Here in Bedford, New York, we're expecting overcast skies today with highs in the 70s and maybe a few lingering showers - after a full day of good, steady rain.
We haven't had any soaking rains here since June. Much of this region has been under a drought "watch" for weeks. Here at my farm, I'm fortunate to have a strong well system, so we could keep all the gardens and groves adequately hydrated. But yesterday, we finally got some much needed precipitation - all the sprinklers were turned off and all the hoses were coiled and stored next to their designated bibs. It rained consistently for almost 24-hours dropping more than an inch of rain over my home. We still need some more, but this was a good start.
Here are some photos. And be sure to watch me on QVC today at 1pm when I share some of my newest Halloween decorations!
We’ve been waiting for rain for quite some time. We’ve heard about rain in the forecast, but it always seemed to “just miss us.” Finally it came. It started the night before and lasted through the day. Here is a view of the dark, ominous clouds from my terrace parterre.
Here in Bedford, the rain was not extremely strong or damaging, but it was steady. This is one of two hand-casted antique fountains I purchased many year ago. One can see the rings of the raindrops on the water.
The skies look eerily gray over the paddocks and trees. On the left is my grove of American beech trees. All the trees need a good watering.
Even with gray clouds overhead, the great white pines stand tall in the landscape. These white pine trees are visible from almost every location on this end of the farm. Pinus Strobus is a large pine native to eastern North America. Some white pines can live more than 400-years.
On one end of the Boxwood Allée is this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
Not far is my Pin Oak Allée – one of several allées at the farm and the first one guests see when they visit. A recognizable trait of the pin oak is that its lower branches hang down. It also has horizontal middle branches and upright upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit.
This is part of the newer of two allées of lindens at the farm. This one is in between two of my paddocks. It extends from my pergola all the way down to the chicken coops.
Here is a view north looking at the allée of lindens. These trees are growing so nicely.
And here is a view looking south from the Boxwood Allée, through the maze paddock and my Winter House in the distance. Be sure to follow my blog and my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 for updates on my developing living maze.
The Asian pear espalier outside my stable is full of fruits, and the raccoons know it. We covered the espalier with netting to keep the hungry critters away.
All but the geese sought cover during the hardest rainfall. The geese didn’t seem to mind the rain at all and continued to walk around, graze, and flap their wings.
There are still many hydrangeas blooming in the perennial garden across from my vegetable garden. Hydrangea is a genus of at least 70-species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. The Hydrangea “flower” is really a cluster of flowers called a corymb.
This is my grove of weeping willows on the edge of one of my hayfields. Weeping willows are upright, fast-growing, deciduous trees that can grow up to 80-feet tall. Because of their massive root systems, they need a fair amount of room to grow. They also prefer wet feet and are often planted on the banks of streams and rivers to prevent erosion.
They’re prized for their delicate, weeping branches that graze the ground with fluttering, silver-tinged leaves.
The rain came down hard in the woodland too…
… just not hard enough to wet all the bark on all the trees.
Finally there’s water in the streams again – they had been so dry this summer.
Here’s a view through a grove of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia – just behind my chicken yard. Underneath is a large bed of hostas, a perennial favorite. Their lush green foliage varying in leaf shape, size, and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for so many gardens.
All our trusted Gilmour hoses and sprinklers are getting a break on this day, but they’re standing by ready to use – who knows when the next strong rains will fall over Cantitoe Corners.
And did you see my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48? My handsome Friesians and Fell pony were enjoying the rain too. How much rain have you been getting this summer? Share some of your weather updates with me – I am eager to hear from you.
This major, institution-wide presentation examines the art and science of foods and food traditions through the years. Walking through the historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, this show features expansive displays of living edible plants - from dietary staples to culinary flavor providers. Throughout the NYBG's 250 acres, there are also art and science installations, family programming events, and artist-designed tables highlighting notable food plant histories and cultural traditions. It's an interesting way to appreciate the many plants that are grown for the dishes we consume and love.
Enjoy these photos. And, if you cannot make it to this show, perhaps you can attend the NYBG's next exhibit - KIKU, a spotlight on Japanese chrysanthemums that have been expertly trained over the past year into modern and ancient styles. It runs October 1st through October 30th.
