It's amazing how quickly plants and trees grow and change day to day. Starting in September, many of the trees in this area begin their autumn transformations - changing from bold green to various shades of red, yellow, and brown. Now in October, many of those leaves have started to fall. In some cases exposing the season's fruits. We've already picked and enjoyed many apples and pears, but I also have quince, persimmons, medlars, a variety of crabapple berries, and those of the Cornus kousa, osage oranges, and trifoliate oranges, and other autumn treats - some we eat, some we can't, but many provide wildlife with sugar, protein, fat, and other crucial nutrients to sustain them through the coming winter.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This time of year, there are always so many different types of fruit growing here at the farm. Some of the ones collected include: apples, pears, pawpaws, quince, persimmons, trifoliate oranges, osage oranges, crabapples, koussa berries, and medlars.
I have many apple trees here – the large, old ones that were on the property when I bought it, the dwarf espaliered apple trees that I planted soon after I moved in, and the many apple trees in my orchard. My granddaughter, Jude, comes every year to pick crates and crates of apples and then make jars and jars of cider – it’s so delicious.
Some of the newer apple trees in my orchard include ‘Baldwin’, ‘Black Oxford’, ‘Cortland’, ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Esopus Spitzenburg’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Golden Russet’, ‘Grimes Golden’, ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Liberty’, ‘Redfield’, ‘Roxbury Russet’, and ‘Windham Russet’.
I’ve also planted several types of Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, which is native to East Asia. My trees include Hosui, Niitaka, Shinko, and Shinseiko. Asian pears have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, which is very different from the European varieties. They are most commonly served raw and peeled.
The other pears in my orchard are ‘Bartlett’, ‘Columbia’, ‘D’Amalis’, ‘Ginnybrook’, ‘McLaughlin’, ‘Nova’, ‘Patten’, ‘Seckel’, ‘Stacyville’, and ‘Washington State’.
Are you familiar with quince? Quince is a fall fruit that grows like apples and pears, but with an unusually irregular shape and often gray fuzz. These fruits turn a golden yellow when ready to pick in fall.
In another area are the fruits of the medlar, Mespilus germanica – a small deciduous tree and member of the rose family. These fruits are not ready yet – we’ll pick them in late October or early November. This fruit is about one to two inches in diameter, and ranges in color from rosy rust to dusty brown. Medlars are native to Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe. The fruits have to be eaten when almost rotten in a process called “bletting”. And, because of this, they either have to be eaten right off the tree or picked early and put aside for a few weeks to blet. The medlar is very pulpy and very sweet. Its taste is similar to an overripe date with a flavor similar to toffee apples or apple butter.
The bright fruits of persimmons ripen in late fall, usually, after most of the leaves have fallen from the tree. I have a grove of these persimmon trees outside my flower cutting garden. The American persimmon, when picked at just the right time, can have a flavor that is rich, deep, and sweet.
Behind the main greenhouse, I have a grove of pawpaw trees. Asimina triloba, the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and Canada. The taste of a pawpaw is a mix of mango-banana-citrus all in one. It’s a big favorite for some here at the farm.
Near the pawpaw trees are two trifoliate orange trees, Citrus trifoliata or Poncirus trifoliata – a member of the family Rutaceae. Also known as the “hardy orange” or “flying dragon,” it is the most cold hardy of all citrus. It is a large, deciduous shrub that produces an unusually sour, downy fruit considered to be nearly inedible when raw, but medicinally beneficial and delicious when cooked. The fruit is commonly juiced, made into marmalades, jams, jellies, or candied. Trifoliate oranges are slightly smaller than conventional oranges and taste like a blend of lemon and grapefruit.
I have Osage orange trees along three sides of my North Maple Paddock surrounding the run-in field and shed, not far from my tennis court. These trees are bold green in summer and change to bright golden yellow in fall. The Osage orange, Maclura pomifera, is actually not an orange at all, and is more commonly known as a hedge-apple, horse-apple, or mock-orange. Each one is about four to five inches in diameter and filled with a dense cluster of hundreds of smaller fruits – some say it even resembles the many lobes of a brain. For the most part, the Osage orange is considered inedible because of its texture and taste, but they’re very interesting and fun to grow.
