Summer Cleanup at My Farm
It’s mid-August and everybody is busy with summer cleanup chores here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Supporting a working farm is a lot of work. In order for it to thrive, animals and gardens need constant tender loving care. We keep a running list of all the chores that need to be done at any given time, so it always looks and functions at its best.
Enjoy these photos…
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- Over by the long pergola, my outdoor grounds crew keeps the gardens well mulched. Here’s Dawa bringing over another load to spread over the beds. Mulch and the darker nutrient-rich compost are both made in the back fields of the farm.
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- Mulch is great for the garden. It insulates the soil from both hot and cold temperatures, retains water to keep the roots moist, helps keep weeds at bay and prevents soil compaction.
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- And, once each section is done, it looks beautifully manicured. The back of the pergola looks so great with the Rose of Sharon in bloom.
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- Whenever I am in Maine, I love to visit local nurseries to see what is available. Here are some of the plants I purchased and sent back down to Bedford.
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- Chhewang loaded up several viburnums, which I thought would look great by my pond.
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- Viburnum is a genus of more than 150 evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous woody plants. Many are native to North America, but their range extends to Southeast Asia and South America. They are admired for their foliage, flowers, and fruit. Most viburnums flower in spring and are sometimes fragrant.
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- Down at my stable, power-washing is in full swing. Here’s Helen washing the stone floors in the large main walkway between the horse stalls.
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- Helen is using my powerful Martha Stewart Pressure Select 1450/2030 PSI Electric Pressure Washer from my collection at QVC. This easy-to-use pressure washer has intense jets that blast away all the grime. Everyone on the crew loves it.
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- Look how easy it is to clean the dirt from in between the stone pavers.
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- Here is a spot in big need of pressure washing.
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- And here it is after just a few minutes – so, so clean.
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- Billie, Rufus, and Clive watch from their nearby stall – I think they’re more interested in the meal that follows.
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- Just outside the stable, Ryan trims the growing tree ferns. We placed these in between the stable and the carriage house where they can be partially shaded and protected from strong winds.
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- Back at the front of the pergola, Gavin works on deadheading the tall tiger lilies. Lily flowers that are not cut off will develop into a three-chamber capsule that forms seeds. If you want the clump of lily plants to grow more robust, cut off the seed capsules so the plant energy goes into developing larger bulbs in the ground.
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- Everyone always has their own trusted QVC extra-large Multi-Purpose Garden Tote from my QVC collection to gather any cuttings.
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- Here is Phurba weeding in the Stewartia garden. Some of the weeds we tackle include chickweed, garlic mustard, white or Dutch clover, and of course crabgrass and purslane.
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- Zoe is nearby weeding the flower garden. Keeping on top of the weeds during summer is hard – weeds grow wherever they can. It’s actually best to weed during and after it rains, when the roots can be removed from the soil easily.
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- There’s also a lot of cleanup going on in the greenhouse. Here’s Ryan removing the dead leaves from this Bat Plant.
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- The Bat Plant, Tacca, is a species of flowering plant in the yam family, Dioscoreaceae, native to tropical and subtropical rainforests of Central Asia. It was first described by the English botanist John Bellenden Ker Gawler in 1812. It is an exotic plant with flowers that mimic a bat in flight, deep purple, with ruffled wings and long, hanging filaments. I have several of these in both purple and white.
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- And outside, our freshly weeded dahlia garden looks great – these plants are doing very well here. Soon we will have a splendid bed full of gorgeous and colorful dahlias. What cleanup chores are you doing around the garden this weekend? Share your comments with me below.
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