There’s always something beautiful to see at The New York Botanical Garden. This is the magnificent Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where many of the indoor plant exhibitions are held. As the nation’s largest Victorian glasshouse, it is among the grandest indoor spaces in the world.
The building is a series of large glass pavilions that are all very open on the inside, much like any greenhouse. The separate pavilions allow for any necessary variations in temperature and humidity.
Originally constructed in 1902, the steel and glass Conservatory includes a 90-foot tall domed Palm Gallery and 10 attached glasshouse galleries. Here is the view looking up at the dome from the inside.
Just inside the front entrance is the Reflecting Pool located below the Conservatory’s Palm Dome. It is used to display a variety of water loving plants, some specific the exhibition being shown.
These sculptures at one end of the pool represent some of the types of foods consumed around the world, and how much. It also shows the estimated carbon footprint that is made by the production of each food category.
Off to one side is this giant Triangle Palm, Dypsis decaryi. This palm is endemic to the southeastern most part of Madagascar, and it thrives in poor, dry soils. In the United States, triangle palm is found in southern Florida, southern Texas, and the Hawaiian Islands. It can reach heights of 25 to 35 feet with a crown spread of 15 feet. Fronds grow from the top portion of the trunk in three distinct rows, creating the shape of a triangle as petioles stack on top of one another. Seeds from its black fruit are edible.
Nearby is this Jelly Palm, Butia capitata. It is native to the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás in Brazil. The jelly palm can reach heights up to 10 to 20 feet. This plant blooms in the summer with small yellow, white, or red flowers that have a delightfully fruity scent. The tree produces edible pindo fruit that can be eaten fresh, used to make jellies and jams, or fermented into wine.
You may have seen one of these potted up in my greenhouse, or displayed outdoors in summertime at my farm. I grow it for its ornamental beauty, but Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant also grown for its edible corms, a root vegetable most commonly known as taro. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles.
Ornamental pepper, Capsicum annuum var. annuum ‘Sangria’, is a compact ornamental pepper that produces clusters of colorful, cayenne-type fruit. Ornamental peppers add a splash of color in the garden, and in containers.
This is one of the giant leaves of the banana tree. Its leaves are large, oblong, and bright green. Banana plants take around nine months to grow up and produce banana tree fruit, and then once the bananas have been harvested, the plant dies.
Here is a large leaf of the Breadfruit tree, Artocarpus altilis, a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family. Its large fruits are a staple food of the South Pacific and other tropical regions.
Pearl millet, Cenchrus americanus ‘Purple Majesty’ features three- to five-foot-tall plants, purple strap-like leaves, and one-foot-tall purple flower spikes. The flower spikes make excellent cut flowers, or if left to mature on the plant, a great seed source for birds. The nutritious seeds are also edible to humans and can be eaten raw, ground into a flour, roasted, or steamed for use in fermented and non-fermented breads, porridges, snack foods, and beverages.
Red Amaranth, Amaranthus cruentus, is a flowering plant species that’s a great example of root to stem cooking. The stalks, leaves, stems, flowers and seeds are all edible, and packed with nutrition. The amaranth seeds are a grain substitute, similar to quinoa.
This is painted bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris ‘Vittata’ – a large tender clumping bamboo with a maximum height of 50 feet. Large arching golden-yellow culms have green vertical stripes that look like drip marks. Branches are often striped as well. Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots of many bamboo species including Bambusa vulgaris. They are used as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and broths.
Vanilla planifolia is a species of vanilla orchid. It is native to Mexico and Belize. It is one of the primary sources for vanilla flavoring. Common names include flat-leaved vanilla, and West Indian vanilla.
And this is the cassava plant. Cassava Manihot esculenta. Cassava has a sweet and nutty taste, and can be eaten after it’s been boiled. It’s a major source of carbohydrates with a little bit of protein.
I am sure you recognize this fruit. The pineapple, Ananas comosus, is a tropical plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. The fruit is edible, either eaten raw, cooked, or preserved. It is sweet, very succulent, and aromatic.
This is the Wine Palm, Jubaea chilensis, whose sap is used to make palm wine.
