My large new vegetable garden is so much fun to visit right now because of all the growing produce - there’s something new popping up every day.
This garden, which we started planting in April, is filled with so many wonderful crops - tomatoes, spinach, brassicas, carrots, beets, Swiss chard, sweet and hot peppers, onions, leeks, shallots, potatoes, artichokes, asparagus, all sorts of herbs, and more. I've already picked a few lettuces and cabbages, and every one has been delicious. We always plant in succession, meaning we seed crops at intervals of seven to 21 days in order to maintain a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the season. I can't wait for our first big bounty.
Enjoy these photos.
What a difference a couple of months make. This garden is looking so beautiful. And I love that it is so close to my Winter House. It’s nice to be able to see all the crops we’ve planted over the last several weeks – they are all thriving.
In one of the first beds is our spinach. Look at all the spinach we’re growing this year. The leaves are so beautiful and so very tender and tasty. So great for my morning green juice.
At the edge of all the beds, we planted herbs. This is thyme. Thyme is an herb whose small leaves grow on clusters of thin stems. It is a Mediterranean herb with dietary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. It is delicious with fish or poultry and imparts a lemony flavor.
These are the leaves of our artichokes. Globe artichokes, Cynara scolymus, are popular in both Europe and the United States. Artichokes are actually the flower buds, which will emerge from the center of the plants.
Artichoke plant leaves are silvery-green in color with long, arching shapes. The plant stems are thick and fleshy.
Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. The leaf stalks are large and vary in color, usually white, yellow, or red. The leaf blade can be green or reddish in color.
We always plant a variety of carrots in all the different colors – red, yellow, white, purple, black, and orange. They’re not ready yet, but the tops are lush and green. And, do you know… the first carrots were white, purple and yellow – not orange. The Dutch developed orange carrots in the 1500s. All modern-day orange carrots are directly descended from these Dutch-bred carrots.
In the first long center bed we planted asparagus. We won’t be harvesting these for at least three years as asparagus needs all that time to develop, but after that they will produce an abundant crop of spears spring after spring.
Our cabbages are also growing nicely. To get the best health benefits from cabbage, it’s good to include all three varieties into the diet – Savoy, red, and green. Savoy cabbage leaves are ruffled and a bit yellowish in color.
Red, or purple, cabbage is often used raw for salads and coleslaw. It contains 10-times more vitamin-A and twice as much iron as green cabbage.
And here is one of our green cabbages – so perfect.
Broccoli is a hardy vegetable of the cabbage family that is high in vitamins A and D. And, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, the average American eats more than four-pounds of broccoli a year.
Here, we picked the center head of broccoli. These are the smaller side shoots that are already growing so beautifully.
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.
We planted leeks, shallots and onions back in late April – look how much these leeks have grown. The leek is a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. Leeks have a mildly sweet flavor similar to onions, shallots, garlic, and chives.
In another center bed, along this trellis we put up, are lots of peas – 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 supports to keep them off the ground and away from pests and diseases.
Pea plants produce white flowers with a slight pink hue.
There is also a lot of fresh and fragrant cilantro. Often known in the United Kingdom as coriander, cilantro comes from the plant Coriandrum sativum. In the United States, the leaves of the plant are referred to as cilantro and the seeds are called coriander. Cilantro is also commonly known as Chinese parsley. And those who care for it and those who don’t are split – and it’s actually genetic. Some possess a gene that makes them super-sensitive to the aldehyde component found in cilantro. Do you love cilantro, or hate it?
Also always growing here at the farm is parsley. This will find its way into my morning green juice. Parsley is rich in vitamins K, C, and other antioxidants. It has a bright, herbaceous, and slightly bitter taste.
This is curly parsley. This comes from the same family, but curly parsley leaves are thicker and ruffled. Some also say its flavor is a bit stronger in curly parsley than in the flat-leaf varieties.
Everyone always asks what I do with all the vegetables I grow. I share them with my family, but I also love sharing the bounties with friends, colleagues, and my hardworking crew here at the farm. I also provide fruits, vegetables, and eggs for photography and video shoots. And, of course, all my birds get vegetables too. I hope your gardens are doing well this season.
This time of year, my home is always decorated with gorgeous colorful blooms from my gardens. Right now, fragrant roses.
I love roses and have enjoyed growing them for many years. Here at my farm, there are so many roses blooming, we're able to enjoy them both inside and out. When cutting roses, do so early in the morning and select those that have just opened. And always use a pair of shears or scissors with sharp blades - the sharper the blades, the cleaner the cuts and the longer the roses will last. Earlier this week, my housekeepers, Enma and Elvira, picked some beautiful flowers to display in my Winter House.
Enjoy these photos.
I love decorating my homes with fresh, colorful and fragrant blooms. Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have a large cutting garden located just outside my main greenhouse. Right now, it’s filled with stunning flowers – baptisia, dianthus, poppies, and of course, roses. And with so many roses flowering, it’s nice to cut my own to enjoy indoors.
Most are climbing on all four of the garden fence sides, while some varieties fill obelisk trellises, or tuteurs, in the center. This pink rose is sticking through the fence at the entrance to the garden – so perfectly perfect.
A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are more than a hundred species and thousands of cultivars.
Many of my roses are old fashioned antique varieties. I have small English tea roses as well as big David Austin types.
Roses come in many different colors, such as pink, peach, white, red, magenta, yellow, copper, vermilion, purple, and apricot.
Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses to climbers that can reach several feet in height.
Here is a creamy white rose just opening – it’s just right for cutting.
Early in the morning, before the sun hits the blooms, is the best time to cut roses and other flowers. This is when they are the most hydrated. With more water, the stems should feel firm and strong.
