Another enjoyable garden tour at Cantitoe Corners!
One day last week, I opened my gardens for a private showing to The Garden Club of America Zone III. The tour was part of their annual business meeting. Just before the event, I spoke to the group at the nearby Bedford Playhouse about the creation and design of my gardens. And then it was just a brief ride to see all that was blooming at the farm. More than 120 guests attended. Afterward, we served a variety of refreshments and small bites, including Martha's Chard, Black Diamond caviar with homemade Melba toast, Murray's Stilton cheese with homemade brown butter shortbread biscuits, gougères and cheese and poppyseed puffed pastry straws made by PS Tailored Events. It was a lovely afternoon and a very enjoyable garden tour.
Enjoy these photos. You'll also see more of this tour on an upcoming episode of "Martha Gardens" exclusively on The Roku Channel, stay tuned.
I was so delighted to be a part of this year’s Garden Club of America Zone III annual horticulture conference. Here I am at the Bedford Playhouse, not farm from my farm, where I was interviewed as part of the program.
I spoke about the design and building of my Bedford gardens. I prepared a slide show of photos showing all the gardens currently at the farm. This is a photo of my upper and lower terrace parterre, just outside my Winter House kitchen. It is planted with large boxwood shrubs surrounded by a smaller hedge of boxwood and bright golden barberry.
After my presentation and interview at the playhouse, everyone drove to my farm for the tour. Because the group was so large, Ryan led one of four groups. The first stop was my new half-acre vegetable garden. He talked about its transformation from a donkey paddock to this lush and productive space for growing the most beautiful vegetables I’ve ever had.
Our three other group leaders were Wendy Norling, my gardener in Maine, my dear friend and EVP Director of Design at Marquee Brands, Kevin Sharkey, who knows about all my gardens past and present, and my Bedford gardener, Brian O’Kelly. Each carried signs, so guests would know where their group leader was at all times.
Nearly every bed was filled with beautiful vegetables. Kevin took a series of great images earlier in the morning – everything was just bursting with growth.
These are just three of the broccoli heads – each one more perfect than its neighbor. I picked one not long ago and it weighed two and a half pounds! Look at my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 and see how much my cauliflower heads weighed. The vegetables are so robust and they’re so early – every day something new is ready to pick.
The group saw my tree peony border planted under the semi-shade of giant sugar maples near my Summer House. And Ryan talked about my extended azalea garden, where we planted hundreds and hundreds of azaleas.
The garden behind my Summer House is always a favorite stop on the tour. The boxwood look very lush and green. Ryan pointed out the tall, old Ginkgo tree at the back – the focal point of this garden.
They also saw the blooming Cotinus at the edge of the Summer House terrace.
Here are more shapely boxwood shrubs – these surround my massive herbaceous peony bed. Ryan explained how we care for the boxwood and cover all the shrubs with burlap every winter to protect them from the elements. He also explained how we use TopBuxus to keep them looking so healthy.
The group walked down the carriage road and saw my stand of tall bald cypress trees. Look closely, do you remember what the small structure beneath the trees houses? It’s my basket house – filled with dozens and dozens of baskets I’ve collected over the years.
On the left, my winding clematis pergola, with the clematis just starting to bloom on each granite post. Most species are known as clematis, but it has also been called traveller’s joy, virgin’s bower, old man’s beard, leather flower, or vase vine.
Over a section of my pergola are the climbing vines of my beautiful Rosa ‘Veilchenblau’ – the violet rambler also known as ‘Bleu-Violet’, ‘Blue Rambler’, ‘Blue Rosalie’ and ‘Violet Blue’ that bloom from May to June. Climbers always do best when well supported by a trellis or fence – one that is the appropriate height, width, and strength for the climber. It should be strong enough to hold the weight of a full-grown rose plant in both wet and windy weather. From the carriage road, one can see the abundance of pretty blooms – my guests loved to stop, take photos, and “smell the roses.”
Guests had the opportunity to walk through the main greenhouse and my flower cutting garden. Every group experiences a different tour when they visit the farm depending on what is blooming at the time.
There were still many lupines showing off their lovely colors.
And these delicate and beautiful irises.
I stopped to take this photo of Kevin and two guests from his group as they exited the flower garden – where to next?
The groups then strolled under the shade of my great pin oaks, Quercus palustris, with such distinguishable lower, middle and upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit.
The Boxwood Allée always grabs everyone’s attention.
