Gardening. People who know me, or have read my book, know that my refuge is my vegetable garden. Having grown up in Wisconsin, where neighbors compare their sweet corn crops like my NYC neighbors compare their handbags, I’ve always felt pushed to grow more more more.
Brent thinks I’ve finally surpassed the size of garden that I could possibly govern all by myself. Having had two bad tomato years, I’ve decided to leave nothing to chance, and have moved my tomatoes out of the 52 raised beds and into an irrigated patch of field right next to them. This roughly doubles the size of Beekman land devoted to growing vegetables over last year. Oh, plus Farmer John and I plan on planting a field of corn as well.
I’m not sure why I feel the need to continue to expand my seeded fiefdom. We had plenty of frozen and canned bounty from last year to hold us through the winter. This year, I’m not sure what I’ll do with it all. Maybe I’ll bring more into the office to give away. Maybe we’ll give out pickled beets to all our friends for Christmas. (Lucky them.) Some may go to the American Hotel restaurant. And some may go to the pigs.
I guess I’ve never gotten over the sheer magic of it all. That one small box full of packets that came in the middle of January will end up as bushels and bushels and bushels of produce over the next five months. It’s alchemy….that tastes good.
Gardening is as close to playing God as it gets in this lifetime. While I can’t control what my advertising clients say or do, or if Polka Spot stays inside the fence, and I certainly can’t control Brent, I can pretty much decide if a carrot lives or dies. (They mostly live. Except for the thinning.)
I have to believe there’s a reason that the Bible begins in a garden. I’m certainly no Fundamentalist, but as a writer, I tend to admire any book that’s remained on the bestseller lists for two millennium. I don’t think many people consider why the (A)uthor(s) chose to kick things off in a garden vs, oh, say, The Shopping Mall of Eden. But it makes perfect sense to me.
Because the most miraculous stories in the world aren’t about unrequited love, or war & peace, or even coming back to life after a short stint in the heavens.
The greatest stories of all are about magically making something out of nothing. And even if I write a thousand books, they will never be as impressive as a single bean sprout.
If you have too much produce, I think you should start juicing. You can make some awesome vegetable juice with carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, tomatoes, etc. Just watch out for the onion and garlic.
Josh,
I just finished your book, the plague, wonderful! I too hide in my garden that I created a couple of years ago and I’m still getting tomatoes. Your quiet 39th birthday touched me as a farmer and cook, well painted.
Thank you!
I have to say growing up as a farm girl, I only knew the taset of garden fresh veggies, farm fresh milk, butter and eggs. We raised our own cosw for beef and slaughtered our own pigs. It wasn’t until I went away to college that I got my first taste of what I called altered foods. The vegetables tasted like was, the milk tasted like chemicals and the beef and pork, well it didn’t look and taste like either. I adapted to that lifestyle for a while because I had no means to do anything on my own. My husband and I lived in the country for 9 years and had two gardens and I told him this is what real, clean living tastes like. Nowadays, I live in a town and have just a small garden, with visions of going to raised beds next spring. I buy local eggs and local meats when available.It saddens me that people don’t really know the true miracle of growing and harvesting their own food.
Awww, Josh! You have so much heart! You nearly brought me to tears! It’s wonderful that you are so in touch with nature! Love the show, love you both! You are truly an inspiration!
Hi,really enjoy the show! Every year when the garden centers open, its like having too much coffee..I HAVE to plant! I usually try to plant a “salsa” garden, but this year our house is for sale and couldnt really do a proper garden so I “stashed” plants here and there throghout flowerbeds,actually pretty fun…oh theres tomatoes by the cannas! But I just noticed this odd vine winding through..oh yeah, pumpkins from last year!!! Just proves you dont have to have a “proper” garden…cant wait for new shows!
Regards from a retired almost-75-year-old in northeastern PA. Just “found” you this Labor Day weekend, and just like your garden, I want more, more, more.
Open heart surgery, colon cancer, and just plain old “old” make it impossible to spend the time needed to maintain a healthy garden so I rely on farm stands and kindly neighbors for Summer produce. But I wanted to share with you the sign I saw in the rose garden at Nay Aug Park in Scranton PA about 40 years ago.
WHO PLANTS A SEED BENEATH THE SOD
AND WAITS TO SEE, BELIEVES IN GOD.
I can’t wait to read about canning, my husband (a science teacher) and I realized we have no idea what we’re doing and he had a huge garden with his summer school students this year.
