Here in the Northeast, we're expecting cloudy skies today with temperatures in the low 60s - it's definitely feeling like fall. I'm glad we are now done baling our second cut of hay for the season.
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. Last week, my outdoor grounds crew cut, tedded, raked, and then baled the hay from my giant fields. It must be done within a four day window when there is no rain in the forecast. They did a first cut in late June. This is the second cut - it's greener, more dense, and filled with lots of protein - my horses love it.
Enjoy these photos.
Here at my farm around this time every year, we hope for at least a week of good, dry, warm weather, so we can get a second cut of hay from the fields. Timing is everything when cutting the hay crop.
The first step is to mow the fields and cut the hay that has grown. 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.
My outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, is our resident hay expert. He does a great job keeping track of when it should be cut. This is our mower-conditioner attached to our trusted Kubota M4-071 tractor – a vehicle that is used every day here at the farm to do a multitude of tasks.
Mower-conditioners are a staple of large-scale haymaking. It cuts, crimps, and crushes the hay to promote faster and more even drying.
The discs and blades are located behind the protective shield of the mower-conditioner.
Chhiring goes around the fields counter clockwise cutting all the hay. The process of cutting should take about an hour per field. On the right is the mowed hay. On the left is tall hay still to be done.
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. As the mower-conditioner goes over the grass, it cuts it and then conditions it – all under the protective hood of the machine.
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 one of 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. This is best done on warm days, so it dries quickly.
Next, it’s 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 bar rake attached to a tractor as it is being pulled around the field.
From this angle, one can see how the machine pulls the hay to create a windrow.
The hay is ready to bale when hay pulled from the bottom of the windrow makes a crunching sound when snapped. I have three separate areas for growing hay. They are all planted with a mixture of timothy, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and clovers – all great for producing good quality hay.
Chhiring has all the proper equipment standing by ready to use. A baler is a piece of farm machinery that compresses the cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. The baler is attached to the tractor, and then the hay wagon is attached to the baler.
In one compartment, 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. There are three choices of materials to wrap bales – twine, net wrap, or plastic wrap. If properly baled and stored, hay can last a long time without degrading in quality.
Once it is tied, it moves up this conveyor belt…
… and then gets thrown into this trailer where two other outdoor grounds crew members work together to grab the bales and stack them. Our wagon is covered to protect the bales from any unexpected rain and to offer shade to the crew stacking the bales as they are thrown.
Chhiring drives the tractor and starts the process midday when there is the least amount of moisture. The tractor rides to one side of the windrow while the baler passes directly over it to collect the hay.
Here is a bale of hay as it is lifted in the baler’s reel and moved up the conveyor belt. 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.
In less than an hour, the wagon is almost completely filled with bales of hay. 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. I have two hay trailers. Each one can hold about 150-bales. These bales will go to the stable hay loft, where they will be stored until needed.
Hudson River Park continues to be one of the most vibrant spaces in New York City. I encourage you to visit the next time you're in the area - you will see why it is so special.
Hudson River Park is considered the largest open space project in Manhattan since Central Park. At four miles long, it is the longest waterfront park in the country and attracts millions of visitors each year. I am very proud to be on the Board of Hudson River Park Friends - an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the development, care, and enhancement of the space, and the designated fundraising partner of the Hudson River Park Trust. Earlier this week, hundreds of dedicated supporters gathered to celebrate the park’s continued growth at the 25th annual Hudson River Park Gala. The evening included cocktails followed by dinner, a live auction and a musical performance at Manhattan's Chelsea Piers overlooking the Hudson River. It was a beautiful evening and a successful event.
Enjoy these photos.
I am a very big supporter of the Hudson River Park – my family and I have spent lots of time enjoying its playgrounds and waterfront views. This is historic Pier 57. The public rooftop, with its incredible views of Little Island and New York Harbor, opened in 2022. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Just south of Manhattan’s 14th Street is a new Hudson River Park pier known as Little Island. It is a free public Park pier within the larger Hudson River Park, which opened to the public in May 2021. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Another beautiful place for visitors to sit, relax and enjoy the spectacular city views is Pier 76. Tanneries, meat-packing plants, and horse barns surrounded the area in the 1800s attracting laborers and dock workers seeking employment. In the years following, the waterfront became a major freight hub and transatlantic travel station. Today, Pier 76 is a public, open space with new pavement, railings, lighting, seating, decorative paint, plants and interpretive plaques focused on the pier’s history and ecology. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
This is the new Gansevoort Peninsula – the largest stand-alone recreational space in Hudson River Park. It features 5.5 acres with a sandy shoreline beach, ball field, pine grove, boardwalks, adult fitness equipment, and a salt marsh. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
And this is Chelsea Waterside, which shows the expansion of green, planted spaces. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Interesting and beautiful specimens are all over Hudson River Park. This is a portion of the Greenwich Village Esplanade planted with Zelcova trees, a hardwood tree in the elm family.
Every year, I make it a point to attend the Hudson River Park Gala in New York City. It is a fun evening and an important fundraising event to support the Park’s operations and public programming, including its year-round educational, environmental, sustainability and cultural programs.
The host was comedian, writer, and actor, Ronny Chieng.
The event honored Susanna Aaron, television producer and HRPF Board Citizen Advocate Secretary, for her dedication to the park. This year, Turner Construction Company was also honored.
Chair of Hudson River Park Trust Board of Directors, Diana Taylor also addressed the audience.
George Pataki, the 53rd Governor of the State of New York was also in attendance.
