Happy Spring, Everyone!
This past winter has, undoubtedly, been really harsh and the first day of spring was most welcome. What was especially nice, here in the Northeast, was that the weather became suddenly spring-like, with bright sunny days and temperatures nearing 70-degrees F. It was great to be outdoors and to clean up the grounds. It is wonderful to see signs of spring all around. Here are some photos, which make it kind of hard to believe that there was snow on the ground just last week! For more signs of spring, be sure to check out Francesca and Sharkey's blog, The Daily Wag.
1 Verdi is enjoying the warmth of the sun.
2 Fernando has been busy putting a new coat of stain on the wooden top of the pergola.
3 He is careful to cover the granite uprights with painter's plastic before staining.
4 The garden cart fills up quickly at this time of year.
5 Gyurme is enjoying working outdoors in the warm weather.
6 Chhiring, my foreman, is happy that the long winter is finally over.
7 You may have noticed that there is a bumper crop of pine cones this year in the Northeast.
8 A good, old-fashioned raking is great for the lawn in the early spring.
9 Pete Sherpa hauls a load.
10 This cluster of puschkinia gets thicker each year.
11 The honeybees love the puschkinia.
12 Bulbs of all types are pushing through the soil in this perennial border.
13 Wilmer has been busy in the greenhouse planting seeds for the vegetable garden.
14 The vegetable garden is all clean and ready to be planted. With warm weather, it's tempting to start, however, we can get frost right into May.
15 The blueberry patch has been nicely pruned.
16 My tulip border is growing beautifully.
17 Deep in the woods, alongside the carriage trails, the daffodils planted last autumn are growing nicely.
18 A moss-covered stone wall
19 More moss-covered stones in the woods
20 The very distinctive skunk cabbage spathe
21 A thick tapestry of moss
22 These are delicate moss capsules, which manufacture spores, used in reproduction. When the moss plant is ready, the capsules open, releasing mature spores.
23 The grass alongside this stream is quite verdant.
24 The lush, green grass is quite a contrast to its surroundings.
25 More naturalizing daffodils in the woods
26 Another carpet of pine cones
27 Wouldn't this make a great jigsaw puzzle? The chickens look so healthy after the winter.
28 This chicken is busy laying an egg.
29 A real beauty
30 The Pomeranian geese are also quite healthy looking!
31 I never noticed that the geese have blue eyes!
32 The geese are very vocal.
33 A grove of yellow witch hazel - so healthy this year!
34 And so is the allee of linden
35 More raking and clearing
36 The protective burlap has been removed from the tree peonies.
37 The tree peonies have so much new growth.
38 The herbaceous peony bed with its boxwood border
39 This grove of weeping willows has gotten so tall and is glowing yellow.
40 A hungry robin in search of a meal
41 The apple espalier is neatly pruned and all ready to sprout.
42 These purple crocus have been spreading out each year.
43 They are such a lovely shade of lilac.
44 This is an allium breaking through the soil in the new allium border, planted last autumn.
THank you for sharing these wonderful photos of springtime in the northeast. I enjoyed seeing the tulip leaves emerging, the daffodils and the after-winter cleanup of lawn raking and portico staining. Oh, those pine cones! Years ago when I had gerbils I enjoyed giving them pinecone treats. Have you ever seen a gerbil eat a pinecone --- with gusto, like a kid with ice cream. I enjoyed the moss and skunk cabbage photos, too. These plants are so tiny and lovely in their own way.
Posted by: Penny | March 22nd, 2010 at 12:35 am
Your Property seems to be getting more and more beautiful with each passing year. It was nice to see the early signs of spring on your farm! I'm from northern maine so it may be a bit longer before I see such delights. Great photographs too! Keep 'em coming.
Posted by: Mark | March 22nd, 2010 at 12:40 am
Verdi is such a beautiful kitty! I'm sure he was soaking in all of that warmth of the spring sun after such a cold winter. I really do enjoy hearing about your furry loved ones.
Posted by: Dianne | March 22nd, 2010 at 1:21 am
oh, i'm so jealous, my peony bed still has 80 cm of snow on it!
