Over the years, I have read my fair share of memoirs of folks moving out of the big city and buying a farm and the antics that follow. It Takes a Village Idiot by Jim Mullen is by far my favorite. He used to be a columnist for Entertainment Weekly, and much like the recent departure of Stephen King from that publication, I think the magazine hasn’t been the same since he left. Others that I have read that have left an impact too. They just seem to reinforce my “win the big lotto” dream to run away to the Catskills and buy a farm and bed and breakfast. Most recently, a book to do just that was The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell.
Josh is a former drag queen and current advertising exec who purchased a farm in upstate New York a few years back. He is one half of The Fabulous Beekman Boys, which airs on Planet Green on Tuesdays at 10 pm. Brent, his partner, is a former Martha Stewart employee and doctor, who has started Beekman 1802, a business based on the farm that makes goat’s milk cheeses, soaps and has dipped its toe into the seed business.
My sister-in-law used to work for the publishing house that produces this book, so I was able to be gifted a copy last summer. I had already begun to watch the show, which is hilarious, and wanted to read the book in order to better understand their motives for buying the property and to read about what happened in the year before the show began production. The book is filled with great vignettes about how over their heads these two were with the purchase and the people that they have met along the way in Sharon Springs, NY. Brent’s idea for the business is a good one, but getting a business off the ground can always be rocky and Kilmer-Purcell is honest in his portrayal of that in the book.
In addition to enjoying the book and laughing out loud at parts, I can attest to loving the show. I don’t watch a lot of TV anymore since the arrival of the Tomato, but this is one show that I have kept in the DVR lineup. Season 2 started last week, which I forgot to tape, but Planet Green reruns old episodes before new ones on Tuesdays, so it is easy to catch up. Season 1 is rerunning on the channel as well and is available for download on iTunes. The show is filled with characters, from the gay couple who own the American Hotel in downtown Sharon Springs to Farmer John, the goat farmer that raises his goats on the Beekman land. Brent and Josh do bicker a bit, but most of the show is interesting to watch in order to see how they transform the property and build a brand. Clearly, Brent has a good base for building a brand since he worked for the all powerful Martha. But, they show the negatives and positives to launching a new product and the work that goes into such an endeavor.
I have purchased their homemade soap, which is made using the milk from Farmer John’s goats, as a gift for my sister this past Christmas and she said that it smells divine. I would love to stop by the store that they have opened in Sharon Springs when we make our yearly pilgrimage to Cooperstown this summer. The town is adorable and I’d like to pop in and tell the guys how much I enjoy the show and sample the goat’s milk cheese that I wasn’t able to try last year while pregnant. The company has also started to carry linens and other household items that I’d like to see in person before buying.
The newest part of the company is a partnership with D. H. Landreth Seed Company (whose owners happen to be the boys’ neighbors). Along with Williams-Sonoma, Beekman 1802 is now marketing an heirloom seed collection that contains a variety of heirloom seeds to help anyone start a garden in their backyard. They have started a program for gardeners to share their experiences with the different seeds in the packet and I am curious to follow along this year. I didn’t purchased the group of seeds because it contained some vegetables that we have no interest in growing (I’m talking about you radishes) and while they are heirlooms (which I love to grow), they are not organic. But, if being organic is not a requirement for your garden, I would highly recommend this line. Landreth has done a great job of preserving American heirloom vegetables and its fun to choose heirlooms and see how you enjoy them compared to the traditional or hybrid varieties to which we have grown accustomed.
Overall, I think this brand is off to a good start and I look forward to the show each week. I would highly recommend the book. It’s a light read and one that I finished in about a week. Also, look for Josh and Brent as they tour the country marketing the brand and doing book signings. They often pair with great shops, such as Terrain, so the trip to see them may bring you to some other gardening, culinary or literary gems that you weren’t expecting.
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