Meet Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge, two NYC city-slickers who decided to trade in city living for life on an organic farm in upstate New York. The couple are the stars of Planet Green’s new upcoming television series The Fabulous Beekman Boys, which follows Josh and Brent as they jump through hoops to get Beekman farm up and running. Josh, an advertising executive, and Brent, a doctor, while incredibly eager and endearingly enthusiastic about their new venture, have no prior skills in farming and have learned everything they know from the internet. Needless to say, the duo’s lack of experience makes for highly entertaining television; viewers will root for them as they take on one humorous obstacle after another in pursuance of their dream to run an eco-friendly farm.
But Beekman Farm serves as more than just a beautiful property and home to the two Beekman Boys; it is also the source from which they have built a new sustainable business, Beekman 1802, selling all farm-made products such as Goat’s Milk Soap and Beekman 1802 Blaak cheese (now available on their website and in specialty cheese stores like Murray’s). From the Beekman 1802 website:
“We call our farm a shared experiment in seasonal living. Whether you have a hundred acres of land or a window box at your apartment, we can all better learn how to live naturally, seasonally, and stylishly from each other – one bar of goat milk soap at a time.”
ABC Kitchen
Last Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the launch event for the television series The Fabulous Beekman Boys, hosted by Planet Green. Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new sustainable, “green” restaurant ABC Kitchen located in the East Village provided the perfect backdrop to celebrate a show all about farm-to-table living. The dishes served were designed by Jean-Georges himself specially for the event, a few of which included Beekman Blaak cheese, a new favorite among my wide ranging and ecclectic taste in cheeses. I also have now had the chance to sample Beekman 1802′s lavender-scented Goat’s Milk Soap, which was included in the great gift bags from the event. Lavender happens to be my favorite summer fragrance – I will definitely be re-ordering!
Alison, Nicole, Amber, Me
At the event, I met up with Nicole of Linus’s Blanket and we made friends with Jameson of BLoGT: NYU’s Queer Blog (and supplier of all the photos you see here from the event – thank you Jameson!). We three had a wonderful time hanging out with Amber Harris, Discovery’s Manager of Digital Communications, and Alison Rudnick, Director of Corporate Communications. During BEA, Gayle from Every Day I Write the Book introduced me to Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s new book The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir, which just released in stores this month. With a similar wit and eye for humor as the upcoming show, The Bucolic Plague recounts stories of their pre-Beekman lives and the path that took them there (Kilmer-Purcell was once a drag queen named “Aqua” whose signature costume was complete with live goldfish swimming around in her would-be bosom), as well as fun tales from their current lives on the farm surrounded by goats, chickens, cows, turkeys, rabbits, pigs and a “diva” of a lama named Polkaspot. Check back here tomorrow for a giveaway to win your own copy of the book. I had a great time meeting “Fabulous Beekman Boy” Josh and chatting with him about his thoughts on blogging/new media and about his new book and the show, which looks well, fabulous of course!
Catch The Fabulous Beekman Boys premiere on Planet Green next Wednesday, June 16th at 9pm EST.
Thanks for the shout-out! I am glad you liked the book and had a good time at the party!!
Sounds like a fun evening-you are fortunate to be living in NYC and being able to attend events like this. I will be back tomorrow.
Will have to check out this book and show. Interesting premise.