Week 126:RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, MICHELLE ITZKOWITZA tasty twist on a classic dish, these hearty and filling pies are gluten free and vegetarian. They can even be made vegan with a few swaps. Try it in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate for a full pie or as follows for individual pies. Enjoy! Email Gail
Week 126: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, TARA BURKE This Balsamic Chicken and Figs with Red Onion is a wonderful one-pan dish to serve in fall. The combination of sweet and juicy figs with the crispy skinned chicken and tangy balsamic sauce is sure to please anyone at your table! Email Gail
Garden Tip 104: SUMMER CAMP IS OVER FOR HOUSEPLANTS! Summer camp is over, and it is time to bring tropical house plants back inside. My collection of plants includes a camellia, olive tree, citrus, bay, rosemary and a wonderful accumulation of begonias, ferns, and tender treasures. All of these have one thing in common this time of year, they have grown huge over the summer months and are in need of a fall pruning. Cutting back and shaping these plants now allows them to stay in the pots they are in for the winter months and any repotting and [...]
Week 125: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, GAIL BLAKELY This is a very old-fashioned recipe that is as delicious as it is simple (I say that a lot, I’m realizing!). For FCTV I made it with fabulous pork chops on the bone from Bootstrap Farm Club—the sizzle when they hit the pan was great. I used a Honeycrisp apple but you can use whatever you like. With mashed potatoes and green beans, it was pretty retro meal, perfect for early October. Email Gail [...]
Garden Tip 103: PRUNING HYDRANGEAS Each spring and fall when the subject of pruning hydrangeas comes up, eyes start spinning and minds start racing concerning the how, what, when and where of correct pruning of these popular flowering shrubs. Some of the different types of hydrangeas have similar fall pruning requirement, so I group them together to keep things simple. The first group includes hydrangea macrophylla (the mopheads) and hydrangea serrata (the lacecap). Fall pruning here involves removing the spent blooms and any broken or obvious dead stems. The second group includes hydrangea paniculata (panicle cone shape flower) and [...]
Week 124: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, CEDITH COPENHAVER As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, it’s time for apple cider doughnuts! I like this easy baked recipe which is simple to make at home in a muffin pan if you don’t like to fry. Enjoy! *Adapted from a New York Times recipe Email Gail
Garden Tip 102: HARDY AGERATUM Balance and scale are two subjects often referred to when speaking of landscape design. Scale refers to the size and visual weight or volume of landscape elements and their relationship to their surroundings. The principle of scale can be applied to trees, shrubs, plants and garden accents such as boulders, statuary and buildings. I came across a good example of scale while working in the front perennial garden this week. The garden is many years old and is a mixed planting of iris, geranium, daylily, phlox, salvia, agapanthus and more. Over the years most [...]
Week 123: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, MICHELLE ITZKOWITZ I simply love lasagna in the fall! The smell of sage, butter and squash wafting through my home brings the season in full force. Cut yourself a piece and curl up on the couch with a blanket as you savor autumn in a bowl. You can make a traditional béchamel sauce for this dish and it will come out the same. You can also add gluten free or regular noodles for a more traditional lasagna, as this recipe uses the butternut squash in [...]
Garden Tip 101: BRINGING SCALE TO YOUR GARDEN Balance and scale are two subjects often referred to when speaking of landscape design. Scale refers to the size and visual weight or volume of landscape elements and their relationship to their surroundings. The principle of scale can be applied to trees, shrubs, plants and garden accents such as boulders, statuary and buildings. I came across a good example of scale while working in the front perennial garden this week. The garden is many years old and is a mixed planting of iris, geranium, daylily, phlox, salvia, agapanthus and more. Over [...]
Garden Tip 100: AUTUMN COLORS IN THE GARDEN Take a walk in the garden. The blending of seasonal colors in the autumn garden is magical. The September Equinox, the sun crosses the Celestial Equator and the hot summer colors of the garden cool to subtle hues and blend with the warm colors of fall, a most enchanting show that only mother nature can create. Take the time to take it in, no weeding, no deadheading just enjoy. Walk with a morning coffee, afternoon tea or evening wine and absorb the beauty of nature’s creation on this cusp of a [...]
