Here at my Cantitoe Corners Farm in Bedford, New York, the weather is warm and my hardworking outdoor grounds crew is getting all the hay cut, tended, and ready to bale.
One of my objectives at my farm is 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, Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and clovers - all great for producing good quality hay. The hay is also treated with agricultural lime, a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk that works to correct the acidity of the soil, eradicate any noxious weeds, and raise the overall health of the land. This year, we have a bumper crop and the fields are ready for the first cut of the season.
Enjoy these photos.
This is one of three large fields at my farm. The first step is to grow the hay. This photo is from last May when we seeded the lawns.
This seed contains Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Timothy, and orchard grass.
This year’s seed is from Hancock Farm & Seed Company, a 44-year old business that grows its own seed and ships directly from its Florida facility.
And here is my run-in field yesterday. Look at all the hay – beautiful and well-grown. This photo was taken just before the hay was cut. 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. The first cutting should be when grass has greened up and reached 12 to 16 inches tall.
Here is a closer look. It’s important to consider the time of day that’s best for mowing. 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.
I am fortunate to have all the necessary equipment here at the farm. This is our mower-conditioner. Mower-conditioners are a staple of large-scale haymaking. It cuts, crimps, and crushes the hay after it is cut to promote faster and more even drying.
Chhiring checks the mower-conditioner before it’s used. These discs and blades are located behind the protective shield of the mower-conditioner.
Chhiring makes sure every blade is sharp and in good condition.
Next, 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 a half 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 the mounded rows of cut and crimped grass.
Meanwhile, in the back field, this freshly cut hay is ready for tedding, also known as fluffing.
Chhiring is ready to go over this field with the hay tedder. A tedder spreads and fluffs the hay in a uniform swath after the mower-conditioner has made the windrows.
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.
Chhiring is our resident hay expert. This year marks his 20th year working with me at the farm.
Here is the tedder moving up and down the field taking all the greener hay from the bottom and turning it over to dry.
Here is another view – look how the tedder picks up and fluffs the hay with its forks.
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.
Here is a view from above. Our camera operator, Brett Albright, took several photos with a drone. The mounded rows are called windrows – rows of cut hay or small grain crops. They are so beautiful and all perfectly straight.
From this vantage point, one can see how the tedder works to turn the hay around. The left side shows the tedded hay. the right side shows what Chhiring has left to ted. (Photo by Brett Albright)
After the hay is tedded, it is then raked. Raking the hay is the fastest part of the process. And then the hay will dry again until it is ready to bale. Stay tuned for more photos of that process in another blog. (Photo by Brett Albright)
If you enjoy late-night comedy and are interested in attending a LIVE stand-up show, be sure to catch Chelsea Handler's current tour, "Vaccinated and Horny" - she's performing tonight in Springfield, Massachusetts and tomorrow night in Windsor, Canada just across the Detroit River and the city of Detroit, Michigan. More dates are available on her website at ChelseaHandler.com.
Chelsea is a comedian, television host, author, and one of the most celebrated voices in comedy. I attended her show last night with a group of colleagues at the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. We also dined at a wonderful restaurant called Rosina's in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut.
Here are some photos from our fun evening. And be sure to check out my podcast with Chelsea Handler! "The Martha Stewart Podcast" launches June 22nd on iHeart Radio. Find it on the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Rosina’s is located in the Byram business district of Greenwich. The restaurant opened in August of last year and focuses on serving classic refined Italian food.
Inside is a cozy bar. Some of its popular cocktails include Rosina’s Garibaldi which is made with Campari and fluffy orange juice. Rosina’s beverage director, Juan Meyer, is tending the bar.
This is the main dining room – it features more than 60 seats. Owners Jared Falco and Coby Blount named the establishment after Coby’s wife’s grandmother, who lived in the area for more than 75 years and loved to cook.
Here I am with Chef Jared and Judy Morris, my longtime special projects producer.
We started with warm focaccia loaves. We had to order several because it was so good.
The focaccia is served with whipped ricotta cheese, olive oil, and herbs.
This is chili honey butter – this was so good on the bread also.
Chef Jarod also served some garlic bread made with pecorino and parmesan cheeses and garlic butter.
The salad was so fresh. This is arugula with candied hazelnuts, pecorino cheese, and a lemon vinaigrette. We all devoured this salad.
Another delicious appetizer – the meatballs. Beef, veal, pork, marinara, and topped with parmesan cheese.
We ordered ravioli al’uovo or raviolo with an egg yolk. This one was served with ricotta and a dusting of fresh black truffle.
And, this is octopus & potato served with marinara, pimenton, and lemon aioli.
For our entrées, we decided to order one of each pasta and share on small plates. This is bucatini cacio e pepe. I love bucatini pasta. Bucatini, also known as perciatelli, is a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center of each strand.
This is cavatelli with sweet sausage, broccolini, bianco sardo, and chilis.
Another flavorful dish was the pappardelle bolognese with parmesan and pecorino cheeses.
And this is called ink malloreddus with shrimp, Calabrian chili, and breadcrumbs. Malloreddus is a type of pasta typical of Sardinian cuisine. It comes in the shape of thin ribbed shells, about two centimeters long, and made of semolina flour and water.
We also shared a simple rigatoni with garlic and olive oil.
And for dessert, we had affogato or more traditionally known as “affogato al caffe” – an Italian coffee-based dessert made with a scoop of plain milk-flavored or vanilla gelato or ice cream topped or “drowned” with a shot of hot espresso. At Rosina’s affogatos are also sprinkled with nuts.
