What we did in 2012

What better thing to do on a rainy day in January than take a look back at the year that was and reminisce on some of our greener achievements in 2012?

The Pool-to-Pond Project

Tired of the constant maintenance of a pool that was rarely used, this past year we began the process of converting HollyHedge's pool to a naturalized pond. The conversion was simple enough.  When spring arrived, we pulled off the cover (and put it away for good) and installed an air-diffuser to maintain healthy oxygen levels in the water.

The air-diffuser ran for a couple of weeks, allowing oxygen levels to build up and remaining chlorine to dissipate.  When we concluded that there was no chlorine left in the pool, we added some aquatic life to help build and maintain a pond environment.  Our pond additions included freshwater snails and shrimp for scrubbing the water, crayfish, for breaking down larger organic debris, goldfish for bug control, and some aquatic plants to filter the water and provide habitat for our pond critters.  And that was about it for the work.   

Then came the best part of all; we sat back and watched.  The staff kept a keen eye on the pond.  Each day, we would update each other about new arrivals to our pond.  There were frogs of course, lots of frogs.  A pair of turtles made the pond their home for a while (though they proved too elusive to photograph).  And later in the season, the pond was frequented by dragonflies and the fish we had added had grown and multiplied to the point that, with a little searching, we could always find them.

As the season progressed, we planted the gardens surrounding the pond with vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

Strawberries, beans, and peppers were grown in hanging baskets...

...while tomatoes and marigolds were planted in the terraced bed along one side of the pond...

...and planters were packed full of root vegetables on the other side of the pond.

We considered year one of the pond a great success.  Retiring our pool has allowed us to give up the annual maintenance.  No more chemical purchases, no more filter running constantly, no more vacuuming and skimming.  Now, we just sit back observe and enjoy our pond.  Whether it's a turtle sunning on a log or a tomato ripening on a vine, everyday, there is something new to discover.

  The Re-purposed Planters

Going into this past season, we had been kicking around the idea of building some planters outside of the kitchen.  Why not bring the gardens even closer to the chefs and take advantage of a sunny spot just outside the kitchen door?
Spring was rapidly approaching and we were still trying to decide how to build the planters.  That's when our chef noticed the 6 wooden bins stacked at the far end of the building that had been used to deliver some construction materials over the winter.  There were 6 boxes just waiting to be hauled away...  ...they couldn't have been more perfect.  They would be just the right size and would be recycled material, making our garden project even greener.
Our handyman and our gardener set to converting the bins to planters.  They were lined with some excess pond liner we had lying around, wrapped in burlap left over from the winter season, and trimmed with some decking material to make a nice ledge to work on.  Filled with a local bedding mix, amended with some of our own favorite organic fertilizers, just like that, our planters were complete.
We placed four of the planters along the wall just outside of the kitchen...

...two planted with tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, beans and nasturtium...

...the other two with cucumbers and parsley.

The final two planters were placed in our previously mentioned pool-to-pond area.
Here, we grew root crops early on in the season (leeks and celeriac pictured here)...

...followed by eggplant and okra in the summer (and more nasturtium of course).

We were quite pleased with how our planters worked this season.  They provided a generous harvest of vegetables and herbs and were surprisingly easy to maintain.  All in all, the boxes were a pretty good use of some spare materials that we look forward to utilizing again in 2013.

The Garlic Crop
This was year three for us growing garlic and it brought us our largest harvest yet.

We have chosen to focus more and more on garlic each season because it has proven to be a reliable and rewarding crop for us.  It seems to thrive in our raised bed gardens with a minimum of tending to, is in constant demand from our kitchens, is avoided completely by the rabbits and other garden diners, and stores from summer right through the winter.

In addition to delivering much of the harvest to the kitchen, we also set aside some of the larger bulbs each year to plant as seed in the fall.  After many seasons of growing our own seed garlic, we will have developed a genetic stock that is specially adapted to our soil.

The Horseradish Crop

Like garlic, horseradish continues to prove to be a reliable crop for us; it seems to be completely ignored by garden pests and it is a perennial crop (it comes back year after year).
In the past, we have utilized only the plant's large decorative leaves to use for many of the chef's cheese & harvest tables.  This year, however, we decided the patches were mature enough to dig some of the actual roots to make a number of fresh horseradish sauces.

The sauces were delicious and we are excited with the possibility of horseradish becoming a home-grown staple in the HollyHedge kitchen.

