview of my orchid show on "Martha Gardens" only on the Roku Channel. Be sure to tune in.
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