This play farming evokes shades of Marie Antoinette in the Queen's Hamlet at Versaille. I for one am not surprised by the various iterations of let them eat cake that we hear from the out of touch uber wealthy.
11
Lots of contempt from people who are too lazy/stupid to fix their own roofs, plumbing, wiring, etc. They probably HIRE others to do what they are too lazy/stupid/entitled to do themselves. They probably sit on the porch while the roofers/plumbers/electricians do the actual WORK. Shame upon them.
3
I for one am glad the NYT lets us know what the 1% are up to. However, I would have liked more garden "dirt" -- what varieties of vegetables do pro gardeners choose? What about the Hamptons soil -- are they amending a lot, or is anyone going with the natural fertility of the land? Is this new stream of wealth going into gardening yielding any innovations or discoveries that would be of interest to other gardeners (of all budgets) in the region?
8
Well, okay. These gardens are lovely, productive, and are one thing the ridiculously rich do that doesn't drive me up the wall. My they be of great benefit to all the pollinators.
3
Here's how regular Americans manage their vegetable gardens. We pay $50 for a plot in the community garden. We hoe it. We sow it. We water it. We harvest it. And we give produce away to the local food banks and food pantries.
This article almost made me want to cancel my subscription. Can you spend a little less time talking to us about the super wealthy? Just a little.
This article almost made me want to cancel my subscription. Can you spend a little less time talking to us about the super wealthy? Just a little.
10
If is large enough, can even allow the local school district to use as a training site for at risk students, under the supervision of an experienced or professional gardener/farmer. It is a lot better use of the land than just growing ornamental plants and/or maintaining a chemically treated lawn.
2
One of my favorite jobs was working with girl group gardeners doing perennial gardens in the Hamptons with customers for Cynthias flowers in Southampton. Cynthia, the long time fiancee of Henry Hildreth, had her own flower shop and did perennial gardens in the summer. At that time a lot of gardeners did perennial gardens in the summer and to me it seemed it was mostly girls, because a 40 lb bag of soil is about as much as one could carry. It was a great job. Planting in June. Watering in August.
Watering the geraniums around thepots aound the pools. The girl group gardener scene in the Hamptons is something I have long wanted to write about - it is a great job, there were lots of us, and Cynthia at least, made tons of money off her flower intensive designs..Remember, girls?
Watering the geraniums around thepots aound the pools. The girl group gardener scene in the Hamptons is something I have long wanted to write about - it is a great job, there were lots of us, and Cynthia at least, made tons of money off her flower intensive designs..Remember, girls?
3
Which one of these gardens belongs to Marie Antoinette? I missed that part.
21
Sometimes I feel like the NYT has devolved into "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." While this article (and others) takes a somewhat skeptical view of the choices these wealthy people are making, why does this merit reporting on the front page of the Food Section at all? Who are your primary readers, wealthy people who have weekend homes in the Hamptons, or middle-class folks who may tend a small plot themselves (like me), or buy local vegetables at a nearby farmers market, or subscribe to a CSA program, and so on. It's not just the Food section, but the Business section, the Style section, and the worst offender is the T Fashion magazine. Enough already. How about more coverage of everyday issues for everyday readers?
23
Elite tomatos, squash and 'hedge' funds for the seriously impaired and more useless gossip and one-ups-man-ship to goad their elite neighbors.
8
Bearing good fruit is hard for these rich folk. Do what they say, and not what they do.
2
This article is inappropriate. Hillary Clinton's loss shows how too much attention to the Hamptons is a deadens strategy.
Lets hear it for grassroots funded politics and REAL organic gardeners.
Lets hear it for grassroots funded politics and REAL organic gardeners.
9
Lets hear it for the english language written by people who read and don't just watch TV - 'dead end' my dear ck..I have no idea what deadens is, but it sounds close to some language..
2
it's not your garden if you aren't the gardener
28
These people make 7 or 8 figure incomes and often host fundraisers at their homes for various charities. many of these people have such a high IQ it would have been hard for them NOT to get rich. Some people are so smart and able that money just finds THEM and not the other way around. If you do well at places like Princeton and Williams, employers will come knocking on your door offering you high salary work.
3
Very amusing article. It put me in mind of the Palace of Versailles and the small farm Marie Antoinette had Louis XVI build for her so she could relieve herself from the oppressive rigors and enervation of helping oversee an empire and play French milkmaid and farm wife. I don't know know if she grew wheat, but she did know a thing or two about how to eat cake. I am sure the fine gardeners profiled in this article do, too.
11
Ah the Hamptonites. The wealthy commuters, who attend all their exclusive parties, go to only the best restaurants, and now "garden". Having spent several summers as a child and teen, on the other side of the "dunes"...in other words not rich. I worked various jobs, landscaping when its was still okay for white kids, local restaurants, before the gourmet ones, shops before the boutiques moved in, and catering when it involved a few wooden tables, umbrellas and didnt cost a kings ransom for just the first course!
Good times. Then the NYC, rich riff raff flooded the place. Ive been back to visit friends a few times, its like an alien land now, occupied by same. Best time to go from what Im told is from next week till the weather gets too cold. After the riff raff commuters have truly stopped coming...
Good times. Then the NYC, rich riff raff flooded the place. Ive been back to visit friends a few times, its like an alien land now, occupied by same. Best time to go from what Im told is from next week till the weather gets too cold. After the riff raff commuters have truly stopped coming...
7
Steven Gaines wrote today "God has given you too much money when you have someone else tend your vegetable garden" . Thank you Steven, today I read the food section first thing as I always do and after I read that article I thought what is this paper about? I crumbled the section up and threw it in the garbage. That article was not appreciated. Altho I live in NYC, most of my life I lived in the suburbs of Chicago and I did a lot of gardening. It was a healthy, wonderful activity-planting, watering and nurturing. It was not an appreciated article.
4
Before the neo-guilded BOUGHT the "Hamptons" they were FARMLAND, and very decent farmland at that. Why is that ignored in this article? Farmers were pressured out because of speculation in the price of the land. The land was parceled, sold, and fertile farmland was plowed over. Everywhere in the Hamptons.
6
This article only lightly touches on the agro-quality of Hamptons land: "About 500 farms remain on the fertile East End, even as more mansions crop up each summer on former potato fields."
Upstairs-downstairs, Hamptons' style.
Reminds of once when I went to a gardening seminar to learn more about certain plantings. When one woman said "well, first you need to get a good man," I was baffled. Then it dawned - she meant a Paul Hamilton sort of man. However, the woman speaking was designing her own space - she just wasn't going to do the heavy labor.
Reminds of once when I went to a gardening seminar to learn more about certain plantings. When one woman said "well, first you need to get a good man," I was baffled. Then it dawned - she meant a Paul Hamilton sort of man. However, the woman speaking was designing her own space - she just wasn't going to do the heavy labor.
5
What's with all the sour grapes? Sure these are over-the-top, but having been a landscape designer for many years, I can say that you never know what's going to flip a switch and get others to try something new. Seeing these gardens might open a window of possibility to someone who might not have considered one. Or maybe something here is a great idea that can be adapted on a smaller level. Any coverage of acts of kindness to our planet is a good thing.
16
If the property owners really want to give something back or reduce their carbon footprint they should plant native plants and let the property "go wild". While organic farming may be better for the environment than traditional farming it does not mean that it is good. These perfectly manicured plots require fertilizers, composts and even pesticides (organic, yes)and delivery trucks and gas powered equipment to manicure them. All of this so that a bunch of people can feast a few weekends a year.
Better to support a local organic farmer who employs and feeds many.
Better to support a local organic farmer who employs and feeds many.
5
LOVELY. Employing talented people with strong backs to create and maintain beautiful, healthy gardens is bad? Better they should work in McDonalds? I love all those gardens. Hurray for people with the means and inclination to support these gardens.
