An Early February Snowfall
The temperatures have been very erratic this winter. Today, it will be quite chilly with highs only in the 20s, but over the weekend, it’s expected to hit the upper 40s with rain showers.
Yesterday, the temperatures dropped just enough for us to get a bit of snow here at my Bedford, New York farm - about three inches. By afternoon, although it was still very cold, snow showers turned to freezing rain, which lasted several hours. I always try to take snapshots whenever the snow begins to fall - so many of you enjoy these photo tours throughout the seasons. This most recent system was short-lived, but it created a beautiful coating of white snow across the landscape.
Here is a selection of images - enjoy.
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- Once again, the farm is covered with a new layer of glistening snow. This is my expansive “party lawn”, where I love to set-up games for guests during summer parties. At the end is the corn crib, which has been here since I purchased the property.
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- This is the drive through the Pin Oak Allee adjacent to the Equipment Barn. It’s a popular photo view with these beautiful pin oak trees, Quercus palustris, and branches forming a canopy overhead.
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- Another favorite among guests to the farm is my grove of American beech trees. They are slow to grow, but can live up to 300-years.
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- This is a view looking into the woods. It was very quiet in the woodlands. I guess all the creatures are keeping warm in their dens.
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- My outdoor ground crew has been working very hard to collect all the dead branches around the farm. They pile them up close to the road, so they’re easy to access when it’s time for chipping.
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- Here is a grove of young trees we planted in one of the back fields. I’ve planted thousands and thousands of trees here at my farm – it is so great to see them grow and thrive.
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- This clearing is a hayfield. I have photographed this field many times through the seasons.
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- This meandering carriage road leads through the back woods. Upright stakes painted in my signature Bedford Gray line the roads to guide the cars and plows.
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- Here is the little woodland house nestled by tall trees – it’s a perfect structure for playful young grandchildren.
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- The mighty sycamore – a symbol of my farm, Cantitoe Corners.
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- A small bird house is located just below the branches – I wonder if any screech owls have taken residence inside.
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- Here is a stand of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, with their straight trunks. They are impressive trees by any standard, and beautiful in any season.
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- The woodland streams are full – they look so dark against the winter white.
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- Along one long side of my North Maple Paddock by the run-in shed, I have a row of Osage orange trees. Despite its name, it is actually a member of the fig family. These are a handful of taller Osage orange trees we planted several years ago. There are about 300-smaller trees planted nearby. The Osage orange is native to a small area in eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Arkansas. This region was home to the Native American Osage Indian tribe hence the name.
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- My pigeons are safe and warm in their enclosures.
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- Another stand of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, is located just behind my chicken coops and across from my allee of lilacs. These trees are doing so well.
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- This view looks down the the allee of linden trees. I love this allee. The linden tree, Tilia, is also referred to as basswood or lime, though it is not related at all to the lime fruit. The burlap was wrapped around the tree trucks to prevent any creatures from chewing on the bark.
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- Here’s a view of my stable and courtyard coated with untouched snow – it’s so beautiful.
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- Outside the stable – this photo down the Boxwood Allee. I am so glad many of the shrubs and hedges are safely covered with burlap – we’ve had a lot of cold and stormy days this winter.
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- This is the grove of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum. Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, are fast growing North American natives. They are deciduous conifers that shed their needle-like leaves in the fall.
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- Down below, the bald cypress knees just peek through the snow. A cypress knee is a distinctive structure forming above the roots of a cypress tree. They are believed to help aerate the tree’s roots, create a barrier to catch sediment and reduce erosion, and assist in anchoring the tree in the soft and muddy soil.
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- My blueberry pergola is located between my hay barn and my flower cutting garden. These bushes are so prolific during summer – they produce lots and lots of delicious, juicy blueberries.
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- Behind the flower cutting garden and berry bushes, the crew has made several more neat piles of fallen, dead branches and cut brambles which they will pick up, chip and then return to the earth as mulch.
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- And here is my cutting garden – at rest, with a pair of stately Kenneth Lynch garden urns covered in burlap flanking the entrance.
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- This is the old apple tree in front of my blog studio – this one with its natural wood crutches supporting its heavy limbs.
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- And here is a view looking through the pergola to one of six weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula, on the other side of the Party Lawn. These are such graceful and shapely specimen trees, very densely branched and adaptable to various soil conditions. By afternoon, the snow showers turned to rain – washing away much of the snow cover.
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