Color Comes to Bedford!
With spring now in full force, I’d like to post a farm update on a weekly basis. One week ago, my very long daffodil border was just beginning to bloom. Now, it is a broad expanse of springtime cheer. The blue garden beneath the allee of linden is quite glorious! There’s a lot of activity with seed planting in the greenhouse and also in the vegetable plot, which, hopefully, will be amazing this year. Please welcome Ryan McCallister, a very talented landscape designer and gardener, who is now helping Shaun and Wilmer with the gardens. And have a look at all of the other activity happening around the farm. By the way, happy Passover!
1 With warm and sunny days and one week later, the daffodil border is really beginning to pop.
2 The garden beneath allee of linden is filling in with more blue each day.
3 The colors of spring are just so happy!
4 Ryan McCallister, the new gardener, has been busy in the greenhouse planting tomato seeds.
5 Paul Robeson, Beam's Yellow Pear,Austin's Red Pear, Sweet Pea Currant, Green Zebra, Red Zebra, Reisetomate, Moonglow, Black From Tula, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Violet Jasper
6 Montecarlo, Cour di Bue, Pantano - Ryan likes to cover the seed mix with a layer of fine gravel, which helps to keep the mix from splattering when watered.
7 On a rainy day, Ryan also worked on all the labels for the vegetable garden, using a label maker.
8 Ryan, who grew up gardening, is a graduate of California State University Pomona and has worked as a landscape designer and also as a plant buyer for The Home Depot and Lowes.
9 Ryan has been mapping out a chart of the vegetable garden.
10 Ryan is getting ready to plant some of my very own seed collection that is now available at Home Depot.
11 Just a couple of our 38 different varieties of herbs, vegetables, and flowers.
12 The white garden one week later
13 Verdi was scratching to get outside to enjoy the warmth of the sun.
14 I think he also wanted to enjoy the view of the farm.
15 A lily bed with an early blooming of scilla.
16 The Gravenstein apple espalier, which was planted a year ago, has adapted quite nicely.
17 Walking past a boxwood, my eyes were drawn to this dried up 'skeleton' leaf.
18 Shaun, Ryan, and Wilmer have been finishing the reconfiguration of the vegetable beds. Seven truckloads of compost have been added this spring.
19 The rhubarb patch is really taking off! I can't wait for the first rhubarb tarts!
20 And soon we'll be eating asparagus!
21 Cabbages, cauliflower, and broccoli plants are hardened off and ready to be planted in the garden.
22 Ryan is staggering the placement of the cabbage plants to give them ample space to form large heads.
23 This type of cabbage is Montovano, a nice green, dense head.
24 The Sutton's Harbinger peas planted last week are sprouting.
25 Driving along the carriage roads, there is quite a lot to see.
26 Looking up towards the impressive blue sky and the contrast of the red maple buds
27 A closeup of those buds
28 You may recall all the circles of daffodils that were planted along the roads.
29 They are really thriving.
30 As is the skunk cabbage alongside the stream beds.
31 The unfurling leaves of skunk cabbage
32 The crows at the farm are always watching with great interest.
33 The feathery weeping willows catch the wind so nicely.
34 A female American robin is certainly a harbinger of spring.
35 Looking towards the wetlands and the weeping willows planted there.
36 Moss-covered rocks fascinate me.
37 A macro of the feathery moss
38 Bleached and parchment-like leaves of a beech tree are still clinging from last season.
39 Naturalized chionodoxa randomly growing in this hay field
40 A macro of this pretty clear blue flower
41 I came across this handsome nuthatch, which must have crashed into a window and become stunned. He flew away shortly after I picked him up.
42 Slavo and his assistant are doing repairs on woodwork and screening.
43 You may recall when I showed photos of the erosion along the carriage roads last month.
44 Bruce Corbett Excavating has been repairing that erosion.
45 The road gravel is dumped and spread.
46 And then it is compressed with this heavy roller.
47 Another view
48 Last autumn, Carmine Luppino, of Luppino Landscaping & Masonry and I walked around to see what needed fixing. This is his crew.
49 The stones on this walkway all needed to be raised, as they had settled over the years.
50 Wilmer is helping to unload one of two gala apple trees, which were grown in Pennsylvania.
51 I wanted to plant them where a stand of black locust trees once stood. They were destroyed when that twister blew through the farm. This machine is a stump grinder.
