Antler Valley Farm. How did we come up with that name? It wasn’t easy. Everyone had different ideas and the name was going to be permanent so it needed to be something we all liked. No pressure though!
So, what’s in a Name? A lot, if you ask me. If you ask Jim, it’s just a name. To me though a name has a lot of power. Think about how carefully you choose your kids names. We spent hours pouring over books, making lists and making decisions for each of our 3 kids. We wanted their names to be perfect and to mean something. Don’t get me wrong-we didn’t go crazy and chart star patterns or compile lists and origins of every possible name. Now, please don’t take offense if you did that-I’m just saying I don’t have that kind of determination and ambition!! We started with names we liked and names that meant something to us and then narrowed it down from there. Each of our kids have a name with a bit of a story or meaning that is special to us. To me that’s what in a name- a meaning or story. That’s a lot!
How do you name something that looks like a disaster area?!?!? Disaster farms is not quite the appealing name we were going for!
So, naming the farm should be something of a big deal too, right? Well, of course it was for me. Obviously, with my issues, everything is a big deal! In the end, we wanted the name to fit the farm but we didn’t really know the farm that well yet. We had only just bought it a few months before so it was still relatively new to us. We didn’t want to name it the wrong name and regret it later. We wanted the right name the first time. I’m not sure how hard it is to change the name of a farm once you have it listed with a farm ID number but I can’t imagine it’s easy. We only had one name to give the farm so it better be the best one we could come up with.
We started by making a list of names we liked, names we had heard or names we had thought of. Then, we asked people for suggestions. That’s when it got hilarious!! Some of the suggestions were great. Others, not so much. Some were just downright horrible actually! What do people think? I’m not kidding when I say that some people can actually make me feel less crazy. I love those people!! Sometimes a person would suggest something and well…. How about I just give you a few of the names people suggested for our farm and I’m pretty sure you’ll understand.
Jim wanted to name the farm Carter Family Farm and be done with it. Of course that was just waaaaay to easy for me!
These are some suggestions we received. Some are priceless, others not so much.
Princess acres- Ummm,… do you think Princesses actually farm? I don’t personally know any real princesses but I’m pretty sure they hire people to do that for them. And we obviously couldn’t afford to hire anybody at this point. Maybe, Wannabe Princess Acres?
Family Farm-Well, that’s completely original and really sets us apart, don’t you think? Jim liked it though. He was ready to name it Carter Family Farm and be done with it from the very beginning. Hmmm, maybe he knew I would make a big deal of it?!?!?
No Idea Farm- Seriously? Would you eat or buy anything from that farm? It did make me laugh though and there have been quite a few times that I’ve thought about that name and thought how appropriate it actually could be!
B.S. Acres-Ok, that one was good for a laugh since Jim runs a septic business but aside from that…NO! Not happening. Not the vibe we were going for.
Crazy Critters Farm- This one is probably the most accurate as I tend to be drawn to crazy animals. Like owner, like animal, I guess. Maybe I just rub off on them-I don’t know! However, this was probably not the best name for a farm that we were hoping would be a successful business.
Over It Place-Ummmm,….what exactly are we over??? We actually saw this in a magazine and Jim thought it was hilarious. He kept bringing it up. All. The. Time. NO!!! However, it did make me laugh to hear him keep suggesting it.
Poor Man’s Paradise-Again, this one was actually quite accurate and funny but not quite what we were looking for.
Carter Gang Farm-Somehow the term Gang makes me want to run and hide. Some kind of crazy word association there, I don’t know why. So, NO, that name didn’t work at all for me.
3 Ring Circus Farm- I’m always joking that we now have our very own 3 ring circus with our 3 kids. So, someone suggested that we use that name for the farm. I have a feeling that we will eventually end up with ALOT of animals of different kinds and then we would have like a 50 ring circus or so? Please don’t tell Jim I suggested that we might one day have 50 animals. He might run away forever!!!
Better Than Therapy Farm-Yes, this is probably completely true but do I really need to advertise my issues so publicly? I’m sure they are evident already!