Just ‘discovered’ you two impressive, and entertaining, fellows. Josh, you remind me so much of a dear friend and neighbor I had for years, while living in South Laguna Beach…the proximity of our little abodes was such that, from certain rooms, we could carry on a conversation with one another. He was a fabulous wit, cook, entertainer. Your garden as ‘refuge’…I state it as being my ‘therapy’…the ‘abundance’, and ‘state’ of my plants, therefore, may be indicative of my current mental state…puts a whole new meaning to ‘How’s the garden going?’. I saw the Thanksgiving and Halloween episodes…seems you and I share the same enthusiasm, or lack thereof, for both ‘holidays’. Is there somewhere I can locate your Thanksgiving ‘menu’? You moved your tomatoes from the 52 (my God!) raised beds, to the adjacent field simply for a larger crop? It seems I am always searching for an answer to a successful tomatoe garden – perhaps there is not one suited to living in the desert. Very interested in your ‘pickled beets’ recipe…have you done a cookbook? Having been diagnosed with breast cancer this past January, I find that cheese is not mentioned in my new ‘Anti-Cancer’ diet…ummmmm. HOWEVER, I intend on ordering a round of the ‘Beekman Blaak’, along with a few of the soaps, and have ‘signed up’ for the newsletter. Found the show on one of the discovery channels, not much of a TV ‘watcher’ (that seems to be what everyone claims), so will rely upon the newsletters and updates to the website. So great to ‘meet’ you guys!
Hi, Ellen
Canned tomatoes and saltines sounds like a delicious combination!
you’re too kind in your assessment cheryl, but many humble thanks.
ellen in nc
Josh, & Brent, I love EVERYTHING about you, as I have stated before, including Farmer John, and your “Post A Comment.” Ellen In NC, I fell in love with you through your “Post a Comment……..your so genuine, and I know you are one lovely lady. I would love to meet all of the people who post here as they are just so interesting. I wait for the next to be posted!
Cheryl In Kansas City
i am in love with the fact that americans are falling in love with gardening. these victory gardens are one of the rare bright spots of this malignant recession. when i was a kid, we lived off of what we grew (canned or frozen) all winter long. around my neck of the woods people said “if you get tired of beans & taters, try taters & beans.” we would buy a half beef from a neighbor & froze that, & supplemented with chicken & pork. our extended family would raise a couple of hogs every year & a couple of male cousins would butcher them. i was afraid of the hogs, but would sneak down there to peep at them. i was told they were insane so i wouldn’t try petting them. i think i was just down there to get high on the fumes anyway. i would run when a snout or hoof appeared from the darkness. daddy built mama a smoke house to cure hams in. one of my favorites winter treats was canned whole tomatoes with black pepper & crunched up saltines straight from the can without heating it up first. mama had high blood pressure, so she didn’t salt any of our vegetables when she canned. as an adult, i don’t care for salty foods as a result. that’s the beauty of your own harvest. you know what’s in there. enjoy the fruits of your labors, my fair lads!
ellen in nc
Last night I introduced my 22yo daughter to your show. She, as I do, love it. Not sure how far behind we are in Australia, but the show was about packing the soaps for the Anthropology assoc. (looking at this site, I think we are way far behind).
I don’t have a farm, (grew up on one though). My produce is in pots, and I manage to get enough to feed just me (good thing there is only me I have to worry about). I am experimenting with putting peas in hanging baskets. I figure if they grow up, they should grow down. They also might get tangled, but I wanted to try. The whole limited space thing makes one look at alternatives.
My daughter and son-in-law are planning to come to the states next year, I suggested they try and get to Sharon Springs.
Take care, God Bless and love what you’re doing.
Deirdre
Ali, I am right there with you,we can be silly together, lol, it tickles me to death when I see my plants breaking the dirt and popping up as to say I’m Here!
I love when a sprout pops out of the ground! I think its fascinating watching how the green stuff grows. This makes some people think I am silly..I think people are silly when people insist on have enormous back yards without a plant in sight! Love you guys, love the goats, wish I could be in New York!
You guys should have an orchard. A great way to diversify your “portfolio”. And if the product isn’t perfect, deer and livestock still love it. The one important rule, never use fruit that has fallen to the ground.
I just wanted to stop by and say Hello and tht I love your show and all the new ideas I get for my own garden. I grew up on a 300 acre farm in Maryland and miss so much having a large space for my vegetable garden. When I saw your box garden I told my husband we need to do that ( especially since moles destroyed our garden this year). So today we went out bought material and are starting our box garden in preparation for next year. Yall are awesome and again thanks for all the great ideas I have learned alot from show.
Hi Josh and Brent. I absolutely love your show….you are all so entertaining and I love the farm since I grow up in Conn. and was around farms and my grandfather had a farm. I used to work on a horse farm taken care of 21 horses…it is a-lot of work. I don’t know how you do it all with just Farmer John…do you have more workers on the farm ???…because I see Brent working and trying to get all these things done ..your like a work horse who just can’t stop moving. Don’t you think you should have some down time and hire more hands to help. I watched the show on you launching your store and I was totally amazed at what you can pull off…how do you do it all.???
