A June Tour of the Farm
I thought I’d give you an update from around my farm. It’s no secret that I love growing my own produce and regular readers of this blog know that we grow vegetables all winter long, right in the ground, in a greenhouse called the coldhouse. I am very excited now because the outside vegetable garden has been planted and is growing quite nicely. Plus, it’s berry season and that harvest is underway. People always ask me what I do with so much produce. In addition to what I prepare and eat, I use a lot of it whenever I entertain. I’m also very happy to share with family and friends. My daughter, Alexis, is cooking all the time with what is grown and she makes wonderful and nutritious baby food. I also have many, many chickens, who benefit enormously from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. They lay the best eggs because of it!
1 The berries at the farm begin to ripen in the late spring. These are Redstart currants. These tart berries grow in clusters called racemes.
2 I asked Maria, one of the housekeepers, to pick a bowl so that I could make red currant jelly. The juice also makes excellent sorbet.
3 Glowing red and beautiful, red currants are rich in vitamin C, fiber, and fruit acid. The jelly made from the juice of the red currant is especially delicious and very clear and red.
4 These are Ben Sarek black currants. The fruit is very deep purple, and extremely fragrant and are grown primarily as the basis for syrup, often distilled into a liqueur called cassis.
5 And these are Blanka currants. White currants are a cultivar of the red currant and the fruit is less sour. They are a really rare basis for an extra special jelly!
6 These are gooseberries, related to currants, both in the Ribes genus. Gooseberries are much larger and grow in clusters of three to four per stem.
7 These gooseberries will soon be ready to be transformed into pies, jams, and other sweet delights.
8 Strawberries are the first berries to ripen and these were picked earlier in the spring and turned into delicious jam.
9 Raspberries need to grow on wire supports. We use granite posts with heavy-gauge wire stretched in between.
10 The red raspberries are just getting ripe. Aside from their sweet flavor, raspberries have high levels of Vitamin C and cancer fighting compounds.
11 These are Bristol Black Raspberries, which are firm and flavorful.
12 To freeze any berry, it's best to lay them out on flat trays and freeze until solid. Then, scoop them into containers or plastic bags for storage in the freezer.
13 It also looks to be a good year for my blueberries, which are just beginning to turn blue! Blueberries are one of the few fruits native to North America along with cranberries and concord grapes. The varieties I grow are Bluegold, Chandler, Darrow, Jersey, and Patriot.
14 Blueberries are high in fiber and have one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices, and seasonings.
15 The pears are ripening in the pear grove.
16 And all of the apples are getting bigger with each passing day.
17 Fuzzy apricots
18 And young filberts, or hazelnuts
19 We had a terrific crop of early spinach in the vegetable garden.
20 It's such a treat to have so much of this healthy leafy green. It's wonderful in salads and lightly sauteed. My daughter, Alexis, purees it for Jude.
21 Spinach is one of the main ingredients of my terrific green juice, which gets me going each day.
22 A basic green juice is made up of spinach, parsley, cucumber, green apple, and fresh ginger.
23 Because of the abundant spinach crop, I asked my housekeeper, Laura Acuna to juice and freeze all of it.
24 That large bunch yielded 10 pints of spinach juice.
25 Once frozen, it will last up to 8 months, which is why it's a good idea to date anything you put in the freezer. Now I'll have fresh spinach juice for my green beverage for many mornings
26 The brassicas are growing quite well.
27 The cauliflower plants are producing beautiful large heads.
28 And so is the broccoli
29 As well as the purple cabbage
30 And the white cabbage
31 There are many varieties of tomatoes growing, including several heirloom types.
32 Very healthy potatoes
33 And so many artichokes!
34 There are many varieties of hardneck garlic growing. Garlic flower stalks are called scapes and we've been snipping them for salads, soups, and pesto.
35 And peas galore, both edible pods and shelling types
36 A nice shot of my house
37 The herbaceous peony garden is in the process of being deheaded, the removal of spent flowers. With so many blooms, this is a big job.
38 The stable has been adorned with large potted ferns.
39 The bases of the ferns have been underplanted with moss and ornamental grass.
40 There are many barn swallow nests at the farm. Here's a newly hatched family waiting patiently in their nest for mom and pop to return with food.