And then at the end of the tour, we set up tables in my stable for our refreshments. These Cotinus branches with their billowy hairs looks so pretty and different.
We served delicious Black Diamond caviar on Melba toasts I made earlier in the morning. The parsley from the garden was so pretty, we used it to decorate the edges of platters.
If you’re wondering what to pair with Stilton Cheese, try it with brown butter shortbread – it is so delicious.
And of course, we had Martha’s Chard – play hard and drink Martha’s Chard. It was such a fun afternoon for all. Be sure to see more on an upcoming episode of “Martha Gardens” exclusively on The Roku Channel.
Our big hay baling project continues at my Bedford, New York farm.
Hay is a harvested plant that’s dried and cured after being cut in the field. In most cases, hay is cut during the late bud or early bloom stage to maximize its nutritional value. When I moved here, I designated three separate areas as hayfields, so I could grow lots and lots of delicious, nutritious hay for my horses and donkeys. Last week, my outdoor grounds crew worked hard to cut, fluff, rake, and then bale the hay in all three areas. We're all so excited about this first cut. In all, we got 1557 bales of hay, our biggest amount yet!
Here are some photos.
The windrows of cut, tedded, and raked hay are ready to bale. All my hayfields are planted with a custom mixture of orchard grass, tall fescue, and timothy seeds – all great for producing good quality hay. This day was dry and perfect for baling.
A hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. I am fortunate to have all the necessary equipment to process the hay in my fields.
Inside a box behind the baler is where large rolls of twine are positioned and tied to each other, so they can feed into the baler and secure the hay just before it shoots out into the trailer.
Here is the motor that helps to move and propel the bales into the wagon.
Chhiring pulls the baler with our trusted Kubota M4-071 tractor – a vehicle that is used every day here at the farm to do a multitude of tasks.
Chhiring starts the process midday when there is the least amount of moisture. The trailer fills up pretty quickly. Luckily, I have two hay trailers. Each one can hold about 150-bales. Chhiring drives up and down the windrows of all the hayfields which takes a good portion of the day.
The tractor rides to one side of the windrow while the baler passes directly over it to collect the hay. All the hay is dry and passing through the machine smoothly. If the hay is properly dried, the baler will work continuously down each row. Hay that is too damp tends to clog up the baler.
The hay is lifted by tines in the baler’s reel and then propelled into the wagon by a mechanical arm called a thrower or a kicker. The bales are manageable for one person to handle, about 45 to 60 pounds each.
A baled “square” is seen traveling up the conveyor belt. A measuring device—normally a spiked wheel that is turned by the emerging bales—measures the amount of material that is being compressed and then knotters wrap the twine around the bale and tie it off.
Chhiring goes evenly and slowly over every row of cut, tedded hay. Behind the baler is the hay trailer or wagon, which is used to catch the bales once they are formed and tied.
The hay trailer has high walls on the left, right, and back sides, and a short wall on the front side to contain the bales which are stacked neatly from back to front. Once a trailer is full, it is driven to the hayloft above my stable.
Then each bale is placed on a hay elevator which sends it up to waiting hands in the hayloft. Baling hay is a team effort. Each bale is about 15 by 18 by 40 inches large. The number of flakes in the bale is determined by a setting in the baler. Many balers are set for 10 to 12 flakes per bale.
Here, Juan is in the hayloft stacking the bales as they come up the hay elevator.
We collected so many bales, the overflow was brought to the run-in barn hayloft.
Now the fields are bare once again and ready to be aerated and seeded.
This is our Kubota Land Pride tow-behind spike aerator. We always aerate any field, pasture, or lawn space before seeding. The main reason for any aerating is to alleviate soil compaction. Compacted soils have too many solid particles in a certain volume or space, which prevents proper circulation of air, water, and nutrients. Aerating also improves drainage.
Here’s a closer look at the spikes of the aerator. These spikes perforate the soil at an adjustable depth as it moves through the field.
Heavy concrete weights are placed on the aerator weight tray for stabilization and maximum penetration in the soil.
Here, one can see the holes left behind by the aerating spikes.
This aerator makes slits in the ground as opposed to core plugs. Spike aerators punch holes in compacted soil, while plug aerators have hollow tines that penetrate into the compacted soil to collect plugs and remove them.
Next, Chhiring fills the spreader with seed. Our seed is from Hancock Farm & Seed Company, a 45-year old business that grows its own seed and ships directly from its Dade City, Florida facility.
