Here at my farm, everyone on my crew is busy cleaning up after the Blizzard of 2026 dropped more than a foot - in some places more than two - of heavy, wet snow.
The storm began Sunday afternoon and then continued through the next day with whiteout conditions and high winds. Offices were closed, travel bans on major streets, highways and bridges were imposed, and everyone was advised to stay home. Winter is definitely not over yet. And there is more snow in the forecast.
Here are some photos, enjoy. I hope all of you affected are okay.
This week’s powerful winter blizzard brought strong winds and widespread heavy snow across much of the Northeast. More than 20-inches fell at my farm. This linden tree-lined path between the paddocks runs from my Winter House and carport down to the chicken coops.
The stable and Boxwood Allée look so different in winter. I am so glad the boxwood is covered under burlap shrouds to keep everything protected from the snow.
This storm set multiple one-day records across New England. It brought strong winds and caused low visibility. Thankfully my farm did not suffer any damage.
Narrow paths were made to all my animal pens right away, so they could be accessed and checked.
Here is my stable complex courtyard. The cobblestone is completely covered again – a new layer of snow after last month’s big storm dropped an initial two feet.
The next day was sunny and much more calm after the storm. Here’s a dawn redwood, Metasequoia, with its straight trunk – an impressive tree by any standard and beautiful in any season.
Snow shadows of the trees and the many branches could be seen all over the grounds.
The 100-year old white spruce fencing has stood the test of time. I love how the snow collects on the fence rails. I have photographed sections of this beautiful fence many times through the seasons.
Here, it is easy to see which direction the snow was falling. This was a wet snow. Wet snow occurs when the air temperature near the surface is above freezing, causing the snowflakes to partially melt before reaching the surface. This causes the snowflakes to become “sticky.” It’s great snowball making snow.
While the bare deciduous trees stand tall in my middle field, young evergreens collect lots of snow on their branches below.
Big snowstorms like this one cause a lot of cleanup work, but one can’t deny the beauty of a clean snow covered field – still untouched except for the tiny prints of bird and squirrel feet.
Streams are full and look black against the white snow.
Drifts create interesting markings on the landscape.
And the blueberry bushes on the left look even brighter red against the white snow. A stand of quince is on the right.
Here is a view of my long pergola – it will look quite different in a few months when the garden is filled with colorful blooms.
Do you know what this is? Buried under nearly three feet of snow is a burlap covered planter.
Notice the holes in the burlap. It’s a “Good Thing” I developed to help our avian friends during winter – they love to take cover inside, especially during storms.
And can you recognize this area of the farm?
It is the center footpath in my Summer House Garden. On both sides are my formal boxwood hedges and shrubs – all protected by strong burlap to keep the snow from splaying the tender branches.
The snow stuck to so many of the tree branches. These are my pollarded lindens outside the stable.
Pasang is busy removing snow from all the burlap covered boxwood surrounding my herbaceous peonies. A narrow footpath is between the burlap and the fence – covered waist high with snow.
And here’s Pete in my trusted Kubota tractor. A Land Pride PR1690 Power Rake is attached to the back and used to rake the snow on the carriage roads and break up any ice. It’s snowing again this morning with more in the forecast. Be careful.
The beginning of a new year is always a nice time to get a jump start on spring cleaning.
Not long ago I decided it was time to clean and organize my stable hayloft - a large loft above the horse stalls where we keep bales of hay made right here in my fields. The area is also used to house horse supplies, various building materials, screen doors, and several large ornamental planters. Getting things back in order is always so energizing.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Here is my stable – home to my Friesians, my Fell pony, and my donkeys. On the second floor is my hayloft that extends the full length of the building.
Here is a view out of one of the windows of the loft. This window looks out onto the great Boxwood Allée, which is now completely enshrouded in protective burlap for the winter.
From another window of the hayloft, one can see this area of my farm – the carriage road to my azaleas. I have many trees planted along this carriage road also including crabapples, horse chestnuts, paulownia trees and others.
The hayloft cat walk can be seen from the stable’s entryway. This area separates the stacked hay from the rest of my items being stored.
This is the hay side. I am very proud of the hay I make here at the farm – it is good and nutritious and my horses all love it.
On this other side of the hayloft, I store various moldings, window casings, screen windows, door screens, outdoor planters, horse supplies, etc.
But over time, the area has gotten disorganized – with items placed on random shelves or laying on the floor. During winter, when it’s cold and there is snow on the ground, it is a good time to go through and clean out these spaces.
So the crew got to work, vacuuming the floor, assessing what was here, and putting things where they belong.
It got messier before it got cleaner, and like any organizing job, discoveries of long misplaced items are once again found.
Storage bins are used for seasonal horse equipment and supplies – now all put away.
