It's always so important to keep up with the maintenance of my Bedford, New York farm - especially the four miles of carriage road that meander around my homes, gardens, horse paddocks, and through the expansive woodland.
My carriage roads are all covered with natural colored gravel. Over time, rain and traffic cause the gravel to shift or run-off a specific area. Yesterday, Pete Sherpa and Fernando Ferrari took on the task of adding a fresh top layer of gravel to the driveway outside my guest house studio. They edged, weeded, leveled, and then dropped and raked about an inch-and-a-half of new stone. The project took a few hours to complete, but it was an easy way to smooth and maintain the driveway and give it some instant curb appeal.
Enjoy these photos.
I have four miles of gravel-covered carriage road at my farm. Gravel roads are attractive, easy to maintain, and accumulate less pollutants over time. It’s important to edge and shape the roads regularly, so they drain properly and look tidy.
Here is a closer look at the section of road after it is edged nicely.
The driveway in front of this guest house is a high traffic area. Because I do a lot of shoots in this outbuilding, crews often need to park here to load and unload equipment. Over time, rain and use have shifted the gravel. It was in need of some attention and maintenance.
First, Pete used a lawn and garden edging tool to create a fresh and crisp outline for the new surface layer of gravel. He starts by the stone pavers and goes along the edge of the driveway removing any weeds or excess buildup of stone dust and gravel that have washed out of place.
This is a razor-back half moon edger. It’s designed to cut back grass or move rocky soil that ends up over the edges of flower beds and sidewalks. The top edge also has a turned step for secure foot placement.
Pete also cleans the edges of the catch basin and shapes the area for better drainage during storms. A catch basin, or storm drain, redirects rainwater to prevent ponding and flooding.
This area tends to get a lot of runoff, so it is important to keep it shaped properly. The old gravel and stone dust have moved quite close to the catch basin and needs to be re-graded. Stone dust is crushed stone, which is sometimes called crusher run, rock dust, or quarry dust. Stone dust is used as a base layer or setting bed for laying stone pavers or gravel.
The carriage road leading to the driveway was also edged.
Here is the new gravel for the area. I like to use native washed stone in a blend of gray tones. This gravel is from Lawton Adams in nearby Somers, New York.
The dump truck with gravel is now ready to pour onto the driveway. When maintaining a gravel road, one only needs to drop about an inch or two of fresh gravel once every two to three years.
As Fernando drives, Pete directs the gravel to drop slowly out of the back of the truck, so it is easier to spread.
Fernando drops a small amount and then moves up a couple of feet to drop a bit more. Doing this saves a lot of time and manual labor.
Next, Pete uses a landscape rake to spread and level the gravel.
This razor-back aluminum landscape rake has a wide head and teeth to level gravel quickly and smoothly. These landscape rakes are easy to find at home improvement shops and some gardening centers.
This rake also helps to clear the area of unwanted debris.
Pete starts at the edges of the driveway and works toward the center.
This day was warm with little wind, so flying dust from the gravel was minimal.
Here is the new gravel around the catch basin – it looks so much better than before.
Another mound of gravel was dropped on the other side of the driveway. This is just an added layer of gravel for maintenance. When creating a new gravel driveway, the space should be filled with at least six to eight inches of crushed stone on top of stone dust. To calculate how much is needed for a specific driveway, multiply the width by the length by the depth in yards to find the cubic yards of gravel.
Pete carefully spreads the gravel over the center of the driveway.
He also is sure to grade the gravel for proper drainage – peak in the middle of the driveway and incline slightly to the sides.
After a few hours, the driveway looks completely different with its new surface layer of gravel – another important task checked off our list.
After days of hot, humid weather with temperatures in the 90s, we're finally getting a brief respite here at my Bedford, New York farm - temperatures this week are in the 80s with a little less humidity, but unfortunately, still no significant rain.
Supporting a working farm is a lot of work. In order for it to thrive, the animals, gardens, pastures, and my home need constant tender loving care. We also keep a running list of all the chores that need to be done at any given time, so everything always looks and functions at its best.
