Early Spring Around My Farm
The last time I blogged about my farm, there were early signs of spring with some flowers blooming here and there. A week-and-a-half later, things have changed dramatically. Spring flowers are blooming en masse, the grass is turning a vibrant green, dormant trees and shrubs are beginning to leaf out, and it really feels that spring has arrived!
1 Under this billowy spring sky, you can see that the paddock grass is becoming greener and the weeping willow trees in the distance are turning a deep shade of yellow, as they begin to leaf out.
2 This patch of violet crocus naturalizing on the lawn has put on quite a display this year - so thick and lush!
3 This section of daffodils at the far end of the long border are the earliest to bloom.
4 A few days later this sweet dwarf variety blossomed.
5 As did this daffodil with the orange center
6 Lovely contrast of texture and color
7 The weeping cherry trees are ready to pop.
8 A closeup of those blossoms
9 This white magnolia is one of my first magnolia trees to bloom.
10 A closeup of this very pretty, waxy flower
11 This snow shovel and sidewalk sand didn't get used very much at all this past winter. At this time last year, we certainly had our fill of snow and crazy weather!
12 With such mild temperatures and with so many trees and shrubs leafing out, I instructed my farm crew to begin removing the burlap protective covers. Here, Phurba and Chhewang are unveiling a standard lilac.
13 While Gyurme unscrewed the wood framing holding the burlap wind barrier from around the apple espalier grove
14 It's so nice to see all of those trees again.
15 After removing the burlap, the pieces were rolled up and tied into bundles and labeled for reuse next year.
16 All those bundles were loaded onto the truck.
17 The Gravenstein apple espalier already has so much new growth.
18 There will be blossoms before long.
19 Uncovering the terrace gardens
20 The terrace gardens look so green and healthy.
21 Uncovering the new boxwood garden on the side of the house - Those shrubs also look good.
22 Moving onto the boxwood hedge surrounding the herbaceous peony bed
23 The peonies are reaching for the sky.
24 A shot from the corner of the peony bed
25 The Hi-Lo was used to help store the rolled up burlap.
26 Chhiring organized the burlap and bamboo supports in the loft of this storage barn.
27 Uncovering the long boxwood allee would be a job for another day.
28 The beehives were moved from their sheltered winter location back near the cutting garden. All are strong and happy.
29 Warm weather also means the outdoor furniture comes out of storage for a dust off and touchups.
30 Of course, the cheerful forsythia is in full bloom!
31 Meanwhile, the coldhouse, my four-seasons vegetable garden, has had many beds cleaned out and reseeded with crops like spinach, lettuce, carrots, and beets. It was a joy using and sharing the produce grown here all winter long.
32 In the main greenhouse, Ryan has been planting vegetable and flower seeds and is now in the process of transplanting the seedlings into larger pots. Here he is filling peat pots with growing mix.
33 This is a tray of artichokes newly transplanted.
34 He also laid out the many types of eggplant that he will start from seed. I enjoy having a great variety in the garden.
35 You may recall that with the mild winter, I had the gardeners double dig the vegetable garden, flipping the soil, top to bottom, to a depth of about 18-inches. Wilmer smoothed the whole thing out by roto-tilling.
36 Ryan and I are in the process of reconfiguring the beds for this growing season, as far as the layout and what will be planted where.
37 This end of the vegetable garden is the perennial end where the asparagus rows, rhubarb, and horseradish are permanently located. Those beds have all been cleaned out nicely and I wait with great anticipation.
38 Peas are always the first things to plant outdoors. We have a nice selection edible pods and shelling peas from Johnny's Selected Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, as well as seeds from France, Germany, and Japan. Whenever I travel, I like to shop for seeds, looking for unusual varieties.
39 Because many peas are trailing plants, meaning they climb, I decided they should all be planted on the inside of the garden's fencing. Here Ryan is preparing the perimeter for the seeds.
40 Now he's making a planting hole using a narrow dibble.
41 This wooden dibble is especially handy because it's calibrated for planting depth.
42 Peas are a fairly large seed.
43 Dropping them one-by-one into the holes
44 Pisello Nano - Piccolo Provenzale - These are a shelling pea, bearing tiny, incredibly sweet peas with 6-8 peas per pod. Sounds yummy!
