2 min read- Ina Garten revealed that the flourishing crabapple orchard at her East Hampton home began with inexpensive saplings she planted decades ago because mature trees were beyond her budget.
- After years of patience and care, the once-small saplings grew into a stunning orchard that now blooms spectacularly each spring.
- Garten’s story highlights how investing time in low-maintenance, pollinator-friendly crabapple trees can yield beautiful and rewarding long-term results.
Ina Garten may have reached the pinnacle of success among cooking and entertaining enthusiasts, but her rise to fame didn’t happen overnight. Just like her career, her garden has humble DIY beginnings.
Garten recently took to Instagram to share a look at the gardens at her East Hampton home, brimming with crabapple trees in full bloom. Garten and her husband bought this property in the 1980s after moving her Barefoot Contessa storefront to the area. Together, they turned it into a five-bedroom coastal dream home. Later, in 2006, she acquired the neighboring property and expanded the estate. The new 2,000-square-foot space became a work and entertaining hub, lovingly nicknamed “The Barn.” While the trees on her property look lush and in their springtime glory today, they weren’t always that way.
As Garten writes in the post’s caption: “When Jeffrey and I built this house in East Hampton, I decided to put in my first garden. I wanted an orchard of white crabapple trees, but I couldn’t afford 25 of them, so I found a local nursery that had saplings that had skinny trunks with two branches. I planted them but thought I wouldn’t live long enough to see them mature.”
Well, we’re happy to see that in the decades since, her crabapple orchard has indeed come to full-grown fruition.
“Boy, was I wrong!” Garten continues in the caption. “This is what those trees look like every spring over the last 10 years. Patience really paid off!”
Crabapple trees are noted for their particularly aesthetic appearance, but the plant does come with other perks. These flowering trees are low-maintenance and resilient through all seasons. They also carry a reputation for early pollination. Known to bloom in abundance, they make a great addition to any greenhouse or orchard, helping boost the fruit yields of neighboring trees. Even sweeter, the crabapple itself is a versatile ingredient, perfect for a “use what you have” chef like Ina.
In today’s market, a single, adult tree can sell for over $500 while younger branches go for around $100 at most. As Ina details in her caption, growing an orchard of one’s own can be a serious investment in both time and money. The old saying must be true—all good things take time, even for the Barefoot Contessa.
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