Here are some photos, enjoy…
This is my allée of pin oaks. Quercus palustris, the pin oak or swamp Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section of the genus Quercus. This is the first allée one sees upon entering the farm. They have grown and developed so majestically over the years with good pruning, watering, and feeding.
Across the carriage road is my large Equipment Barn, where we keep all the farm equipment and vehicles when not in use. We try to keep it as organized and as clean as possible to save time hunting for tools and supplies later. Here is Fernando blowing all the debris out of the equipment shed. He does this in the morning when it is empty.
We’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering low emissions.
Nearby is my pool. During the summer, my daughter and grandchildren love to use it whenever they visit. The surrounding hedges and lush green lawns are regularly manicured to keep them looking their best.
Here is my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, mowing the lawn around the pool. He is on our Kubota SZ22NC-48 stand-on mower. We use this to mow areas where the riding mower cannot go.
My new yew table in the pavilion outside my pool is wiped down and the chairs are all dusted clean. The yew table was made from a tree I cut down at my former East Hampton home. It was repurposed and made into this long table earlier this year.
It’s all in the details when it comes to many of the chores we do around the farm. At my Winter House, this was one of the brass weatherstripping saddles earlier this week. They all needed a good polishing.
Enma uses a very soft sponge and metal cleaner to gently wipe the dirt from in between the grooves of this saddle.
And then wipes the entire saddle down with a clean rag.
It looks much better after some time and elbow grease.
Here is Chhiring watering some of the boxwood shrubs. We haven’t had any significant rain here since late June. It’s been a very dry, dry summer. Every day, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew make sure every garden, grove, and allée gets some water.
Over in the goose yard, my geese love to watch all the activity around the farm. I have 16 geese here at Cantitoe Corners – Sebastopol geese, Toulouse geese, African geese, Chinese geese, and of course my Pomeranian guard geese.
The geese are watching Fernando as he mows their pen. He is using my Kubota ZD1211-60 zero turn riding mower. It has a 24.8 horsepower diesel engine and a wide mower deck. On the right is one of several pools I provide for the geese to keep them cool during these hot summers.
Fernando also trims the grasses around the tree pits outside the goose yard where the mower cannot reach.
The “soccer field” lawn is also looking very clean and freshly mowed. At one edge of the lawn are six weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘pendula.’ The weeping hornbeam is deciduous and has a tight, dense growth pattern.
We work very hard to keep my gardens looking well-manicured. This is what I call my Stewartia garden, where I have several Stewartia trees and many other shade loving plants. It’s been freshly weeded and looks great. I don’t use any chemicals in my gardens, so I do tend to get a lot of weeds during this time. And, if left alone, so many of them quickly overtake healthy flowers, plants, and vegetables, stealing their sunlight, water, and soil nutrients. It’s important to weed, weed, weed.
Down at the chicken coops, Dawa checks for eggs twice a day. Chickens reach the peak of their egg-laying schedule when there’s the most daylight, so summer is naturally their best season. As winter approaches and hours of daylight diminish, so do the number of eggs the hens lay.
On this afternoon, Dawa collected more than 30-eggs.
Here, my beautiful Friesian, Geert, is getting cooled off with a little water after being out in the paddock. All the equines are also groomed every day – their hooves are picked of any mud, stones and debris, and their coats are cleaned, and brushed. It’s a time consuming task, but it keeps my stable residents healthy, happy and comfortable.
And back at my Winter House, more watering with our Gilmour Adjustable Circular Tripod Sprinkler. I’ve been using Gilmour hoses and sprinklers for some time. This one is watering the plantings on my terrace parterre. In the center of the garden bed is one of two hand-casted antique fountains I purchased many year ago and finally installed in 2018. They look so nice on this terrace and all the visiting birds love to bathe in them.
Here’s another sprinkler in one of my pastures. Despite the lack of rain, everything looks great. What are some of your most important summer chores?
This time of year is always fun at my farm because there’s so much to harvest in the vegetable garden.