5
Uh, yes. But having a strong back isn't the most important thing about being a gardener. Knowledge and experience are. We are skilled labor. Even people without degrees in horticulture or landscape architecture must have a deep understanding of plants, soil, pathogens, diseases... There's also a big difference between someone who occasionally handles big garden tools (weed whackers, for example) and someone who uses them efficiently day after day--sort of like the difference between someone who can bang a nail into a wall to hang up a picture and someone who can pick up a hammer and build a house. To pay these people a McDonald's wage would be criminal.
Gardeners are the luckiest people in the world: we are never bored because there's always something to learn or discover. I know. I'm a habitat gardener with a degree plus years of continuing education and experience, and there is still so much I want to know. Physical endurance is essential, but so is curiosity.
Gardeners are the luckiest people in the world: we are never bored because there's always something to learn or discover. I know. I'm a habitat gardener with a degree plus years of continuing education and experience, and there is still so much I want to know. Physical endurance is essential, but so is curiosity.
16
Curiosity is essential, but physical endurance is key: gardening is hard work. And doing it day in and day out is hard. Especially since one often has to work six or seven days a week to make ends meet because the work is so undervalued.
Yes, gardeners may be the "luckiest people in the world" because we have to become expert in so many disciplines. It is a shame that we don't seem to get the same respect as the other trades.
Yes, gardeners may be the "luckiest people in the world" because we have to become expert in so many disciplines. It is a shame that we don't seem to get the same respect as the other trades.
3
Nice to hear doing something good with the money. It would be nice if they all got together and donated some of that money towards turning abandoned parking lots back to natural spaces in the form of gardens or preserves. We need that especially when a lot of areas are being turned into concrete with too much development We need wealthy people to step up in this area. Also in the inner cities it would be pretty beneficial as it would help provide some temporary jobs, and also help in beautifying, where people can appreciate and take a lot of pride in.
6
Thank you so much for the close-up photos of the broccoli and cabbage. Did you think theirs would look different?
21
The wealthy could be spending their money on any number of eco, human or animal-unfriendly things like exotic golf holidays, gas-guzzling luxury vehicles, fur coats, trophy hunting safaris, or donations to Trump's re-election campaign so I'm not so upset by all the money being spent on vegetables gardens. Good for them for eating more local vegetables and less foie gros and caviar.
8
Or on plowing over what was previously fertile farmland, in order to build a mcmansion, in order to, what's that, plant a garden?
8
I would much rather read about ordinary gardeners and gardening. There are wonderful gardeners all about who deserve attention.
18
I am retired, 72, with a garden apartment rental in downtown Jersey City. I own nothing, not even a car but my apartment comes with a back yard which I have turned into a proper cottage garden with trees, shrubs, rose bushes, a Kitchen garden bed and a flower bed all of which I tend to myself. I have never been happier
21
My father was able to grow lush grape vines, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, peppers, among others in his backyard in Queens. As us Italians say when someone says "the kitchen is not big enough:" "It's not the size of the kitchen, it's the skill of the cook!" Hence, it is not the size of the property, but the skill of the gardener. I - ahem - have managed to do wonders myself on my tiny terrace.
15
It's all so Marie Antoinette slumming it at the Hameau de la Reine, pretending to be farmer peasants. At least she had the decency to dress the part whilst milking a cow into Sèvres porcelain buckets.
That all didn't end too well. History repeats.
That all didn't end too well. History repeats.
29
Soon there will be a Netflix serial "Hampton Abbey".
12
Where to start...."the organic gardener Suzanne P...." is a study in contrast to the unnamed gardeners who actually do the digging, weeding, planting, build structures, and the other physically demanding manual labor purchased to satisfy this status-driven trend. Each one of them is also "the gardner [insert name]," but even folks who do work are not given the respect of the "false title-avoidance title." I still wait for the NYT to say "the trash collector, John Smith," or "the housekeeper, Sam Jones." I understand the purported rationale that the usage is supposed to limit "false titles," but it seems to be tightly correlated to the social milieu and proclivities of the NYT staff and lacks respect towards those who are not "creatives" or otherwise privileged.
6
I know The Times has many well-heeled readers who might find this interesting, but this kind of piece is so tone-deaf it would pass as parody -- I was thinking to myself as I read the first two paragraphs that I could be reading The Onion instead of The Paper of Record. I'm not naive about the realities of the business of journalism and the need to portray all parts of our culture, but the lack of a sense of propriety by the editors and by the subjects of the piece is all too emblematic of our times.
29
I live near Wall St. About 20% of my neighbors are in the 1%. In Manhattan, most people make over 150k/yr. Therefore, what is discussed her doesn't seem so out of reach of so lavish. It's not like it's Jerry Seinfeld's 100 million dollar Porsche collection. It's a few gardens that cost a few months pay.
4
And nary a mention of the people who do the labor. I don't mean the landscape architects or managers. I mean the workers.
5
I'll take Jerry and his Porsche fetish (he recently put them all up for sale) because at heart he's as genuine as they come. This pretentious, phony crowd wouldn't know a rutabaga from celeriac or jicama
1
Hooray for gardeners! The wealthy people in the Hamptons might need to hire skilled & experienced labor (and pay them well, I hope) to get their vegetable gardens, but even people without money can grow their own food or provide habitat. Just get outside and try it.
3
I don't subscribe to the New York Times to read stories about people with more money than sense. Surely, given the current state of our country and the countless needs that are going unmet, they can find a better use for their money than creating a "play garden" to show off to their friends. And I don't find the rationalizations provided by their gardener (reducing their carbon footprint, etc.) to be at all convincing. This is about selfishness and the meaningless acquisition of yet another status symbol.
15
the NYT is primarily for Manhattanites. It's a New York City paper. If you don't want to read about the Hamptons, subscribe to the Pittsburgh Times. I live 10 blocks from Wall St in NYC and hope to own a summer home in the Hamptons. Therefore, I love these articles.
3
I disagree. I live on Long Island, am not a Hamptonite or Wall Streeter, and I read the Times as do many people across the State and across the country. We also enjoy the articles. It mystifies me why you would make such a comment.
3
Susan, my point is just that many affluent moderates like myself also read the NYT and we enjoy the articles about the rich. Coleen seemed to saying the the NYT should angle their coverage toward the non-affluent.
"What’s driving the gardening bug among the affluent, gardeners say, is their clients’ focus on “self-care” — a curious phrase for a pursuit that requires so much help. Mr. Gunn said the impulse includes a “moral component.”
In other words, virtue signaling by the .01%.
In other words, virtue signaling by the .01%.
17
It is nice that people "return " to the earth , as long as someone else does the walking. I can not help but think of Marie Antoinette dressing as a peasant milk maid for "FUN". We know how that ended.
11
Katie Couric may have a lovely 200 square foot vegetable garden, but I'm sure she doesn't wear the outfit she's pictured in to plant and harvest the patch herself (with the help of her landscaper). Any serious gardener wears the oldest clothes they can find, because they get filthy in a minute.
9
This a bit of knowing the price, not the value, of things. Yes, they get fresh vegetables, but the real value of gardening is lost on them. No matter how upset about a problem you may be, it all fades away when you start digging in the dirt. All you think about is the dirt, and those weeds you've been meaning to pull. And you actually create something in the process. These people could all fire their high-priced shrinks, if they were only willing to get their hands dirty.
4
Soon the wealthy in the Hamptons will have someone masticate their vegetables for them.
23
Fait accompli: juicers.
3
Let's do a spin-off series: I'd love to see a piece devoted to garden maker/gypsy guitarist/surfer Paul Hamilton and his family. Now, there's a story! As far as the wealthy putting their money behind the talent with the knowledge base to design, plant, maintain organically, and make meals from vegetable gardens, I don't see how this is any more excessive than paying for the fine carpenters, stone masons, horse handlers, dress makers, even the artists paid exorbitant amounts for the paintings on their walls.
