Natirar

Ananyms are words that spell a different word when reversed, hence the name Natirar. Spelling the word Raritan and then applying the definition you can see how one of the premier properties in New Jersey, and soon the world, got its name. Natirar has, for as long as I can remember, intrigued me for its history and vacancy. A property located in Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills and Bedminster, New Jersey has its heritage dating back some 100 years and originally covered over 1000 acres. Kate Macy and Walter Ladd began acquiring small, local farmsteads in the late 1800’s. Macy, a Quaker heiress to a whaling, oil and shipping fortune and Ladd whose professional occupation was later listed as an insurance broker named their property Natirar and had Guy Lowell, a Harvard architect, design a Tudor-style mansion deep within the property’s belly. The estate includes some 22 buildings, six wells, 3 bridges, NJ transit right-of-way, 3 streams, a pond, woodlands and, of course, the 33,000 square foot mansion. I can remember as a young adult pulling over on the side of the road wondering who lived there and admiring the vast property with all those glorious trees.

Fast forward to present day, I suppose I have Sir Richard Branson to thank for my admittance. After Kate Macy’s death, her legacy of helping ladies in distress, was carried on by her husband and in 1983 the property was sold and the convalescent home for “deserving gentlewomen who are compelled to depend upon their own exertions for support shall be entertained without charge…” was no more. It was sold to His Majesty; King Hassan II of Morocco for a mere 7.5 million dollars and for the next 20 years was owned by the King who never spent a night there. Upon his death, his son, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, inherited the property and eventually sold the 491-acre estate to the Somerset County Park Commission for 22 million dollars. Recently, approximately 90 acres of the property has been leased to the Virgin Spa at Natirar, an entity controlled by Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group. Plans to develop this portion of the property include the mansion, stable/carriage barn as well as the outer buildings. An exclusive hotel, spa and restaurant complex are all in the works. It is here that Sir Richard Branson has given me my passport to the property.

A few months back Natirar opened its doors, so to speak, and the first phase of the project was underway. Ninety Acres is an extraordinary restaurant where organic, sustainable gardening is at the forefront. A collaborative effort between Sterling College, a liberal arts college specializing in Sustainable Agriculture and Conservation Ecology in Craftsbury Common, Vermont and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, NJAES, both units of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey have teamed up to help this farming model. Kudos should also be given to Robert Wojtowicz, Natirar’s founder who was introduced to William Wootton, the president of Sterling College and Robert Goodman, executive dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Rutgers and executive director at NJAES.

The drive up to the restaurant has you wind slowly through a cow pasture past some magnificent old trees hugging a shallow, but rocky riverbed. This all gives way to some stone cottages and a glimpse of the mansion before you get to Ninety Acres. The outside of the restaurant has very deliberate raised beds filled with fresh herbs that you will most certainly experience on the menu. Geometric forms lay inside pea gravel complete with obelisks supporting the more aggressive culinary treats. All this is held within the confines of an elegant and stately boxwood perimeter. Smack dab in the middle of all this, just before you enter the front door, is a Ginkgo tree. Good call!! Chef David Felton is determined to bring you the freshest, natural ingredients. Surrounded by its own organic farm and gardens, our dinner party sat inside a private room, walled with glass overlooking the farm. Katy’s arugula, Oak Grove brussel sprouts, Paradise Hill heirloom cranberries, Natirar’s Berkshire pigs, Griggstown pheasants and Davidson bluefoot mushrooms are just a few of the morsels you may encounter.

With thought given to preserve the area as part of the greenway and understanding Sir Richard Branson’s thoughts when he decided to start his airline, “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them… from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it” we can all appreciate a bit of history while sampling some extraordinary cuisine.

A Deciduous Conifer

For many the term deciduous conifer seems to be a misnomer. The thought of a tree losing its foliage yet still considered a conifer is improbable. Often I talk about selecting smaller plants for smaller garden footprints. There are times however, when a large tree, whether evergreen or deciduous, just captures our attention and has us staring in awe. Looking on at some of these majestic creatures has us contemplating age, endurance and historical significance.

Ginkgo biloba, ginkgo, has been around for some 150 million years. Dating back to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, a time when dinosaurs ruled, this garden gem inhabited Asia, Europe, and North America. It was not only widespread, but common to these areas. Ginkgo or Maidenhair tree has its common name from its leaves resembling those of Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum). Thought to be extinct, we have German physician and botanist, Engelbert Kaempfer, to thank for his discovery of Ginkgo in Japan in 1691. The curiously shaped leaves of this majestic conifer are distinctive in appearance A link between present and past, this tree can live longer than 3,000 years holding some of times unanswered secrets. Distinctive, two lobed, leaves are somewhat leathery, waxy, and fan shaped with an attached leaf stalk. As a younger tree, Ginkgo, is more open in appearance, however over time it becomes a dense, handsome specimen with spreading rigidly ramified branching. Its bark is gray-brown with even darker furrows. Ginkgo prefers full sun to partial shade and moist, well drained soils. However, you would have to look far to find a tree more adaptable. Known to grow in poor, compacted soils, this tree has endured fungal, insect pests, viral, bacterial diseases, ozone and sulfur dioxide pollution, fire and even radioactive radiation (atom bomb WWII).

Ginkgo comes from the Chinese word Ginkyo or “silver –apricot”, referencing the seed size and appearance to that of an apricot and the silvery bloom of the fruit. When possible, purchase male varieties as you will avoid the unpleasant fleshy seedcoat of the female. The fallen seed of the female has been compared to rancid butter as it decomposes having the presence of butanoic acid, a byproduct of many plants and animals. In the late 1950’s medicine began to catch up to Ginkgo realizing that extracts from the tree can improve blood circulation and memory, thus preventing blood clotting, providing an improved sense of well-being. The leaves are also used in tea for a variety of ailments. In fact the nut has long been used in Chinese medicine for asthma, bronchitis and digestive aid. They are even eaten as a side dish when drinking sake.

Several cultivars and varieties are available today which deviate from their parental giant. Ginkgo b. “Fastigaiata” is an architectural vertical accent that is almost columnar in appearance. “Magyar” is an upright narrow, pyramidal form with clean, green summer leaves. “Princeton Sentry” exhibits uniformed upright branching, remaining narrow over time and is this authors favorite tree. The preceding three cultivars incidentally are all male. Still others are available with spreading characteristics “Pragense” and variegated foliage “Rainbow and Variegata.” A constant of almost all ginkgos is the expected electric fall color display of yellow-gold. Remember while there are smaller types for smaller landscape footprints, Ginkgo biloba will hit 60 to 80 feet some day.

One of the toughest trees you will find, Maidenhair’s application can be a street tree, sited for urban development, used in parks or find a cultivar to hide away in your own garden. A tree of ancient lineage this “golden living fossil” has been revered by Buddhist monks and has its place along side temples. Paleobotanist, Sir Albert Seward (1938) said it best, “It appeals to the historic soul: we see it as an emblem of changelessness, a heritage from worlds too remote for our human intelligence to grasp, a tree which has in its keeping the secrets of the immeasurable past.”