Jubaea chilensis a slow-growing evergreen palm with a huge and massive gray trunk supporting a dense crown of 40 to 50 gracefully arching featherlike leaves.
Outside the Conservatory is a field of sorghum bicolor, commonly called sorghum and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo. I have also grown this at my farm. It is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animals, and ethanol production.
Sorghum bicolor a heat-tolerant plant and is popular in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East regions. Sorghum is the world’s fifth most important cereal after maize, rice, wheat, and barley.
If you’re in the New York City area this week, try to stop by to see this interesting exhibit. And go to the NYBG web site for information on other upcoming events and displays.
I hope you've had the chance to listen to my latest podcast, "The Beginning of Living with Isolde Motley and Gael Towey." It's a very special hour reminiscing about the creation and development of the magazine that launched my brand. If you haven't, please do - it's available now on Apple Podcasts, the iHeart Media App, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Earlier this summer, I invited Isolde and Gael to join me at my Bedford, New York farm, to recount some of our fondest memories - how we crafted each shoot, tested each recipe, and chose each cover. Living put an emphasis on beautiful visuals and timeless ideas. It was a huge effort, and I had a team of extraordinarily talented individuals to help make it all happen.
Here are just a few photos showing some of our past Living covers and behind-the-scenes moments over the years, enjoy. And please take some time this holiday weekend to listen to "The Beginning of Living with Isolde Motley and Gael Towey."
This was our very first issue of Living. It was on newsstands in the winter of 1990. This photo of me was taken on my porch at my Westport, Connecticut home, Turkey Hill.
Here I am with Gael and Isolde holding that very first issue of the magazine. Isolde was Founding Editor-in-Chief, and Gael was our Founding Creative Director. At the time, there was no guarantee anything would last, but it did, and it got better and better every year.
And here is a black and white image me with a group of employees standing in front of a wall displaying the pages of the first issue at the offices of Time Inc. We talk about these early days on my podcast – there are so many fun memories.
Here’s the cover of another early issue – this one from April and May 1992.
And the fall Living issue of that same year – October and November 1992. Many of our first magazines were released by season.
This is a summer issue from June and July 1993. So many of you loved our entertaining and decorating stories. We wanted all of our readers to know they could incorporate all our projects and ideas into their lives.
This cover is from our October 1994 autumn issue. The magazine was growing and thriving. Martha Stewart Living was different from other publications because of its honesty and clarity.
December 2000 was one of our favorites, and the best selling issue in the first 10 years of the magazine.
Here’s another beautiful cover from March 2001. We made sure every photograph was real and beautiful.
We used story boards to create every issue – illustrations and images displayed in sequence so we could closely visualize what each issue would look like.
Then we took Living abroad. In this 2010 photo, we show all the international titles in publication at the time. Our magazines were loved around the world.
This spring 2012 issue of Living is from Germany.
And here is one from Indonesia in August 2013.
Remember this? We were the first to release our magazine online in 2010. Our digital magazine cover of Boundless Beauty, was rated by Time Magazine as one of the top 10 covers of the year. We worked tirelessly to create, what we felt, was a stunningly spectacular digital version filled with original content and many innovative concepts. This digital issue celebrated our 20th anniversary of Living.
Here’s a photo of me and Gael at one of our 10-year+ employee celebrations. We worked with an incredible staff of smart, creative and enthusiastic individuals.
To prepare for my podcast, more than 30-years after creating our first issue, my team and I looked through hundreds of back issues and pulled all our favorites – there were so many. These stacks of magazines are about 25 high.
Gael and Isolde visited me at my farm – it was a lovely reunion. We only had a couple of hours, but we could have sat for days…
We talked about those first days of shooting, when we did everything ourselves – I even did my own makeup.
We also talked about the long shifts working to get the issues out. Isolde even purchased a crib for her young child for the office because she was working such long hours. I don’t want to tell you everything – you’ll just have to listen, but the podcast is filled with stories, and behind-the-scenes memories.
And here’s a photo of the three of us after our show. What a fun time. Thank you for joining me Gael and Isolde. And please listen to my special podcast this weekend. “The Beginning of Living with Isolde Motley and Gael Towey” on Apple Podcasts, the iHeart Media App, or wherever you get your podcasts. You will love it.
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