19
I knew someone who grew the Billionaire's hobby or kitchen garden at one of their summer homes. It employed many people and most of them took home most of the produce raised. Could be worse. He ended up selling a lot of it at a farmer's market stall when there was way too much. These people also raised beef cows and had a menagerie of other animals for their consumption.
Yes, the wealthy do eat well. Often they'd ask the caretaker to ship from the freezer, certain meats to their winter home in Aspen or where ever they may be.
Yes, the wealthy do eat well. Often they'd ask the caretaker to ship from the freezer, certain meats to their winter home in Aspen or where ever they may be.
8
Your article drips cynicism and contempt, a dangerous tone to take in our current anti-media environment. "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," are three unalienable rights, according to our U.S. Declaration of Independence, with prosperity also deeply embedded in our culture. Why if Americans strive to be prosperous and financially independent, and those here in the Hamptons have achieved that goal, do we need to demonize them for wanting to create beauty, encourage nature, provide jobs, grow nourishing and healthful food? I love my vegetable garden, and if I had the resources, I, too, would hire help in creating a more sturdy border, find someone to assist me in replacing my raised beds, to install a prettier garden entrance, and to instruct me on how I can become a more sustainable gardener. How private people -- really anyone -- chooses to spend their money is their business. And if someone chooses to use their resources to promote nature, beauty and biodiversity, then you may want to consider reporting their intentions with a different tone.
12
I didn't realize the rich are now victims.
6
Exactly right!
Disagree. The article generally tries to present the benefits of "trickle-down economics" in the Hamptons. The irony, of course, is that if these people weren't Manhattan socialites (they were Dallas oil barons) the NYT would be treating them with much more contempt. Paul Krugman would be having a field day with any analysis suggesting that there are real economic benefits. This is just the NYT pandering to its "base." Know anyone else like that.
5
Boy! My 25 fruit trees (Meyer lemon, oranges, grapefruits, peaches, apricots, almonds, pomegranates and limes) would have been worth a fortune! And after preserving all of it - I coulda retired, rich! (Honestly, Meyer lemon marmalade is worth a fortune all by itself.)
3
If you don't start in the winter planning your beds & pots, the spring composting and weeding your soil then planting your seeds and plants, the summer weeding, deadheading and side dressing, the fall aerating & cutting back, then it is not your garden. If you are not out in the gardens 3-7 days a week, then it is not your garden. It belongs to the people who have made it happen. Writing a check to a Phd student does mean you earned that degree. Same here
12
thanks, nyt for your latest update on the 1 percent
more proof that we are in the gilded age part 2
when was your last article about people who grow their own food and do the actual work - how about an article about poor folks growing their own food likely not sexy enough for you or your readers who crave an update behind the curtains of the rich playgrounds -
who cares - rich folks pay people to tend their gardens
boring - nyt article
more proof that we are in the gilded age part 2
when was your last article about people who grow their own food and do the actual work - how about an article about poor folks growing their own food likely not sexy enough for you or your readers who crave an update behind the curtains of the rich playgrounds -
who cares - rich folks pay people to tend their gardens
boring - nyt article
7
Why does the NYT love to discuss the Hamptons in terms of the glitz and glam and obscene wealth when there is a deep history and growing sub-culture of real people tending their own gardens and living as close to the land as our society allows? Paul Hamilton is a friend and he's been lucky enough to find a living doing what he loves and what so many others like him simply do for themselves.
Readers might also be surprised to learn that just over the rosa rugosa next to the fabulous Rosencrantz estate, is a family who grows their own flowers and veggies, composts, and even forages for berries and mushrooms all summer long.
Readers might also be surprised to learn that just over the rosa rugosa next to the fabulous Rosencrantz estate, is a family who grows their own flowers and veggies, composts, and even forages for berries and mushrooms all summer long.
9
it's the NYT. It's a paper based in New York City for New Yorkers. It's a Manhattan-based paper. I am sure that the Springs Times or whathaveyou runs articles like you describe. People seem to forget that the NYT is a Manhattan newspaper.
1
"We feast here..."
Others starve.
Others starve.
12
One things most humans have lost is their ability to connect with the land. (And you don't have to live in the countryside to do this.) A wise old countryman once said to me "I've found if you look after Nature it looks after you." At the time my thought was 'Well, I'd like to believe that, but I'm not sure.'
But now, as many years have passed, I am sure. There have been too many extraordinary and inexplicable coincidences in my life. Even in the worst of weather there are always areas that somehow are spared the full force of the elements.
I'm glad these people in the Hamptons have some appreciation for nature, no matter how superficial, and that they provide jobs for others and give them the opportunity to work with the land. If it weren't for these wealthy people this land would have been swallowed up for development long ago, so I applaud them.
And even if you live in an apartment building, you can still grow things. I live in a sub-alpine climate where gardening can be a real challenge, but I grow micro-greens inside throughout the year, red cabbage, broccoli sprouts, daikon, pea sprouts, beets... It's so easy and cheap and means I always have fresh greens available.
Now more than ever we have to learn to respect and work with nature rather than against it. And nature is ourselves too. We're part of nature not separate from it.
But now, as many years have passed, I am sure. There have been too many extraordinary and inexplicable coincidences in my life. Even in the worst of weather there are always areas that somehow are spared the full force of the elements.
I'm glad these people in the Hamptons have some appreciation for nature, no matter how superficial, and that they provide jobs for others and give them the opportunity to work with the land. If it weren't for these wealthy people this land would have been swallowed up for development long ago, so I applaud them.
And even if you live in an apartment building, you can still grow things. I live in a sub-alpine climate where gardening can be a real challenge, but I grow micro-greens inside throughout the year, red cabbage, broccoli sprouts, daikon, pea sprouts, beets... It's so easy and cheap and means I always have fresh greens available.
Now more than ever we have to learn to respect and work with nature rather than against it. And nature is ourselves too. We're part of nature not separate from it.
7
I garden on two 16th floor city terraces --mostly trees,bushes (juniper) that I can enjoy year round looking outside & that create feeling of intimacy, but also herbs for cooking, fragrance (lavender) and some flowers in summer.
One thing I have noticed about city plantings, windowboxes,etc. is that in any particular season some quite nice ones look similar & likely all done by paid gardeners, who tend to follow trends & each other. Wonder if East End similar.
There is very elegant old building near me (where Greta Garbo once lived) overlooking East River that has small but always lovely & unique windowboxes at entrance. One day as I passed super & doorman standing outside talking. I asked them who did their windowboxes, always so lovely, season appropriate and UNIQUE. They said one resident is an enthusiastic gardener & does for building. So there is at least one rich person in NY doing own work.
One thing I have noticed about city plantings, windowboxes,etc. is that in any particular season some quite nice ones look similar & likely all done by paid gardeners, who tend to follow trends & each other. Wonder if East End similar.
There is very elegant old building near me (where Greta Garbo once lived) overlooking East River that has small but always lovely & unique windowboxes at entrance. One day as I passed super & doorman standing outside talking. I asked them who did their windowboxes, always so lovely, season appropriate and UNIQUE. They said one resident is an enthusiastic gardener & does for building. So there is at least one rich person in NY doing own work.
5
Didn’t know the Guggenheim has much Asian art, well at least in North America.
Didn’t know one could afford all that garden help on a curator’s salary, therefore what does the husband of Ms Munroe do, and why is that information omitted?
The adjective “brimming”, was that really necessary? Doesn’t this writer know to avoid that type of cliché?
Regards the photo of Mr. Hamilton and son: Does the Times really mean to imply that he’s a flower basket arranger more than a gardener? Why is the “day’s harvest” displayed as no vegetable gardener would sell his/her harvest? Have the photo editors never been to a farmer’s market? Are the carrots and beets just marketing properties? (Also not a great idea to use a flash for that kind of photo. Don't photograph vegetables with direct frontal light.)