45 Right near the vegetable garden and the berry patch is a little grove of hazelnut trees, also known as filberts. These nuts are excellent for eating and baking. Nutella, the popular spread, is made from hazelnuts.
46 These are the long flowers of the hazelnut.
47 Hazelnut trees are very productive nut producers. You just have to beat the squirrels to them!
48 Another variety of hazelnut bearing pink flowers. They look so beautiful in the gentle wind.
49 These are raspberry canes growing on wires stretched between granite posts.
50 The raspberries are beginning to leaf out.
51 This is the nicely pruned gooseberry patch.
52 The gooseberries have lots of new growth.
53 These beautiful blossoms are on apricot trees, located right outside the greenhouse.
54 The blueberry patch beneath the blueberry pergola
55 Those, too, are bursting with growth.
56 Another great contrast of colors with the vibrant green grass beneath the glowing weeping willows
57 There are many wild turkeys in the woods. This tom had his tail feathers in full display until he saw me coming.
58 Remember the skunk cabbage from last week's blog?
59 Well, it is very quickly unfurling its leaves, which, by the way, are poisonous to all mammals.
60 Apparently, this spider isn't concerned about that.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
I can just smell the pastoral scents evoked by this superb pastoral scene. We should all be so lucky to stake out a bit of heaven on earth. Scent is extremely evocative and lingers tantalizingly on the palate of our brains.
Posted by: r steven page | March 23rd, 2012 at 3:06 am
Happy Spring! Thank you for a beautiful and informative post, Love it. Hope all is fine with Alexis and her babies. Best wishes to her and you. Wish you a wonderful weekend xo
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | March 23rd, 2012 at 5:38 am
Your tours around your lovely farm are by far my most favorite posts. Now I know what type of tree I saw the other day down by 5 Islands Park in New Rochelle-they looked just like your hazelnut trees.Thank you.
Posted by: R | March 23rd, 2012 at 6:26 am
How time flies, it seems like yesterday your farm crew were setting up the burlap protective covers, now it's time to take them down! The violet crocus looks so pretty blooming on the lawn! I myself have started my veggie garden for the spring/summer season. I'm really excited because I planted your organic zucchini seeds from Home Depot 8 days ago and they are starting to pop up! I used your seeds last year and had such a bountiful crop. Thanks Martha!
Posted by: Cindy F | March 23rd, 2012 at 8:28 am
Martha,
Looking good around the farm! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | March 23rd, 2012 at 8:51 am
Hi Martha,
Leafing out is the best part of spring. It is so exciting to plant things and watch them grow. I’m not sure I remember you telling us about your hazelnut trees so it was nice to see them today. I like the way their flowers hang. Your shrubs on the terrace look great too – it has to be a nice feeling for you to see green again. I don’t think I could ever live up north after being in Florida for almost 34 years unless I had a coldhouse and a greenhouse like you have. I’d have to have palm trees too. Your daffodils look beautiful already - how I love your daffodil border! The violet crocus is really pretty too. Heck, everything looks nice! Have a nice weekend everyone! Trish
Posted by: Trish | March 23rd, 2012 at 8:53 am
The peonies are reaching for the sky and are almost as tall as mine and I am 1,200 miles south of you. Your garden is indeed way into spring. But by the time you got to the food sections I need to get more food into my soil.
Saw those hazel nut flowers in a different light this morning....they are sort of pretty ...
What a different a week/10 days makes.
Posted by: Susan | March 23rd, 2012 at 9:12 am
Hi Martha, Happy, happy, happy beginning of full, beautiful springtime at your lovely Bedford farm! Oh, how lucky you are that so many plants are blooming and your garden areas are looking so ready for planting all of those great vegetables! Your garden crew sure looks happy working outside in the sunshine! Even the coldhouse looks great! Sure wish our springtime was a bit warmer, but it's supposed to get to the upper 50's this weekend! I love seeing all of peas Ryan was planting! It reminds me of my Dad, who worked for a pea company years ago and we got fresh peas whenever he checked the pea farms! Each time I view these beautiful photos, I say WOW looking at each one of them-they are stunning! The sky looks so beautiful, as do all of the blooming trees! This was an inspiring, gorgeous tour and I love every bit of it! Thanks so much for sharing this! Hope you have a great day and a delightful weekend! Off to see The Daily Wag visiting Zoomies! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 23rd, 2012 at 9:24 am
I love Spring...We had construction on the back of our house last Fall. Landscaping was put off til Spring. It has been interesting to see where some of the Daffodil bulbs ended up. Digging them up was not on my list last fall.
