During the summer months when people’s thoughts turn to picnics, barbecues, and leisurely meals at outdoor parties and cafes, The New York Botanical Garden will present The Edible Garden, a campuswide, summer-long celebration of growing great food. From June 27 through September 13, visitors to the Garden will enjoy multiple exhibits, including Martha Stewart’s Culinary Herb Garden, the Beginner’s Vegetable Garden, and a flower show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory called Tropical Fruits, Roots, and Shoots; two festival weekends—one in June and one in September—that celebrate local, sustainable food choices and global cuisine; seven Thursday evening events that include wine and beer tastings; foodrelated programming; and more.
Visitors will learn that gardening with edible plants is economical, nutritious, and good for the environment. Set throughout the Botanical Garden’s spectacular 250-acre landscape, the celebration of edible plants will inspire visitors to grow, prepare, and eat garden-fresh produce and will offer opportunities for children and adults alike to better understand how plants provide the food and drink that are essential to maintaining life and enhancing wellness. The Edible Audio Tour, narrated by Mario Batali and Bette Midler, with commentary by James Beard Foundation 2009 Outstanding Chef Awardwinner Dan Barber, will allow visitors to discover where their food comes from and how it gets to their table.
Through captivating horticultural displays and engaging programs, The Edible Garden will demonstrate the bounty of edible plants, teach vegetable growing and garden design, and offer celebrity food presentations.
Esteemed chefs and television personalities scheduled to appear at The New York Botanical Garden this summer include Dan Barber, Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich, Daisy Martinez, Aida Mollenkamp, Sunny Anderson, Anne Burrell, and others.
Programming during The Edible Garden will include a number of activities sure to delight anyone with a passion for gardening, cooking, and entertaining, or even the casual summer visitor. On select days Cooking Demonstrations in the Conservatory Kitchen, an outdoor kitchen located on the Conservatory Lawn, provided by Viking and designed by National Kitchen & Bath Association, will showcase renowned and up-and-coming chefs using the latest in kitchenware from sponsor Anolon to entertain visitors with “farm to table” cooking, new and exciting ways of incorporating fresh produce and herbs into everyday meals, lectures, and panels. In its splendid setting beside the Garden’s iconic Victorian glasshouse, visitors can learn innovative and healthy recipes using a multitude of edible plants from around the world.
The Edible Garden will begin and end with two exciting festival weekends. The fun will start with The Edible Local Garden: A Local Food Festival on June 27 and 28, the exhibition’s opening weekend. Visitors will explore the Botanical Garden, where they can discover the origins of food and learn about the plants and plant parts that they eat every day. Experts in the local and sustainable food movements will share information, and Garden scientists will explain their research relating to food plants and healthy living. Celebrity chefs will provide healthy cooking demonstrations, and Garden staff will offer home gardening demonstrations on growing vegetables.
The special festivities will continue on seven Thursdays in July and August with Edible Evenings: A Celebration of Wine, Beer, and Food. From cooking demonstrations with local chefs to beer and wine tastings, guests will experience a summer evening in the Garden with programming that includes demonstrations, lectures, and concerts during four of the seven evenings. Edible Evenings will take place on July 9, 16, 23, and 30, and August 6, 13, and 20, 6 to 9 p.m.
Every Wednesday near Tulip Tree Allée and every Saturday across the street from the Garden’s Mosholu Gate entrance, from June 17 through November 14, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the popular Farmers Market will return with the message “Sustaining Farms, Sustaining Nature, Sustaining You,” providing affordable, locally grown produce and fresh, nutritious baked goods. The Farmers Market is presented through Greenmarket, the largest and most successful open-air farmers markets program in the country, connecting local farmers with city residents by delivering fresh healthy produce to all five boroughs.
The exhibition will end with another weekend festival, The Edible Global Garden: Buy Local, Cook Global, on September 12 and 13. Visitors will discover new recipes; take part in cooking demonstrations featuring cuisine from around the world, lectures, and panel discussions with world-renowned chefs; learn about the work of Garden scientists around the world; and taste food, wine, and beer.