It's important to check the garden frequently - one never knows what will be ready for picking. Our most recent harvest included carrots, peppers, lettuce, beans, cabbage, and trays of delicious, juicy, ripe tomatoes. Tomatoes have a long growing season - 60 days to more than 100 days to harvest. And finally they're ready!
Enjoy these photos.
At long last, our tomatoes are ripe for picking. We grow about 100 tomato plants every year.
We start preparing the garden for planting in late May. For tomatoes, we first roll out thick weed cloth over the designated raised beds. We do this to make them neat, tidy, and free from weeds. Tomatoes should be planted in an area with full sun and well-drained soil.
All our tomato plants are started from seed in my greenhouse and then transplanted into the ground when they are several inches to a foot tall.
By the end of May, all the tomatoes are planted. Most tomato plant varieties need about 100-days to mature, but there are some that only need 50-60 days. And it’s a good idea to always practice crop rotation – planting vegetables in a different location each growing season to help prevent soil diseases, insect pests, weeds, and to reduce reliance on one set of nutrients.
By the middle of June, smaller two to three foot stakes are replaced with taller bamboo poles to help support the growing tomato plants.
The plants are still pretty small, but the time goes quickly. I am always trying new methods for staking our tomato plants. Every year we try something new and better. I like using bamboo canes. They are easy to buy in bulk, and can be found in a variety of sizes. These canes are about eight to nine feet tall. This year, I came up with the idea to make straight supports down each aisle – with no netting, just bamboo.
Horizontal bamboo pieces are secured across all the bamboo stakes – four rows about a foot apart going up the bamboo. All of the canes are secured with natural jute twine.
Here are the plants in early July – taller than knee high.
Tomato leaves have serrated, or wavy and pointed, edging along the entire perimeter. Tomato leaves are compound with multiple leaflets growing along a common stem, called a rachis. These leaves are also slightly fuzzy to the touch, which is caused by the trichomes, or multi-cellular hairs, on the plant. Never use chemically treated wood or other material for staking climbers, as the chemicals would likely run off and go into the soil.
Remember, it’s the yellow flowers produced by tomato plants that must be fertilized before fruit can form. Once fertilized, the flowers develop into tomatoes – small green globes that become visible at the base of the blossoms and then eventually become mature fruits.
By the third week of July, many fruits are already growing so well. Tomatoes grow best when the daytime temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. This summer has been particularly warm and dry with many days in the 90s, which slows down development.
These plants are drooping because of the weight of the vines.
When the vines are weighed down, it is important to support them, so they do not hit the ground. Here, the twine is looped gently around the vine.
And then tied to the crossbars. With the crossbars, there is plenty of space to tie and support every tomato vine. This is the best method we have used yet.
A couple weeks later, some of the tomatoes are already beautiful and red. It’s a good idea to grow several varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease.
There are several types of tomatoes available, including globe tomatoes used in processing, and for fresh eating. Beefsteak are large, often used for sandwiches. Oxheart tomatoes vary in size and are shaped like large strawberries. Plum tomatoes are usually oblong, and used in tomato sauces. Campari tomatoes are sweet and juicy and of small to medium size. And cherries – which are so good eaten whole and fresh off the vine. Many of our tomatoes are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds – a source I’ve been using for many years for both seeds and supplies.
Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid, and late-season tomato harvests.
These plants look so much better when kept upright and neat. The tomato plants have a lot of room to climb, keeping delicious fruits looking their best.
Just a few rows down, the kale is still looking so great this year.
And so is the lettuce. We have lots of lettuce heads for our summer salads and sandwiches.
This past weekend, we harvested many bright orange carrots.
And more than three boxes of our beautiful, ripe red tomatoes. This was our first picking. We’ll be harvesting tomatoes for a couple of weeks – a little bit every few days.
There are many, many more! Many of the tomatoes are eaten fresh, but every summer, I also save lots of tomatoes to make homemade juice and sauce. Not only are they delicious and nutritious, but they can be stored in containers in the freezer for any time the craving hits. How did your tomatoes do this year?
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