Posted by: liisamarja | March 22nd, 2010 at 1:59 am
Hello Martha! I´m wrighting to you from sweden and I must tell you that I am a big fan of you!! I love your spring pictures!
But I have a question for you! When do you sleep women? ; ) I herd You say that you work until 3 in the morning and that you start to exersise at 6:30!!! And how om erth can you look so relaxed an beautiful after so little sleep and so much work? I envie you!! Have a nice day! Love from sweeden! ulrica morling
Posted by: ulrica morling | March 22nd, 2010 at 6:24 am
I have a favorite memory of my Dad, a Dakota farmer, saying. "Once again, we made it to green grass." Thanks for inspiring us to be better.
Posted by: ann | March 22nd, 2010 at 8:12 am
Happy Spring Martha!
Verdi looks so happy, he is soo cute. Your property looking great after the harsh weather.
I love this quote: "The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also. "
-- Harriet Ann Jacobs
Good luck!
Regards,
Rowaida
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | March 22nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photography. I see many books in your future! I look forward to reading your blog every day. You inspire me to make the best of our 1/2 acre property! I wonder sometimes what you would do with such a small swath of land.
Posted by: Kathy Mihalik | March 22nd, 2010 at 10:11 am
Wooo wee! Spring time at Martha's farm! What beautiful signs of life everywhere! I love the honeybee photo.
Posted by: NeatNicole from Illinois | March 22nd, 2010 at 10:48 am
Happy Spring to you Martha! Everything is coming alive on your beautiful property and your gardeners will be very busy but in such a fun way! Enjoy each day and all the beauty it brings.
Posted by: sherey | March 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 am
Hi Martha,
First of all, I was so busy with TV last night that I missed your tweet about the caramel soufflés. Wow, they look so good and like Jan said, I too would love to see the photos of the dinner!
~
Yep, spring is in the air although we had rain all night and it was gloomy this morning on the way to appointments. Your farm looks great already. Can I borrow your guys for awhile to help me in my yard – so much to do and I’ve been nursing a sore finger for over a month. (Btw, I hope Alexis’ cut healed up.)
~
About those pine cones – the other day on the show you said pine nuts come from pine cones. That makes so much sense but I didn’t know that or even think about it before. So would that be any kind of pine cones? Dumb question I know but I’ve just never seen pine nuts in a pine cone. Have a good day all. Trish
Posted by: Trish | March 22nd, 2010 at 11:17 am
Beautiful pictures Martha! I love being able to follow your garden through all seasons. People forget that the gardens need tending all year round. Do you have a cutting garden too? Or do you just cut from your areas of daffodils, tulips etc.?
Posted by: elle | March 22nd, 2010 at 11:35 am
The images of your perfectly cleared gardens awaiting the new spring growth look so beautiful.
I recently moved into a unique little fixer-upper-bungalow from the early 20s and my back yard, although filled with potential, is in need of an extreme makeover. It had been pretty much ignored completely for 10 years prior to our arrival.
Between work and family, finding the time to dedicate to the design and care of the space is a major challenge. Wish you'd do a back-yard extreme makeover giveaway Martha. Spread the gardening love and share that fabulous staff with someone in need. Mine would make for an excellent redesign story.
Dreaming of a beautiful bungalow backyard,
Leslie
Posted by: Leslie | March 22nd, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Hello Martha,
I seem to remember a show you did about planting asparagus crowns. Since I can't locate the show can you please let me know where to buy good crowns.
Kathie
Posted by: Kathie Pitschi | March 22nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Nothing says spring more than a kitty sitting in the sun on a warmer day. Verdi is so pretty and throughly enjoying time outdoors it's clear to see.
I love your chickens...they are beautiful, and the geese too.
Your property is awakening and these photos are a delight to see. Thank you for sharing so we can all watch your grounds come alive.
Have a great day Martha. You certainly help to make our days brighter.
Becky
Posted by: Becky HK | March 22nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
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Spring Thoughts
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Naked trees left leafless from the fall,
Yet alive and waiting for the elements all,
To hasten buds, expanding to relieve
Their barren visage and their elegance retrieve.