41 These nests are amazing structures constructed from mud pellets and grass, carried bit by bit in their bills.
42 The showy blooms of catalpa trees
43 The highly fragrant blooms of a trumpet lily
44 And a very pretty Asiatic lily
45 I decided that this year, I wanted to grow a corn field. A sod cutter was used to remove the grass from this area near the chicken coops. This new plot measures 85 x 50-feet.
46 The sod was rolled up and relocated into the chicken yard.
47 Lots of compost from the compost yard was spread over the dirt.
48 And Wilmer roto-tilled it in.
49 Rows were formed using a furrow rake.
50 Ryan and Wilmer planted sweet corn, pop corn, and ornamental corn.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Thank you for the tour Martha! Everything is gorgeous and delectable!
Happy growing,
Trina
Posted by: Trina | June 22nd, 2012 at 1:41 am
You will have wonderful produce this Summer...everything looks extremely healthy. Mmm...all that lovely fruit to come and little Jude will love it.
I love how the granite posts look in your raspberry patch as well as serving an important purpose.
I recently froze an abundance of rhubarb...measuring the amounts i will need for each strawberry rhubarb pie. I labelled each container with your lovely freezer friendly labels with the amounts/dates...i love this being so organized stuff!!
Posted by: Sherey | June 22nd, 2012 at 2:33 am
Martha, it is all so beautiful and bountiful. You are so Blessed to be able to grow all of that, eat fresh fruits and veggies, and eggs.
You have a wonderful crew to make it all possible. I hope they are included in your family and friends when sharing all the goodness.
Have a wonderful weekend, Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | June 22nd, 2012 at 4:12 am
Thank you for a beautiful tour of your farm. I love and enjoy Alexis's blog, she is an inspiration. Her weekly menu looks delicious and so healthy.
I would love to share this wish you http://flic.kr/s/aHsjA7nTVQ
Have a wonderful weekend with your family xo
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | June 22nd, 2012 at 5:57 am
Lovely post, Martha. Thank you soooo much for sharing. I always learn something and your blog is such an inspirational way to start the day.
Posted by: Burndett Andres | June 22nd, 2012 at 6:19 am
A nice shot of your house for sure.
Posted by: darrell white | June 22nd, 2012 at 6:32 am
Every morning your photos inspire me to get going and the gardening ones here on this wonderful cool morning in Dakota are the best. Most of us don't have too much production nowadays from our home yards but we can all grow something to eat. Corrine made a rubarb crunch from Kathy's garden produce for pot luck dinner and also froze some.
Posted by: ann | June 22nd, 2012 at 7:14 am
All bird nests are not welcome everywhere even if there is a place for them somwhere. Barn swallows are beautiful but where do you allow these?
Posted by: ann | June 22nd, 2012 at 7:48 am
Thanks for the update of your farm Martha. The berries look delicious. I've never tried to grow my own, maybe one day I'll be inspired to try!! The green juice you drink sounds healthy and yummy. I can't wait to see the progress of your corn field!
For Rowaida, your desserts look awesome! You're so talented.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Posted by: Cindy F | June 22nd, 2012 at 8:00 am
Ahh...fresh eggs and corn field?! Just like HOME to me! Can't wait to see how your crop does there....love all your pictures! Especially the peek of your home: BEAUTIFUL!!! ~Kim
Posted by: Baileywife | June 22nd, 2012 at 8:06 am
These "updates" are always my favorite postings. I visit your blog every day, but take extra delight when I see a posting about the farm. You've inspired me for so many years with your gardens. Thanks for sharing and keep these types of posts coming!! Please.
Posted by: Heather @ new house, new home, new life | June 22nd, 2012 at 9:02 am
It is unbelievable the varieties of fruits and vegetables you grow at your farm!! Without the tiring efforts of your staff this could not be achieved. I hope you share your over abundance of crops with them. You might also donate some fruits and vegetables to homeless shelters in NYC. You are so blessed to be able to have the resources to grow so much food. In these terrible economic times there are many families that can barely afford to buy goceries. Why don't you create some kind of food donation center for these desperate families?
Posted by: Sharon Hines | June 22nd, 2012 at 9:25 am
Your farm is an artist's paradise. There's so much subject matter!
Posted by: Andrea | June 22nd, 2012 at 9:57 am
Hope you cut your garlic scapes!!