Then finally, also there be missing any mention of how these mostly ersatz gardeners, and the actual garners whom I’m genuinely glad to see the Times acknowledge for once, work with the incredibly sandy soil on Long Island.
Was the point of this article to show Ms Couric in a positive light being sort of aware, well she is wearing a dress watch, while disparaging Ms Munroe’s disconnection from “her” vegetable garden? Because that's the result.
That landscaping article on Anna Wintour's property, which was up on the website for months, was much better,. At least it didn’t try to portray Ms Wintour as out on the grounds working them toward a desired look.
Didn’t know one could afford all that garden help on a curator’s salary, therefore what does the husband of Ms Munroe do, and why is that information omitted?
The adjective “brimming”, was that really necessary? Doesn’t this writer know to avoid that type of cliché?
Regards the photo of Mr. Hamilton and son: Does the Times really mean to imply that he’s a flower basket arranger more than a gardener? Why is the “day’s harvest” displayed as no vegetable gardener would sell his/her harvest? Have the photo editors never been to a farmer’s market? Are the carrots and beets just marketing properties? (Also not a great idea to use a flash for that kind of photo. Don't photograph vegetables with direct frontal light.)
Then finally, also there be missing any mention of how these mostly ersatz gardeners, and the actual garners whom I’m genuinely glad to see the Times acknowledge for once, work with the incredibly sandy soil on Long Island.
Was the point of this article to show Ms Couric in a positive light being sort of aware, well she is wearing a dress watch, while disparaging Ms Munroe’s disconnection from “her” vegetable garden? Because that's the result.
That landscaping article on Anna Wintour's property, which was up on the website for months, was much better,. At least it didn’t try to portray Ms Wintour as out on the grounds working them toward a desired look.
2
"Brimming," "feasting," etc. language of New Yorkers who have engaged in too much "self care."
I don't recall much Asian art at Guggenheim either.
Husband probably hedge fund or private equity guy. Many girls who come to NYC to work in publishing, arts etc. make sure to marry high-income Wall St, legal etc. guys to ensure enough self care and organic veggies.
I don't recall much Asian art at Guggenheim either.
Husband probably hedge fund or private equity guy. Many girls who come to NYC to work in publishing, arts etc. make sure to marry high-income Wall St, legal etc. guys to ensure enough self care and organic veggies.
4
ellienyc:
Well, at least "feasting" is a verb or gerund.
If you look at Ms Munroe's hyperlinked CV (from the Guggenheim website), it looks like she's putting together shows for other "Guggenheims", and it more than looks like her position is supported by Samsung.
But no, the Guggenheim doesn't pay curators enough to afford such gardeners or really a Hamptons house on the right side of Route 27.
If I were a Guggenheim board member, even if the worth of my Asian art collection had been improved by the stamp of having been in Guggenheim show somewhere, I'd be annoyed to have read this.
There are many better ways to present this; for example "look at what the hard labor of the likes of Mr. Hamilton yields for the well to do set in the Hamptons".
Ms Munroe's CV suggests she has the academic requisites for the job, but what's not known, and museums and auction houses do this so as to get line on art or money: Does Ms Munroe come from a family with both wealth and an important art collection?
Right, it's likely her husband paying for this nice house and garden, and the labor, in East Hampton. Ms Munroe appears to not come from the NYC area. Though as speculation, it could be her family money that paid for this nice weekend house.
Well, at least "feasting" is a verb or gerund.
If you look at Ms Munroe's hyperlinked CV (from the Guggenheim website), it looks like she's putting together shows for other "Guggenheims", and it more than looks like her position is supported by Samsung.
But no, the Guggenheim doesn't pay curators enough to afford such gardeners or really a Hamptons house on the right side of Route 27.
If I were a Guggenheim board member, even if the worth of my Asian art collection had been improved by the stamp of having been in Guggenheim show somewhere, I'd be annoyed to have read this.
There are many better ways to present this; for example "look at what the hard labor of the likes of Mr. Hamilton yields for the well to do set in the Hamptons".
Ms Munroe's CV suggests she has the academic requisites for the job, but what's not known, and museums and auction houses do this so as to get line on art or money: Does Ms Munroe come from a family with both wealth and an important art collection?
Right, it's likely her husband paying for this nice house and garden, and the labor, in East Hampton. Ms Munroe appears to not come from the NYC area. Though as speculation, it could be her family money that paid for this nice weekend house.
1
"Brimming" and "feasting" are words for people who've spent too much time at Renaissance Fairs.
1
Here in Tallahassee I have two satsuma orange trees that always produce more oranges than I can consume. So I post a sign telling passers-by to take what they want. Few oranges get left. But the wonderful part is that I find cards and presents from neighbors on my door step, e.g., a jar of honey from a local beekeeper! Raising produce in one form or another does bring people together.
32
Lovely!
2
With the blossoming problem of Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses, it's suicide to tend your own garden on the East End. This is not an issue of getting your hands dirty, but rather staying healthy. It is a huge problem that is being ignored, but will soon affect the rest of the Island and state.
4
By "rest of....state" does that mean people like me growing herbs, lavender,etc. in containers on city balconies & terraces are going to have to worry about Lyme disease? Flying deer in Manhattan?
Am I corrrect the paid gardeners on the East End protecting the garden owners against Lyme Disease are using organic deterrrents? Wouldn't that be necessary to preserve garden's organic status?
Am I corrrect the paid gardeners on the East End protecting the garden owners against Lyme Disease are using organic deterrrents? Wouldn't that be necessary to preserve garden's organic status?
1
What? You do realize that someone is still getting infected by the ticks? It's just not Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
I assume that you're fine with head injuries with sports as well, so long as we can outsource the TBI to Mexican immigrants?
I assume that you're fine with head injuries with sports as well, so long as we can outsource the TBI to Mexican immigrants?
2
Initially, I thought this was a story about gardening but then I realized, Not Really. It's about, to quote the song, "Constant Craving." How to still the restless, heart how to be satisfied - almost an impossibility when one has too much money.
7
"There is no greater thing than eating produce still warm from the sun that has never seen a refrigerator." One would have thought giving to the poor or finding a cure for cancer would have a greater priority, but one can wait for the charity benefits in the Fall and the galas in the Winter for service to humanity. Despite my better judgment, I decided to venture into this fetid garden of the pampered and the privileged hoping at least to find some refuge from the sad news of the day--the hurricanes and the madness of North Korea, etc., but I soon found myself lost in the twisted garden paths and overcome by the alliterative "hostess gifts and holiday honey" that seem set like traps to ensnare the unwary. Inevitably--I should have seen it coming!--it all led to Katie Couric, who is never to be outdone but is on top of every trend posing with her own vegetative abundance, and I realized I had had enough. In the future it's all canned goods and frozen produce for me--Green Giant corn niblets and mushy green peas boiled to oblivion just the way my mother used to make it. The convenience and the satisfying popping sound made by the can opener when it punctures the metal top of the can and you start turning the wheel not to mention the frozen blocks of veggies straight from the freezer which you have to thaw under the faucet for at least an hour or use a hammer on and hope you don't hit your thumb with it. Now that's good eating! And you can do it all by yourself!
15
Great to see a shoutout to Sang Lee Farms in all this, a truly wonderful place.
3
Why all the negative comments? The vegetables you grow in your own yard are the freshest and the best. These folks can afford the best, so why shouldn't they do this? I think it's a great trend.
As for not doing the work themselves ... while I agree that weeding can be as effective as meditation, a garden that huge would be overwhelming. It only makes sense to hire help, and they are thereby providing someone with a job.
I know how to do an oil change, but I don't want to do it myself, so I have someone else do it. I could probably learn how to do plumbing, but I don't want to, so I hire a plumber. Same difference.
