Summer weather here at my farm is expected to be very hot and humid today - possibly climbing to 90-degrees Fahrenheit.
By this time every year many plants have already reached their flowering peak for the season, but the trees, most of which I've planted through the years, are still so beautiful and lush with foliage.
Enjoy these photos.
Every single day I am home, I tour the farm to see how all the gardens, trees, and plants are doing. Every specimen is special. These trees line the main carriage road to and from my woodland.
I’ve planted thousands and thousands of trees here on my 153-acre farm – in and around the gardens, along the carriage roads, and throughout the woods. I love how they look in the landscape and how they change through the seasons. Most importantly, we need trees for the environment – they help combat climate change, provide habitat and food for birds and other animals, and release oxygen for us to live. This is my allée of pin oaks, Quercus palustris, which I planted soon after moving to my farm. At that time, they were just about six feet tall.
Down behind the chicken coops is a grove of dawn redwoods. Dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, grow faster than most trees and need an area under full sun that is large enough to accommodate the trees which can grow to more than 160-feet tall. One of their distinguishable characteristics is the deeply fissured bark on mature trees.
I have many Japanese maples just in this woodland near my chickens. I always look forward to their gorgeous displays of color, especially in autumn.
The Atlas Cedar has a bold, pyramidal form with sparkling silvery blue foliage. It is among the most popular evergreen conifers.
In the same area, I have several scholar trees, also known as Japanese pagoda trees, Styphnolobium japonicum. These are deciduous trees grown for the white flowers borne in late summer after most other flowering trees have long finished flowering.
From a distance, everyone notices the weeping willows. These are in a grove at the edge of my pinetum. Weeping willows are wide and tall with graceful curtains of drooping branches that sweep the ground.
This is a mature hickory tree. Hickory trees are one of the most important hardwood trees in North America. They are robust, durable and valued for their nut production. The hickory is a variety of species within the Carya genus. There are about 12 species of hickory native to North America.
This is a ginkgo. Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history.
The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze.
On one side of a carriage road in my back hayfield are these red maples. The red maple, Acer rubrum, is a fast-growing tree native to North America. It is a member of the Sapindaceae family and can grow up to 70 feet tall at a rate of 18 inches per year.
On both sides of the carriage road in another hayfield, I planted an allée of London plane trees and about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria.
The London plane trees are loved for the large three-lobed, toothed, dark green leaves that turn yellow, orange, and red with the fall season.
They are also known for the exfoliating bark, which is a natural process that helps the tree shed old bark to make way for new growth.
From this side of my long and winding pergola, one can see the towering bald cypress, Taxodium distichum – a deciduous conifer. Though it’s native to swampy areas, the bald cypress is also able to withstand dry, sunny weather and is hardy in USDA climate zones 5 through 10. I also planted these when I took over my farm.
Outside my Winter House is this weeping katsura, one of my favorite trees. Cercidiphyllum japonicum f. pendulum has pendulous branches that fan out from the crown and sweep the ground. Caramel-scented foliage emerges bronze or purple-red, turns blue-green, then fades to gold or apricot in autumn.
Nearby, off my terrace is this beautiful Nyssa sylvatica, or black tupelo – a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and eastern Texas, as well as Mexico. Its summer leaves are a bold dark green.
But look closely and see the changing color. This Nyssa tree is showing a few of its autumn leaves – shades of yellow, orange, bright red, and scarlet, which can all appear on the same branch. It’s a sign that autumn is not farm away.
From my driveway one can see this catalpa tree with its large heart-shaped green leaves. In late summer, early fall, it starts growing long, slender bean like seed pods.
I am very proud of my orchard. Look at this peach tree laden with fruits. I’m having a great peach season. There are more than 200-fruit trees planted in this orchard – apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, pear, medlar, apricot, quince, and peach trees. There are so many more interesting trees at my farm, but i hope this helps you to appreciate some of the beautiful specimens where you live – perhaps even inspire you to plant one.
Rain or shine, chores have to be done each and every day.
Here at my farm, my gardeners, housekeepers, stable team and outdoor grounds crew are constantly working off a running list of important tasks. During the summer season, these include pruning and grooming the trees and shrubs, watering all the garden beds, maintaining equipment, tending the vegetable garden and harvesting what is ready, and of course caring for all the animals.
Here are some photos.
The boxwood shrubs around my farm are pruned and groomed regularly every year. This boxwood surrounds my herbaceous peony bed. Boxwood is slow growing compared to other shrubs. Typically, the growth rate for most varieties is three to six inches annually. It’s important to prune them regularly to maintain shape and encourage new growth.
Phurba Sherpa is my resident boxwood pruner – he does a great job trimming all the shrubs carefully by hand.
Here he sharpens his Japanese Okatsune shears. The shears are user friendly, and come in a range of sizes.
Ryan and I keep a very close eye on plant feeding schedules. Here he is feeding the roses and boxwood outside my main greenhouse. I just redesigned this garden bed which now includes my newly released Martha Stewart hybrid tea rose and a selection of young boxwood shrubs I nurtured from bare root cuttings.
Chhiring is also working in this garden – mulching the area with material made right here at my farm.
