Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my animals - my dogs, cats, birds, and horses - they're all wonderful and special companions.
Two of the youngest residents at my farm live down at my stable. Perhaps you've seen them on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48. They are kittens named Cinco and Mayo and they're nothing short of adorable. Born on March 15th, these two felines arrived at the farm on - you guessed it - the 5th of May, Cinco de Mayo. I adopted the sister pair from @gentlemensfarmstead and so far they are acclimating nicely to their new environment.
Here are some photos to start your week, enjoy.
Here they are – sisters Cinco, the calico, and Mayo, the tabby. These two have quickly become very popular here at my farm.
Cinco is very friendly and curious. She is the first to greet anyone who visits.
Mayo is a bit more shy, but has warmed up well and loves to join in the fun after her sister has “checked it out.”
Both Mayo and Cinco are living in my stable feed room until they are old enough and big enough to venture through the rest of the stable complex.
These two are Scottish Fold mixes. Their purebred mom had them shortly after she was rescued herself. The breed is known for having a sweet and loving nature with a short, dense coat.
Here is Mayo looking up from the platform on her cat tree. The two are extremely playful.
This is Cinco, looking quite coy.
When bringing any kitten home, it’s important to provide it with a safe space that includes a litter box, food, water, toys, and a scratching post.
They should also be kept safely separated from other pets and animals until they are accustomed to the sights and sounds of their new surroundings, especially at a busy farm like mine. And in case you were wondering, they have not yet met Blackie, my greenhouse cat.
My stable manager, Helen Peparo, and the rest of my crew, spend time with the kittens every day introducing new smells and objects as often as possible.
Tabby cats are domestic cats with a distinctive coat pattern and an “M”-shaped marking on the forehead. The pattern can include stripes, dots, lines, flecks, bands, or swirls on the cat’s body, and the cat may also have stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, back, legs, and tail.
Cinco is a calico, meaning she has a tri-color coat. The calico cat is commonly 25 to 75-percent white with large orange and black patches. And, calicos are almost exclusively female.
Here’s Mayo using the small top of a scratching post to get off a shelf. Cats are naturally athletic and have many characteristics that contribute to their agility, speed, and impressive jumping ability.
Cats have a wider field of vision than humans, spanning 200 degrees as opposed to 180 degrees; however, cats only have about 20 to 40-percent of human visual acuity, which means they need to be closer to see things in the same detail. Felines also have much better night vision than humans.
These two are quite close, and love to play with each other. All cats are obligate carnivores and need a high-protein, meat-based diet to grow and thrive.
Kittens play hard… and sleep hard. Kittens six months and older, and adult cats, sleep about 16 to 18 hours a day on average.
And, kittens have a similar routine to adult cats, napping throughout the day. They are usually most active at dawn and dusk.
Here is Mayo winding down for a nap in her tree by a sunny window. Many cats love to lounge in a warm sunlit space.
A cat’s strongest senses include smell, hearing, and night vision. They can transition from sleep to wakefulness very quickly without grogginess.
For now, these two are filling their days with lots of playtime. They are nearly six months old – the stage when cats are reaching adolescence. There’s still so much for them to learn.
… And so much for them to see. I’ll be sure to share more photos as they grow. See you soon, Cinco and Mayo.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, whenever a member of my team returns from vacation, I always encourage them to share some of their photos.
My operations manager, Matt Krack, recently returned from a summer trip with his sons to Tulum, a town on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. There, he and his family walked along Tulum's beautiful white sandy beaches, snorkeled in underground limestone caves, learned about well-preserved ancient Mayan ruins, toured historical buildings, and enjoyed the area's local foods - every day was filled with activity, learning, and fun.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
In under five hours by plane, one can be on the gorgeous beaches of Mexico’s east coast enjoying the clear Caribbean waters.
Matt and his sons, Alex and Charlie, chose Tulum for their vacation because of its history, its culture, its natural beauty, and of course its delicious food.
Matt loves all the colorful, handmade signs around Tulum. This one is on a building housing a bike repair shop.
This sign is on the back of a motorcycle – a traveling shoe repairman.
And along the roads, handmade stop signs warning drivers of bumps. Matt took photos of many signs – he called it street art made out of necessity.
Touring the city of Valladolid, Matt and his sons saw this truck filled with fresh watermelons. Watermelon is very popular in all of Mexico. It is often served in wedges, in fruit cups, or mixed with fresh water, agua fresca.
Here’s another sign directing drivers to the Nicte Ha Cenote. There are a lot of cenotes in Tulum. A cenote is an underground sinkhole that forms when limestone bedrock collapses and reveals crystal clear water.
Matt, Alex, and Charlie snorkeled at Cenotes Dos Ojos. Sunlight seeping in from the crater above shows the impressive rock formations.
They also visited the former Convento San Bernardino de Siena. Constructed between 1552 and 1560 by Franciscan monks, the Convento San Bernardino was part religious center and part fortress.
The facade has long corridors of arches with walls more than 20 inches thick. The entire complex consists of the church, chapel, convent, atrium, and a garden – all occupying more than 150,000 square feet.
These are some of the vestments worn by the Franciscan monks at the convent.
Next, was a stop at Negro Huitlacoxe, a restaurant in Tulum. This is a refreshing glass of horchata made with rice milk, corn milk, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla.
These are fried corn ribs made by slicing, seasoning, and cooking strips of corn and serving with a creamy, spicy sauce.
This dish is chilaquiles, or fried tortilla chips, with corn ash, pickled radish, and cilantro. Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish.
