There's always a new project being completed here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Now that it’s autumn, all my tropical plants must be stored indoors and safe from the cold. I use hoop houses designated specifically for these warm weather specimens. The hoop houses are constructed from steel frames and polyethylene panels. This year, it was necessary to build another structure to accommodate my growing collection of plants. I decided the best place was in front of my vegetable garden across the carriage road from one of my existing hoop houses. It was a big project - there were many steps involved to get it built properly, but now it's up and already being put to good use.
Enjoy these photos.
Over the summer, I decided we needed an additional greenhouse to store my many potted plants for the winter. The best location was right here in front of my vegetable garden right off the carriage road. We started work on it a few weeks ago, so it would be ready before the first hard frost.
After measuring and marking the space, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, uses a motorized sod cutter to remove the grass.
All the sod pieces were neatly rolled and then carefully removed. We don’t waste anything here at the farm, so whenever possible, we always repurpose and reuse.
This thick gravel bed helps to level the ground and ensure good drainage.
Here are the pipes that make up the framework of the hoop house. The entire structure is built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel tubing.
Pete, who is an excellent builder and helps with many of the projects here at the farm, measures the footprint several times to make sure everything is even and square.
Meanwhile, the propane tank that will fuel the heater is installed. These hoop houses are temperature and humidity controlled. They work by heating and circulating air to create an artificial tropical environment.
The pipes are laid out on the gravel, so the team can assemble them properly and efficiently.
Here, Pete and Doug my property manager begin hammering the first of many base posts. The removable metal cap at the top of the base post protects the hollow pipe while being pounded.
They are positioned several feet apart and will hold the upright frame supports.
Pete and Fernando, another longtime member of my crew, build each of the overhead frame pieces. This framework shape is known as gothic style. It is the style I use for all the hoop houses on the farm. I chose it because of its high peak which can accommodate my taller plants.
Doug, Pete, and Fernando put the last arch up. The steep roof slope of this structure will also prevent snow accumulation during the winter months.
Fernando and Pete secure the horizontal wood boards that will support the side framing.
The back of the hoop house is framed for the twin panel walls.
And next is the fabric cover. The fabric comes in two rolls – one is a heavy-duty, woven polyethylene that features an anti-condensate additive to reduce moisture buildup and dripping. The other side contains UV additives that allow the fabric to maintain its strength through the seasons.
The team hoists one roll on top of the frame and then the second on top of the first. The two sheets are well labeled, so there is no confusion as to what side faces up and what side faces down. The fabric is pulled taut at the ends of the framework and secured.
In the back, Doug installs the twin polycarbonate clear wall sheets. Significantly lighter than glass, these sheets are east to install and will insulate the structure from both the front and back.
This Polyethylene fabric is designed to stand up to just about any climate. It also resists rips and tears, so it could last up to 10-years depending on the weather.
Another large sheet of twin polycarbonate paneling is ready to be cut. This will be one of two sliding doors.
Pete trims the clear sheet to fit the end wall doorway.
Screws and bolts secure the panels to the metal frame.
A metal track is installed at the top and bottom for the doors.
The best part about these 10-foot tall doors is that our tractor can roll right in through the opening with the heavy potted plants. It will make storing them faster and easier.
The space between the two layers of plastic is filled with air to keep the hoop house taut, smooth and insulated. The air layer prevents heat loss at half the rate of single-paned glass. On the sides, these manual roll-up curtains can be raised and lowered for ventilation purposes. The finished hoop house is now ready for storing my tropical plants – and just in time. By the end of this week, night temperatures here are expected to dip into the 30s.
If your work weeks are as busy as mine, sometimes it's hard to come up with something delicious and nutritious to cook at the end of a long day. With our Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon meal-kit delivery service, one receives a weekly box of recipes, along with pre-portioned ingredients and seasonings. Each meal is ready in 40-minutes or less. And, there are so many flavorful meals from which to choose. Last week, one of my menu choices was Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas with Mild Red Chili Sauce. It was another great dish!
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon delivers everything fresh, and well-labeled. The first thing we do is take out all the pre-portioned ingredients and place them on the counter where everything is easy to see.
Each meal comes with a large recipe card, which lists the ingredients and each of the six main steps plus large photos to help show each stage of the process. On the other side is a photo of the finished dish. What’s also great – these recipe cards can be collected and saved for future use.
To start, while the oven is preheating to 450-degrees Fahrenheit, Enma prepares the ingredients for cooking. Here she is finely chopping two teaspoons of garlic, which is about two medium cloves.
Then she halves and coarsely chops all of the onion, which is provided in the meal-kit.
Here is Enma halving the peppers, removing the stems and all the seeds…
… And then cutting them into 1/2-inch pieces.
The scallions are also trimmed and sliced.
And the cilantro leaves and stems are cut.
It is called “mis en place” – a French culinary phrase meaning “putting in place” or “gather”. It refers to the setup required before cooking, and is often used in professional kitchens to mean organizing and arranging the ingredients. Cutting and preparing all the ingredients first makes all the next steps so much easier.
