This time of year my outdoor grounds crew is very busy "cleaning" the woods of all the cut trees and debris.
As many of you know, I feel very strongly about composting. In fact, an entire corner of my farm is devoted to this important process. Here at my Bedford, New York farm, my crew amasses quite a large pile of organic materials - bark, stumps, logs, and brush. All of it is either repurposed as milled lumber, or left to decay and made into garden dressings, such as mulch and compost. Nothing goes to waste.
Enjoy these photos.
As part of the woodland maintenance around my farm, dead, damaged, and diseased trees are taken down during various times of the year. Here, Domi, from my outdoor grounds crew, secures a chain around this log that was cut down last summer.
Using our trusted Hi-Lo, Chhiring carefully maneuvers the tractor and piles up the logs near the side of the carriage road for pick-up and chipping. “Cleaning” the woods allows us to reuse and repurpose a lot of natural materials – and it makes the area much prettier.
Stacking logs and other debris takes time. Every year, my outdoor grounds crew spends several weeks working in sections of the woodland.
After pruning and grooming various trees, branches are also left in neat and tidy piles close to the roads, so they can be picked up at a later time and chipped – everything is returned to the earth, organically and efficiently.
Pasang and Domi fill the dump truck with smaller stumps. Whatever can be moved easily is brought to my compost yard.
My large composting area is in a field behind my “Christmas tree garden,” where I planted 640 Christmas trees about 13-years ago – White Pine, Frasier Fir, Canaan Fir, Norway Spruce, and Blue Spruce. They are all doing so well.
Here is a view of my compost area – one of the most important areas on the property. It’s actually very organized. Piles are divided into types of debris – some in various stages of decay. Wood chips, mulch, leaf mold, grass clippings, and organic matter made up of manure and biodegradable materials. Most of these piles are combined and put through tub grinder that comes to the farm every couple of years.
Straight, long logs will be put through a portable sawmill and made into usable lumber boards. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to various sizes. If I cannot save a tree, it is comforting to know I can reuse the wood left behind.
Stumps and other wood will be made into much finer chips. This pile is growing quickly.
Other piles include this leaf mold, which is compost produced by the decomposition of shaded deciduous shrub and tree leaves, primarily by fungal breakdown in a slower cooler manner.
Leaves shed in autumn tend to have a very low nitrogen content and are often dry.
The pile of composting chicken and horse manure, which is filled with nutrients, is smoking. Healthy organisms in the compost will be active and produce steam even in winter.
In another area, we pile up unused rocks from around the farm.
And here are piles of organic material in different stages of decay.
This pile is under a compost protection Gore-Tex tarp, which keeps the rain away, and allows excess moisture to evaporate and breathe.
This compost will be used to cover my garden beds in spring, and top-dress the vegetable gardens.
My young trees are also potted with rich, nutrient filled compost. Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed over time, while mulch is the layer of organic materials used as a protective cover.
Wood chips are spread out evenly around my young trees growing on the edge of my hayfield. Wood chips decompose quickly, and add nutrients back to the soil. Like mulch, using wood chips insulates the soil around the saplings and provides protection from the cold. Here’s Chhiring dropping batches of wood chips using our Kubota M4-071 tractor.
And here, mulch is used to cover the areas surrounding my azaleas.
Covering the garden beds also helps to deter weeds. Using these materials is a wonderful way to beautify the gardens and give back to the earth. Do you compost? Share your comments and tips with me below.
During this time of year, the bird feeders at my farm are filled with chirping hungry wildlife.
Winter is a difficult time for wild birds, especially here in North America - days are short, nights are often cold and long, and natural food supplies are scarce or hidden by snow. I have a number of bird feeders at my farm, and all the birds love to come by and feast on the seed I provide. I also set out fresh water and cut holes in the burlap covers over the boxwood, so birds are able to take shelter during inclement weather. Helping the wild birds is important to sustain local wild bird populations, but it is also one of the easiest and most beautiful ways to observe and appreciate wildlife and to understand the types of birds that frequent the neighborhood.
Enjoy these photos. And remember, Daylight Saving Time returns this weekend, so be sure to “spring forward” one hour before you go to bed tonight.
Behind my carport I keep a long row of bird feeders for visiting avian friends. During winter, I hang 20-feeders under the eaves – in spring and summer, about half that amount. They are checked and refilled every morning around 7am. It’s important that I feed the birds all year long – they depend on it.
Feeders should be set up where they are easy to see and convenient to fill. They should be placed where seed-hungry squirrels and bird-hungry cats cannot reach them, and if near a window, no more than three feet from the glass to prevent possible collisions.
All my wild bird seed is stored in galvanized metal cans and kept inside my generator room next to the carport.
This is a wild bird seed mix. This includes white millet, black oil sunflower seeds, striped sunflower seeds and cracked corn. The birds love this seed.
When filling the feeders, we use a pole with a hook on one end. Each feeder is carefully removed from its hanging location and refilled on the ground.
Here is a closer look at the pole with the handy hook at the top – it works very well and makes filling these feeders very easy.
Phurba fills every feeder to the top – depending on the time of year, these feeders can quickly empty.
These tube feeders allow the seed to flow only when birds peck at it, which helps keep any spillage to a minimum.
My bird feeders are refilled every morning – sometimes midday as well, if the birds are extra hungry. Each tube feeder holds about three quart-sized containers of seed. This is a black-capped chickadee. These birds are highly curious about everything, including humans. Its black cap and bib, white cheeks and gray back, wings and tail make it an easy bird to distinguish and identify.
This bird is at a feeder filled with nyjer. Nyjer is a great seed to offer birds, especially in winter because it contains more oil, and a higher calorie content, so birds can store fat to survive the season.