As for not doing the work themselves ... while I agree that weeding can be as effective as meditation, a garden that huge would be overwhelming. It only makes sense to hire help, and they are thereby providing someone with a job.
I know how to do an oil change, but I don't want to do it myself, so I have someone else do it. I could probably learn how to do plumbing, but I don't want to, so I hire a plumber. Same difference.
75
I think the issue is not so much that the homeowners can afford to do it, it's the utter lack of self-awareness by the principals of the story combined with the mostly unironic tone of the author. The most self-aware person in the whole story is the hedge fund manager who not only wouldn't give his name, but also acknowledged that "it's a terrible 'trade'".
5
The negative comments are due to the writer's misunderstanding what a garden is and why these people built gardens. Gardens are universal, they exist in every part of society and every part of the world. Growing things whether you are a peasant or an emperor, gives pleasure and something you can share with others, whether it is the bounty or the sheer beauty of the plants.
A lot of people buy their produce in the supermarket. Others prefer farmer’s markets where farmers bring their goods direct from farm to consumer. Still others prefer shortening the trip… from their backyard to their kitchen. What difference should it make to any of us? And, if some of those people who want that shorter backyard to kitchen trip don’t have the time or don’t care to put in the time but have the money to pay someone else who can provide such services (helping that someone else make their living too, I might add), that’s their business. It’s none of your business. It’s none of my business. I’m a big fan of the saying “Live and let live.”
1
How Does the Hamptons Garden Grow? With a Lot of Paid (Illegal) Help.
If Donald Trump deports everyone, will the local residents do this hard work? I think not.
If Donald Trump deports everyone, will the local residents do this hard work? I think not.
14
There are many worse things for the Rich to spend money on. Like politics. Please, hire locals to work your gardens. Donate extra food, spread it around. Provide habitat for the birds, bees and critters.
But mostly, walk around and enjoy. Maybe consider donating to community garden groups in other locations. Thank you.
But mostly, walk around and enjoy. Maybe consider donating to community garden groups in other locations. Thank you.
128
wow - the pictures are worth a thousand words. What the article does not address is how this opulent lifestyle of the 0.1% affects the rest of the community - and I mean everyone. As east end home owners for the past several decades, we've seen local traffic problems worsen. In the past few years they've taken a quantum leap backward. In late spring and summer, the morning caravan of landscape and construction trucks from west suffolk (landscape workers can't afford to live in the hamptons) pretty much keeps us at home. My heart goes out to the thousands who have no choice and suffer in the ridiculous traffic to get to work - which often is tending some one else's garden.
13
Thanks for your perspective and knowledge. It enhanced my experience of this article.
2
When I grow up, I'm going to get someone to garden for me, too. My two tomato plants have had a yield of 12 tomatoes all season... oh, & by the way, I'm 60.
14
My gardening is on an all too different scale from those in the Hamptons. I live in a small apartment, with a small garden. I'm 76 and disabled, so that, with all the will in the world, I can't kneel to plant or weed or get up again.
My gardening pleasures are mainly in growing from seed, and observing some of our native birds here in my own little plot.
A friend travelling to England recently got me some blue sweet pea seeds - lathyrus sativus azureus - I have seen articles naming them as 'King Tut's Blue Sweet Peas' , but I prefer their botanical name.
It's been so exciting to see them popping up, all eight seeds, and they are now about six inches tall - as the seeds are from Malta, I think they'd just curl their toes up and die if I put them outside.
The other thing I really love is sitting in my garden, and observing the native birds and life. A lot of older homes have been demolished around here, and replaced with mega mansions, thus losing habitat for any sort of life.
I've deliberately kept my garden a little on the wild side, and for the last four years, I've had silver eyes nesting - they are a little bird, smaller than a sparrow, with greyish, olive green feathers, and a silver ring around their eyes. They have a quick darting flight, and nest each year in my hydrangeas. I have last summer's nest on my mantelpiece - it is a tiny miracle of construction, with a little loop to secure it.
There are gardening pleasures of many kinds - these are mine.
My gardening pleasures are mainly in growing from seed, and observing some of our native birds here in my own little plot.
A friend travelling to England recently got me some blue sweet pea seeds - lathyrus sativus azureus - I have seen articles naming them as 'King Tut's Blue Sweet Peas' , but I prefer their botanical name.
It's been so exciting to see them popping up, all eight seeds, and they are now about six inches tall - as the seeds are from Malta, I think they'd just curl their toes up and die if I put them outside.
The other thing I really love is sitting in my garden, and observing the native birds and life. A lot of older homes have been demolished around here, and replaced with mega mansions, thus losing habitat for any sort of life.
I've deliberately kept my garden a little on the wild side, and for the last four years, I've had silver eyes nesting - they are a little bird, smaller than a sparrow, with greyish, olive green feathers, and a silver ring around their eyes. They have a quick darting flight, and nest each year in my hydrangeas. I have last summer's nest on my mantelpiece - it is a tiny miracle of construction, with a little loop to secure it.
There are gardening pleasures of many kinds - these are mine.
65
Jan Laidlaw, you're so observant and a wonderful writer - I enjoyed your comment more than the article!
6
Jan, I agree with Common Sense Advocate! I so enjoyed your comment and your tales of gardening pleasures! It delights me to picture you in your semi wild garden, enjoying all the sights and sounds! Thank you for sharing!
5
To Jan Laidlaw : Your garden is the best and a pleasure to read about.
3
Hmm, this just makes me hungry for a good steak.
2
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." Ralph Waldo Emerson
20
Or: a perfectly nice plant in a grumpy person's garden?
3
My gardening husband, who vegetable-gardens year-round and also does all the landscaping of our yard, is amused when people pay to exercise at a gym. Do something productive, he says, plow and mulch and plant and weed and harvest, keeps you in fine shape.
37
How close is this to sharecropping?
3
Not close at all. These workers get paid.
4
Tired of kale is tired of life.
4
Let the eat kale.
7
So many people are trying so hard to get good fresh food to people that really need it and you offer an article on how the very rich garden. The NYT has done it, fresh vegetables have made me sick.
12
Amen, brother.
2
Ah, life in the Ancien Regime....
23
Too bad veggies don't trickle down to the food deserts in American inner cities.
21
Hey, it's jobs. You can't outsource your garden to China.
14
Yeah, but when Trump manages to stop any immigrants allowed into the US, who do you think is going to WEED all these peoples' gardens? (And mow their lawns, and nanny their kids, and clean their houses). Maybe it will be all of us retirees and underpaid working folks who work in OUR OWN vegetable gardens just to make ends meet.
I found this article distasteful to say the least. If the NYT wants to foment revolution in this country, just keep on publishing articles like this...
I found this article distasteful to say the least. If the NYT wants to foment revolution in this country, just keep on publishing articles like this...
4
Somebody's due to "disrupt" that reality any minute now.
2
The only thing I can think of is Marie Antoinette.
14
I just wish nobody ended up in this article after watching the piece on Hurricane Harvey in today's Front Page like I did.
4
I'm hungry!
1
It's almost enough to make you miss Marxism.
35
"Teaching the next generation to appreciate growing ones own food"What a crock!!! Salinas valley California the salad bowl of USA is mostly worked on by legal and illegal immigrant Mexicans!!!In the last few years significant produce is coming from Mexico and South America.Most Americans dont like hard work and certainly dont want dirt under their fingernails!!!
14
I Hope that whatever produce is not used is given to a food pantry.
2
I hope that the surplus of fruits and vegetables that can't be consumed by the garden's owner are donated to charities for those who can't afford fresh fruits and vegetables.
4
Little on these garden's paid help was reported.
Even a 15'-by-15' vegetable plot takes a lot of work. These gardens look much bigger than that.
Do Americans or undocumented workers pluck these progressive personalities' weeds, then hoe the ground, plant the seeds and finally harvest all this virtuous organic produce?
