About Us
The farm began as a hobby to instill a sense of responsibility for their children, when Michael and Diane Karabin moved to Southington in 1972.
Before long they had over twenty head of cattle, ponies and sundry other animals. The family, along with retired Plainville High School Principal, Ivan Wood, was producing hay for the herd at the Zebrowski farm on Cooke Street at Tinty's old Plainville Stadium, the Edman farm on Ledge Road and the Pavano property on Pavano Drive. After a day of 'haying', Mike and Diane would go home exhausted, while Mr. Wood would go to a high school reunion, and dance the night away!
Moving to their current location in 1984, meant finding creative ways to keep the kids busy as well as making their newly acquired 50 acres 'pay-back'. Again, farming was the answer, and it became the family's focus.
Leo D'Antonio, Diane's Father, helped Michael build the barn and fences. Gradually the kids and their Dad planted nearly 2000 fruit trees and over 10,000 Christmas trees. Through the years, Josh and Luke had a vegetable stand the way other kids sell lemonade. Rebecca and Stormie raised replacement Holstein heifers for dairy farms. When they were seven years old, Priya and Tessa asked Santa for baby cows for Christmas. All have been involved in the growth of the farm. As they graduated from college, the Karabin kids brought home marketing and management skills as well as a horticultural degree. The current nutrition major credits a lifetime of fresh, healthy food to her choice of major.
Today, in addition to the orchard, there are four greenhouses, 15 acres of Christmas trees, and a country Store. Besides fresh fruit and vegetables, we offer local honey, maple syrup, jams, pickles, soup mixes, and gourmet treats. All meat beef, pork, chicken, and turkeys are grown humanely right here on our farm. Process is done by "certified humane" USDA inspection facility in Vermont. We have numerous country furniture items by hand-made artisans in Pennsylvania and Maine.
We offer an extensive selection of specialty candles and soaps. Home baked pies are available August through December. Flowers are available from early April with custom designed planters available to meet the needs of your yard. In addition to Mums for fall color, we offer an extensive selection of Poinsettia's for Christmas, wagon rides to Pick-Your-Own apples, peaches, and pumpkins. Karabin Farms provides special programs for school groups during the fall harvest.
Christmas tree sales will begin for cut your own trees Saturday, November 29