.
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Troubled by knowledge but gamely coping
Heartfelt passions and eternal hoping,
Fits and changes the veneer of the seasons,
It gives some healing, pleasing reasons.
.
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Look to beauty everywhere, the answers there.
Azure skies, vast wondrous vistas are to share.
See the spring blossoms of apple and wild cherry.
Joyous green meadows that beckon all be merry.
.
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Mingled with the scented evening breeze,
An offering from the sheltering trees,
A harmless small pool of water in the woods,
And all around the wild things share the good.
.
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To be alive and witness pure innocence
Gather together with relative persistence.
The Earth spins on, completing another day,
Sans end, please trust in me when I say.
.
.
Saluto Primavera - We smile again!
.
Posted by: celia stock | March 22nd, 2010 at 1:07 pm
For Kathie Pitschi - You can find asparagus crowns from several different sources - you might try Johnny Seeds @ http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Posted by: Martha Stewart | March 22nd, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Verdi --
Phantom of the Opera!
Posted by: Nan | March 22nd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I'm a girl on 15 years old, from Norway. I really love your blog and your tv-show. I like the way you are, and I like your food. Because I have tried to make it, and it taste delicious. You go woman! Can you add me on facebook btw? Liv Hognestad!
Posted by: Liv Hognestad | March 22nd, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Just gorgeous!! Very inspirational, happy photos! Love those chicks, bet they lay some mighty tasty eggs
Posted by: marla {family fresh cooking} | March 22nd, 2010 at 3:43 pm
How wonderful to see signs of Spring! I am sure the pictures will be more beautiful as it warms up in the Northeast. Kitties enjoy the Springtime, too!
Posted by: bunkycooks | March 22nd, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Just curious if you compost all the yard waste from the spring. I'm having trouble with all the old leaves, branches, and yard waste we have; it doesn't all fit in our composter!
Posted by: Shirley Poe | March 22nd, 2010 at 3:56 pm
What ever happened to your beautiful Chow Chow, Paw Paw? Do you ever plan on getting another one? Where did you get him?
Posted by: Stacey B. | March 22nd, 2010 at 4:07 pm
SPRING is here in the NW as well! We had a mild winter, unlike NE had. I love your pictures of the farm and look forward to seeing everything once they are in full bloom.
Thank you again for taking the time to share!
Posted by: Sheri | March 22nd, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Martha, I love the chickens. I have 12 hens and they bring me so much joy.
One day you started to talk about feeding the chickens kitchen scraps and you were interupted. I wish you would give some advise to us backyard chicken farmers.
My son introduced me to Martha Stewart with a copy of your Thanksgiving show that was on PBS, he had borrowed it from his home ec teacher when he was in high school. He had told his teacher I would love the video, because Thanksgiving and the holidays were such a big deal at our house.
Thank you Martha you are truly making the world a better place.
Posted by: Judy Riffe | March 22nd, 2010 at 4:41 pm
For Shirley Poe - Yes, all the yard waste gets added to the compost heap, where it will eventually decay and get added back into the gardens.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | March 22nd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
For Stacey B. - Sadly, PawPaw was laid to rest awhile back. You could actually search this blog for that occasion. I did get a beautiful new chow chow puppy, who we call G.K. - short for Ghenghis Khan. He is the grandson of PawPaw and came from Karen Tracy at http://www.pazzazzchows.com/
Posted by: Martha Stewart | March 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
For Judy Riffe - My chickens love eating all the kitchen scraps from my kitchen, as well as from the TV kitchen. I do not feed them any meat scraps, however. They also get fed any extra fruits and vegetables from the garden.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | March 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Hello Martha! Happy Spring to you too. Your pictures are a welcome sight. We had 5 inches of snow on the first day of spring! Hope that is the last. Your farm is more beautiful with each passing year. I love to follow your wonderful pictures through the seasons. Hope your bees made it fine through the winter. Your chickens look great and so do the geese. In fact spring is bursting out allover. Thanks for the picks.
Posted by: Sylvia | March 22nd, 2010 at 6:34 pm
What do you have planted around your apple trees? Ornamental grass? I planted 2 apple trees this winter that I plan to espalier.
