SLOW FLOWERS Goes to Washington, D.C.
September 5th, 2015
This was a red-letter week! For so many wonderful reasons, which all involve flowers, farming and gardening. Rather than write too much, I’m going to let the photos do the talking:
WHITE HOUSE KITCHEN GARDEN
On Tuesday, four of us achieved one of those “bucket list” goals!
Yes, we received permission to photograph the White House Kitchen Garden and its champion, Deb Eschmeyer, head of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” program.
I am so grateful for the people who helped make this happen, including my friends at Certified American Grown and the First Lady’s communications and Let’s Move staff.
With James Baggett, editor of Country Gardens; Nick Crow, the magazine’s art director and photographer Bob Stefko, like me, a frequent freelance contributor to the title, I spent an amazing two hours at this very important kitchen garden. Look for my story in 2016 in the pages of Country Gardens!
Yes, here we are! Bob Stefko (photographer); Nick Crow (art director); James Baggett (editor) and me — after our whirlwind 2-hour photo shoot at the White House Kitchen Garden!
(c) Nick Crow; Here I am with Deb Eschmeyer, the new director of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move,” at the Kitchen Garden which is part of the program she manages. Notice, I’ve just given her signed copies of The 50 Mile Bouquet and Slow Flowers. Hopefully, they will inspire!
(c) Nick Crow. I am seriously in a dream state here. None of us could believe what we were experiencing!
A rainbow of just-harvested organic veggies from the White House Kitchen Garden, just steps from the First Family’s residence!
FARMER-FLORIST PHOTO SHOOT WITH ANDREA GAGNON
On Wednesday, Nick Crow and Bob Stefko joined me at LynnVale Farm + Studios, a Certified American Grown flower farm where we photographed a story with farmer-florist Andrea Gagnon.
It was such a fantastic opportunity to capture Andrea’s farming and design talents. I can’t show you the beautiful bouquets she created because we’re saving them for the print story in Country Gardens, but I can share some lovely flower and farm pics with you. This will be an inspiring and instructional story – you’ll see it in a future issue of the magazine!
With Slowflowers.com member Andrea Gagnon of LynnVale Farm and Studios, on location with Country Gardens magazine (c) Nick Crow
Heritage barn as backdrop to the dahlia fields at LynnVale Farm & Studios
The zinnia fields at LynnVale Studios are simply perfect!
UP close and lovely.
Nature’s perfection in the field.
The corn crib; such an ancient-looking piece of farm history.
FIELD TO VASE DINNER #6
A farm-chic welcome!
As many of you know, I’ve been involved with the Field to Vase Dinner Tour all year. Slowflowers.com is a sponsor and co-host and I’ve also consulted with the team that’s producing these amazing farm-to-table-flowers-to-vase experiences.
Last Thursday, after two days of producing Country Gardens stories, my focus turned to helping with the dinner. We greeted nearly 150 guests for an evening on LynnVale’s Farm. The setting was gorgeous. The table was set with beautiful accessories, styled by Middleburg Events Studio and Chef Michael Kozich of Bluewater Kitchen’s menu was delicious and inventive.
And then there were the flowers! Congratulations to Andrea Gagnon and her talented team of designers and generous volunteers for creating beautiful moment for us all! The flowers were as local as you can imagine — harvested just steps away from our feast!
A dinner to remember – set in the heart of the flower farm!
So excited to see friends old and new! My longtime writer pal and past colleague Lindsey Rowe joined me at the table!
More to come, but this is a good start! Thanks to the universe for a wonderful week in D.C.!