Using good quality seed for hay is important for horses. It helps to provide proper fiber requirements and keeps their digestive systems healthy.
This is a 3-point spreader, which can be attached to a variety of tractors to spread seed or fertilizer. Chhiring starts by going around the field counter clockwise from the outer edge working inward. He also overlaps his passes, so he doesn’t miss any areas.
Looking closely at the ground, one can see the tiny seeds.
Hopefully the forecast is correct, and we’ll get some good rain in the coming days. Come September, we’ll be harvesting our second cut of good quality, nutritious hay for my horses.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, the weather these last couple of weeks has been pleasantly warm, dry, sunny, with light breezes - perfect conditions for cutting, tedding, raking, and baling hay.
One of my objectives at my farm has always been to practice self-sufficiency. When I moved here, I designated three separate areas as hayfields, so I could grow lots and lots of delicious, nutritious hay for my horses and donkeys. I planted the fields with a mixture of timothy, orchard grass, and forage fescue - a quality custom seed blend from Hancock Farm & Seed Company in Dade City, Florida. This year, we have a bumper crop and the fields are ready for the first cut of the season.
Enjoy these photos.
This time every year, we hope for at least a week of good, dry weather, so we can get the first cut of hay from the fields. Timing is everything when cutting the hay crop.
Our seed is from Hancock Farm & Seed Company, a 45-year old business that grows its own seed and ships directly from its Florida facility. When selecting what kind of seed is best for any field, one should consider location, soil condition, and the desired goal. My fields are specifically for growing hay for my horses. Hancock created a seed mix that would work best for my farm.
Quality seed for hay should have adaptability, resilience, and excellent nutritional value. In the northern United States, varieties commonly used for hay are timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa and fescue. In the south, Bermuda and bahia hay are more commonly used, plus a mix of high quality legumes for protein.
One of my steadfast mantras is to “always use the right tool for the right job.” Here are the equipment attachments we use to cut, ted, rake, and bale our hay.
This is our mower-conditioner. Mower-conditioners are a staple of large-scale haymaking. It cuts, crimps, and crushes the hay to promote faster and more even drying. It is the first step in the hay baling process.
The discs and blades are located behind the protective shield of the mower-conditioner.
Here is the attachment with the protective shield in place. This equipment also works to remove the waxy coat on the crop as it conditions, making the hay dry faster – this means less waiting time and less chance for poor weather to negatively impact the hay quality.
Chhiring hooks up the mower-conditioner to our trusted Kubota M4-071 tractor. Chhiring is now in the cab of the tractor ready to cut. The process of cutting should take about an hour.
When weather conditions are ideal, these machines allow farmers to cut wide and fast – the best formula for quality field productivity. Chhiring goes over the field slowly and evenly with the mower-conditioner. As the mower-conditioner goes over the grass, it cuts it and then conditions it – all under the protective hood of the machine.
Here, one can see what has been mowed and what has not. The first cut should be when grass has greened up and reached 12 to 16 inches tall.
The plants’ sugar content is highest at dusk but because of moisture, it’s not ideal to cut hay at night. The best time is to start as soon as dew is off in the morning, which will maximize drying time. After it is cut, it is left to dry the rest of the day.
The next day, the cut hay is ready for tedding, also known as fluffing. This is our hay tedder. A tedder spreads and fluffs the hay in a uniform swath. It uses a rotary motion to grab the hay with spinning tines and then cast it out the back of the machine.
Here is a closer look at the tines, or moving forks, which aerate or “wuffle” the hay and speed up the drying process even more.
The tedder moves up and down the field taking all the greener hay from the bottom and turning it over to dry.
Here is some of the fluffed up hay, which will continue to dry and turn colors from green to tan over the next 24-hours. On average, it takes about three days per field, depending on the size of the field and the weather, to complete the entire process of mowing, raking, and baling hay.
Next, it is time to make the windrows, which are rows of hay raked up and shaped before being baled. Here is Phurba pulling the bar rake and making windrows from the tedded hay.
The bar rake, also known as a basket rake is hydraulically driven. This rake allows for consistent movement across the fields making well-shaped windrows.
Here, one can see the tines creating the almost box-shaped windrows.
Here is a windrow now ready to bale. All the windrows are lined up straight next to each other with enough room in between for the baler to maneuver properly around the field.
The hay is ready to bale when hay pulled from the bottom of the windrow makes a crunching sound when snapped. I’ll share the very interesting process of baling the hay in my next blog. Stay tuned.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