Screen doors are housed in specially made storage boxes, so they are well protected during the off-season. Screens should be stored either by laying flat or standing upright, in a dry area where the temperature is kept fairly constant.
Wood pallets are used to keep my valuable pots from resting directly on the floor.
It is always important to store or cover all outdoor planters because freezing temperatures can crack or break them.
The crew organized all the moldings on the shelves, making sure they are stacked according to length and type.
I keep the moldings stacked horizontally to keep them from bowing.
Unused saddles are on proper saddle racks to maintain their shape and prevent moisture buildup.
Rolling shelves are tucked away yet easy to access. Slowly the area looks much better.
This loft has high ceilings and lots of windows. Hay creates a lot of dust, so dusting from top to bottom is done on a regular basis.
This is what a little time and elbow grease can do. To separate the hay side from the rest of the loft, I created a dust barrier using industrial size tarps secured to the sides of the entrance.
And here’s Fernando making sure the stairs leading down to the stalls and feed room are also clean and dust free.
A place for everything and everything in its place. It’s so nice to come up here and see the newly organized hayloft.
Foggy mornings are common in the fall and winter, especially here at my farm.
Fog is made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals. When the air close to the ground is cooled to the same temperature as the dew point, the water vapor condenses into tiny droplets suspended in the atmosphere. Last week, just days before this blizzard of 2026, we had a day of fog which seemed to get heavier as the day progressed.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The weather here in the Northeast has been very inconsistent. This year we’ve had bitter cold temperatures, mild, pleasant temperatures, rain, snow, sleet – all leaving a lot of vapor and moisture in the air. By the end of last week, the vapor condensed into water droplets and formed fog covering the farm.
Fog can form in two ways: either by cooling the air to its dew point or by evaporation and mixing. This happens often when the earth radiates heat at night or in the early morning.
This view is just outside my large “run-in” pasture. Beyond the fence is a giant open field where all my horses can be turned out – hard to see through the fog.
This day was also very cloudy – one can see the outline of this tree, completely bare of leaves. This tree is in the same pasture, Clouds and fog form in similar ways, but clouds can form at many different altitudes while fog only forms near the ground.
These trees are Osage orange trees, Maclura pomifera. They have very sharp, straight spines along the branches. Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1800s, thousands of miles of hedge were constructed by planting young Osage Orange trees closely together. The goal was to grow them “horse high, bull strong and hog tight.” Farmers wanted them to be tall enough that a horse would not jump it, stout enough that a bull would not push it, and woven so tightly that a hog could not find its way through.
The brooks and streams are full. They appear black against the white snow from the last big storm.
Do you know this tree? It is the giant sycamore located in my back hay field. It is the symbol of my farm.
The same sycamore is also in this photo – can you see it in the distance? Don’t confuse fog and mist. Fog is denser than mist. This means fog contains more water molecules in the same amount of space. Fog cuts visibility down to six-tenths of a mile while mist can reduce visibility to about one to 1.2 miles.
Along the carriage road at the back of my upper hayfield, I planted a grove of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. They look quite mysterious surrounded by fog.
This hayfield is one of three I use for making hay. It’s completely covered in snow now, but in summer, it is filled with beautiful, nutritious hay for my horses.
This photo shows the thick fog through another part of the woodland. Do you know the foggiest place in the world? It is Grand Banks, off the island of Newfoundland, Canada. The cold Labrador current from the north and the warm Gulf Stream current from the east create just the right conditions for thick fog to form almost every day of the year.
The thicker the fog, the longer it takes to dissipate. This fog lasted several hours along with rain showers. This view shows my golden weeping willows.
And this is a look into another horse paddock with an allée of lindens across the way.
This is the fog over the trees in my middle field. Another interesting story involving fog includes President George Washington. During the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, George Washington and his troops were fighting a losing battle against the British. When a thick fog descended on the area, Washington took the opportunity to withdraw thousands of his troops into Manhattan. After the fog lifted, the British descended on the American positions, only to find they had left. The Americans’ miraculous retreat saved their lives.
On these foggy, winter days, everything seems to take on various gray tones.
Looking down between the paddocks are the tall, majestic eastern white pines on the right.
This is a view down the allée of London planes and smoke bushes. The taller London planes were pruned a couple months ago. For these trees, I am using a pollarding style of pruning, which is a very severe method that involves cutting the branches back either to the trunk, or even all the way down to the top of the trunk to promote the growth of club-headed stems and dense new foliage and branches.
And this is my stable complex courtyard – still covered in snow from the last big storm. Today, everyone in the area is waking up to at least another foot of white along with strong winds and whiteout conditions. It’s an erratic weather season – be careful and stay safe.
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