52 All of the stumps of those locust needed to be ground up to make room for the new apple trees.
53 The whirring blade of the grinder cuts through the dense stump pretty effortlessly.
54 What's left is soft organic material, which is shoveled back into the hole that the grinder made.
55 The next day, Chhiring used the backhoe to dig the holes for the apple trees.
56 Shaun remembered that crocus had been planted in the grass and worked to untangle the little bulbs.
57 A crocus bulb, which will be planted elsewhere
58 So many roots from the locust trees!
59 Shaun standing in the finished hole
60 Just joking! He was crouching down!
61 Shaun likes to use Bio-tone Starter when planting trees. http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/biotone_overview.html
62 Using the Hi-lo to position the apple tree
63 Chains are hooked onto the root ball for placement adjustment.
64 Filling in the hole
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
I love the blue ...it has a misty look to it.
Everything is beautiful, even those manly workers.
I can't wait till the next up-date.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | April 18th, 2011 at 1:00 am
i wish we would finally get rid of the snow! did scrape off some snow to help out the rhubarb and peonies... can't wait for the ground to thaw enough to start planting.
Posted by: liisamarja | April 18th, 2011 at 2:32 am
Good morning Martha! Amazing photos from your farm and gorgeous colors of spring.
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | April 18th, 2011 at 2:56 am
Very enjoyable read. Can't wait to see more pictures a few more weeks into spring
Nicolex
Posted by: Nicole Meintjes | April 18th, 2011 at 5:03 am
Wonderful pics of spring bulbs in bloom. Welcome Ryan.
Posted by: ann | April 18th, 2011 at 5:43 am
What a nice way to start a Monday. Have a happy week.
Posted by: Gretchen | April 18th, 2011 at 7:36 am
What a difference a week makes! The cheerful yellow faces of the daffodils are so lovely to see out the window when the view has been bare for so long.
Posted by: SilverMagpies | April 18th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Thank you for posting that Martha. I think we all need a color and floral boost after the winter that we endurued here in New York. Looking forward to more signs of spring...and summer!
Posted by: Linda Leyble | April 18th, 2011 at 8:20 am
The daffodils ........wow! they are just heaven!!
Posted by: Miss Holly | April 18th, 2011 at 8:22 am
Beautiful, thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Paula | April 18th, 2011 at 9:00 am
So beautiful!!! I just love Spring! And I so much enjoyed the Easter special yesterday. I esp. loved the children and the Easter Egg Hunt. It was so beautiful and relaxing to watch. Great ideas too, as always!
Pam
Posted by: Pam Kellogg | April 18th, 2011 at 9:43 am
Hi Martha, OMG! What a glorious blog post this one is! I love all of the tours you share with us around your beautiful farm at all times of the year, but seeing the fresh, colorful spring blooming and planting is likely my favorite tour! The weather looks delightful! Even your garden crew isn't wearing jackets so it must be pretty warm there. All of these photos are absolutely stunning! Sure wish I had a vegetable garden as fantastic as yours. Kudos to Shaun, Ryan and Wilmer for all that they do. I like the idea of covering the small seed mix containers with fine gravel to protect the soil from splattering when watered. I'm going to do that when I plant as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer and drier here. I love the gala apple tree planting Shaun was doing-fun! Sure was fun to watch the Eggcellent Easter Special TV Show last night! It's almost the best one you have done so far! The Daily Wag sure looks like fun today with Francesca and Sharkey feeding the chickens those wonderful vegetable scraps! Have another great day, Martha! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | April 18th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Hi Martha,
First order of duty for new gardeners - learn how to use the label maker! Lol
Everything is looking good so far - the daffodil border is always beautiful. I would love to have all the vegetables that you grow and although I’ve tried, I haven’t had any luck with them. Even the ones on the patio won’t produce. Oh well, off to the Farmer’s markets. What a job planting the Gala apple tree but it will look nice there close to your house. I really did think the hole was that deep when Shaun stood it in - good one! Thanks for the update and it will be great to see weekly updates. Spring in Florida means the grass gets greener. Not really but we always see some kind of color and of course green Palm trees.
~
Btw, I loved your Easter special last night and I tweeted you to say so – great ideas and EVERYTHING was beautiful. Even though I'm not a dessert fancier, I liked seeing how the desserts were made, especially the filled ones, (lemon?) that looked like eggs. I also liked those easels made out of twigs – novel. Trish
Posted by: Trish | April 18th, 2011 at 10:15 am
Spring is so beautiful! I love seeing pictures of your farm in Bedford. I've been very excited to see all those bulbs you planted come up.