Mushrooms

No, we're not growing mushrooms here at HollyHedge; we're just letting them grow.  One of the pleasant surprises this fall was the stunning mushroom displays that popped up on our lawns.  It seems that after a couple of seasons of cutting back on the mowing, an amazing variety of mushrooms have been able to colonize the shaded lawns that blanket the grounds.
We have not mastered our mushroom identification yet so sorry, no names.
But here are some pictures of some of our favorites.

Wildlife

It was a good year for wildlife sightings here at HollyHedge.  There were regular sightings of the Red-Tailed Hawk, and this fall, he seemed to have found a lady friend.  For a month or so, we were able to listen on a daily basis to their distinct calls.  We also continued to see a Pileated Woodpecker passing through as well as a Great Blue Heron making trips from the nearby Delaware River.
This year we were also graced with some up-close and personal encounters with some majestic birds.  Sadly, this wise old Great Horned Owl arrived in our pasture in rough shape.

The staff was able to bring him to our local wildlife rehabilitation center, where, last we checked, he was recovering.  Though it was sad to see him leave the property, the familiar sounds of a hooting pair of owls has since returned to the woods behind HollyHedge.
We also had a run in with a Sharp-shinned Hawk which found it's way into our chicken run in the summer.  This is the first year we have seen one on the property, they are a beautiful, small hawk.
A photo opportunity was the last thing on our minds as he was encouraged out of the chicken run, so sorry, no photo of this beauty.  Fortunately for us, this particular bird was not an adept chicken hunter  and all chickens were safe.

We try not to take credit for the wildlife that graces the grounds at HollyHedge; certainly it has to do with our location here in Solebury Township, just up the hill from the Delaware River, and surrounded by preserved land.  However, we do believe that we play a small part in attracting the diversity of species that inhabit the property by the way we choose to maintain and care for the grounds.  When making any decisions about how to maintain these 20 acres, we are always factoring in the effects on wildlife.

Our New Building

Okay, what's green about a new building?  Anytime we take on building projects here at HollyHedge, we try to incorporate green elements into them.  

Element 1: The Siding

The building was sided with boards that came from Spruce and Tulip-Poplar trees that grew right here at HollyHedge.  While it's always sad when a big old tree has to come down, such is the reality from time to time.  By using these trees as building materials that will last for many years, we feel that we have honored the lives of those trees, while also using a very local and sustainably harvested product.

Element 2: The Rain Garden

Always concerned with runoff here on the sloping HollyHedge grounds, we constructed a rain garden  designed to receive the water from the new building's gutters and allow it to slowly seep back into the ground.

The rain garden was planted with a mix of native grasses and wildflowers that thrive in either wet or dry soil conditions.  We'll be sure to update you in the summer when we anticipate a pretty display of native flowers.

The Cedar Rail

One of our last acts of 2012 was constructing a rustic cedar railing along the pathway to the reception barn.  

Originally there was a metal railing planned for the location, but, courtesy of Superstorm Sandy, we had a stockpile of cedar branches on our hands.  

Eastern Red-Cedar has a number of qualities that make it a green building material.  It is durable, rot resistant, locally abundant, and can be used with a minimum of processing.  We have used cedar in the past for fence posts and trellising, but this was our largest project yet and we are very pleased with the results. 

The cedar railing is a great addition to the wooded walkway that winds it's way between the stone barn & the new barn, but we can let you be the judge of that.

Building a cedar fence is certainly green, but we believe that ensuring the regrowth of cedars is an even greener endeavor.  The Eastern Red-Cedar is a pioneer species, one of the first trees to arrive in old fields, thin forest, and areas recently cleared of Multiflora Rose.  They help the process of establishing a new forest by stabilizing the soil and creating shade and shelter for the next generation of trees that often form the tall canopy of wooded areas around here.  While it fills its niche in the process of forest succession, it also provides food & shelter for native song birds. 

To make sure that Eastern Red-Cedar trees are regenerating on the property we have stopped mowing certain areas.  This actively promotes the propagating of cedars by letting seedlings become saplings.  As we walk our woods and meadows throughout the year, we try to tag tiny cedar seedlings where we find them and often cage them to deter the deer.  From time to time, we even find ourselves transplanting a few saplings to areas where we would like to see cedars established.  A little bit of work to assure there will be plenty of Eastern Red-Cedars for us and for the birds to enjoy for many years to come.

