Decking the Halls with Red and Green

It seems as if the world is decked in red and green to celebrate this time of year. The farm is no different. It has always been our tradition to get a real tree and we make wreaths out of greenery gathered from the farm oh and don't forget the mistletoe. Mistletoe is a must. We also love to share the gifts of our farm with our friends at the Bounty of the Barrens farmers market. The boys have gathered grape vines, holly, berries and pine cones. This momma has put the crafting skills to use. We're also very excited to see the new high tunnel bursting with red and green. The lettuces and reddish are ready to share at market too. So join us Saturday the 8th from 8-12 for good food and good friends and maybe a little Christmas shopping. The extension office with be decked with red and green I am sure.

Stationery card

Flourished Elegance Christmas Card

Personalize your holiday card this Christmas with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I'm not usually one to advertise for big ole companies but I did decide to use Shutterfly to do our christmas cards this year. They had a great cyber Monday deal. What can I say I'm a sucker for a deal. So here is our Christmas Card. Growing Boys wishes everyone a very early Merry Christmas!

Fire for the Mind and Body

(A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. Benjamin Franklin) Do you ever have those mornings when you just can't get the stove to start? You've done everything imaginable to get the fire going. Lighter, Crumpled paper, little sticks of wood, bigger sticks of wood, split stick of wood, more air, less air,nothing is working. The kids are snuggled up in blankets moaning I'm cold. How can it be so hard to build a fire? Cave Dwellers can do it with sticks, Mountain men can do it with rocks. So in this moment I have decided that my children need to know how to build a fire. They need to know how to build it with sticks and rocks and magnifying glasses. How did we as human beings get so far removed that we don't even know how to build a good fire (without lighter fluid)? There are lots of things I think little boys should know, and building a fire is now going on that list. Good thing we have a fireman around! P.S. I did get the fire going finally. I just had to throw on another log. The children did not freeze to death.

The Hightunnel is done! Here on Growing Boys farm we are so glad to have the hightunnel (also know as an unheated greenhouse) up and planted for winter. There are lettuces, spinach, carrots, onions, cabbage, greens, and radish all planted in neat little rows enjoying a nice warm fall and hopefully growing big and strong. Big and strong so we and maybe some of you can enjoy them all winter long. About a year ago we read a book about a farm who was growing veggies all year round. All Year round! Who doesn't want fresh salad in the dead of winter? Then we were blessed with on oppertunity to get our very own hightunnel. Now we will also be growing all year round. Some people say walking into the hightunnel is like walking into a nice spring morning. Let me tell you yesterday it was like working in the dead of summer, 40 deg outside the tunnel and 90deg inside. I could have planted carrots in my bathing suit (although I didn't). We are so thankful for all the help we had in putting up the hightunnel. Believe me it was not an easy task to put up a 30x72' building with just us four, so when friends and family showed up to help we were elated. Thank you all so much. And maybe we can pay back the favor with fresh veggies this winter. Don't forget winter market is the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Extension Office. I'm sure the other farmers will have lots of fresh goddies too.

The Dozer

I've read recently that to keep a healthy soil structure we should minimize tillage, ya know don't dig in the dirt too much and kill all the worms and bugs. Should we be scared because I think this is gonna mess with our soil structure. Actually I'm just poking fun at the men here on Growing Boys Farm. I've heard that men love their toys and my fellas are no different. 4-wheelers, tractors, anything with wheels and a motor but when the bulldozer pulled into the drive, we'll you can imagine the look on their faces. We really did need the bulldozer to handle some drainage issues around the new barn (I know I haven't shared pictures yet) and the greenhouse spot needed some leveling done. I guess boys and their toys come in handy, the fellas here like to remind me of that sometimes.

Summers End

Shew, It seems like forever since summer started. Who knew 200 tomato plants would take over our families lives. We'll they almost wore us down but fall is in the air and we are feeling the need to slow down. SLOW DOWN no way there is still wood to cut and gardens to finish getting ready for winter and don't even get me started on the new greenhouse that was just ordered. It's always so bittersweet when summer comes to an end.

