So many delicious fruits are growing here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Fresh fruit is one of nature's most delicious products. This summer, I've already picked many boxes of berries, but all the others - the peaches, apples, and pears are developing so nicely. I have an orchard around my pool filled with a variety of more than 200 different fruit trees. I also have fruits growing on espaliers and in groves - those I've planted, and those that are original to the farm. It's always exciting to see how they grow and then harvest them when they're ready.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This orchard surrounds three sides of my pool. Many of the trees here were bare-root cuttings I nurtured in pots before planting. Now, they are much taller and so lush. When choosing to grow fruit stock, it is important to select those that are best for your area’s climate and soil.
The peach trees are laden with growing fruits.
I have beautiful peaches! Some of the peach varieties include ‘Garnet Beauty’, ‘Lars Anderson’, ‘Polly’, ‘Red Haven’, and ‘Reliance’.
Peach trees thrive in an area where they can soak up the sunshine throughout the whole day. It prefers deep sandy well-drained soil that ranges from a loam to a clay loam.
I also planted many types of Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, which is native to East Asia. These trees include Hosui, Niitaka, Shinko, and Shinseiko. Asian pears have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, which is very different from the European varieties.
Some of the other pears in the orchard are ‘Bosc,’ ‘Bartlett’, ‘Columbia’, ‘D’Amalis’, ‘Ginnybrook’, ‘McLaughlin’, ‘Nova’, ‘Patten’, ‘Seckel’, ‘Stacyville’, and ‘Washington State’.
Do you know what these are? Medlars, Mespilus germanica – a small deciduous tree and member of the rose family. The fruit is small, about one to two inches in diameter, and ranging in color from rosy rust to dusty brown. Medlars are native to Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe.
The fruits will be the last to harvest. They have to be eaten when almost rotten in a process called “bletting”. And, because of this, they either have to be eaten right off the tree or picked early and put aside for a few weeks to blet. The medlar is very pulpy and very sweet. Its taste is similar to an overripe date with a flavor similar to toffee apples or apple butter.
I also grow sour cherries in the orchard and elsewhere, and I’ve seen lots of them growing beautifully; however, the squirrels like them too, and often get them first.
And don’t forget the apples – I have an entire section of the orchard dedicated to delicious, sweet apples.
I grow hundreds of apple trees – some that were here when I acquired the property and others I planted soon after moving here. These orchard apple trees include: ‘Baldwin’, ‘Black Oxford’, ‘Cortland’, ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Esopus Spitzenburg’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Golden Russet’, ‘Grimes Golden’, ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Liberty’, ‘Redfield’, ‘Roxbury Russet’ ‘Windham Russet’, and more.
Many ask what I do with all the apples. It’s become a family tradition to have my granddaughter, Jude, come up with friends for a weekend in autumn to manually press as many apples as possible, making quarts and quarts of cider. It’s so delicious.
My dwarf espalier apples near my Winter House are also developing so wonderfully. It will be a great apple season.
Outside my stable in front of the peafowl and goose pens, I have this espalier of pear trees. 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.
I planted six ‘Shinseiki’ and four ‘Nijisseiki’ pear trees.
This sour cherry tree is down by the chicken coops. Look closely and see how full it is with fruits.
I always have many, many blueberries. I’ve picked a couple of boxes already, but I still have lots more to get as soon as they’re ready.
Plump, juicy, and sweet, with vibrant colors from red to the deepest purple-black. I love to use blueberries for jams, jellies, and pies, but they’re also wonderful with cereal, in pancakes and cobblers, and of course, in handfuls on their own. I grow many blueberry varieties, including ‘Bluegold’, ‘Chandler’, ‘Darrow’, ‘Jersey’, and ‘Patriot’.
In my berry patch behind the main greenhouse, I have lots of raspberry bushes. We start picking the black raspberries in early July.
Nearby, I have gooseberries…
… and currants, in translucent white, dark purple, and bright ruby red.
