Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.

With gorgeous weather and in front of enthusiastic crowds, Martha Stewart and Dan Barber were among the celebrities who kicked off the opening of The Edible Garden summer-long exhibitions this past Saturday at The New York Botanical Garden. You may have seen some of the coverage on NY1 News, WABC-TV, WCBS-TV, or WNBC-TV, or you may have read about it in New York magazine, The New York Times, New York’s Daily News, or online at Daily Kos and dozens of blogs.

Those of you who were here in person witnessed Martha Stewart and her friends answering audience questions about the Culinary Herb Garden they designed and demonstrating how to make delicious cocktails using homegrown herbs. Dan Barber, winner of the James Beard Foundation 2009 Outstanding Chef Award, captivated visitors with his insightful presentation about the farm-to-table movement. Other special guests who appeared on the Conservatory Kitchen stage during the opening weekend, providing delectable cooking demonstrations, were: Johnny Iuzzini, Michael Anthony, Peter Hoffman, Aida Mollenkamp, and Michel Nischan. Recipes by some of The Edible Garden participants can be found on our Web site. Thanks to all of our sponsors for helping make it all possible.

Other attractions included lectures by Amy Goldman on Heirloom Tomatoes and Rosalind Creasy on Gardening with Heirloom Flowers and Vegetables. There were booksignings, home gardening demonstrations, and tours—all part of the Botanical Garden’s continuing efforts to showcase edible plants as economical, nutritious, and good for the environment.

If you missed the opening weekend, you can still experience The Edible Garden throughout the summer until September 13. Multiple exhibitions are on display across the Garden’s 250 acres, including Tropical Fruits, Roots, and Shoots in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and Vegetables and Kids in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, to name just two. Other highlights of The Edible Garden include an Edible Audio Tour narrated by Mario Batali and others, Edible Evenings for seven Thursday nights beginning July 9, the Farmers Market all day every Wednesday and Saturday, and a closing weekend festival to wrap it all up on September 12 and 13.

For all the details and to purchase tickets, visit our Edible Garden Web pages.

Carol Capobianco is Editorial Content Manager at The New York Botanical Garden.

We can hardly believe it, but a year has already passed since our blog content team first assembled and officially launched Plant Talk: Inside The New York Botanical Garden.

Since then we’ve brought you a full schedule of posts from Monday through Friday on a broad range of topics, from gardening tips and science stories to behind-the-scenes glimpses and fun things to see and do. And we’ve had an extensive field of interesting contributors—at last count, over 70 people had written entries, including staff members from a variety of departments, students, and volunteers.

Along the way we’ve picked up a number of fans: people who have selected Plant Talk as one of their favorite blogs or who have added us to their blog rolls or who have written about us on their own Web pages.

We hope you are enjoying the ride as much as we are. Please let us know what you’ve liked and what you’d like to see more of. As always, we look forward to hearing from you as we continue to share with you all the wonderful exhibitions, garden collections, programs, research, classes, and more taking place here at The New York Botanical Garden.