It's always so great to start off the new year growing healthy, delicious, organic greens.
Now that it's winter, attention is turned toward planting and maintaining my vegetable greenhouse, so I am never without fresh produce. I already have lots of wonderful vegetables thriving inside. Yesterday, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, also transplanted young cucumbers and tomatoes started from seed.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This large structure has 16 raised flower beds. Some beds were just seeded. Some include plants that have just germinated and are in the beginning stages of growth. And some beds have young, but already established plants.
This structure uses minimal artificial heat, where many cold hardy crops, such as root vegetables and brassicas, can be grown and harvested through the winter months. I also installed grow lights specially designed to substitute natural sunlight, stimulating photosynthesis, and provide the right color spectrum for thriving plants.
Ryan and I make sure to plant in succession, so there is always something growing. Lettuce always grows so well in this greenhouse. It’s a real treat to have lettuce like this all year long. I always grow lots of varieties of lettuce, so I can share them with my daughter and her children.
I use spinach for my daily green juice. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2.
The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, and mostly eaten raw as a crunchy salad vegetable.
These are the leaves of turnips. The vegetables are not ready yet, but when harvesting, I always gently remove the surrounding earth first to see if the vegetables are big enough. If not, I push the soil back into place. Turnips are smooth flat, round and white vegetables that mature early and are best harvested young – when they are up to two inches in diameter. The flavor is sweet and fruity, and the texture is crisp and tender.
This is my bed of arugula, directly planted from seed a couple of weeks ago. Arugula leaves, also known as rocket or roquette, are tender and bite-sized with a tangy flavor.
One cannot miss the Swiss chard. They are so vibrant with stems of rose, gold, orange, and white. Chard has very nutritious leaves making it a popular addition to healthful diets.
Beets are sweet and tender – and one of the healthiest foods. Beets contain a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains, which provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support.
And do you like dill, the herb grown for its aromatic leaves and seeds which are often used to add flavor to various dishes? It has a distinct anise-like taste and can be used fresh or dried.
I also have a bed of young cilantro, Coriandrum sativum, growing nicely. Cilantro is also known commonly as coriander or Chinese parsley. Coriander is actually the dried seed of cilantro. Cilantro is a popular micro-green garnish that complements meat, fish, poultry, noodle dishes, and soups. Everyone here at the farm loves the cilantro, but some don’t. Do you know… some even say it tastes like soap? For those, the issue is genetic. These people have a variation in a group of olfactory-receptor genes that allows them to strongly perceive the soapy-flavored aldehydes in cilantro leaves. Among those who strongly dislike cilantro – the late Chef Julia Child.
I also grow bok choi, a type of Chinese cabbage and widely used in Asian cuisines.
At one end of greenhouse, I set up bean towers from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. These can also support the growing vines of cucumbers.
After the soil is fertilized, Ryan digs the holes close to corners where developing vines can find the vertical strings stretched from top to bottom.
Ryan places one plant per section.
We used these 60-inch towers last year and they worked wonderfully.
Here, Ryan places heat mats down on the gravel floor for the tomato pots.
As an experiment, Ryan will keep potted tomatoes on top of the heat mats to keep them a bit warmer through the season. Let’s see how they do.
He fills the pots with Miracle-Gro All Purpose Garden Soil.
And then tops them with Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed specifically for tomatoes and other growing vegetables.
He plants two per pot and will monitor to see which plants grow stronger. As they develop, he will remove those that seem weak and unproductive.
Finally, he secures a 48-inch tomato cage, also from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, on top of each container.
At 4pm exactly, all the grow lights turn on as scheduled. I am so pleased with my vegetable greenhouse and how productive it is every year. I am looking forward to a season filled with bountiful harvests.
I'm getting a lot of excellent wintertime pruning done at my farm.
Proper pruning is so important - it improves the health of the plants, prevents disease, and encourages better flowering. There are different pruning strategies for different times of the year, but overall the goals are the same - to control the height and shape, develop good limb structure, encourage growth, remove damaged or diseased branches, and to allow for better air circulation. Right now, my outdoor grounds crew is tackling four of my Sargent crabapples along the carriage road to my home.
Enjoy these photos.
The best time to prune is during the dormant season which is typically winter to early spring before new growth emerges.
These are two of four Sargent crabapple, Malus sargentii, in early April. The name of this species comes from the man who introduced it from its native Japan in 1892, C.S. Sargent. These are good trees for many different landscapes. It has a unique size and form, growing as a dense, mounded shrub rather than a tree.
Later in spring, they display fragrant white flowers.
In autumn, bright red to dark fruit can be seen among the leaves. They stay through the season and into winter.
The fruits are about a half-inch in diameter and are known to be tart and astringent in taste, attracting many birds, especially cedar waxwings, robins, grosbeaks, and mockingbirds.
Pasang Sherpa is an excellent pruner and oversees many of the smaller pruning projects around the farm. He focuses on the Ds of pruning and removes any dead, diseased, damaged, defective, or deranged branches.