And just outside my main greenhouse, a collection of potted fig trees that are growing an abundance of fruits. Figs, Ficus carica, are actually clusters of flowers growing inside a pod, known as a syconium. They’re bulb-shaped, about the size of a thumb, and can have a purple or green skin with a sweet, pink flesh filled with tiny seeds. No plants give sweeter returns than fruiting trees and shrubs. Aside from all the vegetables I grow, I’m so pleased with all the fruits here at my farm.
It’s always interesting and fun to view the familiar through someone else’s lens.
My longtime driver, Carlos "Uno" Villamil, is an avid photographer. In the evening just before the sun begins to set, he often takes my four dogs out for a walk around the farm, snapping pictures along the way - of the gardens, the trees and flowers, the colorful sky, the beautiful landscape, etc. Many times he shares his images with me and others who work here, and we're so glad he does - great work, Carlos!
You may have seen some photos on my Instagram page @marthastewart48. Here are a few more, enjoy.
Carlos enjoys capturing photos of the setting sun. Many of the images in this gallery were taken just around 8pm in the evening. This is what I call my “soccer lawn” – the area where my grandson loves to play when he is visits.
The structure on the right is my pavilion. It’s become a favorite warm weather gathering spot here at the farm.
And, nearby is my Pin Oak Allée. A recognizable trait of the pin oak is that its lower branches hang down. It also has horizontal middle branches and upright upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit. My pool house is in the background.
This gate leads to my orchard of more than 200 fruit trees. Since it was first planted in 2017, these trees have provided so many wonderful fruits.
Right now, the peach trees are so full. These peaches will be ready to pick soon!
Here at my farm, I have four miles of gravel-covered carriage road. Gravel roads are attractive and accumulate less pollutants over time, but most importantly they provide excellent footing for my Friesian horses, my Fell pony, and my five donkeys.
This is one of three beautiful weeping katsura trees outside my Winter House. The weeping katsura, Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Pendulum’ is an ornamental tree known for its cascading branches and heart-shaped leaves.
Carlos caught this beautiful sunset from the north end of my living maze looking at my home. All the maze plantings are so lush. The eagle was added here last spring.
Here’s my beautiful champion Chow Chow, Empress Qin.
Blackie is my greenhouse cat. Blackie is very friendly and is always ready for a good rub.
And this is Dahlia, one of my three Persians. She is a dilute calico Persian, meaning her calico coat colors are softer. She is just a year old, but so full of personality – she’s a big favorite here at my farm.
This photo makes the pool even more tempting, especially on such warm summer days. Don’t you agree?
Many of you have seen my long and winding pergola now with gorgeous clematis in a palette of blue-flowering cultivars blooming on the antique upright granite posts. Every year they give a vivid floral display. Carlos also includes the towering bald cypress trees on the other side of the carriage road. When I planted them, they were just a few feet tall.
This photo shows one of my blooming Cotinus, or smoke bush. I have many smoke bushes around my farm – in the sunken garden behind my Summer House, around my pool, in the beds outside my Tenant House where my daughter and grandchildren stay when they visit, outside my main greenhouse, and lining both sides of the long carriage road that runs through one of my hayfields is a gorgeous allée of dark burgundy Cotinus.
Here’s a fun photo of a wild turkey hen with her chicks walking by my pool pavilion. Good catch, Carlos “Uno.” Carlos is affectionately called “Uno” because there is also a Carlos “Dos” on my crew.
This is another photo, taken after 8pm – the skies show such beautiful colors.
It’s the beginning of blueberry picking season here at the farm. My bushes are full of berries. I check them every day and pick the bluest of them all.
Plump, juicy, and sweet, with vibrant colors from red to the deepest purple-black, blueberries are one of nature’s finest treats. I use them for jams, jellies, and pies, but they’re also wonderful with cereal, in pancakes and cobblers, on top of waffles, and of course, in handfuls on their own.
My dogs adore their “Uncle Carlito.” Aside from his love for photography, Carlos also enjoys helping me with the gardening. He feeds many of the plants for me. Have you seen our Miracle-Gro ads?
Here he is off to feed more plants. What do I always say? If you ate today, so should your plants. Right, Carlos? Thanks for sharing your pictures!
