A Snowy February Day at the Farm
Today’s temperatures are expected to rise into the upper 30s here in the New York City area - hopefully, this will help to melt some of the dangerous ice patches that formed overnight.
Although we’ve had a relatively mild winter this year, temperatures have been very erratic. In recent weeks, we’ve had both spring-like weather as well as days with below-zero wind chills. Yesterday, temperatures dropped just enough for us to get a few inches of snow. By nightfall, the snow turned to sleet and rain before tapering off, but it finally looks like winter here at my Bedford farm.
We always try to take snapshots whenever the snow begins to fall - so many of you enjoy these photo tours throughout the seasons.
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- Flurries began falling fast by early afternoon. Here is a view looking through my fruit orchard towards the pool.
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- As many of you know, I’ve planted a few different allees at the farm. This is the allee of pin oak trees. An allee is a walk or passage, especially one between two rows of evenly planted specimens. The pin oak is one of the most popular trees for landscaping because it’s so easy to transplant and is very hardy.
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- Across from the clematis pergola is a stand of bald cypress trees, Taxodium distichum. These are fast growing North American natives. They look so pretty surrounding my little Basket House.
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- Here is the carriage road that runs past my Summer House and down to the stable. The outdoor grounds crew just finished mulching all the flower beds around the farm protecting all the bulbs and plantings safely under a layer of insulating ground cover.
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- Whenever it snows, I am always grateful for the stakes we put up delineating the carriage roads. We painted the tips of those stakes that mark the catch basins.
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- Here’s a view of the stable courtyard, with all but a few of the cobblestones covered in snow.
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- On one side of the Linden Allee is my peafowl pen. Here is a view from the back showing several antique trellises I found at an antiques show in East Hampton, New York a couple years ago. I knew they would look perfect hung on the back of the “Peafowl Palais”.
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- The chickens and geese usually don’t mind the snow, but on this afternoon, most sought shelter in the coops, which are outfitted with warm heat lamps to keep them cozy. All my geese, however, were outside enjoying the snowfall.
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- Here’s a stand of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, with their straight trunks – impressive trees by any standard, and beautiful in any season. Thankfully, the wind was not very strong, so none of the trees lost any branches.
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- Many of you comment on the fencing. It is 100-year old white spruce fencing from Canada with newer cedar uprights to support it. I love how the snow collects on the fence rails.
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- The streams in the woodland were all full – some even beginning to freeze.
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- Here’s a bit of color in a snowy landscape – a grove of yellow weeping willows along the edge of the lower hayfield.
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- This is an allee between the paddocks. Just inside both of these paddocks are younger linden trees – I planted this section of the allee several years ago. The linden tree, Tilia, is also referred to as basswood or lime, though it is not related at all to the lime fruit. They are straight stemmed trees with smooth bark. In the distance – the back of my long carport.
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- Here is another woodland stream – it looks so dark against the winter white.
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- This is a picture of my field of Christmas trees – they have all grown so much! They were all just little saplings when I planted them 10-years ago. I planted a total of 640 Christmas trees in this field – White Pine, Frasier Fir, Canaan Fir, Norway Spruce, and Blue Spruce.
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- I am so proud of all the trees I have planted around my farm – thousands and thousands. It’s one way I can give back to the Earth and help to create a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet for my grandchildren, and for everyone.
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- Located in a back field of the farm is my compost yard – one of the most important areas on the property. This area is also where we store trunks and logs from felled trees. These trees will be milled later in the year, so I can use the lumber for future projects.
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- I hope all the woodland creatures are keeping warm in their dens.
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- Majestic trees stand tall in the woodland, with smaller saplings growing below. This carriage road leads to the back hayfields and to my little woodland cottage.
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- At this woodland intersection, we posted a sign to watch out for coyotes – the woodland is a natural habitat for many creatures.
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- Here is a view from the other side of the long and winding carriage road to the woods. Ahead is the foot of the Boxwood Allee that leads to my stable.
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- Within a few hours, more snow covered the burlap teepees down the long Boxwood Allee. The outdoor grounds crew did such a wonderful job constructing these burlap tents this year.
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- Here’s the old corn crib, which is original to the property. The unique “keystone” shape, flaring from bottom to top, was designed to shed water.
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- Nearby – one of the “ancient” apple trees that was here when I purchased the home. These old fruit trees still look so beautiful, and produce an abundance of fruit. This one has natural wood crutches we built to support its heavy limbs.
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- On this side of the cutting garden is a pair of stately Kenneth Lynch garden urns covered in burlap for the winter. The flower garden and the surrounding beds are all covered in a blanket of white.
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- Passing through the Pinetum on snowy days is always so peaceful. This area includes pines, spruces and firs, as well as other evergreens – they continue to do so well here.
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- And remember all the evergreen branches I saved from the great tree project a few weeks back? They now line the edges of some of the bed around my Winter House – providing more insulation and protection to the plants.
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- The back of my carport is a wonderful spot for birds to perch and eat. I have a series of bird feeders filled every day for these avian visitors. I am glad the birds can depend on food here at the farm all year long. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are this winter.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