Coby stopped for a quick photo as we were leaving. It was a great meal. I always love supporting my local community and the surrounding towns. I think it is so important that everyone does this wherever they live! I will definitely be back.
Then we headed to The Capitol Theater just across the state line and the Byram River in Port Chester. The Capitol Theatre was designed by noted architect, Thomas Lamb, and opened in 1926 as a playhouse.
We arrived just in time – seats were filling quickly.
The theater has a state-of-the-art lighting system that lights up the walls in bright colors before the show begins.
Here’s another shot before the lights dimmed and the announcer asked all guests to refrain from using cameras.
And here I am with Chelsea Handler and her boyfriend, Jo Koy, after the show. What a fun and very funny performance. Among the topics Chelsea shared with the audience – being single and childless, her dogs, and how she met Jo. It was personal and brought lots of laughs. Have a great rest of your tour, Chelsea. It was great to see you again. And please be sure to look at her website for coming dates at ChelseaHandler.com – just click on the highlighted link.
My roses are at their peak and looking absolutely splendid this year - I hope you all saw some of the beautiful arrangements on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
I've been growing roses for more than 30 years. Many of my rose cultivars were transplanted from the gardens at Lily Pond, my former home in East Hampton, New York. Earlier this week, I shared images of some of my David Austin roses growing behind my main greenhouse - all highly prized for their lovely petal formations and beautiful fragrances. I also have roses planted along both sides of my lilac allée, around my vegetable garden, at my pergola, and in the perennial flower cutting garden - and all are blooming.
Enjoy these photos.
This collection of rose bushes is planted just past my chicken coops and vegetable garden. During late spring and summer, this area is filled with various shades of pink, red, and white fragrant rose blooms.
A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are more than a hundred species and thousands of cultivars.
Roses come in many different colors, such as pink, peach, white, red, magenta, yellow, copper, vermilion, purple, and apricot.
Rose leaves are borne alternately on the stem. In most species, they are about two to five inches long, pinnate, with at least three leaflets and basal stipules. The leaflets also usually have a serrated margin. and remember, rose stems are often armed with sharp prickles, not thorns. A prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.
Rose bushes need six to eight hours of sunlight daily. In hot climates, roses do best when they are protected from the hot afternoon sun. In cold climates, planting a rose bush next to a south or west-facing fence or wall can help minimize winter freeze damage.
And be sure to plant them in a location with good drainage. Fertilize them regularly and water them evenly to keep the soil moist.
Among my many favorites is the swirled ‘Variegata di Bologna’ with its large, cupped flowers and petals of creamy white cleanly striped with purple crimson. It is one of the most striking of the striped roses providing a fantastic display in any garden.
Rosa ‘Mme Zoetmans’ is another lovely variety. It has full-petalled, rosette-shaped flowers with a button eye and a strong fragrance.
And here’s one in deep red with delicate ruffled petals.
Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach several feet in height.
To produce an impressive show of flowers, always use nutrient-rich compost, composted manure, and other organic and natural fertilizers, such as fish emulsion. Organic amendments also help to encourage beneficial soil microbes and a well-balanced soil pH. We amend the soil here at my farm every season.
I also have thousands of roses growing along all four sides of my perennial flower cutting garden fence – some are climbing and spilling over the sides.
Many of these roses are old fashioned and antique varieties. They include: ‘Alchymist’, ‘Boule de Neige’, ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’, ‘Charles de Mills’, ‘Constance Spry’, ‘Dainty Bess’, ‘Pierre de Ronsard’, ‘Ferdinand Pichard’, Konigin von Danemark’, Louise Odier’, Madame Alfred Carriere’, ‘the Reeve’, ‘Pearlie Mae’, and ‘Sweet Juliet’.
I love this beautiful apricot-colored climbing rose growing up one of the garden’s trellises. Some of the newer roses added to the garden include a selection from David Austin – ‘Abraham Darby’, Graham Thomas’, ‘Heritage’, ‘Lady of Shallot’, ‘Golden Celebration’, ‘Snow Goose’, ‘St. Swithun’, ‘Benjamin Britten’, ‘Brother Cadfael’, ‘James Galway’, ’Teasing Georgia’, ‘The Generous Gardener’, ‘Wolverton Old Hall’, ‘Malvern Hills’, and ‘Jude the Obscure’.
I’ve also added roses from Northland Rosarium, including ‘Night Owl’, Poseidon’, ‘Quick Silver’, ‘Colette’, ‘Cecile Brunner’, ‘Ebb Tide’, ‘Jeannie Lajoie’, Lykkefund’, ‘Veilchenblau’, and ‘Geschwind’s Most Beautiful’.
I always knew I wanted many different roses in all sorts of petal formations. Double blooms consist of 16 to 25 overlapping petals in three or more rows.
The flat bloom is just as it sounds, with petals generally flaring out.
And this is a rosette bloom with many slightly overlapping petals of different sizes.
When watering, give roses the equivalent to one-inch of rainfall per week during the growing season. Water at the soil level to avoid getting the foliage wet. Wet leaves encourage diseases such as black spot and powdery mildew.
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 love to stop, take photos, and “smell the roses.”
And look at this gorgeous arrangement in my Winter House kitchen. If you didn’t already see them, there are more photos on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48. Before placing in the vase, always recut the rose stems to eliminate any air bubbles that will prevent them from taking in water. And cut the stems at a 45-degree angle so they don’t rest flat on the bottom of the vase.
These flowers are just so spectacular this year and so very fragrant. What roses are blooming in your garden this season? Share your comments with me below.
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