Early Morning Fog at the Farm
My Bedford, New York farm looks so eerie covered in a blanket of thick fog.
As many of you know, I live in close proximity to the Cross River Reservoir, where early patches of fog are quite common. Fog is essentially made up of condensed water droplets - a result of the air being cooled to the point where it can no longer hold all the water vapor it contains. Fog reduces visibility below one-kilometer, or six-tenths of a mile, making it very difficult for driving or even walking.
Earlier this week, everything at the farm was covered in heavy fog. Enjoy these photos.
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- When I awoke Monday morning, the atmosphere was thick with fog. This is a photo of my apple espalier taken from my lower terrace parterre outside my Winter House kitchen.
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- Fog is made up of millions of tiny droplets of water floating in the air. It can form in two ways: either by cooling the air to its dew point or by evaporation and mixing – this happens often when the earth radiates heat at night or in the early morning. I live in a region where there is additional moisture, so when the air is cooled, and the vapor starts to condense, patches of fog emerge.
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- I took these photos before 7am. Fog reduces visibility quite a bit. This is the carriage road nearest my home. It is hard to see the road past my Gravenstein apples on the left.
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- Here is the giant stand of tall white pines near my vegetable garden and chicken coops. It is even hard to see any structures or foliage surrounding these trees.
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- The ancient apple trees in the middle of the paddock are encircled by the thick fog.
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- Look at the fog across the paddock – so dense nothing can be seen in the distance. The foggiest place in the world is the Grand Banks off the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It gets more than 200-days of fog per year.
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- Here are my Sicilian miniature donkeys – Rufus, Clive and Billie. They are not bothered by the fog or low visibility at all.
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- This is a view of my newer linden tree allee, which extends from the old corn crib to my vegetable garden – it’s very hard to see down the allee through the fog, but on a clear day, the view is gorgeous.
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- Here is a view from midway down the allee. The fog drifts over and between the horse paddocks and this allee of trees.
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- And here is the lower part of the allee, where we recently planted more linden trees to complete the extension. Dense fog is when visibility is at least one-quarter mile or lower. And, when fog mixes with air pollution, it’s called smog.
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- Here is a view of the fog from the boxwood allee. Our great burlapping project has begun, but it is hard to see the framework surrounding the boxwood – look closely, it’s there.
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- This view looks across the south paddock to my home in the distance.
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- Here is a look at my stable courtyard with the property office building on the right. Don’t confuse fog with mist – mist is actually easier to see through than fog.
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- This is one of the most popular vantage points at the farm – the foot of the carriage road leading to the woods and hayfields. In this photo, it’s difficult to see where the road leads, making it quite mysterious and even ghostly.
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- Some describe fog to be “as thick as pea soup”. This was originally used to describe the dingy yellow smog from burning soft coal common in Europe. Such fogs occurred in London until the Clean Air Act of 1956.
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- Here is more fog surrounding the American beech tree grove.
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- The pinetum is also thick with fog, but you can start to see the green color of the grass – a small sign the fog is beginning to lift.
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- This is the pin oak allee with the Equipment Barn on the left. There are still so many more leaves to fall.
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- The fog limits this view between the blueberry pergola and the row of quince trees on the right. One quince fruit can be seen on the ground below.
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- The”Party Lawn” behind my long winding clematis pergola is hard to identify with this thick blanket of fog.
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- As the morning hours progress, the fog slowly starts to lift. Here is the carriage road to my home – with the beautiful bald cypress trees on the left.
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- As the fog lifts, or burns off, more and more of the trees and shrubs can be seen. This happens as the sun’s heat warms the ground and air. How much fog do you get where you live? Let me know in your comments.
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