Week 122: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, LISA WALKER I recently received a paella pan for my birthday. I’ve never cooked paella before but have been really interested in trying it. I Googled “Paella recipe” and there are many variations out there using chicken, chorizo or sausage, shrimp, clams, mussels, lobster, and scallops or basically any type of protein you want to add. I chose a seafood paella recipe from a YouTube video by Joshua Weissman. What I found was that while at first glance it looks intimidating, it really is quite easy and [...]
Week 121: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, TARA BURKE This recipe is from one of Gail’s classes, modified slightly for my taste. I was looking for a balanced meal using Gail’s delicious Cajun Shrimp to be served with farro and roasted vegetables. The result was fantastic, and although summer has officially ended, we can still enjoy summertime fare on warmer fall days! Email Gail
Garden Tip 99: CARING FOR PERENNIAL HIBISCUS Many summer flowering perennials are well past their peak performance in the late summer garden. The vibrant colors of summer are waning. A great plant to have in the landscape this time of year to add a bit of razzle dazzle is the hardy, perennial hibiscus. Depending upon the variety chosen, plants grow from two to three foot tall to larger growing ones growing to a height five to six feet. The flowers of this plant are tropical-looking, growing up to ten inches wide and come in colors of pink, red, white [...]
Week 120: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, GAIL BLAKELY A very nice change from the usual pasta salad…it gets better as it sits, so I would suggest adding basil only to what you are serving at the moment. Celebrate the end of summer with this delicious dish! Email Gail
Garden Tip 98: CULTIVATING THE SOIL After weeks and weeks of hot, dry weather, the topsoil and mulch in the garden becomes baked to a crust. This is why we often see summer rains running atop and off the garden. It is a good practice to cultivate the top few inches of any open areas in the summer garden to lesson runoff and aid in the absorption of the much needed rain. I find the long-handled four-pronged cultivator or the u-shaped hula hoe to be the perfect tools for this type of work. There are many enriching mulches available [...]
Garden Tip 97: DEALING WITH THE DROUGHT The extreme drought continues and that calls for some extreme action in the garden. Normally I start cutting back perennials mid to late September. This year I have already started cutting back those perennials that are so adversely affected by the dry conditions that no amount of watering or rain will bring them back. Phlox, salvia, peony, and comfrey are just some of the varieties that have been cut to the ground with the hope that any available water will strengthen the roots for next season’s growth. I have even started removing [...]
Week 119: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, KIM COURCHESNE If you come to my house after dinner on any night of the week, you might be treated to delicious dessert crêpes. It’s become a family tradition to sit at our tiny kitchen island while my husband recreates his mother’s simple recipe over and over. We patiently wait our turn to receive a plate of yummy goodness (rarely eating them together) and adding our favorite toppings. My husband’s French-Canadian heritage always seems to dictate that he only spread a touch of good maple [...]
Week 118: RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, MICHELLE ITZKOWITZ These healthy blueberry zucchini muffins are bursting with warm freshly baked blueberries and a sweet crumb topping, you’d never guess they contain a vegetable! Try them fresh out of the oven with melted butter. YUM! Email Gail
Garden Tip 96: A WONDERFUL DROUGHT-TOLERANT PERENNIAL The hot dry weather has taken its toll on garden perennials. Some have weathered the drought better than others, and it is interesting to take note of those that have come through in good condition. One in particular, in my garden, is Persicaria ‘Firetail.’ It stands today as it did in June, strong, clean, and still in flower, seemingly oblivious to the lack of rain over the past eight weeks. This plant is a clumping perennial that grows to three feet tall and can spread over time to six feet wide. Red [...]
Garden Tip 95: EDITING YOUR SUMMER GARDEN We have a term at our house that we use to describe an important garden activity that we do during this time of year– garden editing. Starting in March we do all that we can to promote and encourage vigorous growth in the garden and landscape. Come July and August, that effort is reversed and our work is focused on controlling, containing or removing what we have grown. Garden editing is just that– changing or removing that which does not add to the picture. An important bit of garden editing involves daylilies. [...]