And beware… Osage orange branches are armed with stout, straight spines growing from the leaf axils.
This is one of the four Sargent crabapple trees outside my Tenant House and studio. Its fall color is usually green to chartreuse before the leaves drop, but…
… looking closely, one can see the Sargent crabapple berries. The Sargent crabapple, Malus sargentii, is a dwarf fragrant, showy shrub with bright red berries. While these fruits are edible, they are also quite tart and are generally not consumed raw.
These are also crabapple berries still hanging off the branches. While related to regular apples, crabapples are smaller in comparison and much more tart than regular apples.
And different crabapples are on the trees outside my stable.
Crabapple fruit can vary in size from a quarter-inch to two inches in diameter.
Along the carriage road near my back hayfield, I have several Cornus kousa trees – small deciduous trees in the flowering plant family Cornaceae. Common names include kousa, kousa dogwood, Chinese dogwood, Korean dogwood, and Japanese dogwood. The kousa has edible berries with soft pulp that is sweet with a similar flavor to a ripe persimmon.
Kousa trees also grow in Nepal, where several of my outdoor grounds crew are from – they always love snacking on the fruits of these dogwood trees.
And then there are the fruits of the mighty female ginkgo tree. The most noticeable thing about these is their smell. Have you ever smelled one? It is hard to miss, and the stench is quite disagreeable. The outer, nasty smelling pulp is known botanically as sarcotesta.
Here is one ginkgo seed separated from its fruit.
While we’re all enjoying the splendid colors of the falling leaves, I hope you also have time to stop and appreciate all the fruits nature has to offer this time of year.
All my tropical plants are now safely stored indoors for the winter.
Caring for my precious plants means following a strict schedule, particularly at the end of the warm season. Plants that summer at Skylands, my home in Maine, are picked up and brought back to Bedford for storage. And together with all the tropical specimens here at the farm, everything is groomed, organized, and placed in special greenhouses where temperature and humidity levels can be closely monitored and adjusted when necessary. Some of the taller plants are also stored in my stable. It's a multiple day process, but my team does a great job getting it all done.
Enjoy these photos.
Every year, I evaluate the needs of my plants and decide where they will be stored for the winter months. Plants grow, so they cannot always be stored in the same place. I’ve stored a few plants in the stable before, but this year, I’ll store a group of 13 container specimens including several tree ferns. Here, they will get lots of light from the barn door windows and still be protected from winds and freezing temperatures.
Before any container plant is stored, I always remind the crew that it should be weeded and properly groomed.
Many of the plants can be transported by hand truck. Pete carefully wheels in another smallish tree fern. Tree ferns are arborescent ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees.
Tree fern fronds are often very large. Some of them can reach nine to 13 feet in length. The fronds are thickly textured and range in color from gray-green to blue.
As the plants are brought into the stable, they are all arranged with enough space in between them, so they don’t touch. Keeping them separated prevents any diseases that could possibly spread during the storage time. Fortunately, all my plants are in excellent condition. Ryan checks all the plant foliage – and no two plants are touching.
These plants will do well in this location and will be checked every day. These are also safe to have around my horses. In fact, they have been caught trying to munch on the non-toxic fronds.
Meanwhile, another team is repotting the bird’s nest ferns, Asplenium nidus, outside what I call the tropical hoop house. Some of these have outgrown their pots, or they were in decorative pots that needed to cleaned and stored.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
Phurba removes the plant from its old pot. Repotting is a good time to also check any plant for damaged, unwanted or rotting leaves as well as any pests that may be hiding in the soil.
He trims necessary bottom leaves and then gives the root ball some beneficial scarifying cuts. Asplenium nidus forms large simple fronds growing up to 20 to 59 inches long. They are light green, often crinkled, with a black midrib.
The selected new pot is filled about two thirds of the way with potting soil. We’re using Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix, specifically formulated for container plants.
Phurba fills in the pot with more soil, but he never overfills – only place potting mix until the bottom of the pot’s rim, so the soil does not spill out when it is watered. This also makes it much easier to lift and carry.
As they are repotted, Phurba places them on a shelf in the hoop house where they will remain for the next seven months.
