Whenever I go to Skylands, my home in Seal Harbor, Maine, the days are always filled with lots of great activities - shopping and touring local gardens and nurseries are often on my list. And of course, spending time with good friends while sharing delicious meals.
Here are a few more photos from my weekend in Maine. My friend Chef Pierre Schaedelin from PS Tailored Events came up for the holiday to prepare many of our favorite dishes. You can also see more great photos on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
Enjoy.
Did you see this photo on @MarthaStewart48? My houseguest and good friend, Douglas Friedman, gifted all of us with these great totes from Pacific Tote Company. They’re so durable and great for carrying all our stuff. (Photo taken by Douglas Friedman)
When we arrived at Skylands we enjoyed some fresh donuts from one of Kevin Sharkey’s favorite establishments –The Colonel’s Restaurant and Bakery in Northeast Harbor, Maine.
For lunch that day, we enjoyed baguettes topped with prosciutto di Palma and served with olives and mozzarella.
Dinner on that first night was soft shell crabs, radicchio and endive salad, and homemade potato chips. Chef Pierre prepared the most delicious lunches and dinners.
Our dessert was strawberry shortcake on homemade biscuits with a dollop of creme fraiche.
Early Saturday morning, we started with a traditional bacon and egg breakfast with a handful of those delicious chips on the side. And of course – don’t forget the cappuccino!
Dinner included this fresh Caesar salad with homemade croutons.
We then enjoyed steamed artichokes which I brought with me from New York.
Our main course was steak – enough for everyone to have seconds if desired.
Here’s my plate. Our grilled steaks were served with carrots from Triple Chick Farm and a helping of polenta – a northern Italian dish made of coarsely ground corn. Freshly cooked, polenta is soft and creamy, like porridge.
Our dessert was grilled peaches served with homemade vanilla ice cream and brown butter shortbread cookies.
The next day we started with fresh strawberries and orange juice, squeezed by Cheryl DuLong.
And then, biscuits with caviar and eggs. These plates were originally owned by Mrs. Edsel Ford and were left in the home when I moved here. The collection is still intact and well used.
Sunday’s dinner was lobster and a large platter of delicious vegetables – carrots, peas, potatoes, and onions. We devoured everything.
We finished with a scrumptious rhubarb pie using rhubarb grown right here at Skylands – it was picked just hours earlier.
Chef Pierre always makes this at least once during our stay – it’s another of Kevin’s favorites. It’s poached eggs with tomatoes and cheese garnished with herbs.
Memorial Day weekend wouldn’t be complete without some hot dogs. We enjoyed these on Monday with all the traditional fixings.
We also had a beet and radicchio salad.
Along with a pea salad served with lobster, tomatoes, and relish.
Also on the table – grilled steak with roasted red peppers.
And potato and herbs salad – a perfect lunch to hold us through the last day of our stay.
In all, we had such an enjoyable time at Skylands. I can’t wait to return this summer. And please check out more of my photos on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
My large “iced terrace” at Skylands, my home overlooking Seal Harbor, is brimming with beautiful, green plant life once again.
Every year, I like to spend the Memorial Day weekend up in Maine planting all the large outdoor urns, pots, and planters. It is quite an undertaking, but it's become a fun tradition especially with the group that accompanies me. Many of the tropical and exotic specimens are stored in a hoop house at my Bedford, New York farm during winter, and then carefully loaded onto a trailer and delivered to Skylands for the summer months. As soon as I arrive there, I design the layout of where things will go, and we all get to work.
Enjoy these photos.
This trip to Maine is one that I look forward to every spring. Here I am on my faux bois bench with the dense fog over Seal Harbor behind me.
Out front on the driveway are some of the plants taken out of the trailer after being transported from my greenhouses in Bedford. I decide where each plant will go before they are moved – staying organized saves lots of time and energy.
Here are some of the smaller specimens we use as under plantings in the big pots. Everything is put out first, so we know exactly what we have to work with.
We always have a varied selection of plant material for all of the urns. Some of these plants were grown in my greenhouse here in Maine. Propagating this way saves a lot of cost.
These are called Birds of Paradise, Strelitzia reginae – a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant native to South Africa. Looking closely one can see the split leaves that are believed to be purposeful leaf tearing or lobing of leaves to reduce drag in the wind. They have evolved to create splits along their lateral leaf seams to allow the wind to pass by and not get snapped in half.
Here are Peter Grub and Moises Fuentes moistening the soil in the wheelbarrow. Everyone takes turns doing everything – from moving and preparing the plants to moistening the potting mix, to filling the pots, to planting.
One by one everything gets nicely planted in their designated urn. This is one of two giant Soderholtz pots – Eric Ellis Soderholtz was a pioneer in American garden pottery at the turn of the last century, turning concrete into these gorgeous vessels. I planted it with one of the Birds of Paradise.
Here’s Wendy Norling, one of my gardeners at Skylands. She planted the stone trough I bought at Trade Secrets several years ago. It has worked perfectly here at Skylands, and looks beautiful planted up with succulents.
Behind this planted urn are the lush green kiwi vines growing on my home. Kiwi vines can tolerate a lot of different light conditions, but more exposure to sun brings out better colors in the leaves, some of which can be variegated.
More kiwi vines grow on above the Western Terrace – one of my favorite summer meal spots. The faux bois pots are planted with agaves that were also transported to Skylands from my Bedford farm. Caring for agaves is easy when planted in the right location. Agaves need full sun – my large terrace here at Skylands is the perfect place.
Here is one side of the terrace after a hard day’s work. It is looking excellent – I can’t wait to see it all filled out – bold and lush later in the season.