What a difference a few weeks make. Despite some really hot and humid summer weather, the growing vegetables at my farm are thriving.
I walk through the garden whenever I can. I've been picking artichokes, peas, fava beans, cauliflower, and others. Recently, my daughter also came up to harvest vegetables for her and her children. And, I always plant in succession, meaning I seed crops at intervals of seven to 21 days in order to maintain a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the season. It makes me so proud to be able to grow all this nutritious food for my family.
Here are the latest photos of what's growing, enjoy.
Do you know what this is? Here’s a hint… it’s in the Brassica family. It’s Romanesco – an edible vegetable known for its striking light green color and fractal-like appearance. It has a mild, nutty flavor and is often referred to as Roman cauliflower or Romanesco broccoli. It was first grown in Rome in the 16th century, which is how it got its name. It’s now grown around the world, including my vegetable garden.
So much is growing in this garden right now – it is so exciting to walk up and down the beds every day to see what is popping up or ready to harvest.
Look at this beautiful orange cauliflower. Most are familiar with the white cauliflower, but the vegetable comes in this orange, purple, white as well as green. Carotenoids are responsible for the orange coloring. Carotenoids are also found in carrots, squash, and other yellow and orange vegetables and fruits.
Here’s a beautiful head of purple cauliflower. Purple cauliflower gets its color from anthocyanin, a naturally occurring phytochemical that is also found in other red, blue, or purple fruits and vegetables.
… and of course, I grow lots of white cauliflower. All the colors can be eaten raw, roasted, grilled, sautéed, or steamed.
My broccoli is also growing so beautifully. This one looks ready to harvest.
And here’s just one cabbage. To get the best health benefits from cabbage, it’s good to include all three varieties into the diet – Savoy, red, and green. And don’t forget, cabbage can be eaten cooked and raw.
Kale or leaf cabbage is a group of vegetable cultivars within the plant species Brassica oleracea. They have purple or green leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head.
I’ve been picking so many peas. Along the sides of this center bed is one section for shelling peas, which need to be removed from their pods before eating, and another for edible pods, which can be eaten whole, such as our snap peas. They are best grown on a fence to keep them off the ground and away from pests and diseases.
By early July every year, these peas are plump, and ready to be picked. The pea, Pisum sativum, is an annual herbaceous legume in the family Fabaceae. The pods can range in size from four to 15-centimeters long and about one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half centimeters wide. Each pod contains between two and 10-peas.
The onion plants look wonderful too. I planted a lot of white, yellow and red onions, as well as shallots, and leeks. Onions are harvested later in the summer when the underground bulbs are mature and flavorful. I always look forward to the onion harvest!
Here are the stalks of my rhubarb. The leaves are toxic because they contain high levels of oxalic acid, but the fleshy stalks of rhubarb can be cooked and used to make a variety of delicious pies, tarts, cakes, cobblers, crisps, and pavlovas.
Here’s a green bell pepper. I love serving them stuffed.
There are lots of hot peppers too. The jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper of the species Capsicum annuum. It is mild to medium in pungency depending on the cultivar.
These are garlic scapes. Scapes can be cut when the center stalks are completely formed and the ends are curled. The garlic will be ready to harvest when all the tops of the garlic plant begins to die back.
Here’s a perfect artichoke ready to pick. Globe artichokes, Cynara scolymus, are popular in both Europe and the United States. Artichokes are actually flower buds, which are eaten when they are tender.
And in this section is for my growing tomatoes – all staked and ready to be tied as the fas-growing vines develop and grow. I always grow an abundance of tomatoes to share and to make all the delicious tomato sauce I enjoy through the year. It’s a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types.
Back in my Winter house kitchen, I’ve cleaned lots of fava beans. This bean is an ancient member of the pea family. It has a nutty taste and a buttery texture. I always grow lots of fava beans.
These freshly picked artichokes will be so delicious – I prefer them on the smaller size when they are less fibrous and oftentimes sweeter and more delicate in flavor.
And more peas. I’ll freeze a lot of these for use later. I am so excited about this year’s growing season. There will be a so much delicious produce from my garden this year! How is your garden doing this week?
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