This was a favorite on the trip – tomato tamal with steamed ricotta cheese cooked in tomato sauce and served on a banana leaf.
For dessert, churro with cinnamon, chocolate, sugar, salt, chocolate ice cream, and candied pecans.
On another day, the three visited the ancient Coba Pyramid Ruins in the state of Quintana Roo first settled by an agricultural population between 50 BC and 100 AD. The large pyramids were mainly used for religious ceremonies and sacrifices, and as tombs for rulers and their spouses. They were built to resemble mountains, which were sacred to the Mayan people.
This pyramid is 138 feet tall and was the heart of the city, which at its peak included more than 50,000 inhabitants. The Mayans used local building materials like sandstone and limestone, and even created a form of cement using burnt limestone.
Mayan inscriptions are found on stelae or standing stone slabs. This one shows a figure and part of the Mayan counting system.
This is a Mayan ball court where the the ancient game of Pok-A-Tok was played. The court features a long trench area with vertical sloping walls on each side and two stone rings where “goals” were scored. Two teams of seven athletes would compete in this vicious yet ritualistic sacred game, kicking a ball with their hips, elbows, knees, and forearms so as to keep it from falling. Only the best warriors of the community could participate.
And this is AZULIK Uh May near Francisco Uh May, just 35 minutes outside the center of Tulum. It is a “City of the Arts” cultural complex and a holistic center where nature is mixed with art. It was designed by its founder, Eduardo Neira, also known as Roth, a self-taught architect.
The AZULIK complex includes a museum, residences, and a restaurant all nestled within the Mayan jungle. Its purpose is to reconnect people with their origins, stimulate creativity, and promote art.
Matt, Alex, and Charlie took this selfie from atop AZULIK.
And on the way home, shortly before landing, the three looked out of their plane and saw a double rainbow. A nice ending to a memorable journey to Mexico.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, there are still so many fresh, organic vegetables to pick and enjoy.
Many of you often ask what I do with all the many vegetables I grow. Most of them are shared with my daughter, Alexis, and her children, Jude and Truman – they love all vegetables. I also share them with friends and use them in dishes for my own gatherings. Some are put aside for various media shoots or for testing recipes here at my farm. Nothing is ever wasted – whatever isn’t used goes to my beloved chickens, geese, and peafowl. This week, I also picked some delicious fruits.
Enjoy these photos.
My vegetable garden continues to provide bounties of fresh, nutritious vegetables. And, since we practice succession gardening, we are always able to pick something.
Beets are usually ready to harvest 50 to 70 days after planting, when they are about the size of a golf ball.
The edamame is also growing abundantly. If you’re not familiar, edamame is the same soybean that makes tofu. Eaten as beans, they taste a bit like peas and are buttery with a hint of sweetness and nuttiness.
I love okra, but for some, okra is too slimy when cooked. Okra is very healthy, however – it’s high in fiber, vitamin-C and full of antioxidants, so give it try! Okra or Okro, Abelmoschus esculentus, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family.
I grow both green and red okra, but there is not much different between the two except for color.
Harvest okra when they are still small, about three-inches long. A common mistake is harvesting the pods when they are six to eight inches long, when most will have a woody taste.
Cucumbers require a long growing season, and most are ready for harvest in 50 to 70 days from planting. The fruits ripen at different times on the vine, but it is important to pick them when they are ready. If they are left on the vine too long, they tend to taste bitter. I prefer small to medium sized cucumbers.
I also got a big bag of hot peppers, but be sure to keep them separated from the sweet peppers, so there is no confusion in the kitchen.
The most common sweet pepper is the bell – usually seen in green, red, and yellow, but they can also be purple, brown, and orange. It’s a great pepper season – I’ve picked a lot this year.
This is some of the best celery I’ve ever grown – so bold in color. Celery is ready to harvest when the lower stalks are at least six inches long and the upper stalks are at least 18 inches long. And the stalks should still be close together, forming a compact bunch or cone at the bottom.
The celery leaves are also edible and have a strong celery taste.
Swiss chard always stands out in the garden, with its rich red, orange, and yellow stalks. These are not ready just yet.
We picked a lot of egg plants last week, but there will be more to harvest again soon. It is good to pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Try to pick a little early, which will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.
These are pimenta Biquinho peppers – round and little with a distinctive, tapered point or tail that resembles a birds beak. They can be either scarlet-red or sunshine-yellow. They have a mild heat. I try to pickle some every year.
Look at my onions. These will be picked later and then cured in a warm, dry, well-ventilated location for two to three weeks until the onion tops and necks are thoroughly dry and the outer bulb scales begin to rustle. Onions are ready when the long leaves start to flop over and brown. This signals the plants have stopped growing and are beginning to prepare for storage.
And the pumpkins are growing! What a difference a few days make.
I hope we have an abundance of big, beautiful pumpkins this year. Many will be ready in just a few weeks.
This time of year, I also check the orchard trees often to see if any fruits are ripe for picking. We harvested several trays of peaches not too long ago, but there are a few more that are ready.
I 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. Some of these are ready for picking.
The other pears in this orchard are ‘Bartlett’, ‘Columbia’, ‘D’Amalis’, ‘Ginnybrook’, ‘McLaughlin’, ‘Nova’, ‘Patten’, ‘Seckel’, ‘Stacyville’, and ‘Washington State’. The pear trees, and all the other fruit trees in this orchard are planted in full sun, with good air circulation and well-drained soil.
It’s great to have fresh, organic, juicy, sweet fruits and nutritious vegetables growing in the garden. What are you harvesting this week?
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