Skylands gardener, Mike Harding, cleans up after our long afternoon of planting. This day was cloudy with lots of fog, but still very nice conditions for a successful gardening day.
Early the next morning, we all went to Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Asticou Azalea Garden was created in 1956 by lifelong Maine resident, Charles Kenneth Savage, who was inspired by his love of native plants and his study of Japanese garden design. The Garden and its pond are open to the public from May to October each year.
Quaint stone steps allow visitors to cross the stream.
This “sand garden” built along the eastern edge of the stream, uses rocks and raked sand to suggest islands surrounded by flowing water. The sandy area is offered to visitors as places for quiet contemplation. Gardens of raked sand and stone are referred to as karesansui, which means dry landscape gardens in Japanese.
Another favorite stop whenever I go to Maine is Triple Chick Farm, a certified organic farm dedicated to producing healthy, organic food. Here I am with Kevin Sharkey, Hannah Milman, and Douglas Friedman – three “regulars” that join me at Skylands every spring.
Back at the house, Kevin always creates the most gorgeous flower arrangements. Here he is with Douglas and all the lilacs cut and ready for Kevin to arrange – the fragrance of all these blooms is intoxicating.
Did you see this on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48? It is my tree peony on my terrace. I counted 61 blooms. It is so beautiful.
Here’s one of the lilac arrangements completed by Kevin in my Living Room. The lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae. Syringa is a genus of up to 30-cultivated species with more than one-thousand varieties.
Another one sits on the faux bois table in my Living Hall. Lilacs come in seven colors: pink, violet, blue, lilac, red, purple, and white. The purple lilacs have the strongest scent compared to other colors.
And these lilacs are in my large Dining Room. When cutting lilacs, cut them right at their peak, when color and scent are strongest, and place them in a vase as soon as possible. Every arrangement is stunning. Thanks, Kevin.
The nights were chilly up in Maine. We had a fire going every evening in the Living Hall fireplace. In my next blog, I’ll share photos from all the great foods we ate during this fun trip to Maine. Stay tuned.
In order to keep my Bedford, New York farm and all its many gardens, allées, and groves as beautiful as possible, I pay close attention to the maintenance and care of all my trees. I tour the grounds every day and keep track of what needs pruning, feeding, and mulching throughout the year.
Recently, I noticed something wasn't quite right with my American beech trees, Fagus grandifolia. With all the lush spring growth, these trees just didn't look as vibrant or as full, so I called in an expert to take a look.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This is an autumn photo of my grove of American beech trees, Fagus grandifolia. These American beech trees show gorgeous golden-bronze fall foliage. The leaves persist into winter, after turning a pleasing tan color.
The American beech tree is considered both a shade tree and an ornamental tree. They can grow to a height of 50 to 70 feet and a spread of around 40 feet at maturity.
Earlier this spring, I noticed they didn’t look as lush. I also knew there was a relatively new beech leaf disease that is spreading rapidly through the Northeast killing both mature American beeches and saplings.
The disease, which was first spotted in northeastern Ohio, causes parts of leaves to turn leathery and branches to wither and then kill a tree within six to 10 years. Hopefully these trees are not affected, but I definitely needed to help my trees and make sure these beautiful specimens survived.
I asked the experts at True Nature to come take a look.
The owner, Sebastian “Rocky” Camarillo, assessed all my beech trees and noticed there was something definitely wrong. The leaves looked withered and many had not grown.
Held up to the sunlight, the leaves also showed dark bands – a sign of the beech leaf disease.
In order to help the trees, the first step was to check the soil. Rocky says, “never guess, always test.” And he took many samples of soil from around the trees. Rocky’s mantra is “if one takes the time to learn the language of the land, the soil will speak.” Good quality, healthy soil is essential for plant growth. Soil helps regulate the water, supports biodiversity, filters pollutants, provides support, and cycles nutrients.
Rocky takes soil samples as much as a foot deep or more.
And then places the samples in bags. These samples will be tested and analyzed. I am eager to get the reports. Soil tests are available at garden shops and online. It is a good idea to test one’s garden soil every three to five years.
Next, Rocky measures the trunk of the tree to see how much food is needed to feed it.
Rocky mixes a solution that contains various nutrients including nitrogen, iron, sulfur, magnesium, manganese, boron, and zinc. His truck is equipped with enough hose to go around the entire grove.
First he treats the roots. It is very important to feed the roots and the soil to feed the tress.
This injector shoots the fertilizer deep into the soil. rocky does this in many locations under the canopy of the tree.
And he goes all the way out just past the drip-line of every tree. The drip-line is the area directly located under the outer circumference of the tree branches. When the tree canopy gets wet, any excess is shed to the ground along this drip-line. This is also known as a tree’s critical root zone or root protection zone.
This process takes a couple hours to complete – Rocky is very thorough.
Then he sprays the top surface and all the leaves of the trees. An invasive nematode is believed to be responsible for the beech leaf disease. These microscopic worms are present in the leaves and buds of infected beech trees.
Next, he moves onto the trees surrounding my pool – also beech trees, purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple’. Rocky also fertilizes these trees. Giving the trees extra nutrients will help them fight off disease and remain healthy. So far, these trees look great.
We planted about 170 of these trees around my pool in 2018. Columnar beech trees are fastigiate meaning their branches slope upward more or less parallel to the main stem. I knew they would be perfect around the pool, but like all garden specimens, they must be well-maintained.
Finally, Rocky will move onto the fastigiate beech trees outside my Winter House and the weeping copper beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’ – I have several of these beautiful specimens around the farm. It is important to take good care of all trees and to feed. Trees are tough, but nutrient deficiencies can still affect them. This weekend, take note of the beautiful trees in your gardens and yards. I always say, “if you eat, so should your plants and trees.”
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