All the pruning is done by hand. Pasang uses sharp hand pruners to cut low branches. It is crucial to use sharp blades to make clean, smooth cuts to reduce the risk of disease and infection.
When needed, my team also uses these STIHL loppers which feature a longer 28-inch handle made from lightweight aluminum. It is idea for cutting any tree branches up to two inches in diameter.
It is also smart and efficient to place a tarp under the work area to catch all the falling branches – it makes cleanup much faster later.
Here, one can see where the cuts were made. When pruning, the branches are always cut just above the bud or branch. This encourages new growth and helps the wounds heal more quickly.
These crabapples are pruned every year. Here are some older cuts.
Pasang also thins out crowded areas and works to maintain its balanced shape.
Alex works from the top making sure adequate light and circulation can move through the center of the specimen.
He also removes the upward growing branches called water sprouts. These are similar to root suckers that grow up from the ground – both draw nutrients and strength away from the plant and need removing.
As Alex works from the top, Pasang works from the bottom of the crabapples – it’s efficient and fast.
Look closely to see which side Alex pruned and which side he has yet to do.
Alex enjoys working with the trees and shrubs and does a great job. He and Pasang have already pruned more than a dozen different trees this week.
These Sargent crabapples have horizontal branching which helps create the dense mounded habit. Pruning them correctly will ensure they will continue to be healthy, productive, and beautiful.
No better time like the start of a new year to get everything around the farm in good order.
Whenever it's cold outside and my outdoor grounds crew is unable to work in the woods or gardens, I encourage them to take stock of the equipment, clean everything, and then organize all the tools and supplies. My Equipment Barn is about 40 by 120 feet, with a substantial amount of height. It is where I keep my mowers, blowers, tractors, and other pieces of important machinery. Recently, my team cleared the space and then inspected and organized everything. Keeping things well maintained and properly stored will always save time in the long run.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I wanted this Equipment Barn to be an attractive structure in an easy-to-access location. This building is just off the carriage road next to my Pin Oak Allée, hay barn, and vegetable greenhouse.
I built this structure shortly after purchasing the farm. A couple times a year when schedules allow, I like the space to be cleaned and organized.
The Equipment Barn is well lit with these big overhead lamps. I use very utilitarian lighting where I can on the farm.
The hand tools are taken off their hooks, inspected, and grouped with other like pieces.
Spreading them all out is a good way to know what is in good shape and how many of each tool we have in supply.
Once emptied, the walls are blown and power washed. We use industrial hooks that can hold up to 50-pounds each.
Then they are all returned to their designated hooks. Do you know the difference between a shovel and a spade? A shovel is longer, angled, and its blade is curved into more of a scoop with a pointed tip. Shovels are better for digging up, breaking apart, and lifting soil as well as for scooping and moving loose materials. A spade has a relatively flat blade with straight edges and the blade tends to be in line with the shaft, rather than angled forward. Spades are good for edging and cutting.
These are hard bow rakes and soft rakes. Bow rakes have a number of other names as well, including level heads, soil rakes, and ground rakes. These rakes consist of a long head that is straight with stiff, short tines that are very rigid and don’t bend or flex. They are ideal for making planting rows and breaking up hard clumps of soil. We also use them to shape our raised garden beds. A soft rake or leaf rake is a lightweight rake that is shaped like a fan with flat, springy tines radiating outward. This type of rake is designed to be light enough to glide over grass without damaging it.
Ladders of various sizes rest against one wall close to one set of large barn doors.
Among the power tools we use and depend on all year long are those from STIHL. This company is a global leader in outdoor power equipment and offers more than 80 different tools including professional-grade chainsaws, blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, brush cutters, pruners, saws, and so much more. All of our STIHL long handled hedge trimmers, and weed-whackers are hung in this section, ready to use.
Nearby are the STIHL blowers. These blowers are powerful, easy to handle, and fuel-efficient.
We have my fleet of Kubota mowers. They are used almost daily during the warmer months. Here, they are parked in a designated spot, where they can easily be driven out when needed.
This barn also accommodates my large farm vehicles. The tractors and trucks are parked neatly inside at the end of each day.
In this corner, I have a bank of lockers for the crew. Everyone has their own set of lockers where they can store safety equipment, extra shoes, clothing, and other personal items.
I removed some unused lockers along this wall and replaced them with long tables and bins for things found or things needing to be returned to their rightful locations.
Do you recognize this? It was my old Martha by Mail truck that was repainted a few years ago to be our Martha.com truck. It originally was a postal delivery truck from the 80s, which I bought years ago.
Hung on these hooks are spreaders for seed and fertilizer.
Chemicals and oils are always kept in this storage cabinet specifically designed for flammables.
All the smaller tools, such as these large combination wrenches are also organized and hung over the workbench.
Lastly, the floors are blown, power washed, and left bare to dry for several hours.
And this is a vintage Allis-Chalmers tractor from the 1940s. It reminds us all how much these farm pieces have evolved over the years. At the end of a day, it’s always very refreshing to see a clean and well-organized space.
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