Tomatoes

You know a tomato is big when you can eat it for lunch, supper, and breakfast the next morning. We'll this guy sure was big. 2 1/2 pounds, and yes it was actually one tomato it just grew a little strange! If the tomatoes on the vines are all this big we are gonna need some help eating them. I hope Bounty of the Barrens Market goers are hungry for tomatoes. My favorite way to eat a tomato is for breakfast covered in white gravy, but I also love them on a blolgna sandwich, and they are really good plain with a little salt on top. I also have a good tomato pasta salad recipe. Now I like my tomato peeled and that seems to be a big debate around here. Do we peel the tomato or not? My husband likes his cucumbers peeled which never crossed my mind untill we were married. So in our house tomatoes and cucumbers both get peeled in the name of compromise. Tomato Cucumber Pasta 2 extra large tomatoes chopped 2 cucumbers chopped 1/4 cup olive oil 1/8 cup balsamic vineger 1tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 1tsp garlic 1tsp oregano 2 cups cooked pasta (I use a veggie tricolor my kiddos call it wacky noodles or worms) Combine all in a large bowl and toss Grate a little Aged Cheddar Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese over the top enjoy

Newest Addition to the Farm

We have a new addition here at Growing Boys Farm. His name is Bo and he is an adorable golden retriver puppy. We have missed not having a dog around the last little bit and we had looked a few times at the local shelter but just hadn't found the dog for us. Thanks in part to Stoney Creek Farms we found Bo, and I knew he had to be our new dog. He was just too cute not to bring home. My Daddy says that's why baby things are cute so you fall in love with them before they cause too much trouble. I think this saying is also true for children. Bo's new home is on our front porch and so far he has been pretty good about not doing his buisness on it which I am very thankful of. And as of this moment nothing has been chewed to bits although I'm sure it is coming. But I guess that will be a small price to pay for the companionship of a dog. We hope Bo has a long and happy life at Growing Boys Farm and we hope he learns to do his buisness in the weeds and we hope he doesn't chew up everything we own and we hope he quits howling for us to come out at 5 in the morning and.. you get the idea. Just wish us luck through the puppy stage.

Thanks Ms. Terri

At farmers market it's so nice to see people each week and to really get to know them. There are the ladies who buy flowers each and every week sometimes for a friend and sometimes just to cheer themselves up. There is the guy who always buys his wife lettuce because it's "her favorite". And then there is the self proclaimed "bag lady" who comes each week with camera bag in tow. She stands and chats, we talk about kiddos and such and then she always takes the most beautiful pictures. I get to see what our farm's bounty looks like through the eyes (and camera lens) of another. I am greatful for these beautiful photographs. We have made such wonderful friendships at our local Saturday morning farmers market and for that I am the most thankful. Photograph taken by Terri Bacon

Goings on at the Farm

We have baby chicks here at Growing Boys Farm. Now before there are any conclusions jumped to we do not practice any type of confinement animal factory farming. The chicks just had to be put in the barrel while there brooder (house for baby chicks) was being cleaned. Have you ever smelled 38 baby chicks after a week? They really begin to stink. 38 baby chicks, yes I counted, I couldn't help myself but I guess it's ok because they had already hatched. I can count my chicks after they hatch. The tomatoes are allllmost ripe. So close you can taste it. I can't wait for delicious heirloom tomatoes. Flowers are in full bloom. The field seems to have exploded with color. Growing Boys is officially growing flowers for weddings now too. Our first wedding is in July and we are really excited to be part of the special day. We sure are keeping busy this summmer...and loving every second of it. Sometimes when I'm up to my elbows in weeds with dirt all over my face I just like to stop, look around, and remember how blessed we are to all be together on this little place.

