4th of July Extravaganza

It's a little late, but must be noted.  We had an excellent 4th of July celebration with our awesome neighbors, Jane and Daniel (I just realized we don't have any pictures of them!).  First, we went by Daniel's farm that he grew up on, and then went to Jane's family's lake house for the rest of the weekend.  It was a really rough weekend of eating food fresh off the farm, riding jet skis (as well as a Super Mable), and soaking in the rays by the lake.  Below are some pics from the extravaganza.



I have to admit that I was tempted to post the pics of Daniel's farm to pretend that they were new developments to Catlin Farms.  On second (or maybe third) thought, however, I voted against it for one main reason: Forcing Daniel's farm to pose as Catlin Farms would be a grievous insult to Daniel's farm.  Their farm is actually a farm and needs to be honored as such. Well, that and the fact that you would see about three pictures and figure out that we did not suddenly jump into cattle farming (or suddenly buy several hundred acres of land)!

Sam is 9 months old!

Catlin Farms is busy this time of year. We could tell you stories of vine borers, Catawba worms, tomatoes as big as basketballs, Mickey Mouse in the garden, or even a Big Foot sighting. But more importantly, we must update you on Sam. Sam is already 9 months old! Time is going by quickly and it seems like he is learning how to do new things every day. The doctor is happy with Sam's development in height and weight, too, which is a relief. The pediatrician is also happy that Sam enjoys eating so many different foods. The harvest from the garden is beginning to provide enough food to be able to feed Sam squash and carrots straight from the farm! Sam has now mastered crawling on his hands and knees, and even stood on his own for a few seconds.  Most people do not think he is going to walk soon - they think he will run.  Hopefully we'll figure out how to get some videos on here soon.  Until then, these pics will have to do. . . 

Summer Garden Update!

Hello everyone! Here's just a quick update on how the summer garden is growing. I looked at some of the old blog pictures and realized that I've not been keeping you updated on how everything looks.  I finally figured out how to put the pics into a slideshow so you don't have to scroll for miles.  Enjoy!

Said on the Farm: I must not look like a farmer

If you ever want to experience southern hospitality to the billionth degree, you should just sit out on our front porch for about 30 minutes.  As people drive, run, walk, bike, scoot, or stroll by, they almost always wave or actually say hello.  If you doubt this, just ask my dad.  Or, you could just come work in the garden with me one day.  On top of the fact that people 'round here are nice is the fact that they have to slow down as they drive by because our house is situated between two speed bumps.  Occasionally when people drive by as I'm working in the yard, they will yell something out the window like, "Dat's real purdy right there!" or one of my favorites, "Git it boy" (said by a man at least 70 years old in an equally-as-old pick-up truck - classic).

So far, though, it was a guy walking by that provided the most fitting statement for the blog.  I'm not sure how long he'd been standing there, but when I looked up from working in the yard he was standing by the side of the street looking at the farm.  So, I figured I'd break the ice with "Hi."  He just stood there for a while until he finally said, "Well, you don't remind me of a farmer, but yer doin' pretty good with yer garden there, boy."  I wasn't really sure how to take that, so I just said, "Thanks!" He then continued to walk down the street without saying another word.  Strange? Yes.  But a fitting comment for a wannabe farmer.

Here are a few pics of the view of the farm from the street and of the street from the farm.

P.S. I'm gonna stop trying to predict what I'll post next, because it's never right.

New Design

I just changed the design of the blog! Let me know what you think.

Comments Welcome!

I haven't replied to comments made over a month ago! So, I decided to step up my blogger game and actually respond, so that you will be encouraged to post more comments. I'm new to this whole blogosphere, so bear with me.  Please comment, and I promise to respond! I know some of you are replying through email, so I will try to step up and respond to all those, too.  Thanks for following the blog!

Fatty Sam

Sam is 8 months old! When we took him for his six month check-up, there was a tiny, little, eency-weency cause for concern because he went from being in the 50th percentile for weight to the 25th.  So, we have been pumping him full of sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, carrots, avocado, pears, peaches, apple sauce, rice cereal, multi-grain cereal, and breast milk.  Sam is a big fan of pears, peaches, apple sauce, and the cereals.  He seems to just grit his gums (he still doesn't have any teeth) and deal with most of the vegetables.  Surprisingly, he just won't eat bananas.  We think it may be the gooey factor, but the face he makes when eating bananas is priceless. 

Well, all of our hard work has paid off! Sam gained over two pounds in 6 weeks, and the doctor is no longer concerned about his weight.  Our pediatrician is also impressed with how quickly Sam continues to develop.  Sam can pull himself up to standing.  We usually find him standing in the crib when we go to get him in the morning, or when he wakes up from naps.  He also says "mama," "dada" (though we're not sure if he really knows what he's saying), and is generally very vocal (randomly raises his arm in the air and says/screams nonsense). Well, here's what you're all waiting for - more pics of Sam.