HollyHedge Keeps Growing

We started this growing season with good planning and pretty good luck. The spring rains were plentiful, often teetering on excessive. Despite some loss to wetness, we still managed a good harvest.

The spring garden was planted with leeks, peas... turnips & cabbages... & fennel... all ending up in the kitchen & on plates. In addition, this year we also experimented with onion sets, spinach & arugula.

Crowns of asparagus planted 2 years prior, offered their first delicious spears in May (asparagus requires a year or two to get established before harvesting). Our summer plantings, however, encountered quite the set back. Although fending off the critters is an annual struggle, this year was a particularly disheartening one. Cat birds feasted on blueberries despite our netting. Groundhogs & rabbits devoured our peas despite our fences & row cover. Pumpkins, squash, beans, broccoli raab, broccoli & parsley fell victim. Even hot pepper plants felt the sharp tooth of the hungry rodent. This certainly reinforced the idea that a diverse garden improves the chances of a successful garden.
While blueberries were eaten, our raspberry crop was beautiful. Though we haven't a single pumpkin plant left, the tomatoes have once again yielded more than the chefs could imagine. Even the cucumbers managed to inundate out baskets for a few weeks. Garlic continues to prove to be unpalatable to our garden fauna. Many herbs also seem to harbor those essential oils that rabbits just don't care for. And as of now, we have a promising apple crop hanging in the orchard.
Much of our summer successes also heavily relied upon our watering system; the rains didn't seem to frequent us as much as they did in the spring. Saying it was dry is an understatement. Each year, we seek to manage & refine our watering system, striving for efficiency and resourcefulness. Negotiating an irrigation system is plenty of work, and involves maintaining a balance between what is coming out of the ground and what is going back into the ground.

Ben finds himself watering each bed as it is needed & having the sustainable resource at hand to do so. We like to keep in mind that, in a way, the water the garden demands is the same water that offers showers at the inn, washes dishes after a wedding, or simply quenches our thirst.
Though on hot dry days, dragging water lines around is nothing short of hard work, we rejoice in what the sun offers. This July, our solar panels have provided our biggest solar output to date & we've just harvested grapes that thrive under abundant sun.

The Fall Season

Hay bales… check
Mums… check
Mother-nature’s yearly transformation of color… ... check
Our property was almost an autumn wonderland.
All that was left... pumpkin pick-up day (our favorite)! This year, like years gone by, we went to Penn Vermont Fruit Farms, with a big pickup truck & bought 850 lbs of pumpkins. We really love to support local farms and are fortunate to have such a great network of growers in the area. Along with local decorations, we keep our food pantry stocked with plenty of what the season has to offer, apples, from an orchard just down the road at Manoff Market Gardens. From the spring to the fall, they have kept the kitchen supplied with fresh seasonal fruit.
This fall, we refocused on a few tasks, making revisions to some projects already underway and finishing up others started in the summer.
Learning as we go, some projects inevitably require some changes. While our composting process is working well, its location left some desires. We wanted to make an effort to cut down on driving these machines carrying composting materials across the property. With that in mind, we relocated the new compost pile just off our secondary parking lot. Not only does the new location save time & reduce gas consumption, it keeps our vehicles on previously established roads, thereby saving our fields from erosion.
(Driving repeatedly across grassy areas not only kills the grass, it compacts the soil, making it harder for other plants to get started. Then water run-off starts following the path, leading to further erosion. A steeply sloped hill, like the one we are located on, speeds up the soil erosion process substantially.)
With the pile more accessible, we can turn it more regularly, which speeds up the composting process. Lastly, we made a number of compost bins, allowing for piles in different stages of decomposition.

Our summer chicks grew fast and needed a new home, but where to start?
With the mindset of conserving, we save lots of materials that could “be used for something.” This goal of reuse has left us with a few piles of offcuts & leftovers, which from afar, don’t look like much. However, with a little creativity & imagination, they can really turn into a fun & functional project.
Using old fence posts as the foundation... ...our scrap piles slowly erected a house... ...complete with recycled doors & windows. Leftover from our pond overhaul, thick black rubber (pond liner) covers the roof. Temporarily, this serves a as a waterproof roofing, but in the spring, we hope install a living roof. The black plastic will serve as a liner for a garden that will be planted on top of the coop. The only lumber we bought were 3 sheets of plywood and four 2x6s, used on the roof; a strong roof is required to support the garden that will be living on it. Now all we need is that first egg!