Even a 15'-by-15' vegetable plot takes a lot of work. These gardens look much bigger than that.
Do Americans or undocumented workers pluck these progressive personalities' weeds, then hoe the ground, plant the seeds and finally harvest all this virtuous organic produce?
24
I have planted gardens all my life. But I think what is even more important is to plant vegetables and herbs that flower, and seed and flowers and bushes that first produce flowers, then seeds and berries for bees, butterflies, and birds. Even privet will produce copious flowers,but not if pruned before the flowers appear. So when planting and landscaping, consider the fauna, not just the flora. Milkweed any one??? B
12
As an organic grower and well-seasoned market gardener, I can tell you that these people miss the point entirely. Planting, tending, and eating your own food is music to the soul, health for the body, and probably saved my life after the PTSD scarring of the Marine Corps in Vietnam. You do it, or you don't do it, but don't pretend.
38
Im so happy gardening is taking a new leap with people wanting their own organic vegetable garden. If the rich are hiring more gardeners Im over-joyed!
In the Victorian age it was a status symbol to have a beautiful garden. Vegetables were grown at parks for all to enjoy. They were more community minded then because doctors and services were offered at the park!.
There are new systems of growing (Permiculture) where you can have that apple orchard and vegetable garden without all the tending and watering
In the Victorian age it was a status symbol to have a beautiful garden. Vegetables were grown at parks for all to enjoy. They were more community minded then because doctors and services were offered at the park!.
There are new systems of growing (Permiculture) where you can have that apple orchard and vegetable garden without all the tending and watering
3
A much better way to invest in plants and plant lovers than building new air raid shelters.
1
Would we could get the rich to be as interested in growing and tending poor children with questionable futures. But if they did, they'd probably want to eat them.
18
A Modest Proposal indeed. :)
5
Here in my own backyard, we've had to split space so that I can have my flower beds while my wife has her vegetables. With all that land, I'd have a hard time negotiating for the vegetables - think of how many flowers you could plant! And the idea of a meadow makes me salivate, so many birds and butterflies would visit... I could never keep an on trend garden.
3
I suppose it's better for the planet than collecting Maseratis or Rolls Royces. And if they give their extra food to food banks, that would be nice. Somehow it is a bit too Upstairs Downstairs. How lovely for the very rich and their hard-working employees! If the poor people of American get desperate enough, (JJ's earlier comment) "Marie Antoinette syndrome" will indeed be on the rise. Here's where to find them.
26
If you have ever had the opportunity to watch BBC's The Victorian Kitchen Garden, you'd not be surprised. Nothing 'new' about wealthy people spending scads of money to grow veggies. I'm waiting for the next trend; perhaps green houses to grow pineapples & bananas in winter ;)
4
It's great to see such dedicated agrarians watch other people tend the soil.
21
"What’s driving the gardening bug among the affluent, gardeners say, is their clients’ focus on “self-care” — a curious phrase for a pursuit that requires so much help. Mr. Gunn said the impulse includes a “moral component.”
Makes me ill!
Makes me ill!
6
So what else is new?
Wealthy people who either love their verdant estates or at the very least like to show them off have always had gardeners -- and lots of them. Being a plantsman is an honorable profession, gardening takes skill, and those who want something beautiful have to pay for it. I can think of worse things to want than a lovely bit of earth.
As for actually being a gardener: The rest of us toil in different, less beautiful worlds. I can think of worse ways to earn a living.
I think The New York Times must believe it's helping to even out "inequality" by publishing articles meant to be inflammatory -- look how awful rich people are! You might just as well say that our public parks could be as pristine as the wealthy's private gardens if our Parks Department workers could spend their time being real plantspeople instead of picking up after the slobs who leave their litter scattered behind and repairing damage caused by vandals.
Wealthy people who either love their verdant estates or at the very least like to show them off have always had gardeners -- and lots of them. Being a plantsman is an honorable profession, gardening takes skill, and those who want something beautiful have to pay for it. I can think of worse things to want than a lovely bit of earth.
As for actually being a gardener: The rest of us toil in different, less beautiful worlds. I can think of worse ways to earn a living.
I think The New York Times must believe it's helping to even out "inequality" by publishing articles meant to be inflammatory -- look how awful rich people are! You might just as well say that our public parks could be as pristine as the wealthy's private gardens if our Parks Department workers could spend their time being real plantspeople instead of picking up after the slobs who leave their litter scattered behind and repairing damage caused by vandals.
4
When I clicked on the article I thought I would find it positive. Instead I came away with the idea that we may very well have a revolution in this country.
I mean it is great they are growing vegetables rather than grass (nothing is more useless of ecologically worthless than grass) but the entitlement, the passing sense of any true enjoyment once the initial excitement of buying the latest thing has passed-so depressing.
It is just one more thing to fashionably consume for rich people. There is no enjoyment of doing something for yourself, of getting your hands dirty, of making your own dinner from vegetables you grew yourself. Silly and shallow-the lot of them.
I mean it is great they are growing vegetables rather than grass (nothing is more useless of ecologically worthless than grass) but the entitlement, the passing sense of any true enjoyment once the initial excitement of buying the latest thing has passed-so depressing.
It is just one more thing to fashionably consume for rich people. There is no enjoyment of doing something for yourself, of getting your hands dirty, of making your own dinner from vegetables you grew yourself. Silly and shallow-the lot of them.
9
The rich are only able to do it on a much grander scale. Too many Americans think that buying the latest gadget is going to change their lives. An hour later, the high is gone, and life remains the same. When you're rich it's a yacht instead of a gadget. These gardens prove that the rich still haven't figured out that the thrill is not in the ownership of a thing, it is in the creation of a thing.
2
jeez--so what if it's fashionable consumption? So what if this is shallow, it is certainly NOT silly. Good for the environment, the critters, the hired help, and themselves.
what's not to like?
what's not to like?
1
Why do I picture the Duchess walking out into the garden and directing Cook about what the Duke would prefer for dinner, while the gardner stands aside after a deep bow?
Only in America is the idea of planting your own food too expensive and time consuming - if they even have the land - for hoi polloi, but instead a pastime for the uber-rich. My parents, who lived off victory gardens in their youth, would cringe.
Only in America is the idea of planting your own food too expensive and time consuming - if they even have the land - for hoi polloi, but instead a pastime for the uber-rich. My parents, who lived off victory gardens in their youth, would cringe.
11
Back during WWII, everybody had a Victory vegetable garden. Gardening to have fresh food for yourself is a wonderful thing.
It sounds like the gardens in the Hamptons are on steroids.
It sounds like the gardens in the Hamptons are on steroids.
2
As a backyard farmer, I am glad people who really love to garden and cook are able to make a buck off those who prefer to keep their hands clean.
129
As Clint Eastwood was known to say, "Wonderful."
3
Tending a vegetable garden within steps of the ocean sounds like the very definition of heaven to me.
62
For all of those fed up with this now ubiquitous plant, this is just too delicious:
“I told Paul to cut the kale — so sick of it,” Ms. Olsen said
“I told Paul to cut the kale — so sick of it,” Ms. Olsen said
3
This lovely article, rich in detail, personifies the gilded age we live in.
The Hampton gardens are nature theme parks for the top one percent. But boxwood hedges and gravel paths? Sooo yesterday. It would be nice to see
gardens expressly designed with natives to help the environment. Alas, these gardens seem to be grown to impress their wealthy friends at a time when
bees, butterflies and other genera are declining through loss of habitat and man-made poisons. I would be interested in knowing how much carbon is emitted into our atmosphere to maintain those gardens. And what chemicals are used to keep those gravel paths so pristine? In general, while these private gardens employ some people, they are not always environmentally-friendly.
Reminds me of duPont estates which, at least, are now learning centers for the public.
