A tour of my farm
Just before last Thanksgiving, we invited photographer, Paul Mobley as a guest on my television show (Watch Here), where he introduced his fabulous new book entitled American Farmer.Ă‚Â Before branching out on his own, Paul apprenticed for many years for photography greats Annie Leibovitz, Steve Steigman, and David Langley.Ă‚Â Their influence can certainly be seen in this ambitious work filled with exquisite photographs and personal narratives of farmers all across this country.
Appearing on the show with Paul were a few of his subjects. Cousin Don, and quite a character by the way, traveled from his fifth generation farm in Clifford, Michigan. There on 80-acres, Cousin Don produces eggs, jams, jellies, maple syrup, raspberries, tomatoes, eggplant, and sweet corn. Don is very active in his local farmers’ markets and his motto is “know your farmer, know your food.”  Alice Wiemers came from a 150-acre farm in Texas where they raise corn, beef, and honey. And Carly DelSignore and Aaron Bell visited from their magnificent 1600-acre plot in Maine. These ninth generation farmers run an organic farm producing mixed vegetables, dairy, chickens, turkeys, beef, and pork. After the show I invited, those who could make it, on a little tour of my farm. Here are the photos.
Lucky lucky you! Someday I'll have my own farm.
Posted by: Norbie Kamantigue | February 8th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Really Fantastic Farm house, I will also pan to visit.
Posted by: chirs | February 9th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Hello. Farmers I know are down-to-earth people who respect nature. They don't put on airs. They know their place in the universe is small & temporary. I grew up among them but attended college. Now I'm in no man's land.
Posted by: Mina (like Mynah, a bird) | February 9th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Martha,you have the best of both worlds. Summer and Winter with your hot houses.
I know you were here in Florida during our cold spell, but wouldn't you love to come back, it's starting to warm up. I'm here at The Villages. We have a Barnes and Noble if your ever interested in doing a book signing, that would be exciting!
Betsy
Posted by: Betsy Mech | February 9th, 2009 at 3:09 am
Hi Martha,
Not only are they a seemingly fun group, but also very lucky to see the farm. As always, great pics. Three eggs say so much.
Very interesting about egg shape determining sex. And will copy the tree-branch-ladder-leaning-on-a-fence-posing-as-a-roost IDEA for my hens ASAP! Great idea!
Yes, Very lovely lemons you have , my dear...:)
Posted by: tinay | February 9th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Hi Martha,
Your farm is a dream! I would go nuts in any one of those buildings especially the equipment barn, the stables, the green house, the chicken coop, the…..Would you believe a friend and I were discussing tractors just the other day? Well, she was talking about the new ones with the cabs and I talked about golf carts because I don’t see many tractors in my neck of the woods. Look at your citrus tree! Good grief, I have been nurturing a shoot from my orange tree for two years and it isn’t doing anything yet, and you have more tropical plants than I do too. If you had a house in Florida, I can only imagine how beautiful the landscape would be! Thanks again for another bird’s eye view of your farm. Trish
Posted by: Trish | February 9th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Hi Martha, What a fantastic tour of your farm for these farmers! They all seemed to enjoy seeing all of your equipment, barns and pastures. I love all of these photos, including the ones from the farmers. My favorite photo was the one of Cousin Don and Martyn. I can almost hear them singing. I had no idea that Mike Fiore was your property manager. How great. I remember him from many of your old shows. Thanks again for sharing. Stay warm everybody. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | February 9th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I had to chuckle at one of your later captions, Martha, how farmers are so interested in storage buildings - I too was fascinated being inside your equipment barn - honest, I was! I tho't "aha!" when I 'stepped inside', as your bird feeders are hanging outside this building, aren't they? (I remember the clerestory windows.) One of my favorite photos today is of your various chicken species, perched on their ladder-perch - it's adorable and how pretty they are! baKaaK! (I couldn't resist! [giggle] ) Another vantage point I loved was in the Kawasaki, approaching the barns - the road is juuust a little higher as one approaches the barns - as the gravel path bends, the barns with their beautiful stone work appear seemingly 'tucked in', with the mountains in the background - that is pretty to me, along with your beautiful 'boys' in their stalls. What a feast for my eyes AND soul as I meander around your farm... You are sooooo blessed, Martha, to have all this natural beauty surrounding you!
I especially enjoyed the bird-feeding segment on Friday's (Feb 6th's) show with Stephen Kress. In my opinion, there are no better feeders than Droll Yankee - they have a feeder for every intention and solution. A local nursery plays the same tape as was shown where that pesky (I love them, though) squirrel spins around that bird feeder - I have nearly doubled over laughing at the whole scenario when I stop to view it. Being a long-time feeder of my feathered friends, it is r-e-a-l-l-y difficult to outsmart a squirrel (any fellow birder will attest, I assure you!) They will jump, and (seemingly) fly, and cling, and gyrate, and chewchewchew 'til they get their way and/or dominate a feeder until it is empty! They're veryvery naughty, but at the same time, endearing. (Furry balls of badness - that's what they are!)
Speaking of birds... Martha, you mustmustMUST have someone incorporate a bluebird trail on your farm! Your ecosystem and environment there is an ideal habitat for them. They love a forest's edge along wide open fields, and they're wonderful insect eaters. Nesting boxes are placed on the field's edge, so many feet off the ground, and so many feet apart from the next box. They DO have to be monitored, to ensure other bird species that are less desirable don't proliferate and end up taking over the nesting boxes (or for snakes that love to eat the eggs). Bluebirds are beautiful little birds (in the robin [thrush] family) that are so rewarding with a beautiful little warbly song. They take my breath away. I would squeal with delight if you happened to tell us at one point on your show or blog that you had implemented a bluebird trail.
