During this time of year, while delicious, organic produce grows in my vegetable greenhouse, more vegetable and flower seedlings are developing in my Urban Cultivators.
My Urban Cultivators allow me to sprout greens in appliance-sized devices right inside my main greenhouse. Urban Cultivator is a hydroponics company in Canada that creates indoor gardening machines. There's no need to use any pesticides or chemicals of any kind, so we know we're growing the highest quality plants. I have three Urban Cultivators at my Bedford, New York farm that I have been using for many years - and they continue to help me germinate strong, healthy seedlings for every growing season.
Enjoy these photos.
This is my commercial-sized Urban Cultivator. It weighs 545-pounds and can hold up to 16-flats. The automated system provides a self-contained growing environment with everything the plants need to thrive.
The large Cultivator has four grow drawers for the seed trays – well spaced so there is plenty of room for seedling growth. There are also 16 specially designed grow lights – four on each level.
The Cultivator provides the proper aeration and circulation for its plants. There is a fan on the inside wall of every shelf.
And the seed trays sit over these reservoirs and are automatically watered from the back of the unit. The Urban Cultivator Commercial model uses only about 32-gallons of water a week to refill and clean the reservoir.
Each of the 16 trays measures 10-inches by 20-inches. Seed starting trays are available in a variety of sizes and can be saved and used over and over again.
Seed starting mixes are also available at garden supply stores. It’s best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. We keep our soil mixes in these large commercial grade ingredients bins often used by bakers to hold flour.
Once a tray is filled with seeds, it is placed into the Urban Cultivator.
Each tray is then covered with a humidity dome. The humidity dome remains positioned over the seed tray until germination begins. Each tray receives about 18-hours of light a day.
Here, one can see where the water comes out from the back of the Urban Cultivator. Each spout also has a water sensor, so the machine does not overflow.
The water is absorbed through the holes at the bottom of each tray.
Some trays are different, but all seed trays have holes at the bottom for water intake.
Here it is all filled. The entire unit covers the space of a double-door refrigerator. We keep ours in a small alcove between the head house and the greenhouse where it can be accessed easily.
The liquid crystal touch screen enables one to control the functions and monitor watering, lighting, temperature, relative humidity, and nutrient data.
The machine has pre-set growing conditions, but users can also custom program the cultivator to fit specific needs and then reset them at any time.
Here is the sreen for setting the unit’s temperature – just press the desired setting and save.
All the settings are then clearly listed on the main menu screen for quick reference and monitoring.
It is fascinating to see how much the plants develop from day to day. These seed trays were just filled earlier this week.
This is a tray after two weeks in the Urban Cultivator. Taller dome covers are also available for the growing plants.
Once the seeds germinate, the domes are removed.
I also have two smaller Urban Cultivator residential units in the head house. These units each take up the same footprint as a dishwasher and are plumbed to water and electrical sources in the same way.
Each residential machine has two grow shelves for the seed trays. The units also have pre-set control centers to ensure plants get exactly the right amount of water, light, and humidity for what is growing inside.
And, once they’re big enough, they are transplanted into bigger celled trays or individual pots and moved into the greenhouse until they’re ready to plant outdoors. It’s a wonderful process. In coming weeks, I will also share our tips for seeding these trays and growing many plants from seed.
If you're in the New York City area through Sunday, January 29th, there's still time to attend The Winter Show at the historic Park Avenue Armory - just click on the highlighted link to get tickets.
The Winter Show is the country's première art, antiques, and design fair. This year is its 69th annual edition. Last week, I attended the event's Opening Party along with antiques and design professionals, and private collectors. The affair included works spanning thousands of years presented by more than 65 internationally renowned dealers. We saw the most exquisite pieces - paintings, fine furniture, jewelry, ceramics, glass, wood, and so many more. The Show is a benefit for the East Side House Settlement, a community-centered organization serving the South Bronx, which combats poverty and focuses on using education and technology to help individuals pursue career goals and further economic opportunities - it's a most noble and worthy cause. Following The Winter Show, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with friends at Daniel, the extraordinary flagship establishment owned by my friend and celebrated chef, Daniel Boulud. Daniel is one of my favorite restaurants serving award-winning, contemporary cuisine rooted in French tradition.
Enjoy these photos.
