I always enjoy learning about other cultures and customs. Losar Tashi Delek is a Nepali phrase meaning blessings and prosperity for the New Year - this, the year of the water tiger 2149 according to the Tibetan lunar calendar.
The Sherpa members of my Bedford, New York farm staff, celebrate the Tibetan Losar. In Nepal, Sherpas are those who lead mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas. They are highly respected mountaineers, known for their physical strength, endurance and for their resilience to high altitude conditions. New York is home to a large community of Sherpas - in fact, my foreman, Chhiring, is the president of the Upstate Sherpa Community chapter in New York. Last weekend, the community gathered for a New Year's celebration filled with traditional foods, clothing, and dance.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This year, the Upstate Sherpa Community held their New Year’s Celebration at the Moses Taylor Jr. American Legion Post 136 in nearby Mt. Kisco.
Chapter president, Chhiring Sherpa, dressed in his traditional Sherpa formalwear. Behind him is his wife, Ang Pema. Above are Tibetan prayer flags – each hue signifies an element — and the flags are always arranged in a specific order of yellow, green, red, white and blue. Blue represents the sky, white represents the air, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth. All five colors together signify balance.
Many attendees wore traditional Sherpa clothing. Married women tie a multi-colored striped apron of woolen cloth called “pangden” around their waists.
Chhiring’s son, Mingmar, also works at my farm as part of my security team. Here he is next to his sister, Alina, welcoming guests at the entrance.
Dolma, in the center, helps me care for my horses, donkeys, and pony. Here she is with her sisters – Sanu on the right, who worked for me for many years, and their eldest sister, Jangmu, on the left.
Pasang is our resident tree expert at the farm. He was at the venue since early morning helping with preparations.
Dolma and her son, Jamling, stop for this photo before enjoying some of the celebratory dishes.
Popular New Year’s appetizers include chana. Chana masala, also known as channay, chole masala, chhole masala, chole or chholay, is a dish originating from India. The main ingredient is a variety of chickpeas called chana or kala chana.
This is pakora – a spicy fritter often sold by street vendors and served in restaurants in South Asia. It consists of vegetables such as potatoes and onions, coated in seasoned gram flour batter and deep fried.
This is called beaten rice – a flattened rice dish made from raw, toasted, or parboiled rice grains pounded into flat flakes. They are eaten as is, toasted and fried.
The dough in the middle is called momo – made of white flour and water. This one is plain; however, it can also be filled with meats or vegetables as dumplings.
Phurba, another member of my outdoor grounds crew, was also there. And look who else attended – Fernando. It was a very fun event for everyone.
Fernando brought his daughter, Fernanda, and his five year old granddaughter, Emily.
Here’s Dawa just before taking his first sip of Sherpa beer. Sherpa beer is called chhaang and made with brewed barley, millet, or rice grains. You may recognize Dawa from this blog – he oversees the care of my chickens, peafowl, pigeons, and geese.
At the front of the auditorium, a table is set for several Sherpa community leaders – Chhiring is on the far left.
Here, Phurba stands with his wife, Chhoti, also wearing a traditional dress for formal cultural events.
In this photo, the president of the United Sherpa Association welcomes a member with a Buddhist scarf. Also known as Khata, Khada, Khadag or Hada; this traditional ceremonial Tibetan scarf symbolizes prayer, purity, goodwill, auspiciousness, compassion, and sincerity.
More than 200 guests attended the celebration that lasted more than 12 hours.
Chhiring, his wife, Domi, and their group perform a traditional Nepali dance. On the far left is Mingma Sherpa Paldorche, and on the far right is Mingmar Chhiri Sherpa – two Mt. Everest climbers. Sherpas are well-known for their endurance and climbing abilities. In fact, Mingmar Chhiri completed seven climbs without added oxygen.
Pasang, Domi, and Chhiring receive Buddist scarves on stage.
Children of all ages also performed. Here, the daughters of Pasang and Sanu danced for the audience while younger children watched.
Dawa joined in the fun performing a dance that was more comical than customary. Everyone watching enjoyed it. Here he is after receiving his scarf.
It was a joyous time for all – ringing in the Year of the Water Tiger 2149.
Losar Tashi Delek to everyone!
Here is a short clip showing Chhiring, Chhiring's wife Ang Pema, and Domi on the dance floor.
This year’s spring burlap removal project continues at my long Boxwood Allee.
Last week, my outdoor grounds crew removed the burlap in front of my Winter House and behind my Summer House. Then they tackled the burlap along the Boxwood Allee that's located outside my stable and runs all the way down to the carriage road leading to the woodland. The entire removal process is a large undertaking which takes several days to complete. Every autumn, I cover all my boxwood shrubs and outdoor urns to protect them from the heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. We use strong steel frames and custom fit burlap casings sewn by hand. And every spring, everything is removed to expose all the lush green foliage - it's a complete transformation.
Enjoy these photos.
For as long as I’ve been gardening I’ve covered my boxwood shrubs and outdoor ornamental urns. When the ground begins to thaw, it’s all removed. Here is the Boxwood Allee about to go through its spring transformation.
The winter burlap still looks so good – it held up so well through the entire season protecting my precious plantings. The boxwood has grown so much over the years. Every winter, these burlap tents are made taller and taller to accommodate their size.
The first step is to remove the wooden strips that help sandwich and secure the burlap. These strips are at the bottom of the metal frames.
Phurba unscrews each one all the way down the allee.
These strips are saved until next fall when the burlap is put up once again.