Some of the birds perch patiently in nearby trees until they’re ready to feast.
Others sit on the branches of the apple espalier.
Many birds prefer tube feeders – hollow cylinders with multiple feeding ports and perches. Tube feeders attract small perching birds such as finches, goldfinches, titmice, and chickadees.
Here’s a downy woodpecker – the smallest woodpecker in North America. Even if your bird visitors are not entirely dependent on your food supply, try not to leave them without food. If you plan to be away, fill extra feeders, or ask a willing neighbor to continue feeding your birds until you return.
On the other side of the carriage road, under my clematis pergola, are several more feeders that need refilling. This is my Martha Stewart Copper Bird Feeder available on Martha.com. This handsome feeder attracts many avian visitors through the day. The birds love to perch on the copper lip and watch the activities around the farm. You can also find wild bird seed on my web site at Martha.com.
Phurba begins at one end and brings down each bird feeder. Here, he stops for a quick photo.
This feeder has four feeding ports and the lipped tray to catch any fallen seeds.
Phurba uses the long pole to return the feeder to its hook – always careful not to step in the garden bed below, especially at this time as many of the precious bulbs are just beginning to emerge.
It won’t take long before the birds come flying – the birds love this location.
Phurba also puts seeds in a couple metal trays on the ground. My peafowl love to come up to my terrace parterre for afternoon snacks.
I also feel it is important to make sure all the wild birds have access to fresh water. I use one of these double wall metal chicken waterers on top of a heater to prevent freezing. Made of galvanized steel, these waterers are clean, durable and can hold a couple gallons of water.
Pet bowls of water are also left out. Night temperatures are still freezing here in the Northeast, so every morning, Phurba removes the ice and replenishes the supply.
Some of you may have seen the holes cut out of the burlap here at the farm. I purposely create these holes for the visiting birds. They love to go in and out, especially when it is windy.
The feeders are visible from my Winter House steps – it’s always so nice to see what bird come to eat at my feeders. Look closely – this feeder was filled to top shortly before the photo was taken. The wild birds are hungry!
When starting to feed birds, it may take time for new feeders to be discovered. Don’t be surprised if the feeding station doesn’t get birds right away. As long as feeders are clean and filled with fresh seed, the birds will find them. According to our Audubon Society, more than 125 bird species visit my farm – and in summer, guess what? They take care of all the bugs – I never see any pesky flying bugs near my home. Helping the wild birds – it’s a Good Thing!
The calendar says spring starts in just nine days, but the recent snow and nighttime temperatures below freezing in the Northeast remind us just how unpredictable Mother Nature can be.
Yesterday, I shared photos from this week's snow storm at my Bedford, New York farm. Because of the erratic weather, a lot of that snow has already melted. And temperatures today are expected to hit 43-degrees Fahrenheit before dropping to the 30s this weekend. There are similar conditions up in Seal Harbor, Maine - a day of rain followed by a blizzard that dropped more than five inches of white powder over Skylands last week. Sunny skies are expected there today before a cold front moves in tomorrow.
Cheryl DuLong, who helps me care for Skylands when I am not there, took these photos after the last snow fall. Enjoy.
This is one of our favorite views – it’s taken from my kitchen window and is a reflection in the dining room storm window – so amazing. Cheryl took this snapshot early in the morning, when the skies were still gray.
This view is through a leaded window in the dining room looking out onto the high tops of the spruce trees.
Area residents were only expecting flurries on this day, but woke up to several inches of white. Local forecasters called this weather system an “over achiever snow flurry.” To protect the large urns on the terrace from the winter elements, they are covered with these plywood boxes – the urns are three to four hundred pounds each, so it is much easier to cover them during the cold season.
These are the doors in living room going out to the West Terrace. In the summer, I usually keep a table out on the terrace where we can enjoy shaded brunches.
There are many original kiwi vines that continue to grow and thrive at Skylands. These vines are growing on the posts over the West Terrace. They have survived many snow storms over the years.
Here’s a photo taken from a second floor window looking out onto the Counsel Circle. On the right are the hoof prints of deer that have strolled through underneath the spruce and hemlock trees.
Many of you probably recognize the Counsel Circle even when covered in snow. The fire pit is in the center. The void around it is the circular sitting area.
Here is one of the tall spruce trees that can be seen off the terrace. I love how it towers over the others.
This post holds a hose during warmer months. It is also covered with snow.
Thrumcap Island, or wool cap, as French sailors in the 1600s called it, can be seen from this vantage point. The rocky island is on nearly 15 acres and supports the nesting of many birds each year.
A doe rests beneath the evergreen boughs – she doesn’t seem to mind the cold one bit.
By 10am, the clouds disappeared and the gray skies turned sunny. Here, one can see some of Rockefeller’s Teeth guarding the edge’s ledge.
Snow on the branches weighed them down, but luckily there was no damage to any of the trees on the property.
A view out my back door to the porch where lush, bold green Boston ferns hang during summer.
Here’s the same kitchen window Cheryl looks through to see the reflections on the dining room storm window. It looks so sunny out there, but still quite cold.
Through the trees is Sutton Island in the distance. The views of Seal Harbor are always breathtaking. It looks very different in summer when it’s filled with boats.
These steps go down to a footpath leading to my guest house and playhouse from my large “cracked ice” terrace.
These are the bottom of those steps. Despite all the beauty, it’s a lot of snow to shovel around the house. Fortunately, the warmer day temperatures helped to melt it.
Outside the front door is my circular driveway and these large boulders covered in snow.
And don’t worry – Aristide Maillol’s ‘La Riviere’ is safe and all tucked away for the remainder of winter.
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