It’s so wonderful to see the gardens transform this time of year.
We’ve had quite a mild winter here in the Northeast. And while spring doesn't officially start for another 10-days, we're already seeing many signs of the season - flowering crocuses, snowdrops, hellebores, irises, witch hazel, and more. Soon, the grounds will be covered in spring color. Here’s a glimpse of what's blooming at my farm now.
Enjoy these photos.
And just like that there are flowers popping up everywhere. Every day there is something new to see. One of my favorite spring blooms is the snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis. These beautiful white flowers are blooming all around my houses. Snowdrops produce one very small pendulous bell-shaped white flower which hangs off its stalk like a “drop” before opening.
Galanthus is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. These delicate flowers bloom January to March.
Eranthis, or winter aconite, is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae – the Buttercup family. Winter aconite produces such cheerful yellow flowers that appear in late winter or earliest spring. They are deer resistant and multiply more and more every year.
Crocus is also an early season flower that pops up usually in shades of purple, yellow, and white. There are about 90 different species of crocus that originate from Southern Europe, Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and Africa.
Croci can be found in alpine meadows, rocky mountainsides, scrublands, and woodlands. I have groups of crocus blooms all around my farm.
Beneath my allée of pin oaks and in an area near my blueberry bushes, there are lots of white crocus. They only reach about four inches tall, but they naturalize easily, meaning they spread and come back.
Here is a dark purple crocus near my Basket House.
Golden crocus bears vivid orange-yellow bowl-shaped flowers.
There are also lots of irises blooming – this one in a creamy yellow. These dwarf irises are good for use in borders, along walkways, by ponds, or woodland areas in mass plantings.
In another area, dark purple irises. The blooms have a very light and subtle violet-like scent. Irises come from a vast genus of plants, but nearly all show the recognizable iris flower form – three standard petals and three hanging outer petals.
They bloom in early spring and grow to about four to six inches tall.
This miniature iris is called ‘Natascha’ in a lovely ice blue color.
Puschkinia is a genus of three known species of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to the Caucasus and the Middle East. The leaves are green, strap-like, and grow in pairs. Puschkinia is best grown in moist, fertile, well-draining soil in full sun to partial sunlight.
The flowers open in early spring in racemes up to about 10-inches high.
The witch-hazel is also blooming nicely. It grows as small trees or shrubs with clusters of rich orange-red to yellow flowers. Witch-hazel is great for splashes of winter color. They’re very hardy and are not prone to a lot of diseases. Most species bloom from January to March and display beautiful spidery flowers that let off a slightly spicy fragrance.
Witch-hazel flowers consist of four, strap-like petals that are able to curl inward to protect the inner structures from freezing during the winter.
New growth is also emerging in the woodland. Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or swamp cabbage is a low growing plant that grows in wetlands and moist hill slopes of eastern North America. The flowers appear before the leaves and show a mottled maroon hoodlike leaf called a spathe, which surrounds a knob-like structure called a spadix.
One can see the spadix inside. The spadix is actually a fleshy spike of many petal-less flowers. As the flowers mature, the spathe opens more to allow pollinators to enter.
Hellebores are members of the Eurasian genus Helleborus – about 20 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. They blossom during late winter and early spring for up to three months.
Hellebores come in different colors and have rose-like blossoms. It is common to plant them on slopes or in raised beds in order to see their flowers, which tend to nod.
These white hellebores are growing beneath my allée of lindens.
All around the farm, bulbs are pushing through the earth with so much energy. Along the daffodil border, in the woodland and in various areas around the farm there are patches of daffodil foliage. I have thousands of daffodils planted in large groupings, providing a stunning swath of color when in bloom.
Much of the farm still looks like winter, but not for long. Soon these trees will be filled with glorious leaves, and all the gardens will be bursting with color – wait and see!
Business gatherings are always more enjoyable when accompanied by a delicious meal.
Yesterday, I hosted a luncheon at my home for a group of nine guests. My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin from PS Tailored Events, and I, collaborated on a wonderful menu that included imported white jumbo asparagus served with Hollandaise sauce and mustard sauce, asparagus and onion soup, Miso black cod with carrot-ginger purée, sautéed spinach, potatoes and roasted beets; and for dessert, crisp meringue nests with lemon curd, crème fraiche and blood orange. It was an excellent lunch and a very enjoyable meeting.
Enjoy these photos.
The event was a casual, small intimate gathering, so I decided to have it at my kitchen counter. Beautiful houseplants were brought in from my greenhouse. My housekeepers and I work on the table settings together. We try to make each one different and pretty.
In my servery, decorative vessels planted up with African violets and moss.
Meanwhile, fresh, delicious beets are picked from the vegetable greenhouse. When planning the menu, I always think about what is available in the gardens.
We also used a lot of fresh spinach, picked just hours earlier.
In the morning, Chef Pierre roasts the beets. These are so fresh and gorgeous deep red in color.
We also used golden and rainbow beets. These beets are all roasted for 35 to 40 minutes, tossed halfway, until one can pierce through the beets with light pressure.