Star Wars Acres- Whose idea do you think this was??? Yes, my family LOVES Star Wars but I don’t think that relates to the farm on most levels. However, I can totally imagine Jim and the kids trying to round up cows with light sabers!! (Oh, that thought makes me laugh every time!) But there might be a slight trademark name infringement thing there…..I don’t know but that was my argument. Moving on….
Butterfly Creek Farm- The kids loved to play at one of the creeks that had tons of butterflies everywhere. The kids and I named the creek the Butterfly Creek so they thought it only fit to name the farm that. Jim was Not amused. He wanted no part of Butterfly Creek Farms. “We are not raising Butterflies” he said. He can be so funny sometimes!
Oh, I could go on. We had so many suggestions given to us which were mostly appreciated. Others were good for a laugh. So, we kept writing down ideas but none of them seemed right to us. We wanted the name to mean something to us and to the land. The one thing we knew about the land was that it was wooded. But the name 100 Acre Woods makes me want to act like Tiger and Pooh every time. Jim did not find my impressions of Tiger or Pooh very funny or very accurate. I’ve never been any good at impressions!
We knew that the land had woods and several creeks that come together into one big creek. So how about 5 Creeks Farm? We ALL liked it! We all thought it was actually pretty good and at one point we decided that was the name. It just wasn’t perfect. It didn’t have enough meaning for the farm somehow. Yes, I am crazy and I can be a little bit of a perfectionist sometimes. Anyway, we were on the right track with the name finding.
It seemed that everytime we went out there we were finding and bringing home deer antlers. The logging guy and grading guy had both found several antlers. Behind our property is 500 wooded acres and I joked that all the bucks come over to our place to shed their antlers every year.
I wish I had pictures of all the antlers we found out there but at the time I didn’t realize they were important.
My kids loved looking for and finding antlers. Most were brought home to decorate our front porch. It was kind of funny to see antlers on our porch since we aren’t a hunting family! It really wasn’t my thing to see them on the porch every day but you have to pick your battles, right? Besides, quite a few disappeared. I think our dog took them into the woods and buried some, but I don’t really know for sure….
After about a dozen antlers we came up with the idea of Deer Farm, but that just didn’t seem right. It seemed too plain. Then, the grading guy cleared the housesite and we realized we had a view of the Mountains. We didn’t actually know that before because it was so heavily wooded. So, we came up with Deer Mountain Farm. Well, technically our little knoll isn’t a Mountain and I couldn’t get past that little technicality. Looking at a view of the mountain didn’t give us the right to call our farm Deer Mountain Farm, did it? Back to the drawing board.
We had no idea we had a view of the mountains because the entire property was so heavily wooded. Once the grading guy started opening up the house site we were thrilled with the view of the mountains!
The more we cleared, the more the valley opened up below and we came up with the name Deer Valley Farm. We all really liked that name. Just one problem. There is already a Deer Valley Farm in Rutherfordton. Well, that would be confusing to other people, now wouldn’t it?
The view of our Valley
The more we cleared the more we realized that it looked like a valley sloping down to the creeks. Something Valley Farm?
We went through more crazy ideas and suggestions from other people. Did I mention that someone suggested Wet’N’Wild Farm? Yeah, I’m not even going to discuss that one. Moving on…
Then, one day we found another antler. Well, actually, Jim stepped on it and if flew up and hit him in the leg. He might’ve thought he had been snake bitten….In February!! However, I am forbidden from discussing the incident or any further details of that particular incident. Let’s just say it was quite funny!! Ok, I’m moving on now….Hahahaha!!!
It’s such a scary snake!!!
The point of that veiled story was to say that we had found another antler. Duh! Antler Valley Farm! I never said we were geniuses. But we had finally found a name that fit the farm perfectly and we all liked it. It almost seemed like the farm named itself which is what we wanted. The farm name should be a representative of the farm. As a bonus, everytime I say Antler Valley Farm I remember the story of Jim thinking the antler was a snake!! Such a great memory!
Antler Valley Farm. It was finally real! Finally, a perfect name for our perfect farm. Antler Valley Farm. Yes, I could keep repeating that name but I will stop now before it gets annoying.
Ok, just one more time. Antler Valley Farm!!!!
