Gardeners, it's time to start those brassicas from seed.
Here at my farm, I always start the year off planting seeds indoors for the next growing season. Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, started pots of broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage - all considered brassicas, or cole crops - a genus of plants in the mustard family, scientifically known as Brassicaceae, whose members are informally referred to as cruciferous vegetables. The seedlings will be nurtured in the greenhouse until they’re mature enough to move to my vegetable garden.
Enjoy these photos.
Here is one of my brassica beds in summer. I grow lots of brassicas and save them all for me and my family.
Cabbages are popular brassicas. A common variety, green cabbage, has densely packed green leaves that grow lighter towards the center. They’re just right for picking when they feel firm and have compacted leaves, with little to no wilting on the outer casings.
This is known as Savoy cabbage, with its loose layers of frilly leaves. This thick-ribbed head cabbage, also called curly cabbage, is delicious in salads and has a slightly peppery flavor.
Ranging from red to purple, this head cabbage has a stronger flavor than green cabbage and can be eaten cooked or raw, adding texture and snap to dishes.
You may recognize this brassica – it’s broccoli. I grew lots of broccoli every year. When mature, some of my broccoli heads are bigger than one’s hand.
Kale is a leafy green vegetable that is also in the Brassicaceae family. It has green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head.
And another brassica or cruciferous vegetable is the cauliflower. The word “cauliflower” is Latin, meaning “flowers of cabbage” and the low-growing plant looks very similar to cabbage until the large leaves open up and reveal the “curd,” the most commonly consumed part of the vegetable. Most are familiar with the white varieties, but cauliflower also grows in yellow-orange, purple, and even green.
This time of year my head house tables are often filled with seeds ready to be planted in pots and trays. I use seeds from favorite sources, seeds I’ve picked up during my travels, and sometimes seeds exchanged with friends.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds is a privately held, employee-owned organic seed producer. Johnny’s offers hundreds of varieties of organic vegetable, herb, flower, fruit and farm seeds that are known to be strong, dependable growers.
And all the beautiful vegetables start out here in my head house seeded in small pots or trays. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, prepares the pots ahead of time, so there are always some ready to use.
When starting from seed, it is best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. Seed starting mixes are available at garden supply stores. I use Miracle-Gro seed starting potting mix.
Holes for the seeds can be made in the center of the containers with one’s finger or end of a marker.
Ryan writes the seed variety on small wooden markers also from Johnny’s. This information is good to know for planting the next season.
Ryan places markers in the pots to identify the varieties.
Seeds are small, so be very careful when pouring them out of the packet. Seeds are planted at different times depending on their maturity durations.
Ryan drops one to three seeds in each cell. Any weak seedlings will be thinned out later. When buying or ordering seeds, be sure to read the hardiness of the plant. And know your hardiness zone, so you can select the right seeds for your area.
Once the pots are seeded, they are covered up with another layer of soil mix.
Ryan spreads the soil mix across the pots completely and evenly.
Ryan gives the seeds a thorough watering. These seeds will be selectively thinned in a few weeks. The process eliminates the weaker sprout and prevents overcrowding, so seedlings don’t have any competition for soil nutrients or room to mature.
And then finally, the pots are placed under plastic covers and put on a shelf under lights in a warm area of my greenhouse. It’s still February, but let the growing season begin – I’m ready!
Wintertime pruning continues at my farm - next on the list, the orchard trees.
If you grow fruit trees, the best time to prune them is now - in winter - or in very early spring before any new growth begins. Pruning not only helps to develop proper shape and form, but also encourages new growth, promotes high fruit yield, and maintains good tree health. I have more than 200 fruit trees in my orchard - peaches, apples, pears, cherries, medlars, and others. This year, I called on the experts from The Arborist, Inc. in nearby Bedford Hills, New York to take on the big job.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
There’s still a lot of snow on the ground, but the orchard trees need pruning to ensure they continue to produce an abundance of fruit. All my fruit trees are extremely healthy, in part because of all the care and maintenance that is done to maintain them.
The tree experts at The Arborist specialize in pruning fruit trees.
Before starting on any tree, foreman Ray assesses the tree and decides where he will start trimming.
With all the snow on the ground, it is also necessary to shovel a path, so the crew can work on each tree and safely set up their ladders.
A bow saw, or pruning saw, cuts on both the fore stroke and back stroke and is designed for cutting thicker, older branches.