The jumbo asparagus spears were imported from France. White asparagus is generally sweeter and more tender than the green variety. Chef Pierre cuts them in half and saves the bottoms for asparagus soup – nothing is wasted.
Fresh eggs were picked in the morning to make the creamy Hollandaise sauce.
Hollandaise sauce, meaning Dutch sauce in French, is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice. It is popularly served on vegetables such as steamed asparagus.
Supreming is the term for removing the peel and pith of citrus fruit, then cutting them into segments. The tops and bottoms are also sliced to make them stand flat.
Here are the citrus rounds after cutting – a stunning mix of oranges.
About 10-minutes before serving, the asparagus spears are steamed to perfection.
Then they are plated in lines of four or five spears each…
… and served with Hollandaise sauce on one side, and mustard sauce on the other. All my guests loved both.
Black cod is also known as sablefish, coalfish, Alaskan cod or butterfish. The cod fillets were marinated in Miso, mirin, and sake for 72-hours prior to cooking. Here they are pan-seared beautifully. Everyone asked for second helpings.
The cod is served with roasted beets, sautéed spinach, fingerling potatoes, and carrot-ginger purée. It was such a delicious combination of fish and vegetables.
Dessert was also a big hit. First, a smidge of crème fraiche is placed in the center of each plate…
… Just a little keeps the meringue nest in place. Then, the nest is filled with a creamy lemon curd.
Fresh citrus slices are placed alongside the nest.
These are candied citrus slices – I could eat a platter of these, they’re so good.
Finally, the nest is topped with a dollop of crème fraiche, a slice of candied orange, and a sprig of mint. Not a bit left over from anyone’s plate. Everything was excellent. What special dishes are you making this weekend?
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, even rainy days can be extremely productive.
Whenever it's stormy outside and my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are unable to work in the woods or gardens, I encourage them to take stock of the equipment, clean everything, and then organize all the tools and supplies. My Equipment Barn is about 40 by 120 feet, with a substantial amount of height. It is where we keep our mowers, blowers, tractors, tools, and other pieces of important machinery. Over the last two rainy days, my crew cleared the entire space, power washed the floors, and then inspected and organized every item before returning it neatly to its place, so everything is in good order and ready to use. Keeping things well maintained and properly stored will always save time in the long run.
Enjoy these photos.
It’s always very refreshing to see a clean and well-organized space. This is one side of my large Equipment Barn where we store all of our farming machinery and tools.
I built this structure shortly after I purchased the farm. I wanted the Equipment Barn to be an attractive outbuilding in an easy-to-access location. The first step in cleaning is to remove all the equipment.
The hand tools are also taken off their hooks, inspected, and grouped with other like pieces.
Chhiring makes sure each piece of equipment is in perfect working order. Here he is checking the tires of a generator.
The floors are blown, power washed, and left bare to dry for several hours.
Meanwhile, all of the garden tools are rinsed clean.
The Equipment Barn is well lit with these big overhead lamps. I use very utilitarian lighting and fans where I can on the farm.
In the back corner, we have a bank of lockers for the crew. Everyone has their own set of lockers where they can store safety equipment, extra shoes, clothing, and other personal items.
Among the power tools we use and depend on all year long are those from STIHL. This company is a global leader in outdoor power equipment and offers more than 80 different tools including professional-grade chainsaws, blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, brush cutters, pruners, saws, and so much more. All of our STIHL long handled hedge trimmers, and weed-whackers are hung in this section, ready to use.
Nearby are the STIHL blowers. These blowers are powerful, easy to handle, and fuel-efficient.
Fernando organizes the tools by type and hangs them near one end of the Barn for quick access.
We use industrial hooks that can hold up to 50-pounds each. We keep like items together, so we know where to find them and how many we have in supply. Here are some of our shovels and spades. Do you know the difference between a shovel and a spade? A shovel is longer, angled, and its blade is curved into more of a scoop with a pointed tip. Shovels are better for digging up, breaking apart, and lifting soil as well as for scooping and moving loose materials. A spade has a relatively flat blade with straight edges and the blade tends to be in line with the shaft, rather than angled forward. Spades are good for edging and cutting.
Rakes, forks, edgers, hoes, and other tools are also hung in the same area.
Ladders of various sizes rest against one wall close to one set of large barn doors.
This is our wood chipper – an important piece of equipment at the farm. I am fortunate to have this machinery to chip fallen or cut branches and then return them to the woodland for top dressing. It has a special parking spot in one corner of the space.
I keep this vintage Allis-Chalmers tractor from the 1940s in this barn also. It reminds us how much these farm pieces have evolved over the years.
Our dependable wheelbarrows from Scenic Road are washed, and stored upright to save space.
All the smaller tools, such as these large combination wrenches are also organized and hung over the workbench.
We have a fleet of Kubota mowers. They are used almost daily during the warmer months. Here, they are parked in a designated spot, where they can easily be driven out when needed.
This barn also accommodates our farm vehicles. Our tractors and trucks are parked neatly inside at the end of each day.
So much can fit into this Equipment Barn, especially when it is clean and all the tools are properly stored.
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