Have you thought of giving a tour of your chicken coop and explaining how and why you designed it? (I'm trying to establish a functional but pretty chicken coop as are many other people these days) I think it would be lovely to see yours up close!
Posted by: Kristina | April 18th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Martha-
I used your "Cooking School" book to make a roast chicken the other day and it was fabulous! What a great simple recipe. http://thefirstapartment.blogspot.com/2011/04/martha-stewart-sunday-how-to-roast.html
Thank you so much for all your great ideas!
~Blair
Posted by: Blair | April 18th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Martha, I've enjoyed the images of your farm during the winter...but it's so nice to see new life emerging! I love the field if daffodils and the blue flowers. It's a lot of work for the average, everyday gardener to get our gardens together. Your farm is amazing!
Posted by: Judy | April 18th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Martha,
I enjoy your blogs and all the pictures you share! I have a quick question...in today's blog picture #49 what are the box looking items in the bottom of the picture?
Thanks!
Carolyn
Posted by: Carolyn | April 18th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Martha, spring looks so beautiful at your farm. I forgot about your Easter special yesterday, so I didn't get to watch. I was out to eat with my mom during the time it aired. Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | April 18th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
MARTHA: I can't ever seem to get my food to turn out as good as yours, I try many of your famous dishes out of your book. I garden and have many flowers, and rare fruits and vegtables in my garden, and when it comes to you Martha, your my Idol! I would love to come out and see one of your shows. Thanks for making me... Me!!! And Thank You for...You!!!
Posted by: Ron Wright | April 18th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
So much activity at the farm!!! My goodness, life is just buzzing with digging, planting, roadwork etc. Love the beauty of nature that you show at your farm. My favorite pic is of the little bird. What beautiful little creatures they are! It actually would be interesting Martha to see all the birds that make Bedford their home. Especially with all the feeders you have. Thank again for sharing all the outdoor beauty of your farm!
Posted by: Frances | April 18th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Loved the moss from picture 36.
Posted by: Jorge | April 18th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Ooh, lots of acativity now! Love all those sweeping beds of daffodils and the allee filled with glorious blue blooms! Celebrate Spring...at long last!
Posted by: sherey | April 18th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Martha, Your farm is beautiful and it is evident how much you love it. Could you please let me know what variety of Linden you have planted in your allee? I am Zone 7 and would like to plant one similar to yours.
Posted by: Lynn | April 18th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
PS I forgot to tell you that I planted some of your tomato seeds for my son yesterday. I hope they grow to look as delicious as the picture on the pack.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | April 18th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
congrulations martha 1000 shows
.thanks you taught me about apples,antiques,and tulips.you had to go to airport newstand to get your magazine.a long time ago?my trip to holland was perfect with info i received from your show on p.b.s.back then.most of all you taught me how to turn any event into an ocassion i now treasure these times.i last thing presentation is everthing.i inculded your books in my granddaughters life boxes.joyce stewart
Posted by: JOYCE STEWART | April 19th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Gosh it is so nice to see spring. I am in Florida and our spring only lasts a day, if that. What a beautiful farm you have Martha. Thanks so much for sharing. I wonder if your grand-daughter will love growing things like you do.
Posted by: Dee | April 19th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Love, the four seasons. Enjoy seeing the different faces of the farm and the busy people that keep it running. It certainly is a busy farm with many valuable people. Thanks, for sharing your lovely home and the many wonderful ideas of homemaking and gardening. Always look forward to see what is "NEW" from Martha. Congratulations, on 1000 shows and many more
Posted by: Roberta | April 19th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Wow! This year your garden will be your best yet. Congrats to Ryan, your new gardner. My daughter gratuated last June from Cal Poly, Pomona as a landscape architect and works as a designer as well. I would be over-the-moon if she had secured a position working on Martha's garden. Knowing how well students at Cal Poly are prepared, Ryan will be a strong asset to your staff. Thanks for the wonderful photos, they are the highlight of my day.
Posted by: Tracy McDonald | April 20th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
I live for the gardening and farm photos at Cantitoe Corners... Thank you, Martha!
Posted by: John Patterson | April 21st, 2011 at 11:49 am
Hi Martha,
What strain of Gala's did you get? Did you purchase them from Adams County?
Happy Easter!
Posted by: Kim | April 22nd, 2011 at 2:41 pm