One side is completely done – it looks so beautiful and manicured.
In the vegetable garden, Cesar continues to maintain the growing tomatoes. He checks them every day to make sure the fruits and vines on which they grow are off the ground.
Here’s Elvira helping with the latest harvest. I’ve had such a productive artichoke season.
Outside the stable, Carlos “Dos” washes and grooms the dogs. My handsome Chow Chow Emperor Han seems to enjoy all the attention.
The donkeys are very happy in their new shaded enclosure under the pines. The fly masks keep the pesky summer bugs from biting.
Not far, Helen gets Geert ready for an afternoon in his pasture. Geert is one of my four striking Friesians. I think he’s pretty excited about the milder weather. This day was in the mid-80s.
Bond waits patiently in his stall for his turnout in the paddock.
Don’t forget to water, water, water. Here’s Phurba adjusting a Gilmour telescoping sprinkler to water the beds outside my flower cutting garden. All the watering around my farm is done by hand, so sprinklers are moved every hour.
I also use soaker hoses where applicable. Here’s Fernando positioning a soaker hose under the boxwood around my peonies.
Pete carefully positions soakers underneath the pergola boxwood. These Gilmour soaker hoses deliver low-pressure water directly to plant roots through tiny pores, reducing evaporation, runoff, and water waste.
During this time of year, one can often find Ryan in the vegetable garden checking on what is ready for picking.
Here’s just a portion of one day’s harvest – so many carrots and beets.
Cesar works in the flower room to wipe the newly harvested potatoes.
And who is this looking for love? It’s Mayo, also known affectionately as “May-May.” She is very friendly and curious.
And here’s Mayo’s sister, Cinco – also in line for a good scratch or rub. This week is expected to be another hot one here in the Northeast with temperatures soaring once again into the 90s. My farm crew works hard rain or shine to ensure everything functions at its best.
There’s always so much to harvest in the vegetable garden this time of year. What are you picking from the garden this weekend?
Yesterday, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, harvested another large bounty - artichokes, carrots, eggplants, radishes, beets, potatoes, leeks, and some of the season's first tomatoes. Once the vegetables are picked, they're brought up to my flower room where they are washed, bagged, and placed into the refrigerator until they're ready to use.
Here are some photos.
It’s so rewarding to pick such beautiful foods from the garden. These are just some of the radishes. Radishes are easy to pick – one can just pull the entire plant straight up from the soil.
Here’s Ryan with a bunch of beautiful carrots. Most are familiar with the orange color, but they also come in red, yellow, white and purple.
I always like to grow many carrot varieties and colors. Some carrots are more sweet, while others have a more earthy or peppery flavor.
And look at all the beets. Beets grow so well here at the farm. The beetroot is the taproot of the beet plant, and is often called the table beet, garden beet, red or golden beet or simply… beet.
Do you like leeks? Like onions and other members of the Allium family, leeks are a bulbous vegetable with white flesh and leafy green tops. In the kitchen, Leeks can be boiled, braised, fried, or roasted.
Some of the tomatoes are ready. Tomatoes are heat loving plants. We’ve had a lot of warm days this season, so the tomatoes are looking really good. Here’s Ryan picking the ripest straight off the vine.
Tomatoes are an excellent source of beta-carotene, vitamins C and K, calcium, potassium, folate, and of course – lycopene.
Bucket by bucket, the freshly picked vegetables are brought up to my flower room, where they get washed if needed, then bagged and stored in the refrigerator. Here, Enma cuts the green tops from the carrots. They will be saved for my chickens.
Enma uses a brush specifically made for removing dirt, debris and any bacteria left on the surface of the vegetable.
The carrots are so beautiful. Each color not only adds visual appeal to the plate, but also offers varying flavors and distinct nutritional benefits.
Enma also trims off the tops of the beets leaving one to two inches of stem.
The beets are then placed into the sink for a good washing.
Next, Enma cleans the radishes. Radishes come in many varieties – both long and round. The flavor can range from very mild to very spicy, depending on the kind.
Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, and mostly eaten raw as a crunchy salad vegetable. Have you ever tried radish and butter with pinch of flaky salt? It is a popular French low-carb snack, and it’s delicious.
The leek roots and dark green leaves are also trimmed. The vegetables are then brushed and rinsed thoroughly.
The edible portions of the leek are the white base of the leaves, the light green parts, and to a lesser extent, the dark green parts of the leaves. They have a mild onion-like taste and smell. In its raw state, they are also very crunchy and firm.
Ryan brings up a bucket of eggplants. I prefer to pick them when they are smaller – these are perfect.
After cleaning, the vegetables are blagged and placed into the refrigerator.
Ryan also picked some of our first potatoes. Potatoes are just wiped clean. As the world’s fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat, and rice, potatoes are grown from “seed potatoes”, which are certified disease-free and specially grown in nurseries for planting purposes. I’ll have a bigger potato harvest next week.
And the artichokes are still producing. Artichokes have good keeping qualities and can remain fresh for at least a week. Freshly picked vegetables are so much more flavorful and packed with nutrients. I’m excited to eat everything and share the bounty with my family.
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