South Carolina Peaches

Usually here at Growing Boys Farm we try to eat local. Ya know food we or friends at the farmers market grow. But today we are eating peaches that have been shipped in. Gasp you say. Yes they were shipped in all the way from Ridge Spring, South Carolina in the back seat of my Aunt's car. Our family from Ridge Spring is in town and they brought peaches. We love when family comes to vist. It gives us an exuse to all get together and hang out around the kitchen table to talk about what's going on in the world, what's new with family and to remember good times from the past. But man sitting around a big bowl of peaches and ice cream makes it so much better. Or it could be peaches and angle food cake, or peaches and bisquits for breakfast, or just peaches with a little sugar on top.... Any way you fix them peaches from Ridge Spring are the best. So if your every in South Carolina stop by the little town of Ridge Spring and say Hi to Mayor Pat. The Town of Ridge Spring, South Carolina boasts five antique shops, its own meat market, a pecan specialty store, and an unforgettable restaurant, but best of all they have peaches.

Don't Count Your Chickens

You know the old saying "Don't count your chickens before they hatch"? Well I counted them probably more than once. Our flock of Chickens has not faired so well in the past week. We had a hen "Buckeye" sitting on a nest of eggs and we were so excited about the prospect of baby chicks. Then some friends ordered chicks of which we got five. The grand total of chicks that I wasn't supposed to count yet...21. Then the worst thing happened. We forgot to shut the door to the chicken coop. The next morning our son went to check on Buckeye and her chicks only to find they had all vanished. They were gone, she and the chicks the eggs and even the eggs I had forgotten to collect the day before, gone. Thankfully our other hens and the rooster got out alive. But wait that's not the end. We decided to clean out the chicken coop only to find a bee hive under the water tank. The littlest growing boy found it the hard way. So after much ado and several ice packs we decided to call in reinforcements...Daddy. Daddy came home from work took care of the bees and finished cleaning out the chicken coop. All was right once againg on the farm. But wait that's not the end. A few nights later the chickens decided not to go into the chicken coop to roost but instead to spend the night on top of the swing set. Bad idea to let them spend the night on the swing set cause guess who decided to come back for another chicken dinner. Yep he ate another hen. We're not really sure who he is but we are bound and determined not to let him eat the rest of our little flock which now numbers 4. I guess it's time to call up the hatchery and order more baby chicks. I don't think I'll count them at all this time.

Farmers Market

Every Saturday we pack up what seems to be the entire garden, half the house, all the kiddos and head off to the farmers market. We spend all morning among friends old and new selling our vegetables and flowers. Our display changes from week to week, lettuces in the spring tomatoes in the summer corn for fall but always lots of flowers. The flowers are my favorite. The boys run and play eat homemade bread and ask lots of question. Sometimes at market there are strange things to see and we get to discuss them on the ride home. Oh the ride home tired and hot but usually with enough spending money to stop for a weekly treat..A much deserved ice cold drink.

BLTs anyone?

199 Tomato Plants and Baby Bibb Lettuce

BLTs anyone? Well you'll have to bring your own bacon. Pigs are on my list of things I'd like to have here at our little farm but for now the veggies are coming in full force and that's about all we can handle. Spring has been good to us here at Growing Boys Farm. The Sunflowers are about a month early but they sure are beautiful in full bloom across the field. Now I just have to figure out how to keep them from blooming on Tuesday and get them to bloom on Friday (we have to cut for farmers market on fridays).

Who Needs Vick's

For the past few days I've had a sick kiddo. Fever, cough, the whole shebang and to top it off we ran out of vicks. We are big fans of the menthol rub on the feet trick for a cough. Did you know that one, you just rub the bottom of the kiddos feet down with menthol rub, put on socks and instantly no more cough. So I decided to make our own menthol rub.
2oz olive oil
1tbsp beeswax
20 drops Eucalyptus essential oil
Heat the oil and beeswax in a double boiler until it's melted then add the essential oil. Pour the mixture into a jar and let it cool. Once it's cooled slather up those tootsies and enjoy cough free night...I hope.