This is one of my many sago palms, Cycas revoluta. Sago is a popular plant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. This very symmetrical plant supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about seven to eight inches in diameter, sometimes wider.
These are where the old leaves were cut. The rough, symmetrical trunk becomes leafless as it ages.
Another plant in my tropical greenhouse is Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai – a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves that grow up to 18-inches long out of a main crown in a clump. The leaves are paddle shaped, similar to banana plant leaves, and attached to a long, upright stalk.
These are Australian Brush Cherry trees, Eugenia myrtifolia, also now known as Syzygium paniculatum. The Brush Cherry is an evergreen tree or shrub with shiny dark green leaves native to Australia and New Zealand. I usually display these topiaries in the courtyard behind my Winter House kitchen during summer.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white. Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at my farm.
This tropical house is full, but none of the plants are touching, and there is just enough room for me to walk in and around the entire structure. All the greenhouses are checked a couple times each day to make sure the temperature remains comfortably warm inside. Too cold, plants will freeze – too hot, plants will rot. To simulate the best subtropical environment, we try to keep the temperature in this greenhouse between 50 and 85-degrees Fahrenheit with some humidity. They’ll continue to thrive here until they are brought outdoors again in spring. Are your plants inside?
October is a very important month here at my Bedford, New York farm. It's when my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are rushing to get all my warm weather container plants inside the greenhouses.
I have quite a large collection of tropical specimens. Because I live in a four-season region, during colder months it’s vital these plants move indoors where the temperature and humidity levels can be controlled. Plants that spent the summer at Skylands, my home in Maine, are also brought back to Bedford for storage. It’s a tedious process to put all these container plants away, but a very important one that helps keep my plants thriving.
Enjoy these photos.
Before storing anything, all the plants are brought to their designated greenhouse and placed outside, so each one can be inspected, and trimmed or repotted if necessary. Then, by size each one is carried into the structure where they will stay for about seven months.
This group is outside the hoop house next to my vegetable greenhouse. Many of the plants are organized by type and by care needs.
Many of the potted plants in this group spent the summer months at Skylands, my home in Maine. Because I do not have a large greenhouse at Skylands, they are transported back to my farm for the winter.
These plants are outside the hoop house next to my Stable Barn. I have five hoop houses in all to store all these warm weather specimens.
This hoop house is 60-feet by 26-feet. All the hoop houses are covered with a heavy-duty, woven polyethylene plastic that features an anti-condensate additive to reduce moisture buildup and dripping. It is also covered with a layer that contains UV additives that allow the fabric to maintain its strength.
I repurpose stumps from downed trees to use as risers for some of the potted plants or for the legs of tables. It’s important to make use of both horizontal and vertical space when storing.
Phurba and Jose start by moving the plants in the gravel courtyard behind my Winter House kitchen. This project of moving the plants is a big undertaking and takes several days to complete.
Jose also removes the smaller potted plants and places them in the back of the Polaris. It is a rush to get everything moved before it gets too cold.
For really heavy potted specimens, we load them onto the bucket of a tractor that is lined with moving blankets, so the pots do not sustain any damage during transport.
I have many agaves, including this giant blue agave with its beautiful gray-blue spiky fleshy leaves. Do you know… tequila is actually distilled from the sap of the blue agave?
Phurba helps Pete guide the tractor into the hoop house. He drives it in as close as possible with the tractor and then the plant is removed by hand and positioned.
These agaves also have sharp spines, so it is important to place them strategically.
One by one, plants are brought inside and also positioned so none of the plants touch. Plants are sensitive and if left touching could cause a defense response reducing growth. Plants can also become more easily infested with pests or diseases if left touching.
Pasang carefully guides a potted Bismarkia palm as it is moved in next. Bismarckia nobilis grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
And then a pygmy date palm, Phoenix roebelenii is moved in. This is a species of date palm native to southeastern Asia, from southwestern China, northern Laos and northern Vietnam.
Smaller potted plants are also wheeled in by hand cart.
Tables on both sides of this hoop house are used to store smaller potted specimens, such as this collection of potted lemon cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa.
These plants grow a little more each year, so the placement of these specimens will change every time they are stored.
There are still so many plants to bring indoors, but we’ve made good progress and should have everything collected and indoors before the first frost.
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