The Hampton gardens are nature theme parks for the top one percent. But boxwood hedges and gravel paths? Sooo yesterday. It would be nice to see
gardens expressly designed with natives to help the environment. Alas, these gardens seem to be grown to impress their wealthy friends at a time when
bees, butterflies and other genera are declining through loss of habitat and man-made poisons. I would be interested in knowing how much carbon is emitted into our atmosphere to maintain those gardens. And what chemicals are used to keep those gravel paths so pristine? In general, while these private gardens employ some people, they are not always environmentally-friendly.
Reminds me of duPont estates which, at least, are now learning centers for the public.
3
Lots of the great estates are open to the public, from the DuPont mansions, museums, and gardens in Pennsylvania and Delaware to the great Hudson River spreads, to others on Long Island and beyond. Let's be glad. And be glad for the paid staff as well as for the many more volunteers who care for those places.
As I said in another comment, which evidently didn't jive with the Times's philosophy and so didn't appear here yesterday, it isn't as if poor people are any "better" than the rich. If you take Prospect Park as an example, we'd have a much more pristine park if the poor people who rope off their territory every weekend took their trash out with them instead of leaving Parks Department workers to clean up after them -- instead of doing the work they're actually supposed to do, which is maintaining the trees and plantings.
The rich have always had gardeners. And being a gardener, a plantsman, is an honorable profession. I'm sure our Parks Department personnel didn't train to be garbage baggers, which too often is what they do.
As I said in another comment, which evidently didn't jive with the Times's philosophy and so didn't appear here yesterday, it isn't as if poor people are any "better" than the rich. If you take Prospect Park as an example, we'd have a much more pristine park if the poor people who rope off their territory every weekend took their trash out with them instead of leaving Parks Department workers to clean up after them -- instead of doing the work they're actually supposed to do, which is maintaining the trees and plantings.
The rich have always had gardeners. And being a gardener, a plantsman, is an honorable profession. I'm sure our Parks Department personnel didn't train to be garbage baggers, which too often is what they do.
8
I imagine this area of the country as being inhabited by extroverts who have been successful money-wise. Parties, tennis matches, beach gatherings etc etc -- constant doing stuff with other people. Gardening is a different kind of pursuit, utterly enjoyable for another kind of person (or hired out if you want and can). It would be painful for me to live in this kind of world but I am not going to sink so low as to criticize others for it. I am happy that there is a lot of organic practices used and having a garden is a lot less wasteful in terms of natural resources than the gigantic homes that are used for a small part of the year. Now that is something I can be critical of.
4
I think they're not cottages..
1
I'm not going to begrudge anyone's right to pay someone else to plant and tend their garden, but you know, you can get fresh, local vegetables in season at a farmers market which are just as good and perhaps better than your own. Gardening for me is more than just sustenance, it's a hobby and a fun one at that.
10
If the wealthy have so much money that they hire others to plant, manicure and harvest their vegetable gardens, it sounds like they could afford to hand over a little more to the federal government. The folks in Houston would appreciate it, as would the rest of us average Americans who subsidize their tax breaks. And maybe some periodic donations of their precious produce to the local food bank would give them a real status symbol that the rest of us could respect.
39
One of the best things about a garden is the gardening itself. I am blessed in my old age (I'm 72) not because I'm rich but because I rent a small garden apartment in downtown Jersey City. My cottage garden replete with a flower bed, a kitchen garden bed, rose bushes, evergreens, flowering Cherry tree and even a seated Buddha is a constant delight.
I wouldn't forgo the sheer pleasure and satisfaction of doing my own gardening for anything
I wouldn't forgo the sheer pleasure and satisfaction of doing my own gardening for anything
104
I loved this story. So fun to read about all the gardens and to read people's comments! I would love to see all of the gardens. There is something so promising about vegetables in a garden-makes me think of wonderful things to cook with them.
7
Rich people have always had gardeners and cooks, sometimes large staffs of them. Here in the Hudson Valley the "river people" on the big estates raised poultry and livestock as well as fruit and produce for their tables on their country estates, and also shipped it by train to their New York City town houses.
27
A surprisingly depressing look into what could really be taken for a positive situation - people growing organic vegetables and sharing them with others, while providing employment in the community.
And yet the shallowness of these privileged folk, not lost on the author of the piece, is so extreme that it leaves, in me, anyway, a lingering malaise and concern, a vague worry about the consequences of a Marie Antoinette syndrome on the rise.
And yet the shallowness of these privileged folk, not lost on the author of the piece, is so extreme that it leaves, in me, anyway, a lingering malaise and concern, a vague worry about the consequences of a Marie Antoinette syndrome on the rise.
104
When we lived in the country for a couple years, I hired college students to help me with the orchard and all the various large flower beds I planted all over the grounds. I paid the students better than local going wages for their age in our region. And we had lots of wonderful talks about their studies, what each of us was reading, plus the archaeology projects I would leave to participate on, or biomedical/science writing I was doing.
It was enriching for each of us.
It was enriching for each of us.
29
I hired a college student to help me in our huge suburban garden, too. I paid him $17 an hour (!) He would arrive on scorching summer days in a sort of synthetic body suit designed to make him sweat - you know, in order to get "fit". I would find him hiding in his car in the driveway, limp from heat exhaustion, pounding his phone. At first I thought it was funny, but not for long. Out here, you're on your own with your garden, even for $17 an hour.
1
I grew up in a small apartment in the South Bronx. Moving to Queens and having the opportunity to have a veggie garden the past three years has been one of the great, but expensive, joys of my life. Even if you tend your garden mostly on your own as I do, it's costly in terms of time and the tools and supplies needed. Especially if you go organic. But once you pop a sun-ripened tomato off the vine and directly into your mouth, that taste is worth every dime, the bug bites, and the months of TLC from seed to harvest. Similarly, our kids like bragging to their friends about "our garden."
I understand why these people need professional gardeners. I work from home and still can find barely enough time to tend to my small garden as needed. And we still have a landscape service to mow the grass, trim hedges, and for spring and fall clean up. Maintaining gardens of the size of those profiled in this piece is more than most home gardeners could handle.
I understand why these people need professional gardeners. I work from home and still can find barely enough time to tend to my small garden as needed. And we still have a landscape service to mow the grass, trim hedges, and for spring and fall clean up. Maintaining gardens of the size of those profiled in this piece is more than most home gardeners could handle.
15
honestly curious, not trying to be snarky, do you do other things on weekends? or after your day's work? i work also and maintain a large back yard in the suburbs w/o landscape crew so am really curious whether this is because i am happy spending a lot of weekend or after the workday time gardening, mowing, pruning etc whereas other people have other uses for weekends.
3
Well my husband and I own a small business, so we don't have traditional weekends. I typically work past sun down most days. He's on the road a lot, and our workload often creeps into our nights and weekends. We also usually have stuff to do with the kids. Sports practices and games, orthodontist, visiting family/friends, ect. But I will admit, I have yet to master work life balance. It's a constant challenge.
5
a small business and kids, wow, i'm impressed you have time to grow so much as a carrot. thanks for not taking my question amiss and kudos to you.
1
Gardens for all income groups is a wonderful trend. Gifts from the garden are lovely, too.
When we were growing up, my father began raising bees as a hobby. When he had his first honey harvest, all of us daughters joked about us having $50/pint honey on our English muffins at breakfast: the amount we calculated he spent on his hives, purchasing bees, buying all equipment.
It was an enjoyable hobby that he continued until age 80. People with fruit trees would ask him to bring a hive over when the blooms were on the trees.
He was usually popular with neighbors, gifting jars of honey each year....But the two times he didn't catch an additional queen bee in a hive soon enough, he had sudden swarms. Then, for a bit, he was not at all popular in the neighborhood.
