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| (Meredith on the farm) |
When Meredith asked for personal care products from Beekman 1802 for her December birthday, it was easy to go the next step and plan a visit to the farm.
Beekman 1802 is open to the public for tours and during two annual festivals. We chose July's Garden Tour. In Sharon Springs, less than an hour from Albany, Beekman 1802 has become a huge business for Brent and Josh, since they bought the farm with little know-how and high hopes. The Beekman Boys' message is hard work, living seasonally, and neighborly sharing.
Nasdaq reported: When Josh Kilmer-Purcell (advertising executive and NY Times Bestselling author) and his partner Brent Ridge (physician and former Vice President of Healthy Living for Martha Stewart Omnimedia) purchased the historic Beekman 1802 Farm in 2007, they had no idea that it would launch one of the “fastest growing lifestyle brands in the country.”
In fact, these guys seem to be everywhere now, 11 years later.
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| (The front of the house faces a country road lined with maple trees) |
After a pretty ride on a blue-sky day, Meredith and I drove into the driveway between tall sugar maple trees, where we were ushered into a grassy parking space by the barn. Already, we knew that we would be a very pleasant tour.
Brent shared the farm's history, with our group of about 30 people, and described various aspects of the house built in 1802. While largely restored before Josh and Brent bought it, the house had not been lived in for a few years. Despite coming upstate only on weekends in their early days of ownership, they put significant energy into making the house, and the farm's 60 acres, their own.
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| (Brent told us about the farm's history, the flower gardens and other plantings) |
The Beekman Boys have been restoring the land by growing trees, vegetables, and flowers consistent with the early-1800s era. Brent showed us young trees that he and Josh had bought from a heritage nursery in Seattle.
One of the problems with re-introducing trees from hundreds of years past is that many of the pests that we have today did not exist long ago. While Brent and Josh have had mixed results with their plantings, they persist in finding horticulture that would have existed here when the house was built.
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| (Meredith with a huge row of white hydrangeas) |
Meredith and I learned a lot. I had not known that hydrangea canes could be laid down in the earth and would sprout a new plant. The bountiful blooming hedge thriving in front of the porch had been a project over the previous ten years.
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| (This is the lovely view most often seen in the Beekman Boys books and advertising) |
For a long time, the house had not had a porch, now such an integral part of its appearance. During one restoration period, evidence of a previous porch surfaced. Researchers were able to find the builder's description of another house just like this one, but with the front porch, that he built around 1802 in a nearby location.
After visiting that house and seeing the porch intact, current builders knew how it should be rebuilt at the Beekman house. We were fascinated by the serendipitous discovery of the original builder's plans and the care that went into historic accuracy.
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| (perennials dominate the flower gardens) |
After we admired the porch, the house details, and the hydrangeas, Brent showed us the flower gardens. Filled with old-fashioned flowers in a riot of summer color, the gardens' deep-rooted perennials appeared to be surviving the Northeast's ongoing drought quite well. Brent said that the eventual height of the plants would give this space a sense of privacy, conducive to reading, meditation, or just relaxing.
The traditional pond built for fire safety is shallow and growing in. Brent admitted that his favorite place to sit on the entire farm is under the big willow tree on the edge of the pond. Unfortunately, the willows drink up the water, contributing to growth of unhealthy plants and a low water table. "Someday the willows will have to go," he said regretfully.
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| (Cattails surrounding a small pond can be an indicator of poor pond health) |
In fact, the chair placed beneath the willow boughs appeared idyllic. We had seen many pretty places on the farm, so it might take a while for us to choose our favorite, but this shady spot on a warm day would certainly be in the running. It did not escape us, however, that sitting and soaking up the beauty and calm in the gardens or by the pond was very likely a rare activity in the busy lives of Josh and Brent.
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| (Such a nice view from the willow tree across to the house and barn) |
John Hall is the resident farmer at Beekman 1802. Although Brent and Josh have learned a lot about farming over the past ten years, Farmer John's wealth of knowledge and experience has been a huge asset. The farm is primarily a goat dairy. Farmer John manages his own herd of approximately 130 goats. The goat milk is used to make Beekman 1802's signature Blaak goat milk cheese and other products.
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| (Meredith makes a new friend) |
Farmer John answered lots of questions from people in our group. We could tell that he loved talking about his goats. Eventually, Josh came into the barn and told John that it was time for us to move along to the vegetable garden. Our one-hour tour felt very leisurely, even though we were one of three tours on this day.
Josh grew up with some farm experience and took on the project of growing a vegetable garden. Josh and Brent found no evidence of a previous garden location until they stumbled upon some struggling raspberry bushes that appeared to have been planted in a row. This fortuitous discovery settled the question of where the garden should be located.
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| (Josh pulls up garlic bulbs to share) |
They chose to make raised-bed gardens, because weeds do not infiltrate raised beds except from seeds that are airborne from the fields. Raising the beds also creates a barrier to slugs, snails, and other pests. To me, these beds appeared easy to work in, rather digging at ground level on hands and knees, and how orderly they were with gravel paths between!
Josh and Brent travel often and have to leave the farm when their produce is at its best. They tell the neighbors to pick whatever they want for themselves during their absence. Josh told us the same, and began by giving us garlic cloves which he pulled from the garlic plot.
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| (Nobody has to tell me twice that I can eat as many raspberries as I can pick!) |
It became increasing clear that the Beekman Boys are not concerned about garnering an income from farming. They make their living through the products they sell, their books and magazines, a reality television show, and now the Home Shopping Network.
While they can afford to experiment with heirloom plantings and share their bounty, they do this with a generous spirit, which has made them good neighbors in Sharon Springs.
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| (Our farm garden bounty) |
Meredith and I were not greedy, but enjoyed pulling heirloom beets from the beet bed and plucking a couple of bean pods, besides keeping the garlic cloves that Josh gave us to take home. Despite Josh warning us that the drought had dried up almost all of the raspberries, we still found enough to have a good taste.
(I later gave Meredith my beet with its lush greens and my garlic clove, which she took back to Brooklyn along with her own. The next evening, she boiled and sliced the beets and alternated them log-style with slices of goat cheese on top of the sauteed greens and garlic! Yum.)
At the end of our tour, Josh said that we should feel free to roam any part of the property.
The original description of our tour had encouraged participants to bring a picnic blanket and a picnic to eat on the grounds. Although we had brought a blanket, we found a table and chairs under a large maple tree and had our picnic lunch there. We saw others from our group scattered in different areas on their blankets or a bench as well.
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Finally, Meredith and I drove into Sharon Springs and visited Beekman Mercantile. Back in the early 1800s, the Beekman house had had a mercantile on the farm property where the family sold provisions to people heading west. The idea of a Beekman Mercantile was not a new one.
Josh and Brent chose to open their mercantile in an old building on Main Street. Many of their products are made by local artisans which connects the store to its community. From jams and foods to personal care products, and upstairs to furniture and home decor items, this store is fun to browse.
Next, Meredith and I walked Main Street. Surely, the Beekman Boys have given this struggling town an economic boost. We saw people from our tour going in and out of galleries, gift shops, and restaurants. It's no wonder that Brent and Josh wear t-shirts with the words, "Hi Neighbor," printed on the front.
All that remained to complete our day was ice cream, which we found at Dairyland, a classic ice cream stop on the way out of town and recommended by Brent and Josh.