You Say Tomato, I say Brandywine . . .

. . . Carolina Gold, and Better Boy tomatoes.  Here's what they looked like when we first planted them.

They have since grown into the beasts of the east (yes, they are actually on the east side of the garden).  Check 'em out below.

This is the Brandywine tomato plant.  We became interested in growing this tomato because we heard that it can grow anywhere from 7-12 feet tall, and each pink tomato grows to be 1-2lbs.! Right now the plant is about 4.5-5 ft. tall and has 8 or 9 small tomatoes growing on it.  Here are some pics of Sam in front of it to give you an idea of how big the plant is.

 OK, so maybe some of those pics are so you can see how cute Sam is.  Enjoy!

We are also growing Carolina Gold and Better Boy tomatoes.  Here are some pics of the actual tomatoes growing on those.

These are the Carolina Gold tomatoes.  The Carolina Gold was producing the most tomatoes, and may have been the healthiest plant. . . until I freaked out about some of the leaves curling up on the bottom half of the plant and decided to go Edward Scissorhands on it.  Check this out.

What you see is not an optical illusion - there are no leaves on the bottom half of the plant, only tomatoes.  Way to go me.  I guess I'm still a wannabe farmer.  Hopefully she'll survive.  I'll keep you updated with any signs of hope.

Here are the Better Boy plants and tomatoes.  These are fairing a little better, since they didn't suffer the Edward-Scissorhands-fate of the Carolina Gold.

Coming up, the first hope-to-be-weekly installment of "Said on the Farm."  Stay tuned.

The Brussels Sprout!

Well, I know you've been on the edge of your seat waiting for the 1st Annual Spring Garden Awards, but there has been a bit of a delay.  Kimberly and I went to Charleston, SC for Memorial Day weekend to see family (who have an amazing garden, by the way!).  While in Charleston, we were lamenting the fact that the brussels sprouts had produced absolutely nothing.  We were ready to award them the "Don't grow me in the spring because it gets too hot too quick and I don't produce anything you moron" award, until we got back from Charleston and found these scrumptious sprouts . . .

They literally went from nothing to having full blown sprouts on them over the long weekend.  So, we've gotta wait, see what they do, taste the sprouts and reevaluate our awards. 

Stay tuned, though.  We've got a lot of catching up to do.  There are big developments with the summer garden at Catlin Farms.  Oh, and there are some pretty sweet pics of Sam coming up!

R.I.Peas

Well, the peas are the first from the spring garden to wilt under the summer heat.  The fact that they lasted this long, however, is a pleasant surprise.  Allegedly, when planted from seed, peas should sprout within 7-10 days.  After our peas didn't come up for nearly five weeks, we were ready to give up on them until these appeared . . .

So, we decided to see what they would do.  We didn't expect much because we didn't think they would be able to produce any peas before it go too hot.  Peas love the cold and hate the heat.  So, we thought that even if pea pods did begin to form, they wouldn't produce any peas.  Well, we were wrong.  Check these bad boys out . . .

From these we reaped a decent little harvest.  We were even able to have enough for dinner and still have leftovers to freeze for later!

But now this is all that remains . . .

R. I. Peas.

Coming soon - The 1st Annual Spring Garden Awards!

"Growing Like a Weed"

We're also growing this little guy at Catlin Farms . . .

My Granny and Paw-Paw always told me that I was "growing like a weed."  Sam is definitely growing in a weed-like pattern.  When we took him for his six month check-up last Friday, he measured in the 90th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight.  The doctor was not alarmed at the weight classification, saying that he is a beautiful baby who is perfectly healthy! Now to gain weight, we've started him on a special diet . . .

And, yes, that is a single broccoli stalk grown on our farm!

Introducing Catlin Farms Part 2: Summer Garden

And here's our summer garden (including a beautiful picture of me!). We've planted tomatoes (carolina gold, better boy, and brandywine), black-eyed peas, okra, bellpeppers (yellow, green, red, and purple), and jalapeno pepper.

Introducing Catlin Farms Part 1: Spring Garden

Here at Catlin Farms, the plan is to have a spring garden, summer garden, watermelon plot, and pumpkin patch. Thus far we've made our spring and summer garden. After briefly introducing the spring and summer garden, we will update the growth of the individual plants, as well as the harvest we get for each vegetable. Who knows, we may even post updates concerning other things we're growing here at Catlin Farms (like Sam, maybe?). So, here's the spring garden. We planted broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, and peas.