A Fresh Coating of Snow at My Farm
Hard not to love a picturesque snow-covered landscape, especially at my Bedford, New York farm.
Yesterday morning, we got another few inches of beautiful, white snow that was just heavy enough to stick to the tree branches and shrubs, stone posts, walls, and steps, and the tops of all the burlap-encased urns and boxwood - the entire farm was a gorgeous winter wonderland. I always love to tour the property during snow storms. When not busy plowing the four miles of carriage road, I'm taking photos. This storm only lasted a few hours. By mid-morning, the snow tapered to flurries and a bright blue sky appeared.
Here are some of my images, and please go to my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 to see more, enjoy.
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- The snow started early in the morning, covering everything at the farm. Here is a cross section of my long and winding clematis pergola. I am glad the large boxwood are well-covered under their protective winter burlap shrouds. Straight ahead, one can see the windows of my Tenant House in the distance.
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- This is one side of the Pin Oak Allee adjacent to the Equipment Barn. I’ve planted a few different allees at the farm. An allee is a walk or passage, especially one between two rows of evenly planted specimens. The pin oak is one of the most popular trees for landscaping because it’s so easy to transplant and is very hardy and handsome.
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- On the left is my blueberry patch surrounded by another granite and wood pergola. On the right, a stand of 16 Chinese quince trees. Below them, my friend, Hannah Milman, planted hundreds and hundreds of saffron bulbs in tight, straight rows. They will look so beautiful in bloom.
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- Here is a view of my perennial flower garden – a different look from summer when it is filled with colorful, fragrant flowers.
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- The back of my carport is a wonderful spot for birds to perch and eat. I have a series of bird feeders filled every day for these avian visitors. I am glad the birds can depend on food here at the farm all year long.
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- Just across the carriage road is my Gravenstein apple espalier. An espalier refers to an ancient technique, resulting in trees that grow flat, either against a wall, or along a wire-strung framework. Many kinds of trees respond beautifully to the espalier treatment, but fruit trees, like apple and pear, were some of the earliest examples. And, because necessary sunlight reaches every piece of fruit that these trees bear, espalier pruning remains standard procedure at commercial orchards in France.
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- Here’s the old corn crib, which is original to the property. The unique “keystone” shape, flaring from bottom to top, was designed to shed water.
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- The snow collected on many of the tree branches around the farm. Luckily, there was no damage. Here are my weeping hornbeams. We prune these regularly to keep the beautiful shape. These weeping specimens are rare and hard to find, but I was lucky to find six.
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- Here is the view of my ancient apple trees with the burlap-covered Boxwood Allee in the distance. Many of you comment on the fencing. In the foreground is 100-year old white spruce fencing from Canada. I love how the snow collects on the fence rails.
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- The large linden trees are part of an allee I planted several years ago. The linden tree, Tilia, is also referred to as basswood or lime, though it is not related at all to the lime fruit. They are straight stemmed trees with smooth bark. The specimens below are all European beech trees, Fagus sylvatica, or the common beech – they hold tight to their leaves.
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- Here’s a photo I took from the center of the allee with my carport in the distance.
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- Hi Phurba! Phurba is shoveling the walkway to my terrace parterre in front of my Winter House kitchen – the snowfall kept everyone busy.
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- The tall American boxwood that surrounds my Summer House garden is netted and wrapped tightly together. Heavy snow could damage the shrubs and splay their branches.
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- If you follow my blog regularly, you may recall my new azalea garden planted last year. It is along both sides of the carriage road between my Summer House and my stable. I wanted to add hundreds of colorful azaleas – a variety of unique specimens in shades of pink, orange, crimson and white. Right now, they are all white with snow, but wait until you see them all in bloom – they will be stunning.
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- Here is a view looking through my fruit orchard not far from my pool.
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- This is a view into the vegetable garden – completely covered in inches of untouched snow. And in the center is an herb garden we started this summer.
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- Behind the garden, one of two giant stands of Eastern white pines. These trees stand so tall and majestic in the fields.
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- Here is my stone yard where all the stone building materials are stored organized and tidy. Here, I keep extra granite posts, stone pavers, slate roof tiles, and marble.
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- Can you guess where this area is on my farm? If you guessed my Japanese Maple tree woodland, you are correct. Over the last several years, I’ve planted many of these trees in one section of a shade garden not far from my chicken coops and vegetable garden. I just love them and always look forward to their gorgeous display every fall. These specimens provide countless variations in size, leaf shape, and color, creating a landscape of beauty and texture.
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- Here’s a stand of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, with their straight trunks – impressive trees by any standard, and beautiful in any season. I love how the snow collects on the trunks of these handsome trees.
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- This is the long allee of lilacs located behind the chicken coops, not far from my tennis court. Every spring it just bursts with gorgeous color.
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- Even from the snow covered Boxwood Allee, it is hard to miss those eastern white pines, Pinus strobus. White pines are the tallest trees in eastern North America.
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- This is the fence surrounding my pigeon yard. The snow seems to stick to everything.
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- Shortly before noon, the peafowl were released from their safe enclosure. The peacocks and peahens love to congregate in the stable courtyard. Here, a couple of them perch on the stone trough, up off the cold snow covered cobblestones.
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- And by lunchtime, the clouds parted revealing this bright blue sky. Even if you don’t love winter, I am sure you agree, the scenery is breathtaking. Please go to my Instagram page @marthastewart48 for more of my photos.
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