No One Does Fall Like Martha—and These Pictures Prove It

Fall Foliage

Martha loves to capture the natural beauty of her property using a drone, and that's especially true when fall colors are on full display. This shot showcases early autumn color at her farm and beyond.

Japanese Maples

A closer look reveals a rainbow of colors from the Japanese maples Martha planted around her farm. The grove features varieties of Acer palmatum, which were planted in honor of Martha's late sister, Laura Plimpton. "I just love these trees," Martha writes in her blog. "They provide countless variations in size, leaf shape, and color, creating a landscape of beauty and texture."

Pumpkin Display

Martha loves her wrought-iron plant stand (she found hers at a county auction years ago). Come fall, the stand acts as the perfect pumpkin holder.

Gingko Trees

The gorgeous gingko tree in Martha's summer house garden is 250 years old. In the fall, it turns from green to a captivating gold-yellow. The coolest part? Once the cold frost hits, the tree sheds its leaves all at once.

Apples Galore

Fall's seasonal delights go well beyond pumpkin spice. Martha's own apple grove at her Bedford farm, which produces an abundance of fruit, will convince you to make apple picking a priority this season.

Cider Sips

Martha collects the apples and uses them to make her own cider. "Today I produce all kinds of things from the cider we press: drinks like bourbon sours and hot mulled and hard cider; braised chicken; and even apple-cider vinegar. But it's also always delicious enjoyed simply: icy cold on a brilliant fall day," she says about her homemade cider.

Hedge Trimming

Martha's elegant boxwood hedges are one of the defining features of her farm. When she designed the landscape almost two decades ago she started by laying out these shrubs. Every autumn, you'll find Martha and her crew trimming and pruning her hedges.

Garden Upkeep

In addition to mulching, planting bulbs, and bringing outdoor furniture indoors each fall, Martha makes sure that her warm-weather plants, such as her citrus trees and agave, are transported indoors to her greenhouse. "Fortunately, I am able to keep them in high-grade greenhouses, where they can continue to thrive all year long," Martha says on her blog. She says her strong outdoor grounds crew is responsible for moving the plants safely inside before the autumn chill sets in.

Fall Blooming Perennials

Martha's gardens continue to bloom with the pretty fall perennial colchicum. You'll find these cheerful flowers, which boast fuchsia and soft lilac blooms, around her Bedford farm throughout the season.

Ghosts and Ghouls

Martha doesn't hold back when it comes to outdoor decorating. "These ghosts are so frightening when they blow in the evening fall breeze," she says on her blog.

Home-Grown Pumpkins

Since Halloween is one of Martha's favorite holidays, she really gets into the spirit. "I always love to decorate the front entrance to my farm in preparation for all the little ghosts and goblins that go trick-or-treating on All Hallows' Eve," she says on her blog. One quintessential decoration: pumpkins (grown on her farm, of course!) lined up along the front stone wall.

Pet Costumes

Martha isn't the only one in a fabulous costume for Halloween. Her four-legged companions also get their own holiday ensembles. One year, Martha dressed her Frenchies up as not-so-scary dinosaurs.

Outside In

Why stop outside when you can bring adorable mini pumpkins indoors, too? Here, Martha decorates the mantel in her sophisticated Brown Room with pumpkins grown on her farm. "They look so pretty underneath the avian prints," she says on her blog.

Make Celebrations Memorable

Martha approaches each party as an opportunity to treat guests to a completely different experience than the previous year. For one Thanksgiving at her Bedford home, which was featured in Martha's Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations, she went for a rustic theme using Spode turkey plates and platters and an antique runner. "Warty squash, pomegranates, Amy Goldman's cast bronze squashes, and some old copper birds all made a wild and natural landscape down the middle of the long marble dining table," she shared in Living.

Turkey Place Cards

Once Martha's grandchildren, Jude and Truman, were able to sit at the table, she knew she needed to adjust her approach to Thanksgiving. Instead of a big dinner, Martha hosted a more intimate gathering of family and friends in the Tenant House at her farm in Bedford.

But this doesn't mean she toned down the thought and effort that goes into one of her extravagant tablescapes. "With the help of crafts editor Marcie McGoldrick, we devised a method for casting numerous turkeys from a material called PermaStone, a lightweight, durable cement," Martha shared in Living. These turkey sculptures lined the table (and were even used to create place cardholders) for a whimsical effect.

Themed Treats

For the same Thanksgiving dinner, Martha enhanced the turkey sculpture effect with these adorable and delicious candies made from milk and semisweet chocolates.

Holiday Preparations

An intimate look at Martha's winter house kitchen the day before Thanksgiving last year reveals Martha and Molly Wenk, a food stylist and chef, working on pies for the festivities. We also can't get enough of Martha's collection of gorgeous copper pots.

Extra Space

An 18-foot-long dining table was set up in the Brown Room for Martha's Thanksgiving celebration last year, but she always plans ahead for last-minute guests, too. Two additional tables were also set in the smaller dining room. "One tip is to always be prepared for extra guests just in case someone decides to bring another along," Martha says on her blog.

Tablescape Details

Martha always has fun with her Thanksgiving table: A formal table setting is juxtaposed with whimsical gold turkey statues, Staffordshire turkey plates, and an adorable turkey-inspired napkin fold.

Fire Pit

Cap the night with laughs around a fire. Martha has two fire pits at her Bedford property. These aren't just regular fire pits, but gigantic vintage iron sugar kettles, which were used in the 19th century to make sugar. The best part: They're light enough to move to any location on the farm.