When we were growing up, my father began raising bees as a hobby. When he had his first honey harvest, all of us daughters joked about us having $50/pint honey on our English muffins at breakfast: the amount we calculated he spent on his hives, purchasing bees, buying all equipment.
It was an enjoyable hobby that he continued until age 80. People with fruit trees would ask him to bring a hive over when the blooms were on the trees.
He was usually popular with neighbors, gifting jars of honey each year....But the two times he didn't catch an additional queen bee in a hive soon enough, he had sudden swarms. Then, for a bit, he was not at all popular in the neighborhood.
23
One summer I naively agreed to look after the garden of a vacationing friend for a month. Never again. Heat, humidity, bugs, sweat, dirt and bolting broccoli. Farmer’s markets for me! Why so many people find it relaxing is a mystery to me. I confine my gardening to a potted tomato plant on the porch………..and even that often falls victim to my patient and observant chipmunks.
6
I concur!
When I lived in Queens and in my early 30s, I had a postage-stamp size backyard where I grew every vegetable under the sun, my favorite of course were at least a dozen varieties of tomatoes. Nothing gave me more joy than watching my young son eating handfuls of freshly picked tomatoes that were resting on my kitchen counter. It broke my heart when I told him he couldn't do the same in the winter where the only available tomatoes were the Israeli varieties that sold for $5.99 per lb at the local produce store. Just too expensive for such a mindless grazing treat. I'm now in my 60s and live on a huge plot perfect for gardening but alas my knees and back can no longer handle the ritual and no paid gardener to do it for me. Just sweet memories!
9
There are endless pages on the Web about gardening for people who experience physical limitations. I am 69, and raise a "huge plot" every year. I stretch before working, sit on an upturned bucket, kneel on a foam pad, alternate efforts with stretches, break off and take an OTC NSAID before my back tells me to, and stay hydrated. I notice that sitting still in a car for 30 minutes makes my back stiffen up worse than 30 minutes' hoeing.
"You don't quit because you can't. You can't because you quit."
And who knows? There might be a neighbor nearby, grateful to work even part of your huge plot and share the yield.
"You don't quit because you can't. You can't because you quit."
And who knows? There might be a neighbor nearby, grateful to work even part of your huge plot and share the yield.
22
Beds/bins of soil raised up a foot or two will keep the plants at a comfortable height and keep you at this wonderful activity for a while longer.
4
Thanks to you and others, I'm getting more out of these comments than I did out of the article!
1
There are also those who choose to hire nannies 24/7 to deal with the most difficult parts of raising their children. While the gardeners and nannies are investing blood, sweat and tears (and hopefully being paid well), perhaps their employers are off doing grander things for the greater good. If not, I just wonder how they feel any sense of self-worth or satisfaction at the end of the day. The shallowness of the Baroness as compared to the depth of Maria in The Sound of Music comes to mind. But I'm not judging - we're all different, and I'm thankful for that!
11
Can one be a captain of industry, raise a vegetable garden, have children, play polo and fix world poverty and hunger while still having personal time?
1
Rich vegetables tending real vegetables. Changing the world one lettuce leaf at a time.
58
Hardly a secret. Elaborate gardens (we have one) require a lot of work to keep them in shape as I can personally testify. Anyone who didn't realize that the Martha's of this world have an army of "elves" must be very naïve. That said doing a lot of the stuff yourself is very satisfying.
57
Visiting a friend this summer, I was amazed by the number of gardeners I saw as he showed me around. No wonder all those lawns and gardens looked so pristine.
But the never-ending drone of mowers and hedge trimmers was a constant annoyance, and spoiled the illusion of a remote retreat.
But the never-ending drone of mowers and hedge trimmers was a constant annoyance, and spoiled the illusion of a remote retreat.
52
The never-ending drone of mowers and hedge trimmers generally is curtailed on Friday afternoon as the jets and helicopters begin descending into EH airport chock-ablock with masters of the universes. When the Bentleys roll through the privet they expect perfection for the mere hours they are ensconced at the palace. When the sun rises on Monday the deafening roar resumes.
6
One hopes that the next status symbol will be solar farms to produce the electricity their mansions use, before the gardens are inundated by rising seas. Ground mounted, behind a hedge of rosa rugosa, it wouldn't affect the view, or the aspect of the architect's vision. We did add a bit to cover charging the Tesla, but we just purchased offsets for the helicopter. We do so feel for the victims of Harvey."
44
Darling, just darling.
I grow my own vegetable garden. It's a lot of work and a great satisfaction to eat from it. And even though it's large, it looks nothing like these gorgeous, highly tended gardens. These look like something out of Versailles. And the people who own them remind me of the French nobility, somewhere in the early 1780's.
131
I am fine with this as a new way to spend wealth as long as the bounty is not wasted-- taking it to others who cannot participate, like the senior center is great. Also, that the plants act as hosts for pollinators and such. The wealthy are going to spend their money on something, it might as well be this. Of course, they could give it away too, and just have native plants! aka weeds!
87
Wow. The sense of well-being that one finds in gardening comes with the sweat and dirty hands of doing the work oneself. The warm satisfaction of picking the veggies one has nutured for months and turning them into a fantastic meal is directly proportional to persperation lost and grime proudly worn. Leave it to the super-wealthy to completely miss the point.
225
kevo:
Regard this other entitled Hamptons’ lifestyle article by the same Times writer from two years ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/nyregion/mozzarella-for-big-cheeses-at...
Heaven forbid some well to do person actually have to stock his/her refrigerator, or roast a chicken.
One would think that Times editor would wish to tone this kind of thing down. Note it’s not anything like a review of the food stuffs prepared by this market.
Regard this other entitled Hamptons’ lifestyle article by the same Times writer from two years ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/nyregion/mozzarella-for-big-cheeses-at...
Heaven forbid some well to do person actually have to stock his/her refrigerator, or roast a chicken.
One would think that Times editor would wish to tone this kind of thing down. Note it’s not anything like a review of the food stuffs prepared by this market.
2
Eh, not in my case.
While I end up doing everything myself, from planting to cooking, I think I'd enjoy the meal just as much if someone else had done all the work on my garden (after I ordered the plants, of course).
While I end up doing everything myself, from planting to cooking, I think I'd enjoy the meal just as much if someone else had done all the work on my garden (after I ordered the plants, of course).
1
Having worked my joints into a state of swollen rigidity and been deemed the dirtiest mom on the planet, I'd love to have had some help after my free labor left home.
This is a wonderful story about the bounty of the earth. That wealth plants and enjoys is terrific.
8
First of all: it's great to be rich! Second: it's nice to have a spleen! Even if it's only concerning vegetables.
3
A wonderful description of diversions of the rich, powerful, and (?) idle into the cultivation of vegetables. One wonders, whether the game is worth the candle, and it would not have been more pleasing to the eye to see exotic flower beds rather than rows of pedestrian vegetables.
With profound apologies to vegetable lovers, I should mention that I like only raw radishes, celery, bib lettuce, and scallions.
With profound apologies to vegetable lovers, I should mention that I like only raw radishes, celery, bib lettuce, and scallions.
9
The gardens on these properties would be maintained by paid gardeners no matter the type of plants. That some of the plants are crops is fantastic! Better to grow food for humans and pollinators than just ornamental plants. I garden for others and am thrilled when the work includes vegetables and the companion pollinator supporting plants.
137
As a part time resident of Chicago, I'd rather pay the "vig" at the Greenmarket in Lincoln Park on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to the people who are actually farming, growing and harvesting these wonderful vegetable, "in season", than receive a gift basket from these Hamptonites' "farmhands"! Puhleeeeze!
"...exotic flower beds..." and "...pedestrian vegetables.." ???? The tendency in gardens for many many years is to grow native plants, not exotic plants...And vegetables are not pedestrian, they are very beautiful and have been encorporated into many well know garden designers' plans for years. Just look up Russell Page for one example.
3