I prefer much of the work be done by hand. Cutting by hand gives my trees a more natural appearance and shape.
Pruning cuts should be made fairly flush to the branch from which it grew. The idea is to leave slight stubs. By removing any more, the remaining branch has too much of an opening for disease to enter. Here, one can see where a cut was made. And cuts should be clean – something that can only be done with good, sharp tools.
After cutting the old, thick branches, Ray focuses on the Ds of pruning and removes any dead, diseased, damaged, defective, or deranged branches.
Dead branches, or those without any signs of new growth, are cut, so the energy is directed to the branches with fruiting buds.
Ray cuts branches that are rubbing or crisscrossing each other, preventing any healthy new growth. Basically, the goal is to create a tree with well spaced lateral branches. Any branches which interfere with the tree’s shape or create a dense framework should be removed.
And he prunes the suckers away from the tree trunk to prevent them from taking over.
For slightly larger branches up to two-inches in diameter, they use bypass loppers.
Here, a long handled pole pruner is used to remove harder to reach branches.
Pole pruners can reach high branches and trim multiple branches at once, saving time and effort. It’s important to have all the necessary tools at hand, so these tasks can be done efficiently.
When pruning, it’s always a good idea to pick up branches during the process, so there isn’t a lot of time wasted with clean-up in the end.
Neat and tidy piles are made along the shoveled foot path, so they can be retrieved easily. The branches are either saved for kindling or processed through a wood chipper to make mulch.
Some of my fruit trees have long branches which weigh heavy when laden with fruit. To support them, I use “crutches” with natural “v” notches that could cradle the heavy limbs.
Removing crowded branches helps let in light and promote good air circulation.
A good pruning improves productivity and promotes more fruiting. I like to prune my trees annually to establish and maintain good structure and shape.
I instructed the crew to cut about a third of the new growth including all the suckers. There is still a lot more work to be done, but I am looking forward to many lustrous green trees heavy with fruits come summer.
I'm busy getting ready for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, but there's still time to make something homemade and meaningful to give as gifts for St. Valentine's Day. Every year, I like to bake lots of heart shaped sugar cookies. I prepare the dough and royal icing, cut out the shapes, bake, and decorate them in pink and white using a process I devised that's easy and fun. It's the four Ds - dipping, dripping, decorating, and drying.
Enjoy these photos and video from my Valentine's Day cookie baking process a few years ago.
The first step is to gather all the ingredients – here are all the decorating ingredients and my giant heart-shaped cookie cutters. I have had these cutters for years.
And then make your favorite sugar cookie dough. I have many delicious sugar cookie recipes in my books.
Once it’s ready, I put it on a piece of plastic wrap and roll out the dough in two batches, so it’s easier to manage.
After rolling, they are completely wrapped and chilled for at least 30-minutes – mine were chilled overnight. Chilled dough will help retain the shape of the cookies; soft, warm dough tends to lose its shape when cut and moved.
The next morning, the doughs are perfect. They get really hard, but they roll out so beautifully.
Here they are about to go into the oven. It’s such a treat for me to bake, it’s become an annual tradition. These cookies are baked at 400-degrees Fahrenheit for 10-minutes.
Here are some batches already cooling – all perfectly browned. The cookies are about 1/8-inch thick.
I made large and small cookies – some with decorative edges and some left smooth.
My process for decorating sugar cookies involves the four “Ds” – dipping, dripping, decorating, and drying. Sugar cookies are delicious any time on their own, but they also make ideal holiday cookies when decorated with royal icing. I used royal icing made from confectioner’s sugar, meringue from my own egg whites, food coloring, water, and then hand-dipped each cookie very carefully. I do this instead of damming and flooding, which is a much more precise method.
Carefully dip the cookie into the icing. and let the excess drip.
I dipped just the top of the cookie, so each one looks smooth and perfect. The frosting has to be exactly the right consistency to dip the cookies satisfactorily. And remove them very carefully, letting the excess drip. Once they are flat, the icing will level out into a perfect surface for decorating.
While the white frosting is still wet, I use pink icing on top. I make horizontal lines first across the cookie.
Do this in any direction, making sure the lines are evenly spaced.
Then, using the tip of a bamboo skewer, I just pull the frosting down from the top to the bottom of the cookie making this Napoleonic design. It is called this because the same design is seen on Napoleon pastries.
One can go in both directions to make it more interesting.
After the decorating, let the cookies sit and dry completely.
And here are some of the finished cookies drying on the rack.
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