Phurba and Domi remove the burlap from one end of this section of the Boxwood Allee. All of the coverings are custom wrapped and sewn to fit each individual shrub, hedge, or bush. The holes are for any birds that wish to take shelter under the burlap during inclement weather.
Slowly, the two roll back the fabric from on top of the metal frames.
The burlap and all the supplies are removed gently, so as to preserve as much burlap as possible. Once a section is removed, it is placed and folded in half neatly on the ground. No cars are allowed up or down the allee during the removal process.
And then rolled carefully. We use industrial burlap that’s available in giant rolls of 40-inches or 60-inches wide. These covers are used for two or three seasons before being replaced.
Once the burlap is rolled and tied, Phurba labels the roll indicating what section it covers and where. The label will make it easy to identify next fall when the boxwood is covered again. He decides to place two labels just in case one piece of tape falls off – it has happened.
For these boxwood shrubs, I use the same metal used to make hoop houses – strong industrial steel ground uprights and purlin pipes.
These materials not only provide the necessary support frames for the burlap but also accommodate any growth – one can see how much room there is between the top of the boxwood and the metal frame.
Here’s Domi working on removing another section of the burlap.
Next, Domi removes the tension purlin brackets one by one. They connect the center piping to the bow sections of the frame.
These brackets are also removed carefully and saved in one container, so they can be stored easily and then used again next year.
Meanwhile, with Chhiring on one side and Pasang on the other, the two remove the bow metal frames that go over the boxwood. And look, everything is so green. We are always amazed every spring. Covering it definitely helps preserve the plantings.
Pasang then removes the long bar from atop the center of the boxwood sections. Taking down the burlap is a much faster process than putting the burlap up, but it’s still very time-consuming.
All the metal pieces are placed neatly along the allee carriage road until they are picked up and taken to our storage area.
Here, Pasang removes the metal legs that hold up the hoop structures along the allee.
It’s such a change – one that we all look forward to seeing this time every year.
Some question whether covering the boxwood each winter really helps, but look how lush and intact the plantings are when exposed – I definitely feel it is worth the time and effort. This week is unseasonably cold – highs are only expected in the 40s today, but we’re all so excited for spring and the gardening season ahead.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, our long list of spring projects continues with the "planting" of a new perch for my fancy pigeons.
My pigeons live in a very safe and comfortable pen near my stable, where they get lots of attention from visiting friends and family. Inside their enclosure, they love to perch on the roof of their dovecote and watch various activities around the property. During one of my visits, I noticed they were not utilizing the smaller perch set up for them outside the coop - perhaps it was just too low for their liking. I asked Pete and Fernando to create a new perch for them - one that would allow lots of pigeons to gather together up high and see all that is around them.
Enjoy these photos.
Pigeons are very observant and one of the most intelligent of all the bird species. These birds have a remarkable capacity to recognize and remember many things. Here are some of my fancy pigeons watching their new perch being “planted” in their enclosure.
This perch outside the pigeon coop is not used as often as I would like. I realized it was likely too low and instructed the crew to make a much bigger and taller one.
Pete starts digging a hole on one side of the pen making sure the location does not block their tree perch or their flight space. Pete uses a post hole digger, which is used to dig narrow holes. The tool is jabbed into the ground in the open position and then closed to grab and pull out the soil.
Here’s a closer look at the post hole digger – this tool is available at any hardware store. A post hole digger is also known as a clamshell digger, because of its resemblance to the seaside shell. It doesn’t take long to dig the hole deep enough for the post. Pete makes sure it is at least a foot and a half deep.
Pete uses a tamping bar to loosen the soil around any big rocks in the hole.
And then Fernando and Pete “plant” the first post into the ground. Fernando backfills as Pete holds the post straight. No cement needed.
Once it is secure, level, and straight, Pete packs the soil firmly with his foot – this post is definitely not moving.
Pigeons are very docile, gentle and sweet-natured birds – everyone at the farm loves visiting them. And they are also well-guarded by the neighboring peafowl, who chase any aerial predators away from the pen. Many of my birds have been raised here at the farm, so they’re all accustomed to the various people and noises. These pigeons are very curious.
Fernando and Pete place the second post into its proper hole – so far, so good.
And then they lift up the horizontal piece and put it in place. They center the log appropriately, and check that it is level. It will be a great viewing spot for all the pigeons.
Pete uses an eight inch screw and matching bolt to attach the horizontal log to the vertical supports.
Here he drills in the other screw and bolt.
This perch is very safe and secure.
The pigeons are watching very intently from the roof of their coop. The entire project takes less than an hour to complete.
Inside, Pete and Fernando also built this new ladder perch – it fits one entire wall of the pigeon enclosure. We keep these shelters very dry to prevent bacteria and disease from developing – water and moisture are the enemies. Pigeons can be quite messy, but it is important to keep their enclosures as clean as possible.
It doesn’t take long before the pigeons start using it. They already love their new roost.
Some of the pigeons watch from their nearby nesting boxes. Pigeons mate for life and both female and male pigeons share the responsibility of caring for and raising their young.
And here it is – all complete. I think it looks great.
I am sure these birds will soon fly to their new perching spot to check it out. They love to perch together. An adult pigeon is about 13 inches in length and can weigh up to 20 ounces.
The pigeon enclosure is very long – they love flying around from place to place. This new perch is a nice addition to the space. Here at my Bedford farm, I always enjoy teaching visitors about the many birds I keep – the peafowl, the Guinea fowl, the geese, the chickens, and of course, my pigeons. I am so glad my pigeons are happy here at Cantitoe Corners.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