KEEP UP THE GOOD FARMING>>..
Laurie
This past spring I began square foot gardening. The soil here in the Tampa bay area of FL is very bad, so raised bed gardening makes it so much easier. I stumbled across The Fabulous Beekman Boys this past week and I’m very into it. I love the idea of growing our own food. I have survived a brain tumor so good health is at the top of my list for priorities. I am about to head into the fall planting season in six weeks or so. I’m looking for heirloom seeds. Where is the best place to find them?
Cheers
Susie
Hi, Jon
We’ll try to put together a blog on some of these topics as we are doing the canning and freezing this year
Hi Guys-
We absolutely love your show and have DVR’ed all the episodes for a “Beekman Watch Party”, so if you find yourselves in Oklahoma anytime soon consider yourselves invited.
I had a question for you about what techniques you are using for freezing and canning your vegetables and if you had any pointers or links for an amateur.
Keep up the good work!
Hey Guys
I’m sitting here drinking The Beekman Bourbon Sour…Might I say…Very Good..
Played hookey from work in order to work in the garden. I’m sitting on the patio, BBQ going and listening to the frogs in pond, light jazz on radio, eating goat cheese on toasted bread. Life is almost perfect, if the temperature was only 20 degrees cooler..Oh well. Great drinks Guys..
Thanks
I’ve been watching your show the past few weeks and absolutely love it! I totally understand why Josh “had to get the potatoes in”! Each year I stress about getting our peas in the ground early enough in the spring or later summer so we have a good “haul”. We live in So Cal and my husband and each year we end up tearing out a few more flowers to make way for the veggies. This year we grew broccoli, corn, 4 types of tomatoes, green beans, two types of peas, cantaloupe, watermelon and zucchini. We love to cook with our veggies and hand it out to friends and co-workers. Have you thought about zucchini? We probably harvest at least 50 zucchini’s off of one plant each summer! LOVE LOVE LOVE the show..can’t wait to see more!
Hi Josh and Brent,
I love gardening and your show! I just watched the newest show with Josh planting potatoes. I loved it, I started a garden and my spouse laughs and calls it a “farm” so I know what you mean by more, more, more =)! Please keep up any gardening tips and your show!
Good luck to you all~ V
Josh & Brent:
I recently received the Landreth Seed catalog and have two questions for you. How did you choose which of the varieties to grow? and, did you have a heated grow mat under the seed starting trays for the varieties that could be started inside? I am a fan of your show and of course, envy you your lifestyle immemsely. The Goat Barn is my favorite place to visit during the Walworth Cty Fair – the goats are the best! Josh, I sympathize with you – my husband tried for years to teach me the different breeds of dairy cows and I still can’t tell a red and white Holstein from a red and while Ayshire. Thanks for your help – Sue
Josh,
I loved the article on growing vegetables.My family always had a small vegetable garden in our backyard and my husband just can’t understand the joy of growing your own food. I have severe emphysema now so I can only grown some herbs on my porch, but the joy of growing things is still the same. I love watching the show and wish you many more years on tv. Keep growing those veggies
Hi, Maria
It sounds like you are in the perfect spot for some container gardening
Hi Josh,
Just finished reading your latest book after getting hooked on the show. I knew you grew up in WI, but was surprised to see it was Oconomowoc! I spent a couple of years in Dousman as a child and remember well the farm we lived on and the trips into Oconomowoc and, on special occasions, Waukesha. I have a lot of found memories of that area and every time you mentioned farming and growing up there it brought them back. Thanks for the memories!
While I’m not a gardener, nor one for getting down in the dirt, I’m all for creativity. Like you, I’m also in the advertising business, so, when I came across this quote I thought it appropriate: “I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden. ~John Erskine
Here’s to inspiration! No matter where it grows.
I live in the lonely pine trees north of Wisconsin Dells and try to garden in hot sand. You have inspired me to keep trying. Just finished your book and didn’t want it to end. It made me happy!
Keep up making people happy.
Josh, I love the way you write, and Brent, too. You can both make me laugh, and in the next sentence, have me teary-eyed. You are both good at so many things, and have such a great life, (though I know it is very hard work, and probably very hectic.) I wish we could all have lives as meaningful and interesting as yours, but we will just have to live vicariously through you two. Hope you don’t mind! LOL!
Love you guys!! My family and I love your show an cant wait for each week. I love the idea of gardening but have never really had much luck so im going to try raised beds like yall have and see what happens?