Early August on the Farm
Last week, I gave you an update on how my vegetable garden has been withstanding the heat. On average, the warmest month in New York is July. The last week has been very humid but that humidity has finally offered us some relief in the form of thunderstorms, though the forecast promises to heat up again this weekend. Everyone on the farm has been working diligently, whether watering or pruning, to maintain the property. While the vegetable garden continues to grow, please enjoy these photos of other areas around the farm.
1 The past week has been very humid in New York, leading to several thunderstorms. The much needed rain has cooled temperatures and helped my plants to prosper.
2 The Gravenstein apples on my espalier are starting to turn a nice shade of red. These apples are excellent for baking, apple sauce, and apple cider.
3 The terrace garden is looking much nicer since Ryan and Wilmer trimmed it, but what I'm most excited about are my formosa lilies.
4 These large, fragrant flowers will have at least eight buds on each plant.
5 The flowers usually bloom in late August, but the heat appears to be coaxing them out a bit early. When open, these flowers will be white with blushed pink insides and be about ten inches long.
6 A view of the Winter House from the paddock
7 A view down the paddocks—the weather certainly has brought some impressive cloud formations.
8 Over at my new corn field, the sweet corn is growing well. It's about knee high.
9 The popcorn and ornamental varieties had a little trouble, on account of squirrels digging up the seeds!
10 Ryan and Wilmer resolved this issue by placing a fine mesh over the dirt, so the squirrels couldn't dig out the seeds. Now the plants finally have a chance to grow.
11 My new honeybee hive continues to succeed. Being positioned by my cutting garden provides them ample pollen and nectar to bring back to the hive.
12 Look at all that activity! The hive is still new so there won't be a honey crop this year, but next year will be promising.
13 In the chicken coop, my guinea fowl have grown quite a bit. They have lost their shorter, fuzzy feathers and have grown longer, full contour feathers with the signature guinea fowl spots.
14 I moved them from the corn crib to the chicken coop where I had raised my baby chicks in the spring. They have their own house and yard to run around in, separate from the chickens.
15 My Pomeranian geese will protect them and the other chickens from predators. They are loving their new tub, especially in the summer heat.
16 The baby chicks I received in the spring have now matured into young hens called pullets. They have started laying eggs though very small ones!
17 My roosters also keep watch on the hens. They are quite vocal and you can hear their crows across the farm. Roosters crow to announce their territory but also cluck just like the hens do.
18 In my cutting garden, many of my lilies are blooming.
19 There are over 110 species of lilies, many of which are hybrids.
20 These are an Oriental hybrid called Lilium Nymph. They are known for their large pink streaked white petals and sweet fragrance.
21 All lilies have six large petals with prominent stamens. Some face outward, some upward, and others downward.
22 Some have skinnier ruffled petals while many have large prominent petals.
23 I also have a large number of lilies planted at my other homes, Skylands in Maine and Lily Pond in East Hampton.
24 I have Asiatic lilies growing by the Tenant House. They are early bloomers and come in a variety of colors.
25 Some Asiatic lilies, like the one I have, have downward facing flowers, but not all. The markings on the petals makes this a tiger lily.
26 They come in shades of yellow, orange, red and pink and are not fragrant.
27 A beautiful white and orange lily with tiger markings
28 My Sicilian miniature donkeys love to play in the paddock, but it's often hard to get a photo of them as they do!
29 They are very social animals so they typically want to come over and say hello when anyone approaches them.
30 The two males, Rufus and Clive are fighting over a ball, as Billie, the female, looks on.
31 Once they realized they had an audience, they went back to grazing.
32 In my greenhouse, my alocasia plants receive regular trimmings. It's important to routinely cut of dead or dying leaves so the plant can put its energy towards new growth.
33 Ryan keeps an eye out on my flowers in the greenhouse, as well, and places whatever is blooming in my house for me, like these gorgeous orchids.
34 Flowers aren't the only impressive plant to decorate your house with. I also enjoy the look of many other plants, like these succulents.
35 My French Bulldog, Sharkey, running up the walk back to the kitchen.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
HAPPY AUGUST, EVERYONE!!!!
Martha, everything looks beautiful. I'm glad you're getting some rain. We got a little last night...very little...but every drop helps and I'm thankful to God for it.
Take care!!!
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | August 1st, 2012 at 12:26 am
Good morning Martha, beautiful and interesting photos around your farm. I love your gorgeous lilies.
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | August 1st, 2012 at 1:14 am
Dear Martha, always a pleasure to visit your beautiful property, today being August first is the horses' birthday, hope your received some treats.
Posted by: Aussie gal | August 1st, 2012 at 2:06 am
Love the shade of red of your apples. Your lilies are just beautiful.
Am thinking of more succulents next year with this hot, hot summer.
Yet, my favorite is your donkeys. Have always wanted donkeys!
They seem so peaceful! Enjoy the beauty of this day.
Thank You!
Kathy
Posted by: Kathy Peterson | August 1st, 2012 at 4:45 am
Your farm is always so maintained..the pictures are beautiful.