There are so many magnificent pieces to see at The Winter Show. It is a great place to learn about antiques, their history, and possibly shop the booths. This sculpture is by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) called L’Un des Bourgeois de Calais: Pierre de Wiessant. It was cast c. 1905 and measures 17 3/4 inches. Its Exhibitor is Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, LLC
This piece was included in a design co-chair vignette by Bunny Williams and Elizabeth Lawrence of Bunny Williams Interior Design. It is by Wheeler Williams (1897–1972) and is one of a pair of Gatepost Roosters, 1932. It’s made from Terra cotta and is 34 inches high. It is also signed and dated by Wheeler Williams, 1932.
This piece is a Gold Ground Shell Ewer and Basin from Dagoty Porcelain Manufactory (France 1798-1820), Circa 1810-15 The Exhibitor: Michele Beiny.
Another design co-chair vignette was done by my friend, Stephen Sills of Stephen Sills Associates. This is Silver Plate #1, Koopman Rare Art.
This is Silver Plate #2 also from Koopman Rare Art.
Stephen and I stopped for a quick photo in his booth.
In another booth, I spotted some stunning wood trays. This is George III Pie Crust Tray C. 1770, London, England shown by exhibitor: Michael Pashby Antiques. I just love the detail.
This is a fine and very rare George III Yew Wood Tray English, provincial c. 1780 also shown by Michael Pashby Antiques. Last year, I had a large table made out of a yew tree that was cut down at my former East Hampton, New York home. Yew wood, Taxus Baccata, is a species of evergreen tree in the conifer family. Yew is native to Western, Central, and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, Northern Iran, Southwest Asia, and is also known as common yew, European yew, and English yew.
Here is another beautiful George III Oval Tray. All of these trays are in such excellent condition.
And here is a George III Mahogany Oval Tray London, England, c. 1770 Exhibitor: Michael Pashby Antiques. Mahogany is a straight-grained, dark reddish-brown timber.
Also in this booth – a fine and rare pair of Christopher Dresser Silver and Glass Wine Decanters from London, England, 1890.
This is a Charlotte Major Wylie (London 1828 – 1909 Aberystwith, Wales) piece called The Veiled King Death. It is made of tempera and gesso, with silver and gold leaf, bone, pearl, agate and colored stone inlays, on a circular wood panel, set within a richly ornamented frame designed and fabricated by the artist. This piece is part of a special curated exhibition for The Winter Show by exhibitor Robert Simon Fine Art titled “Heroines of the Brush: Women Artists from the Renaissance to the 20th Century.” The Exhibitor: Robert Simon Fine Art.
This majestic bird is part of an installation view of Barbara Israel Garden Antiques. It is an impressive zine pilot-house eagle with outspread wings. Its details show feathers that are finely articulated, with the beak slightly open, and the talons resting on a domed base. It is American, ca. 1880. Eagles were regularly used as maritime ornaments positioned on the top of a ship’s pilot house, or on a tugboat’s prow.
In the Thomsen Gallery is this Hasegawa Chikuyū (1885-1962) Clouds over Mountains. This is half of a 1920s pair of two-panel folding screens made from ink, mineral pigments, gofun, and gold wash on silk. It measures 66 x 72 and a 1/2 inches.
And this is Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts Tiffany Studios, 1902-1932 Marsh Marigold Planter, ca. 1905 Bronze with the original copper liner. It is 10 and a 1/2 inches in diameter by 3 and a 1/2 inches in height. There was so much more to see – I hope you are able to catch The Winter Show if you are in New York City this week.
Next was a wonderful dinner at Daniel with friends. We started with baguette épi. Épi resembles an ear of wheat and is often made with French baguette dough.
Next, a most delicious Winter Chicory Salad with burrata-gorgonzola emulsion, Bosc pear, radish shavings, and “mostarda di frutta vinaigrette.”
This dish includes Day Boat John Dory “Goujonettes”, black truffled “dashi”, parsley root, and braised Brussels sprouts.
This is Montauk black sea bass, with broccolini, bottarga-potato “croquette”, Buddha hand lemon emulsion, and pine nut gremolata.
And here is Highland Farm Venison, black currant dusted quince, foie gras “copeaux”, myoga, parsnip, and sauce “Poivrade.” Every dish was beautifully presented and every dish utterly delicious.
Before leaving, Chef Daniel and I posed with the kitchen crew at Daniel. What a fun evening. The next time you’re in New York City, and want to treat yourself to a very special and most luxurious feast, go to Daniel – you will love it.
Today at my Bedford, New York farm, we're expecting clouds and rain this morning with possible snow showers this afternoon. With higher than usual temperatures, it's been a dreary, wet, and muddy winter so far.