Posted by: Jess | March 22nd, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Thank you so much for the great pictures. How fun it must be to be around all of that. The cat is adorable, but the geese take first place! Blue eyes-- who would have thought??Nature is so great. Have a wonderful Spring season. Happy Easter!
Posted by: Kristin | March 22nd, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Hi Martha, Spring is the most wonderful time of the year and to see photos of your delightful farm showing so many beautiful signs that spring is really here is just wonderful! Your yard crew in their short sleeves, the robin, chickens, geese and Verdi enjoying the much warmer weather are so much fun to see. I love all of the bulbs that are starting to come out of the soil and bloom. It's just beautiful. The 'Daily Wag' is absolutely wonderful, too. What a difference this is from the rugged winter. Loved your TV Show again today. Pierre is a superb chef and Dennis Shrader is another great gardner. Hope you had fun in Chicago today. I cleaned my windows with your Clean glass and mirror cleaner today and my windows are the cleanest they have ever been! Thanks for such great products! Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 22nd, 2010 at 10:59 pm
The chickens make me laugh! I went to a garage sale a few years ago at a small cottage home. There were a couple of chickens roaming around and the owner told me they provided her with eggs, but not many. As I was leaving (with a car FULL of stuff) she went into her house and came out with 2 eggs for me. I thanked her, and out of curiosity asked her what her chickens ate. As she handed me the eggs she told me they had a great life, wandering around eating worms and earwigs. Earwigs! There are some things a person doesn't need to hear. That was one of those things. I still feel bad to this day that I couldn't eat those eggs.
Posted by: TheArtofDoingStuff | March 22nd, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Have a very happy Spring! wish you lots of amazing flowers, great colors and the best weather to have lots of parties in your garden!
Posted by: Punctuation Mark | March 22nd, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Hi Martha,
I am in complete awe of all that you do and create at your home and elsewhere. I'd also like to know (as one of the other readers asked), when do you sleep? Aren't you exhausted with only a few hours each night? I'd love to have your schedule and still be functional while awake!
Posted by: Yvonne, My Halal Kitchen | March 23rd, 2010 at 12:13 am
Spring season bring joys on the face of everyone & its looking so beautiful i wonder who is standing in particular weather what the feeling of them
Posted by: usman | March 23rd, 2010 at 1:10 am
Spring has Sprung. Thank you for last night Martha.
Posted by: Dr Rand Pink | March 23rd, 2010 at 9:40 am
I wish I could say that spring has arrived in Stockholm but we woke up this morning to find everything covered with a layer of snow. It melted away quickly though.
Verdi is a very beautiful cat.
Posted by: Wendy | March 23rd, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I love all the busy bees on your property, both the human ones and the real ones.
I'm totally inspired by Spring this year and my "lists" are full of things to do to take full advantage.
This weekend: plant new flower containers and clean the windows of our house.
Posted by: Meredith from Penelope Loves Lists | March 23rd, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Verdi is absolutely goregous! Very lovely photos of your property! Thanks for sharing--
--Alexis, New York
Posted by: Alexis | March 23rd, 2010 at 11:06 pm
hi,
i've been every week looking forward on your tv programme. by the way i am from Malaysia. Today, I learn few tips on blog from your programme. It was great and I am looking forward if you could tour to Malaysia.
Posted by: norziah mohd zaham | March 24th, 2010 at 1:03 am
Here is one of my fine art photographic images on Art.com: http://www.art.com/products/p15494054-sa-i3779020/jonathan-michael-bowma-bloom.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=0&dimvals=0&ui=dc4c8be7509e47daa07e17a46e924d7d
Hope you enjoy it! Have a great day!
Posted by: Jonathan Michael Bowman | March 26th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I love spring Martha, Years ago my mother gave me some plants called Naked Ladies,,, they have beautiful green foilage all spring then it looks like they die, nothing for a while , then beautiful single stems that have three lily like flowers on them , kinda of a pale lavender or pink . So beautiful and always reminds me of my mother.
Posted by: Tonimard | March 27th, 2010 at 8:05 pm