The dinner’s menu included this tomato tarte tatin with goat cheese, caramelized onions, olives, arugula, shaved fennel salad.
Our entrée was a Chatham day boat cod with tri-fingerling potatoes, grilled corn, carrots, leeks, charred lemon, lovage, creamy Chardonnay soubise and on the side, poppadom crisp.
Our dessert was an assortment of sweets presented on a tray for each table.
Here I am with Ronny and his wife, Hannah Pham. All the guests were encouraged to wear “silver anniversary accents” to commemorate the nonprofit’s 25-years of dedication to improving the city’s Hudson River Park. Do you follow me on Instagram @MarthaStewart48? I showed photos of this beautiful silver dress designed and made by my friend, Andy Chia Yu.
Our table, #31, was quite full. Several colleagues and friends joined me including these three Ryans – Ryan Conway, Ryan Mesina, and Ryan McCallister.
Here’s Daisy Schwartzberg Toye, and Ben Luckadoo.
And here’ Patsy Pollack and Kevin Sharkey.
Everyone took photos to post on their personal social media pages. Here’s another fun snapshot – Ryan, Zaki Kamandy, Hosanna Houser, Ryan, and Ben.
It was a very lovely evening for all. I encourage you to visit New York City’s Hudson River Park. It is a spectacular space.
My living maze is getting more "a-mazing" with each row of plantings.
My three-acre living maze is located in a pasture just outside my Winter House. I started planting it a little over a year ago with a variety of different hedges, espaliers, trees, and shrubs. All of the specimens will grow tall enough to prevent walkers from seeing the paths ahead. We've been planting a section per week while the ground is still soft. Most recently, we planted a row of hedge maples, Acer campestre, and a row of American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana. Both are deciduous tree types and turn beautiful colors in fall.
Enjoy these photos.
This view looks down the pasture to the London planetrees, which is the center focal point of the maze. We still have a long way to go, but we’re making progress every week and all the plantings are doing excellently.
Planting any row of specimens always starts with a carefully measured line. The maze is drawn out on a map, so the area is marked according to the map’s specifications.
The next step is to remove the sod from the designated area. This is done with our Classen Pro HSC18 sod cutter. This sod cutter is so easy to maneuver and so sharp, Chhiring finishes one row in just minutes.
It cuts the sod in two strips, which are then cut and rolled into sections, so they can be removed. Sod is quite heavy. The sod will be used in another section of the farm, so nothing is wasted.
This is what the cleared area looks like once all the sod is pulled up.
Then, all the potted trees are placed right where they should be planted. Everyone works in an efficient production line process. All the trees are positioned first before any planting begins. This is a row of hedge maples.
The leaves of a hedge maple are two to four inches wide, with opposite arrangement and three to five lobes each. Here, one can see the green foliage and the bright yellow color that follows in autumn.
And here is a row of American hornbeam. Songbirds are attracted to its forked branches, dense crown and tasty seeds. These will mature nicely in the maze.
The American hornbeam has leaves that are oval with pointed tips and finely toothed edges. They become golden yellow to orange in autumn.
Each tree hole is dug with enough room for the plant’s root ball. The rule of thumb when planting trees is to dig the hole two times as wide as the rootball and no deeper than the bottom of the rootball to the trunk flare. The flare of the tree should be at or slightly above the soil grade. More simply, the tree should be planted similar to how it is in its pot.
Byron places the potted tree in the hole to make sure it is the right size. When planting, always check that the plant is positioned with the best side facing out, or in this case, facing the path.
Here is the hole – perfectly sized for this tree.
Then, a good handful of fertilizer is dropped into the hole. We use all-natural fertilizers enhanced with beneficial bacteria that works naturally within the soil to help plants establish fast, withstand environmental stress, promote deeper roots, better blooms, and improve soil structure.
Before planting, Byron removes the tree from its pot and scarifies the rootball. Scarifying stimulates root growth. Essentially, he teases small portions of the root ball to loosen the roots a bit and create some beneficial injuries. This helps the plant become established more quickly in its new environment.
Then Byron places it into the hole and backfills with soil. It’s that easy to plant a tree!
Once it is planted, the surrounding soil is tamped down to ensure good contact between the plant and the soil.
After a group is in the ground, Byron looks down the line to make sure they are all planted straight up and down and in line with each other.
Hedge maples will grow to be about 35 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of about 30 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of four feet from the ground. These trees are expected to live for 80 years or more.
The American hornbeam is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree that grows slowly, about a foot per year, reaching an average height and spread of 20 to 30 feet over a life span of 50 to 150 years. The last step is a good, deep drink. Remember, if you drink and eat, so should your plants and trees.
Recently, we also planted this row of holly. Many varieties of holly, Ilex, have compact habits and glistening, bright green foliage, that’s excellent for hedges, borders, and yes, mazes.
In August, we planted this row of yews. Yews are known for being slow-growing, but in the right conditions, yew hedge trees can grow about 30-centimeters per year. These yews are spaced closely, so they become a closed hedge in time.
We also planted these privets. Ligustrum ovalifolium, also known as Korean privet, California privet, garden privet, and oval-leaved privet, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family native to Japan and Korea. It is a dense, fast-growing, deciduous evergreen shrub or small tree.
And this is a Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’, American sweetgum. As this tree mature, it will maintain its erect, columnar form, growing up to 50 feet tall and only about four-feet wide.
My overall plan is to plant as many interesting trees, hedges, espaliers, and shrubs as possible in this space and to create a fun and challenging living maze. Follow along and see it develop with me!
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