The recipe calls for a large ovenproof skillet – it will be used to cook the meat on the stove and the wrapped enchiladas when they go into the oven. We try to use as few tools as possible to save on the clean-up later. Enma puts all the ground poultry into the skillet and breaks it up into large pieces.
The meat is cooked through until lightly browned and then seasoned with salt and ground black pepper before Enma adds the green peppers, onions, and half the chopped garlic. After six to eight minutes, she adds some taco seasoning, also provided, some water, stirs and then removes it from the skillet to cool slightly.
In the same skillet, Enma prepares the mild red chili sauce. She adds the tomato paste, the remaining seasoning, and more garlic. Nothing is wasted – we make sure everything is ready to use, so there is no rushing to the store to buy last minute ingredients. All one has to have on hand – salt, pepper, olive oil, eggs, and milk if needed.
Next, Enma stirs cheese, cilantro, and scallions into the meat mixture.
The tortillas are unwrapped and softened in the microwave for about 30 to 40 seconds.
She scoops about 1/3-cup of the meat mixture into each tortilla close to one end.
Then she rolls it carefully and tightly and places each one seam side down into the skillet with all but a 1/2 cup of the sauce.
This recipe is made for four, which allows for three enchiladas each, and all the enchiladas fit into the skillet perfectly.
Enma pours more sauce over the enchiladas.
She places them into the center rack of the oven and cooks them for about 12 to 15 minutes. We offer ranges because everyone’s oven is different, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on it and check frequently.
Once a little browned, she removes the skillet from the oven, tops it with more sauce and the remaining cheese and then bakes it again until the cheese is melted – about two to three minutes.
Finally, the enchiladas are ready and topped with the remaining cilantro and scallions and then cut and plated while warm.
Here they are – and each serving is enough to fill the hungriest of eaters. I hope you try them – they’re worth every bite. Please go to the web site to learn how you can order your Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon meal-kits. They will make your busy weeks a whole lot easier.
Autumn is the best time to see those warty, wrinkly looking fruits called Osage oranges, and this year, I have dozens of them growing at my farm.
Have you ever heard of an Osage orange? The Osage orange, Maclura pomifera, is actually not an orange at all, and is more commonly known as a hedge-apple, horse-apple, or mock-orange. Each one is about four to five inches in diameter and filled with a dense cluster of hundreds of smaller fruits - some say it even resembles the many lobes of a brain. For the most part, the Osage orange is considered inedible because of its texture and taste, but they're very interesting and fun to grow.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I have beautiful healthy Osage orange trees along three sides of my North Maple Paddock surrounding the run-in field and shed, not far from my tennis court. Here they are now as the leaves start to fall.
Before the leaves turn color, these trees are bold green. Properly maintained, these trees make a lovely natural hedge and fence and can grow up to 60 feet tall.
In winter, the trees must be pruned regularly to keep them in bounds. Without pruning, Osage orange trees grow in dense unruly thickets as multi-stemmed shrubs.
This is what they look like all pruned. We prune these Osage orange trees every couple of years.
Yesterday, the Osage orange trees were standing out in their autumn yellow. 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.
And they grow very fast for small deciduous trees – the shoots from a single year can grow up to three to six feet long. I planted many of the Osage trees at the farm about five years ago and they’re thriving.
The wood of the Osage orange tree is extremely hard and durable. On older trunks the bark is orange-brown and furrowed. The heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for tool handles, treenails, and fence posts.
The leaves are three to five inches long and about three-inches wide. They are thick, firm, dark green and pale green in spring and summer and then yellow in fall. There is also a line down the center of each leaf, with lines forming upside-down V-shapes extending from the center line to the edge of the leaf.
Here is a closer look at the yellow autumn leaves – so bright.
On this side of the paddock closest to my tennis court, the trees are in the process of turning. Osage oranges should be grown in full sun on well-drained soil. This tough, native plant can withstand almost anything when established – heat, cold, wind, drought, poor soil, ice storms, and rot.
Osage orange branches are armed with stout, straight spines growing from the leaf axils.
On this tree, one can see the many, many fruits on almost every branch. Osage Orange is actually a cousin to the mulberry tree.
Here’s a closer view of the fruits on the tree – this is the most prolific year ever for the Osage orange at my farm.
The Osage orange is dioecious meaning that there are both female and male trees; only female trees produce fruit. So far, we have one female tree laden with these warty looking fruits.
The name of the tree comes from the Osage tribe, which lived near the home range of the tree and could smell the orange-like aroma of the fruit after it was ripe.
The fruits are strong – they often persist on the tree after the leaves have fallen off.
Upon close inspection, the Osage orange is large, round, hard, and wrinkled or bumpy in texture.
Cut in half, the fruit exposes a pithy core surrounded by up to 200 small seeds that are much sought-after by squirrels. It is also filled with a sticky latex sap that some say repels insects.
By late fall, many fruits drop to the ground. Although these fruits are not edible to humans, they are not toxic to humans or other animals.
And looking past the Osage orange hedge into the pasture, one can see these handsome boys – Friesians Rinze, Bond, Hylke, Geert, and the Fell pony, Banchunch, grazing away. Do you have Osage orange trees where you live?
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
