Many Summer Chores at My Farm
After days of hot, humid weather with temperatures in the 90s, we're finally getting a brief respite here at my Bedford, New York farm - temperatures this week are in the 80s with a little less humidity, but unfortunately, still no significant rain.
Supporting a working farm is a lot of work. In order for it to thrive, the animals, gardens, pastures, and my home need constant tender loving care. We also keep a running list of all the chores that need to be done at any given time, so everything always looks and functions at its best.
Here are some photos, enjoy…
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- This is my allée of pin oaks. Quercus palustris, the pin oak or swamp Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section of the genus Quercus. This is the first allée one sees upon entering the farm. They have grown and developed so majestically over the years with good pruning, watering, and feeding.
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- Across the carriage road is my large Equipment Barn, where we keep all the farm equipment and vehicles when not in use. We try to keep it as organized and as clean as possible to save time hunting for tools and supplies later. Here is Fernando blowing all the debris out of the equipment shed. He does this in the morning when it is empty.
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- We’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering low emissions.
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- Nearby is my pool. During the summer, my daughter and grandchildren love to use it whenever they visit. The surrounding hedges and lush green lawns are regularly manicured to keep them looking their best.
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- Here is my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, mowing the lawn around the pool. He is on our Kubota SZ22NC-48 stand-on mower. We use this to mow areas where the riding mower cannot go.
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- My new yew table in the pavilion outside my pool is wiped down and the chairs are all dusted clean. The yew table was made from a tree I cut down at my former East Hampton home. It was repurposed and made into this long table earlier this year.
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- It’s all in the details when it comes to many of the chores we do around the farm. At my Winter House, this was one of the brass weatherstripping saddles earlier this week. They all needed a good polishing.
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- Enma uses a very soft sponge and metal cleaner to gently wipe the dirt from in between the grooves of this saddle.
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- For cleaning, I have long used Wright’s Copper, Brass, and Silver Cleaning Creams. These come in small and large sizes.
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- For tight areas, Enma uses an old toothbrush.
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- And then wipes the entire saddle down with a clean rag.
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- It looks much better after some time and elbow grease.
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- Here is Chhiring watering some of the boxwood shrubs. We haven’t had any significant rain here since late June. It’s been a very dry, dry summer. Every day, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew make sure every garden, grove, and allée gets some water.
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- Over in the goose yard, my geese love to watch all the activity around the farm. I have 16 geese here at Cantitoe Corners – Sebastopol geese, Toulouse geese, African geese, Chinese geese, and of course my Pomeranian guard geese.
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- The geese are watching Fernando as he mows their pen. He is using my Kubota ZD1211-60 zero turn riding mower. It has a 24.8 horsepower diesel engine and a wide mower deck. On the right is one of several pools I provide for the geese to keep them cool during these hot summers.
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- Fernando also trims the grasses around the tree pits outside the goose yard where the mower cannot reach.
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- The “soccer field” lawn is also looking very clean and freshly mowed. At one edge of the lawn are six weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘pendula.’ The weeping hornbeam is deciduous and has a tight, dense growth pattern.
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- We work very hard to keep my gardens looking well-manicured. This is what I call my Stewartia garden, where I have several Stewartia trees and many other shade loving plants. It’s been freshly weeded and looks great. I don’t use any chemicals in my gardens, so I do tend to get a lot of weeds during this time. And, if left alone, so many of them quickly overtake healthy flowers, plants, and vegetables, stealing their sunlight, water, and soil nutrients. It’s important to weed, weed, weed.
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- Down at the chicken coops, Dawa checks for eggs twice a day. Chickens reach the peak of their egg-laying schedule when there’s the most daylight, so summer is naturally their best season. As winter approaches and hours of daylight diminish, so do the number of eggs the hens lay.
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- On this afternoon, Dawa collected more than 30-eggs.
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- Here, my beautiful Friesian, Geert, is getting cooled off with a little water after being out in the paddock. All the equines are also groomed every day – their hooves are picked of any mud, stones and debris, and their coats are cleaned, and brushed. It’s a time consuming task, but it keeps my stable residents healthy, happy and comfortable.
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- And back at my Winter House, more watering with our Gilmour Adjustable Circular Tripod Sprinkler. I’ve been using Gilmour hoses and sprinklers for some time. This one is watering the plantings on my terrace parterre. In the center of the garden bed is one of two hand-casted antique fountains I purchased many year ago and finally installed in 2018. They look so nice on this terrace and all the visiting birds love to bathe in them.
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- Here’s another sprinkler in one of my pastures. Despite the lack of rain, everything looks great. What are some of your most important summer chores?
Martha Pins
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