Thanks for the tour, Martha.
Posted by: Sharon | March 23rd, 2012 at 10:11 am
Thanks for these photos, violet crocus are spectacular. Again I repeat, Why would one spend all that time sewing to cover with burlap? I sit here on my PC doing little but looking out window. There is a oil drilling rig at the end of it now but my beds are beginning to come alive as wind still blows leaves around covering and uncovering mulch. Spring is here in Dakota and I can hardly contain myself as sweet pea seeds came in the mail today..
Posted by: ann | March 23rd, 2012 at 10:46 am
I love your farm, Martha. There's so much organization in maintaining everything, neatly rolling up all the burlap and storing it for the winter...the turning of the soil, planting, and other chores. Your grounds crew do a wonderful job! I love the flowers on the hazelnut trees, very unusual. I can imagine of the competition between the squirrels and harvesting the nuts before they get them. Squirrels are cunning little buggers! I remember your blog from last October when you posted photos of all the damage from the freak snowfall. Everything seems to have come back and the farm is as beautiful as ever. Enjoy the weekend!
Posted by: Judy | March 23rd, 2012 at 11:00 am
Thanks for the artichoke update!
Posted by: Leslie | March 23rd, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Can't believe you have blossoms already. We are still hovering at zero overnight in Vancouver. No blossoms yet where I live! Love your many gardens and of course as I always say, I love your farm!
Posted by: Frances | March 23rd, 2012 at 12:53 pm
I miss spring so much. Here in Arizona it is already summer
Posted by: homer | March 23rd, 2012 at 1:28 pm
I have tried to follow the blog everyday, but I missed where Shaun Kass has gone. Is he no longer with Martha's farm?
Posted by: Stephen Tucker | March 23rd, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Thanks, Martha, the Great, for encouraging us all to "Get Growing".
Posted by: Carolyn Boyce | March 23rd, 2012 at 4:22 pm
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Spring 'round the Corner
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In the distance see the yellow of the weeping willow.
The blue sky is blemished as clouds begin to billow.
Patches of lush violet crocus assemble in the grass,
Sections of beautiful daffodils gather en masse.
The weeping cherry will soon have no reason to weep,
Elegant magnolia blossoms awaken from their sleep.
With the burlap gone, the trees are naked again,
New growth appears and waits for a spring rain.
The boxwoods now are bustling to gain their place,
First peonies are in waiting to show their pretty face.
The veggie garden patiently waits for a litany for seeds.
Wind nudges the hazelnut flowers preparing squirrel feeds.
Truly, anything that has a bud is bustin' to get out,
The edge of spring has arrived, there is no doubt.
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Posted by: celia stock | March 23rd, 2012 at 6:35 pm
I love in the city and would love something like this.
Posted by: Holiday Baker Man | March 23rd, 2012 at 8:14 pm
This is a great view!lucky you!:)
Posted by: Offside | March 24th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Spring is my favorite time of year. I just love watching everything change from drab to beautiful & this year it was almost overnight.
Martha your program a few days ago had a segment on making your own facial treatment. One of the ingredients was argon oil & you asked where you could get it. Go to QVC. Josie
Maran(model)has a line of products containing argon oil including bottles of pure argon oil (A219619). I am 65, have never looked my age & don't intend to start now (: I Love this product
Just wanted you to know. Happy Spring & Happy Easter.
Posted by: Pat Samlow | March 24th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
So beautiful and so much work! You continue to inspire me to plant more and varied in our gardens. Always something new to learn in Martha Land!
Posted by: Joy | March 25th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Love the metal stools in your Bedford kitchen. Wonder if you would share the company who makes them. They are exactly what I have been looking for for my own kitchen. Thank you for sharing your lovely homes over the years. You are an inspiration to all homeowners.
Pat
Posted by: patricia supple | March 26th, 2012 at 10:09 am
I am curious about the hazelnut trees you have planted. Any specifics that you would like to share would be appreciated. I had no idea that you could possibly grow them in a colder climate!
I am wondering how long before they bore fruit?
How big are they? Do you have to give them special treatment for them to survive the winter?
Posted by: DONA | April 18th, 2012 at 5:45 pm