Posted by: barbara | June 22nd, 2012 at 10:04 am
Hi Martha, Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! ! How fun it is to see so many delicious looking fruits and vegetables growing so well at your fantastic Bedford farm! These photos just thrill me to pieces and I appreciate everything you share with us that is so inspiring and you are such a thoughtful person! I'm also happy to hear that Alexis makes such delicious foods for Jude and her to enjoy daily with your great farm items! Won't be long before baby Truman will enjoy the fruits and vegetables, too! Your chickens must be really happy to get those great foods to produce such delicious eggs for you to enjoy and share with your friends! What would you do without those great crew guys who do such a super job planting and preparing new areas for things like corn this year! Can't wait to see the corn growing! I love the green juice you drink daily-what a great way to start each day! I've got to try it ASAP! My vegetables are finally growing well now that it's warmer and drier here and I can't wait to eat all of them! Was so great to hear you live on SiriusXM110 yesterday! I always listen every afternoon and usually just hear repeated ones from years ago and that's fun, also! Hope to have a good question for you on Monday if you are 'live' again! Sure hope you have another great day and have a delightful weekend, too! Off to see what F&S are doing 'Stopping for Pizza'! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | June 22nd, 2012 at 10:05 am
I am absolutely in awe of your vegetable (and fruits) garden. I would be out there twice a day, munching as I was picking. I have true envy!
Posted by: Steph | June 22nd, 2012 at 10:13 am
Martha,
The berries look so good! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | June 22nd, 2012 at 10:24 am
Hi Martha - beautiful and interesting pictures once again! I (rather impulsively) bought a Breville dual-disc juice extractor back in December and I have been making green juice every morning during the week ever since. I found a video on YouTube a few months ago of you making your green juice with everything you mentioned including pear and papaya. My version now consists of kale, cucumber, celery, green apple, pear, papaya and ginger and I absolutely love it. The alkalinity of the juice is so refreshing and I can feel my body just soak it up every morning. It's a great way to start the day. Thanks again and have a great weekend. Walter
Posted by: Walter H. | June 22nd, 2012 at 10:47 am
What a wonderful tour Martha! I enjoyed it immensely. Now that school is out and we are all home for the summer...we are also tending the gardens.
This morning my husband and I cut scopes from 200+ heads of garlic....I will be making LOTS of garlic pesto and freezing for future use.
Our Connecticut Field Pumpkins are doing beautifully, as are our heirloom tomatoes...grown by seed for the first time this year.
Visit my blog for several tours round and about my garden.
You have motivated me to do more with fruit next year.
Happy growing.
Posted by: nantucket Daffodil | June 22nd, 2012 at 10:48 am
Hi Martha - I wanted to also add that I'm looking forward to seeing the progress of the new Boxwood garden behind the summer house, it looks like it will be an amazing sanctuary once complete!
Posted by: Walter | June 22nd, 2012 at 11:01 am
Its a joy to see all of these amazing fruits and veggies! Can't wait to see the corn crop. I must plant more next year as well. Thanks again dear Martha for sharing your wonderful farm!!!
Posted by: Framces | June 22nd, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Oh how fun, I've never seen a gooseberry before!
I never realized the variety of fruits that you do grow! Throw them all together and what a wonderful fruit salad that would be!
The barn swallows are simply adorable!
I can't wait to see updates on your corn field!
Have a super weekend...
gail
Posted by: gail pierson | June 22nd, 2012 at 12:55 pm
How beautiful! Thanks for sharing
http://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Katherine | June 22nd, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Absolutely beautiful. Your homes are sooo beautiful and with the constant changes of living things, it would be hard for me to leave one house for the other - such would be the pleasure of watching things grow at each one. I thoroughly enjoyed this view of your fruit and vegetable gardens. Thank you.