(Mmmhmm...yes, I would!)
=^..^=
"To dig and delve in nice clean dirt can do a mortal little hurt."--John Kendrick Bangs
Posted by: Cindy Bricker | February 9th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I was recently reading a magazine...a Canadian home one I think and when reading the photographer bios one said his greatest job was photographing your farm. I was going to look up the pictures and now I don't have to. As a photographer that is quite an honour...I would love to shoot still lifes of all your lovely chatchkas. all the best,
http://www.snickerdoodles.typepad.com
Posted by: kerry macLeod | February 9th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I found the magazine I referred to earlier...it was Style at Home, in this month's High/Low issue. The photographer was Andreas Trauttmansdorff and it actually said: memorable assignment: " Meeting Martha Stewart and photographing the roses in her Long Island garden." Do you have any experience with cork flooring or advice? We are ordering for a build on a budget and I think it might be a nice option in terms of aestethics, sound control (for my three boys) and comfort.
http://www.snickerdoodles.typepad.com
Posted by: kerry macLeod | February 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Very nice pictures. What a beautiful farm you have. Organic farming seems quite popular today. Even the food I get for my dog, the company uses organic ingredients. Loved the picture of singing Martyn!
Posted by: Sherry | February 9th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I love your horses & your farm is beautiful. I'm jealous. Please post more about your horses & other animals. JoAnn
Posted by: JoAnn | February 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am
These are great pics! I would love if you did a segment on your chickens. Show us your coops, how you keep them clean, (very important this day in age with the threat of avian flu), if you have your chickens vaccinated? Call it "Chickens 101". Give us all the information we need about raising chickens Also, do you think you could provide a template/plan for a basic chicken coop? Looking forward to a segment on Chickens!
Posted by: ML | February 9th, 2009 at 11:13 am
You've got some pretty serious equipment there Martha! It pains me to look at other peoples' gardens some days because I don't have one as a renter. Luckily it's only a temporary situation and I should be a home owner again in a couple years where I plan to make use of all my new gardening knowledge I've acquired from the special Gardening issue of Marta Stewart Living. By then I may have even developed a green thumb. LOL!
Posted by: Kari | February 9th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Martha,
What would your definition of a farm be?
Posted by: Margie | February 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am
You're so lucky Martha.
Posted by: Julie | February 9th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Hi, Martha,
Thanks for the update on photographer Paul Mobley and the subjects of his new book American Farmer, Cousin Don, alice Wiemers, and Carly DelSignore. When I heard of Mobley's book and his subjects on your program around Thanksgiving, I thought of my father and my brother, two farmers who cared and care for the land and animals they tend(ed). I also thought of all the work and fun of life on the farm---among them baling and unloading, weeding, harvesting and preserving the crops as well as feeding the animals, walking on the land, games of baseball in the summer and sledding and snow fort building in the winter. I can still see the sun rise early in the morning, hear the young calves cry out for their breakfast, and taste the delicious food we grew and raised.
Thanks for the memories, Martha.
Kathy
Posted by: Kathy | February 9th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Kerry MacLeod wanted to know what I feel about cork flooring - I love it! I have used it in my apartment kitchen in New York City and up in Maine. I also love it on walls. Hope you choose it.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | February 9th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Cousin Don and Martyn signing --- how fun ! What a lovely picture that you captured! The country was built by farmers --- including George Washington who wanted to continue farming --- and not be a president --- he had to persuaded to leave the farm!
Posted by: Teresa Touey | February 9th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I absolutely love to see pictures of your farm. We've (my husband and I) farmed all our married lives (40 years this September) and we're living on a farm 6 1/2 miles from where I grew up. It is a lot of work preparing the soil to plant our crops in the spring, irrigating and keeping them weed-free in the summer and then harvesting them in the fall. But it is an awesome place to raise a family and I wouldn't want to trade with anyone. Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Esther | February 10th, 2009 at 3:16 am
Martha - your pictures of your farm are just heavenly. What a beautiful life you have. You work so hard. What a nice reward it is to have such beauty in your life. It's so great you share moments like this with us.
Posted by: Suzanne Morelli | February 10th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Dear Martha,
Great tour, beautiful equipment and the stable is a work of art. But you already know this.
Funny story, I was raised on a small farm and now have my own. The first year I got my own chicks, I soon found that I had way too many roosters, in fact 12 of the 24! So I went back to my local chicken farmer where I bought my chicks for 50 cents each (RI Reds) and I said to her, "do you know how many roosters I have?" She threw her head back and laughed and said, "Oh, maybe 50%!" Lesson learned. She soon had a few young roosters for her stock pot and I learned my lesson from life on the farm, the best place to learn!
Now I am into chickens up to my ears, but only one rooster! Roosters rule the roost, in the barnyard, anyhow!
Posted by: Sally | February 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am
One of the reasons I came to your blog is for inspiration and inspired is exactly what I got. My husband and I are planning on moving from a large city to a much smaller town of 13,000 and buying about 100 acres. You have given me so many ideas of what I want to do. After seeing your pictures, I'm so excited about our upcoming move. I have been so nervous because it's a huge leap moving from the city.
Posted by: Cheap Checks | February 25th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
we love seeing pics of your home. Please keep them coming! I can't get enough.
Posted by: jennifer moncada | February 27th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Martha, Do you tap any of the maples you have? Thanks for the great gallery of your place.
Posted by: LillyZoo | March 2nd, 2009 at 7:00 am