Here, Enma cuts the flowers that are newly opened and fresh looking. She cuts the stem at a 45 degree angle so there is more surface area for water uptake.
Fortunately, the flower garden is not far from my Winter House, so they are brought back quickly after cutting. Always try to get cut flowers into water as soon as possible.
Elvira fills the vase with fresh water.
I love these vessels – they fit lots of stems and can be arranged to look very full.
Enma removes any leaves from the stem that sit below the water line in the vase. This makes the arrangement look clean and also keeps the water clean.
She keeps a few of the upper green leaves as is and gives each stem a fresh cut before placing it into the vessel.
I like arrangements to be done by color – this arrangement includes many of the light colored roses.
Here is a light yellow rose. When arranging, be sure not to overcrowd the flowers. Too many can prevent some flowers from getting adequate water.
Here is one vase almost done. Most freshly cut roses should last up to one week if properly tended.
In this vase, Elvira mixes deep red roses with a few cream to light pink colored blooms. When displaying roses, be sure to keep them away from heat and bright light, which will shorten vase life.
This vase of roses is in my sitting room, where I can see them every morning on my way to the kitchen. With cut flowers, it is also a good idea to change the water every two to three days to keep them fresh longer. And check on them. Keeping the vase full ensures the flowers do not dry out and wilt.
This arrangement of red and pink roses is on the center island of my servery, another nice spot where gorgeous arrangements can be seen and enjoyed. If you grow roses, I hope this inspires you to go out and cut a selection of flowers, so you can enjoy their beauty and fragrance inside.
The garden maze here at my Bedford, New York farm is transforming more and more with each row of plantings.
My three-acre living maze is located in a lush pasture just outside my Winter House. I started planting it one year ago with a variety of different hedges, espaliers, trees, and shrubs to add texture and interest. All of the specimens will grow tall enough to prevent walkers from seeing the paths ahead. So far, I've planted European beech, European hornbeams, boxwood, parrotias, espaliered apple trees, American sweetgums, barberry, and London planetrees. Most recently, I added more European hornbeams and a selection of yew trees, Taxus, a coniferous evergreen, related to pines, spruces, firs, cedars, and cypress. The trees are placed according to a very detailed map I designed specifically for this maze.
Enjoy these photos.
We picked up 30 yew trees from Select Horticulture in nearby Pound Ridge. I selected all the specimens myself – they are all healthy and lush. The yew, taxus, is a small to medium sized evergreen that grows up to 65-feet tall. The leaves are flat, dark green, and arranged spirally on the stem.
We also picked up 50 European hornbeams, Carpinus betulus – a fast-growing deciduous tree. I have many hornbeams here at the farm. The tree is native to Western Asia and central, eastern, and southern Europe, including southern England. Because of its dense foliage and tolerance to being cut back, the hornbeam is popularly used for hedges and topiaries.
The maze can be seen from my Winter House. Here is the area designated for the newest grouping of yews and hornbeams.
The first step is to mark exactly where the trees will be planted. The maze is drawn out on a map, so Fernando and Pete set up the landscape twine according to the map’s specifications. This day was quite hazy because of the Canadian wildfires – one can see the difference in these images.
Here, Pete secures the twine on the other end of the designated row.
Once the area is marked, Pete uses our edger to cut the lines for the bed.
Pete gets up right next to the twine, so everything is completely straight.
Here, one can see where the line of sod is cut.
Next, Pete goes over the same lines with our our new Classen Pro HSC18 sod cutter. Since the area is already edged, the sod cutter goes over the lines smoothly and more deeply. Everything must be done as precisely as possible for the maze.
Pete rolls up the sod in sections, so it is not too heavy to transport.
Here are several pieces of sod neatly rolled up. It will be used in another section of the farm.
Pete continues to cut the sod to make the bed wider. This sod cutter works quickly and efficiently. It doesn’t take long to cut the entire bed for the yews.
The bed is now wide enough for the yew trees. Yews do best in moist but well-drained soil in full sun to full shade.
Meanwhile, holes are dug in a nearby bed for the European hornbeams. These trees are very adaptable and also do well in full sun to full shade.
In assembly line process, each tree is placed into a designated hole, still in its pot. This way, we can make sure there are enough holes for each tree and all of them are lined up perfectly. Afterward, the trees are removed from the pots and positioned into their new hole with the best side facing the path.
Hornbeams are often confused with the common beech because of their similar leaves; however, the hornbeam leaves are actually smaller and more deeply furrowed than beech leaves. The leaves are deciduous and alternate, with serrated margins.
And a trench is dug out for the yew trees and all of them are carefully positioned and equally spaced in the trench.
Once all the trees are in place, the burlap and ties are removed. This is very important. Some gardeners will leave the wrapping in the ground, but I prefer to remove everything around any trees that are planted at the farm, so there is nothing blocking its root growth. Some burlap is also treated to prevent it from disintegrating in the ground.
Here is our pile of burlap – all the tree root balls are now bare.
I always say, “if you eat, so should your plants.” For all of these, we’re using Plant-tone, an all-purpose organic fertilizer for trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers and vegetables. It’s made from only natural organic ingredients and fortified with beneficial microbes to improve soil structure without burning.
The fertilizer is made of insoluble granules that release nutrients as it biodegrades.
The yews are carefully backfilled. Another rule is “bare to the flare” meaning only plant up to the flare, where the tree meets the root system.
And here they are all planted and mulched. These yews are ready for a good, deep drink.
And so are the hornbeams. The maze will take some time before it is complete, but I am so happy with how well it is turning out so far – it’s already stumping some of those who walk through.
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