Posted by: Paula Bennighof | August 1st, 2012 at 7:53 am
So glad your region has gotten rain Martha. Thanks for the update on the farm, I can only imagine all the hard work keeping everything alive and growing with the heat this summer. Everyone is doing a good job because the farm looks great! I can't wait to see the sweet corn grow even taller, and that't a good idea Ryan and Wilmer had of placing a mesh on the ground to keep those pesky squirrels from the seeds! The guineas and baby chicks sure are growing and how entertaining Rufus and Clive are playing around in the paddock!
Have a great day everyone!!
Posted by: Cindy F | August 1st, 2012 at 8:04 am
The corn being knee high, just might not produce much..... as a kid the saying was knee high by the forth of July..... to get corn to eat by end of August..... time will tell...
I wonder if Ryan's job description read have pics made with house plants???? And if it did, did Ryan register what that REALLY meant.... He looks a tad unsure while the plants look great.
Posted by: Susan | August 1st, 2012 at 8:36 am
Thanks for the inspiration.I'm praying for more rain.
Posted by: Charles McKenzie | August 1st, 2012 at 8:58 am
Martha,
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | August 1st, 2012 at 9:52 am
Hi Martha,
Your lilies are so nice – I wish I could grow them but I think it’s too hot down here. I have an Easter lily but it never blooms. Way to outsmart those rascally squirrels – they could at least wait until you make them a bowl of popcorn instead of eating all the seeds. Ha-ha I just saw a cute picture of you and Jude on the cover of September Martha Stewart Living. I think she’s going to be tall like you and Alexis which I consider so lucky. It’s not fun being short – I have to hem almost everything I buy, including shorts. I’m glad you are enjoying Maine. I saw the picture Daisy put up of you two at the movies or maybe you were having pizza at that point. In the picture, it looked like you were having one of your ever-present phone conversations. Next thing is Blogher12 on Friday – I wish I had a blog so I could attend just to hear your keynote speech along with Katie Couric’s. Everyone seems really excited about attending! Trish
Posted by: Trish | August 1st, 2012 at 10:13 am
Guinea fowl r the coolest. They have them wandering the grounds at the staten island zoo. If I had property, I would do a Martha. Hey, how bout peacocks. The kids would love them and u let them wander around. Check out the zoo.
Posted by: Cris | August 1st, 2012 at 10:19 am
Hi Martha, Thanks again for letting us tour your absolutely beautiful Bedford farm! These photos are very stunning and your comments about the farm are awesome! Those thunderstorms certainly have helped your beautiful gardens prosper! Those Gravenstein apples look so delicious already! All of your lilies are absolutely lovely and the ones on your terrace are getting beautiful, also! How fun to see your donkeys again-they sure do have fun! Love the clouds-we have so many here, also! So happy to finally see your sweet corn and the popcorn and they look so great! Glad Ryan and Wilmer were able to keep those darn squirrels out of those patches! The new honeybee hive sure looks great! How fun to see your guinea fowls out in the chicken coop-bet they will do a great job getting rid of ticks and lice plus other problems in your area! Fun to see your chickens and Pomeranian geese, too! Every lily photo is gorgeous! Ryan looks so happy in those last couple of photos and how fun to see Sharkey again! Sure hope you have another great day and have the best fun in Maine the rest of the week and the weekend! Off to see The Daily Wag with "The Trip to the Beach!" Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | August 1st, 2012 at 10:47 am
Love to see the pics of your chcikens and guineas. I grew up on a farm which had a lot of different fowl, guineas, peacocks, chickens, along with all the other animals. I love to hear the guineas, they have a distinct sound. As an adult I have always lived in town, so I really miss the roosters crowing and the guineas.
Posted by: Vivian Price | August 1st, 2012 at 10:57 am
This brings me back to my childhood as I grew up on a farm just like this. Thank you so much for sharing
Posted by: Abby | August 1st, 2012 at 11:06 am
Thanks for all the lovely pictures you have shared. I am so sad that you are not doing the show but I imagine it is hard work. I will be watching the new cooking show and wish you good luck with it. You are awesome. I know you are enjoying being a Grandma. Good luck in all you do.
Posted by: Karlene Wissel | August 1st, 2012 at 11:28 am
Three cheers for including several photos of the donks! Made my day!
gail
Posted by: gail | August 1st, 2012 at 12:33 pm
My gosh , what a beautiful rooster. He looks so proud. I love those donkeys. How sweet are they? Thanks Martha, your farm....my dream!
Posted by: Frances | August 1st, 2012 at 1:29 pm
I so enjoyed your album. I now live in HI in a studio so there isn't much room for gardening anymore. It was one of my passions. I do however have a violet blooming beautifully and a couple of other plants. I loved chickens in my yard when the kids were growing up they were like pets. I never raised the guineas. I loved how the chickens cleaned up all the bugs especially earwigs. The geese with the chickens sounds great. I loved the lilies too. What can I say it was a great trip. Thanks for thinking of us.
