September 9th, 2010

Cantitoe Corners Update

This has certainly been a strange growing season in the Northeast.  It seems that all of the crops are a good two to three weeks early.  Even the giant puffballs that usually appear in October have already formed in their shady little section of the farm.  It will be very interesting to see what next year will bring.  Here is another blog about some things going on currently at the farm.

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1 The seed sheaths in the meadow are glowing yellow in the sunlight.

2 The hay fields were planted with a good quality pasture mix.

3 Another view of the lower hay field

4 The sun's shadows are growing longer as the sun becomes lower in the sky.

5 Another section of carriage road

6 It has been very dry lately and all of the small streams on the property have dried up.

7 The steel culvert beneath the carriage road is completely dry.

8 Another stream bed - Little fish are trapped in this pool and will be until it rains considerably.

9 This year it's apples galore.

10 The bottlebrush buckeye shrubs are really getting tall.

11 This is the fruit of the buckeye, which is nearly ripe.

12 Inside the sheaths of the fruit are these shiny decorative nuts.

13 Giant puffballs grow in this shade garden every year.

14 Puffballs are different than most mushrooms in that they lack gills or any other exterior spore-producing structures. Instead, they produce their spores internally and release them in astronomical numbers in a giant puff cloud.

15 Puffballs can attain diameters of two to three feet or more, and a single specimen has been estimated to produce as many as nine trillion spores!

16 Another puffball?

17 Just joking! It's a garden ornament.

18 Feeding time for my black Welsh mountain sheep

19 Along with fresh-cut grass, Dolma feeds the pair a bit of special grain.

20 They eat every last morsel! I love how thick their fleece is growing.

21 My front porch adorned with hanging staghorn ferns and Christmas ferns

22 And also with Princess Peony!

23 Shaun keeps a close eye on the tropical plants in the courtyard. This one is growing towards the sun.

24 A pot rotation every few days equals out the growth habit.

25 This little olive tree is also reaching towards the sun.

26 Another pot rotation

27 Susie Ercole, my executive assistant at the farm, is delighted to have Sharkey and Francesca accompany her on an errand.

28 I've instructed the ground's crew to apply fresh composted mulch around the base of many trees.

29 Meanwhile, Shaun is pruning the lower branches of this grove of weeping willows.

30 The composted mulch is first loaded onto the dump truck.

31 And then scooped up with the loader

32 Pete guides Chhiring

33 And then carefully empties the loader

34 Chhiring uses a garden rake to smooth out the piles.

35 Don't the trees look so neat this way?

36 Outside my property, the carex planted along the road have filled in so nicely.

37 Carex is a good choice of plant for difficult areas.

38 As you can see from the road signs, this is horse country. However, 30 mph is a bit excessive for this dirt road.

39 The Maple Avenue mailbox

40 My sign

Posted on September 9th, 2010 in Food & Recipes, Gardens, My Home, My Pets, Photo Gallery | Permalink |

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