Posted by: Karen | June 22nd, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Hi Martha,
It’s always nice to see your berry plants and the great things you make from each year’s crop. Blueberries are one thing I miss from living in Michigan but I think we can grow elderberries and blackberries down here. I’ve just never considered doing it since I have enough to do with finding just the right sun-tolerant plants. I’ve had great luck with a lavender plant this year so next year, I will plant more of those. The foliage gets nice and bushy and it makes a great ground cover. Just looking at your gorgeous vegetables makes me hungry for a salad but if I had your spinach patch, I’d be steaming it and pouring vinegar on it for dinner every night. I love spinach and artichokes and cabbage and I guess everything else you grow there. It’s always nice to see what recipe your daughter Alexis will create with the veggies you share with her. I’m always pinning her colorful creations – I even like her prep pictures. She makes great salads too. Thanks for sharing your bountiful garden with us. As I finish up pulling weeds today in my ‘garden’, I’ll pretend I’m picking berries and vegetables instead. Hah! Trish
~
P.S. I’ve been watching some of your old Martha Stewart Living shows the last few days and saw the office in a closet that Andrew Ritchie mentioned I believe when he was on your Hallmark show, and big fig leaves that you used to make unusual yet eye-catching centerpieces. Those were fantastic leaves. I also watched you on an old Rosie show when you came to Florida shopping for your palm trees. You talked about bike riding and how you flew over the handle bars and fell but didn’t get hurt. Good thing! Those ‘vintage’ shows are great and I’m glad I taped a ‘few’ to watch later but I think they should be airing on TV now and every day too!
Posted by: Trish | June 22nd, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Martha,
I thought of you today. While shopping at a big name grocery store, one that has been featured on Rachel Ray, my husband asked where the sour cherries were kept. Neither the produce clerk, manager, or check-out clerk knew anything about sour cherries, and one person even thought they were a type of fruit roll-ups (these employees are all under thirty btw). I told my husband, "Martha would be appalled."
Posted by: Lee | June 22nd, 2012 at 9:14 pm
How is the corn doing?? Next time pictures of your corn field pease!
Posted by: kerrie | June 22nd, 2012 at 11:25 pm
.
The Berries of Bedford
.
.
A cluster of red currants ready for the picking,
Beautiful glowing red rich in C and fiber, time a ticking.
Deep purple falls, fragrant and slurpy, cassis is yummy.
Cultivar of red the Blanka is sweeter a rare jelly for the tummy.
Cousin to the currant, gooseberries are larger and render delights.
First early strawberries in spring are delicious for lazy nights.
Raspberries on a wire, crammed with vitamin C and sweet flavor,
Like any berry, freeze well and are ready anytime to savor.
Many varieties of blueberries high in fiber, good for what ails you,
No secrets in the pear grove, they are blushing and ripening too.
Hundreds of apples are getting bigger with each passing day,
"And love is either in your heart or on its way ..." (sorry)
Apricots with fuzz, always a hit, hazelnuts by the score,
Spinach by the bucketful, some of which to pour;
Cauliflower with curly heads, broccoli green and bright,
Cabbages for kings, both in purple and in white;
Tomatoes, potatoes, artichokes and peas n pods galore,
The garlic looks lovely, but the house, much much more.
The peonies are beautiful but have started losing their head,
At the stable large potted ferns under planted with a spread.
A farm is complete with some nestlings and busy parents tending,
Lillies trumpeting the coming of summer when hearts and minds are blending
Posted by: celia stock | June 23rd, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Beautiful! I love to see the progress of your garden.
I had read or heard that you shouldn't plant sweet corn and pop corn together. They cross-pollinate and the quality of the sweet corn suffers.
Posted by: jw | June 23rd, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I think want we are wanting to see is that some of your produce is being given to food pantries, shelters, etc.....
Posted by: Barbara | June 23rd, 2012 at 10:34 pm
The best part of my early mornings are driving by and seeIng beautiful changes in plants, trees, and yes, I noticed bees were moved months ago.
Love the new CraftStudio app, as well!
Posted by: Kathaleen Linares | June 25th, 2012 at 9:42 am
Thank you again for another beautiful tour of the farm. You can never get tired of it. I can only imagine the peace and tranquility you must find there. Cant wait for the next one.
Posted by: mona c | June 25th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
your farm looks amazing! i can't believe all the varieties of fruits/veggies you have. your garden(s) are definitely envy-worthy. i wish i had a green thumb like you, martha. amazing!
Posted by: tina | June 26th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Thank you Martha, for sharing the pictures of your beautiful gardens and home! I am new to vegetable gardening, and creating my own flower beds and I love the process. I'm glad to have found your blog to learn all I can.
Dana of Mom in the Garden
Posted by: Dana Sheridan | June 27th, 2012 at 5:00 am
Thanks Martha for sharing with us your fabulous food ideas. You inspire my love for hosting and career in catering and event management.
Posted by: martha kigbu | June 28th, 2012 at 9:22 am