Diana
Posted by: Diana Brown | August 1st, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Interesting about the geese protecting the other fowl. I lost my adorable ducks to some unknown predator and have come to detest coyotes because they go after our dogs and cats. We live in the center of Los Angeles. Fairly urban. I often wonder about the problems you might have from carnivorous wildlife there.
It never occurred to me that donkeys would play with an inanimate object. How cute they are!
Your entries about the plants and animals on the farm are my favorites. So glad you put them up often.
Posted by: jw | August 1st, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I am so excited about setting you as my home page. I just can't decide what to look at first! When I got my first computer my husband said "ok what would you like to look at you have the whole world." I just couldn't decide. Martha it was like the time I gave one of the kids a quarter (that dates me) and took him to the row of candy bars and said he could choose anyone he wanted after 10 minutes he just couldn't decide I had to help him out.
Diana Brown
Posted by: Diana Brown | August 1st, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Your posts of the farm are my favourite! I showed the pics of your espaliered apple trees to my husband and we plan to do the same along our fence line. Your pictures, as always, are wonderful.
Posted by: Andrea | August 1st, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Martha,
Where do you get your lilies. I'd love to know so that I can order some. The ones at the big box home improvement stores never do well for me.
Posted by: John Newman | August 1st, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Hello Martha:
I really enjoyed seeing the Ginea Fowl. I grew up with pet hen. She was the sweetest.
As an adult I got a pair male/female, but a couple of years ago, when we lost our home, I had to give them to a friend to keep them. I really miss them!
To see yours made my day! They are so lovely to watch as they walk around. Thank you for the photos! I'll keep looking for more pix of them.
Your flower garden is amazing. Beautiful lilies.
Posted by: Lillian Kestone-Fazzi | August 1st, 2012 at 6:10 pm
The luscious apples almost look like peaches! Maybe I need a new prescription.
Posted by: Kandy Maharas | August 1st, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Hi Martha,
Here in coastal Virginia our sweet corn has come in and the fields of feed corn are either green with a little brown or are beginning to dry out for harvest in September. The height of your corn was the height of our corn in early June!! Please continue to keep us updated on your honeybee hives.
Posted by: Evelyn | August 1st, 2012 at 7:22 pm
Hello Martha from rainy Southern Utah!
Usually my home is a dry desert, but we have had summer thunderstorms & flash floods lately. My garden has really taken off with the rain too.
This week my September issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine came in the mail & I was so thrilled to see you & your Granddaughter on the cover in such a lovely color-filled room! I always enjoyed your daughters blog on the Whatever girls site & her wonderful healthy recipe's that were so well photographed & was sad when I could no longer find it. I had no idea she now has two children & am pleased to see the link to her current blog (especially the baby food section) which I will share with my Granddaughters. It was great to read the article about Alexis' home & see her unique antique finds. I got so many decorating ideas! This is my favorite magazine issue yet!
May your family be blessed. Best wishes.
Posted by: Janeen Grimshaw- Rasmusson | August 1st, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Beautiful, I always enjoy your pictures.
Posted by: Helena Pereira | August 2nd, 2012 at 6:54 am
The nicest comment I get from our customers begins with..."tablevogue looks like something Martha would create". Just wanted to say thank you for your limitless inspiration over the years. Because of you and http://www.tablevogue.com tables everywhere transform from drab to fab in a dash. May I send you a few for your next outdoor events? It would be my pleasure and a small token to say thanks.
Posted by: Jane Birdwell | August 2nd, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Happy Birthday Martha! Beauvais family from Chicago wishes you the best!
Posted by: Shannon | August 3rd, 2012 at 10:58 pm
HAPPY BIRTHADAY
Posted by: BARBARA BEAUVAIS | August 3rd, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Martha, I have been a fan of yours for 30 some years now. I have been to your show twice and enjoyed it very much. I missed you last fall by a day at Arcadia national park. I'll be in Maine and hope you see you there. Happy Birthday & best wishes!
Barbara,il
Posted by: Barbara | August 3rd, 2012 at 11:03 pm
Hi, Martha!
Thank you for sharing pictures of your beautiful farm! I am getting so many ideas for my own small garden area. I have a sunny spot in which I plan to grow White Champagne Grapes (the very tiny, cute, and expensive variety), provided I can find cuttings somewhere. If you or any of the blog readers can offer website suggestions as to where I could purchase these, the information would be very much appreciated!!!
Your creative solutions to everyday problems inspire all of us to 'channel our inner Martha'. You are making homes look better all across America. You are truly a gem, Martha.
Posted by: Steph | August 5th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
we are having wonderful weather here in Newfoundland. sunny, warm and no humidity. my garden is doing great. but last week we were visited by hundreds of butterflies. They are beautiful, but they lay eggs and within a week they hatch. I noticed my apple trees and dogberry tree had brown on their leaves. sure enough they were covered with butterfly eggs and larvi. I picked off all I could and sprayed with an organic spray.. so my point. weather isn't all we gardeners have to watch out for. your garden as always is wonderful.
Posted by: Pearl | August 5th, 2012 at 3:01 pm