I always enjoy seeing the beautiful snow covering the landscape this time of year, but one group who seems uninhibited by all the rain and mud is my gaggle of geese. They have a long, heated shelter in one corner of their enclosure, but they rarely stay there. Instead, these comical birds prefer to gather in the mud-filled patches and play in their pools. And they always come running to greet any visitors that pass by.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Many of you know, my geese have a large yard located right outside my stable. It is near the peafowl pen and two Silkie chicken enclosures. This area of the farm is a popular stop when friends and family come by.
We haven’t had any accumulation of snow so far this winter, but these birds don’t seem to mind. They enjoy being out in the rain, flapping their wings and walking through the mud and muck.
The do have a heated shelter in the back of their pen, but they are rarely there except when the hens are nesting on eggs.
They love to gather close together most of the time. And do you know, a group of geese on land is called a gaggle. This is because when geese get together they can get quite noisy and rowdy.
And, while the term “goose” may refer to either a male or female bird, when paired with “gander”, the word goose refers specifically to a female. Gander is the term used to identify a male.
In flight, a group of geese is called a skein, team or wedge. On the water or flying close together, a group is referred to as a wedge of geese.
I have several goose breeds. Here is my pair of Chinese geese. The Chinese goose is refined and curvaceous. The Chinese goose holds its head high. Its head flows seamlessly into a long, slim, well-arched neck which meets the body at about a 45 degree angle. Its body is short, and has a prominent and well-rounded chest, smooth breast and no keel. Mature ganders average 12 pounds, while mature geese average 10 pounds.
Their bills are relatively long and slender, with a large, rounded, erect knob that attaches to its forehead.
Look closely at the Chinese geese in the back compared to the others in the foreground. The Chinese geese most likely descended from the swan goose in Asia, though over time developed different physical characteristics, such as longer necks and more compact bodies. The Chinese goose is a very hardy and low-maintenance breed.
Most domestic geese also have larger back ends than their wild counterparts and stand more upright.
Everyone asks about the Sebastopols. These birds are considered medium-sized birds. Both males and females have pure white feathers that contrast with their bright blue eyes and orange bills and feet. Sebastopol geese have large, rounded heads, slightly arched necks, and keelless breasts.
And what is most striking is the plumage. The plumage of the head and upper two-thirds of the neck is smooth, while that of the breast and underbody is elongated and well-curled. Here’s one flapping its wings. Though domesticated breeds of geese generally retain some flight ability, Sebastopol geese cannot fly well due to the curliness of their feathers and have difficulty getting off the ground.
This is my pair of African geese – a breed that has a heavy body, thick neck, stout bill, and jaunty posture which gives the impression of strength and vitality. The African is a relative of the Chinese goose, both having descended from the wild swan goose native to Asia. The mature African goose has a large knob attached to its forehead, which requires several years to develop. A smooth, crescent-shaped dewlap hangs from its lower jaw and upper neck. Its body is nearly as wide as it is long. African geese are the largest of the domestic geese. These two African geese are often found together in the yard.
And if you follow my blog regularly, you may recognize the Pomeranian guard geese – the oldest of my gaggle.
Waterfowl don’t need roosts – they are very happy gathering together and sleeping on the ground.
Geese are grazing birds which means they eat a variety of different items. They eat roots, shoots, stems, seeds, and leaves of grass and grain, bulbs, and berries. They also eat small insects. In addition, I fortify their diet with a mix specifically made for waterfowl.
And, I like to give them lots of vegetables from my gardens. They love to pick at them during the day.
While both ducks and geese love water, geese don’t require a pond or large swimming pool – they swim much less than ducks and are content with a small dipping pool where they can dunk and clean their noses and beaks.
Here’s the African goose at one of the pools getting a drink. When drinking water, geese will use the bill to lift the water into the mouth, and then toss its head back to let the water run down its throat.
And here’s Phurba filling a pool. On this day he said he just filled the pools an hour earlier, but the geese already played in the pools and dirtied all the water.
This is Bear. He was incubated and hatched right here at the farm. He is about two years old and is very attached to the humans, but his “affectionate” pecks can sometimes a bit insistent.
And these buff-brown geese are Toulouse geese. On this breed, the bill is stout, the head large and broad, and the moderately long neck is thick and nearly straight. Often suspended from the lower bill and upper neck is a heavy, folded dewlap that increases in size and fullness with age. The body is long, broad and deep, ending in a well-spread tail that points up slightly. And thanks to their honks, these geese make excellent guardians. They can scare off any animals on the ground and they’re great at spotting aerial predators, such as hawks and falcons. These three are taking their turn in the chicken enclosure guarding my many hens and roosters. What is your favorite breed of goose?
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