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Maybe it is the name that attracts me...personally I like ice cream and I like baked goods but I have always been partial to any baked good served with ice cream– a la mode... Dahlias do not travel well. I only use them when they are available locally, most years they are at their best in the DC area from August through mid October. Most of the dahlias I use are from Wollam Gardens. I use as many as possible, especially these bi-color white and orange a la modes, while they are available.
The wedding was at the brides parents home who are avid gardeners. We chose flowers that were growing in the garden at the time...peonies, garden roses, mock orange, hydrangea...all from local sources...including roses, peonies and hydrangea from my backyard. The garden was created by the brides grandmother and many of the vases we used were passed along from her as well. Thank you to Jennifer Domenick, Love Life Images for capturing the overall feeling and the details in these photos.
Had a couple of days free last week and took a train to Manhattan and then transfered to another train to Hudson NY. We spent a glorious couple of days hiking, eating, shopping and relaxing.
Stayed at Mount Merino Manor, a five minute taxi ride outside of town– situated on a 100 acre property, great breakfast, beautiful views of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River, quiet...
Hiked at Olana which is a 250 acre estate within walking distance from Mount Merino Manor. It was the home of the Hudson River School Painter, Frederic Edwin Church. Church meticulously designed the landscape of his property concentrating on views that one can see from the various paths on the property.
Ate at two fantastic restaurants which were very vegan friendly and focused on local ingredients, Swoon and Daba. Both restaurants served thoughtfully prepared delicious food and had lovely small wine lists and excellent service.
Drank coffee at Strongtree a small batch roaster located across the street from the train station with memorable coffee and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff.
Shopping is extensive...the only problem with taking the train was there are endless large pieces of old stuff– furniture, planters, garden gates...that we had to leave behind. There are also very reasonable and well curated vintage clothing shops– a little easier to squeeze a bit of that into our small backpacks. We also found all sorts of small shops where people were making jewelry, painting, churning ice cream...
A few of the favorites we discovered:
Red Chair on Warren- collection of old things from France and Belgium including buttons, plates, fabric, seed packets...
Shana Lee- jeweler who makes the simplest perfect dot stud earrings that happen to be extremely reasonably priced.
Mark's Antiques and Larry's Back Room- great unique unfinished pieces, I hated to leave a very large round cast iron tub that would have made the most fantastic planter.
Look Apparel and Accessories– where I was introduced to and purchased a Didier Ludot little black dress...now I cannot wait to return to Paris to visit his shop!
It is early but at the end of last week the soil was not frozen and I saw that rain was on the way– we took the opportunity to clean up, turn over the annual beds in our garden, amend the soil with rich castings from our worm home and plant! Now I am anxiously awaiting the first sprouts.
We are lucky that our walled city garden is fairly protected but regardless we chose plantings that would not mind another freeze or two if that happens.
In three large planters we planted magenta spreen, a green new to me last year that is beautiful– bright green with a magenta center and a flavor similar to lamb's quarters. In the beds we planted snow peas, arugula and red oak leaf lettuce.
We are announcing an open Home Restaurant for April 1st and I am hoping the first baby lettuce of the season will be ready for picking. In the meantime I will be ordering seeds and plotting the planting schedule for the season.
I plant container gardens and small city gardens. In most of these gardens we incorporate herbs into the plantings. Often there are some vegetable plants, fruit trees and this year we did a decent sized plot of corn close to a beautiful swimming pool.
I use a huge variety of plants in gardens all over the city but I get really excited when I plant something that is both beautiful and useful. Nothing satisfies like harvesting something from your own garden to eat.
(In a recent article Michael Pollan articulates the intense benefits of planting a productive garden.)
My own city garden is a densely planted space and everything in it is usable. I harvest thousands of stems for my flower business and grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for both business and personal consumption. Since I do live in the city my productive garden is central to our home, we work, dine, play, relax and reap the fruits of the garden. This practice of gardening brings us pleasure. Recently we started worm composting which takes up very little space, produces a large amount of fertilizer and is tended to by my 9 year old daughter.
All of the gardens I plant are in spaces that are limited in size and need to be used for many purposes. They also need to be aesthetically pleasing. It seems that every year in each of the gardens I plant we use more space for producing plants and less for plants that are purely ornamental. I guess others besides me are finding pleasure and beauty in the practice of productive city gardening.
In my friend Allison’s garden we have taken it to a new level. Allison lives in a beautiful row house with her husband, two year old and teenager. They have a brick patio that is very much part of their home. The family uses the space to eat, read, relax and play. Since there is no place to plant in the ground last year we set up lots of pots and plants. Immediately the space became warmer, more welcoming. This winter Allison started asking me about how they could farm in their charming urban garden…. We located and ordered planters that fit in available sunny spots making sure to leave enough room to enjoy the patio. We talked about what the family would actually like to eat and out of those desires what was actually possible to grow in the space. We got a worm farm started so they could compost and use the fertilizer for their new crops. We coordinated schedules so everyone would be there on a day that the moon was in a beneficial place to plant….then we planted.
They have all taken a part in planting, caring, watering and composting. Already herbs have been harvested, lettuces are nearly ready to be eaten, tiny figs and tomatoes are ripening. Sustaining this garden is now part of the families play, practice and pleasure.