Duke Farms, NJ

Environmental and ecologic responsibility are the last things I thought of as I woke up this morning. With the long weekend stretched ahead I had jotted down some tentative plans.

1. Visit the NJ planetarium in Trenton
2. Eat certified Pizza (la vera pizza Napoletana)

So I started my Saturday cleaning the floors (which makes me happy) and while mopping gave a lot of thought as to what to wear for my date to the planetarium. I wanted to wear something pretty, fresh and chic. Satisfied with my decision I joyfully got ready and even put on some perfume. My pretty purse came dancing out of the closet and in went my wallet, phone and keys. Then my husband came out ready for the day dressed like a backwoodsman.

"Ready for the day! Where is ax?! I'm off to build me a log cabin!"

 He glared at my outfit disapprovingly and announced, "That won't do. You should change unless you want to be eaten by ticks and get lyme disease." I glared back. This was my pretty princess chic outfit and he would have to have a great reason for me to change and rub off my precious perfume. "The planetarium is closed so I am taking you to Duke Farms where it is smelly and dirty but you will like it so you should hurry up and change."

His plans are usually really good so I didn't question it too long and changed into work-out clothes threw my wallet and things into my body-cross "travel purse" that can hold a water bottle and withstand anything: angry rain storms, blizzards, hurricanes, running from homeless people chasing me...etc. that rock of a purse! Then we jumped in the car and headed out to this famous Duke Farm. I thought it would be some place with a few smelly horses and pigs but it was in fact a spectacular wonderful amazing place fit for a queen.

Duke Farms was started by tobacco mongol James Duke, as in Duke University, as in the founder of the American Tobacco Company. That Duke. Well, Dukey Duke was filthy rich from selling his tobacco. He didn't know what to do with all of his money so decided to buy some 27,000 acres of pretty land in NJ and build himself an agricultural self-sustained farm. Fancy thinking for back then. Well, Mr. Duke had one daughter, Doris Duke. She took over Duke Farms in NJ when her dad passed away and made it her life's mission to preserve natural habitats of animals, plant species and also donated money towards medical research.

Today Duke Farms shows the pompous glory typical of the early 1910's, much like the new movie the Great Gatsby. But what it also shows is how nature and modern life can live in harmony. Duke farms is all powered by solar panels. All of its running water comes from rain collected in cysterns. The best part about Duke Farms? The transportation and gardens! The only form of transportation there are bicycles and if you don't have one, well they will let you borrow one for FREE.

We don't own bicycles, and I have been dreaming of one since I left Cremona, Italy. Cremona is the city in Italy where everyone rides on the bike, even in the rain holding an umbrella and pedaling away. So it was a big treat to go riding in the countryside today, stopping at green houses and admiring nature.

Duke Farms

Free bikes to borrow!

 We stopped at all of the greenhouses along the way. But my favorite was the one dedicated to orchids. For some reason it reminded me of artist Judy Chicago's famous "Dinner Party" where she painted 39 plates like flowers and dedicated each one to an important woman. I think her strong yet delicate flower plates are a perfect way of interpreting the historically overlooked accomplishments of the women represented. The orchid collection made me think of Judy and I am sure she would have been inspired by one of the flowers to create another plate.

The orchid greenhouse!!!

see how pretty?

My mom's favorite colors.

Orchid paradise

The peaceful road by the orchid greenhouse

One of over 50 empty stone "cottages" in Duke Farms.

"knock knock! It's Hansel and Gretel. Can we clean this house, upkeep it and live in it? We promise to be good!"

Mr Duke wanted to build a mansion like Versailles France, but never finished his plan. 

He got the foundation finished and stopped there. I think it looks hideous and they should build something anyway. 

Mr. James Duke

taking a break

the stables...Um. I would happily live in a stable like this one!

The garden state

Thanks for a great ride, Duke Farms bicycle! 

After the country ride we went in the hunt of the next real pizza. You see, in Naples Italy the birthplace of the pizza, they have a strict recipe for making a Napolitan pizza. I blogged about "la Vera Pizza Napoletana" here when we were in last in Naples. In Italy they strict guidelines for high quality food that is certified as being authentic with something called D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origini Controllata) Napolitan style pizza made it on the list of high quality DOC food and thus a pizza association was born to protect and enforce the recipe and guidelines. This pizza association has strict guidelines for worldwide pizzerias that want to have a certification. There is a list of the pizzerias that are certified and as luck would have it, there are several in NJ and NYC. We have been dutifully eating our way through these pizzerias judging their taste, texture and authenticity. Today's pizzeria was Massimo's .

The pizza there got a 9 on our list. Their dough was well made, stretched over a bed of semolina. Their tomatoes were the right consistency and texture and the taste was slightly sweet yet lightly acidic. The cheese was also good bearing a creamy texture that had the right amount of salt and fat and was smooth to bite and not chewy. Out pizzaiolo (the pizza maker) really new how to do the right thing. He tossed in a log of wood first to the oven (must be a wood oven), he lightly smoked our pizzas then drizzled a few drops of high quality olive oil on the top when they were done. He was taught right.

We were famished after biking for hours. The certified perfect pizzas hit the spot.

One pizzeria down, more to go!


Going to Duke Farms made me realize how important it is for us to be nicer to the planet. Sure recycling is necessary, but there are probably other ways we can help cut down harmful pollutants and use less products.

Here are a few ideas I thought of:

1. Get a water filter instead of buying bottled water. (NJ tap water tastes horrible)
2. Buy clothes at consignment shops. This cuts down supporting sweat shops and reuses good materials.
3. Walk to the grocery store at least once a week for the small shopping.
4. Buy less needless junk.