Cold Creek Nursery

Just wanted to let you all know that Cold Creek in Aiken, SC is now carrying our Trail Ridge Farm products. Check it out if you are interested in getting our goat cheeses locally!

Cold Creek Nursery

398 Hitchcock Parkway

Aiken, SC 29801

(803)648-3592

Or check out their website here!

Nature's Beauty...

Matthew recently took this picture of our farm early one morning just as the sun was cresting the tree line.  There is such beauty in the foggy morning sunrise.  How blessed we are to be able to enjoy such beauty right here on our property!  

 "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised."

Psalm 113:3

Mom & Dad

Dad (Kelly) and Mom (Shelly) are the parents of the Hammond Clan.

(Ha, ha, no kidding, right!)

They are both enjoying 31 years of marriage to each other and are praying for many more years to come.  They have blessed us in so many ways, not only as wonderful, godly examples of a Christian marriage, but in everyday living.

Mom continues to be a stay-at-home mother who is almost through homeschooling her kids after having done it for the past 18 years!  Wow, what a teaching record!  She has been a wonderful source of information and help when it comes to schooling, parenting, teaching, training, and marriage.  She offers great advice, but never pushes to make sure that you're doing what she says.

Dad is still enjoying being pastor of our small, wonderful church.  He loves his flock and enjoys preparing the messages each week and fellowshipping with everyone.  He's the kind of guy who everybody likes and trusts, so the combination make him a great pastor.  He's always available to talk and offer advice or prayer.  

Mom and Dad are more than just parents; they are our best friends.  Both of them keep a close relationship with Savannah, Ethan and Noah since they are still at home, but they also maintain a close relationship with their grown/married children as well.

Dad and Mom are thrilled to be grandparents and enjoy the little ones when they come for a visit!  They are looking forward to many more little blessings in the years to come.

Mom keeps busy with housework as well as farm work.  Whether it's cleaning up the kitchen or fixing fences, Mom and Savannah are usually right there doing it together.

They continue to operate Trail Ridge Farm & Grade A Goat Dairy.  They have had to reduce the herd a little and double up on chores as we children grow up and marry, but they are still enjoying the goats and selling the cheese.  Mom is the main cheesemaker and herdswoman, and Dad is the main marketeer, promoter and seller.

Now that all of us kids are older, they have been getting the chance to go away on some mini vacations together.  They spent a few days up in Ohio at a wedding this past spring and are looking forward to going to Maine this fall.

Dad continues with his pool & pond business and now has the boys who help him with it.  It's nice to see all three of them doing it together.  

Dad has also taken up volleyball with the guys, as well as disc golf.  All of them enjoy the competition and camaraderie it affords.  It's something that gets them all out there playing together and having fun.

We are so thankful to have them as our parents and pray that the Lord would bless them with many more years of serving Him!

"We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.  For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments."

Psalm 78:4-7

Baby Goat Time!

Guess what!  It's that time of year again!  Our baby goats are here, and they are cute and cuddly and ready to go to new homes!

Meet Our Farm Intern

Chelsea has been staying with us for the past two weeks, working as our very first farm intern!  She agreed to stay for a month, helping us out with milking, chores, and projects, and in return, we are teaching her what we know about goats, cheese, animal husbandry, and milking!

When we first decided to take an intern on, we were a little worried, because we've heard all of the horror stories behind interns.  We've actually kicked the idea around for some time (as Chelsea can tell you because she actually approached us with the idea about a year ago!) , but we just kept backing down due to our "fears".  After we finally decided to just go ahead and try it for one month on a week-to-week basis, we are so glad that we did!  Chelsea is working out great!  She is a hard working young woman, diligent, dependable and a go-getter!  She is always looking for more projects to tackle.  The Lord sent us an angel when he sent Chelsea our way and we are already making plans for her to come back during kidding season!  Not only is it our busiest time of year, but it is also the most fun!

She isn't too keen on having her photo taken, but she's been a good sport and let me capture some of her time here...

Chelsea is staying in our pop-up camper while she is here since the weather is still so nice, but when she comes back in January we will have to figure out a better plan! : )

Chelsea, at the Sandhills Farmer's Market with her dog and her goat...

...her baby Nigerian Dwarf.

Chelsea in the cheese room...

Being with us day in and day out, she's been pointing things out that we've never really payed much attention to before.  She remarked the other day that we are the most "whistling" family she's ever been around!  We got a kick out of her comment but when we actually stopped to listen, she was right, we are always either whistling, humming or singing, and usually it's not the same song!  Our goal before she leaves is to turn her into a whistler!

She is also doing a great job helping sell our products at the markets.  Here she is with Ethan at the University of South Carolina Market.

Our bi-annual Herb Fair also rolled around while she's been here, so her and I sold at that one all morning.  Savannah, Mom and Noah joined us after chores, so that Chelsea and I could take a lunch break.  She is an excellent saleswoman and can usually convince people that they should at least try the cheese.  She seems to have a quip for everyone's excuses:

Customer #1: "It's too early in the morning to try goat cheese..."

Chelsea: "We actually have a sweet cheese that works perfectly in the morning on bagels, if you'd like to try it..."

Customer #2: "I'm not much of a goat cheese fan..."

Chelsea: "Have you tried our goat cheese?  You might be surprised!"

Customer #3: "I'm having trouble deciding which cheese to get, there are so many to choose from!"

Chelsea: "You could get one of each and the problem is solved!"

She is so funny and had me laughing several times throughout our day together!  

Chelsea and Kelsey

(The rhyming names can get confusing.  We are both learning to answer to either!)

Noah, Chelsea, myself and Savannah at our booth.

Savannah's candles...

The musicians at the Herb Faire...

She has been pitching in and helping out with anything and everything, from helping us get ready for the Herb Faire (see picture below), to doing dishes, to cooking us dinner one night!

But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy....so we have also been enjoying our late night games!  We have played Telestrations, Whoonu, Catch Phrase, and Mexican Train Dominoes.  She is a good sport and willing to learn new things, so we've had a lot of fun teaching her our favorite games.  It's also been a joy to just sit around in the evenings and talk with her.  Savannah, Chelsea and I sat around last night talking about anything and everything and nothing in particular.  She's so easy to talk to.  It's almost like having another sister!

During lunch break....

Chelsea has pretty much become an extension of our family while she's been here, to the point that Dad teases her that we'll adopt her! LOL!  

Here we are viewing a Civil War Exhibit of the submarine, the Hunley.

It's been nice to have extra hands around because she has been working on the projects on our list that we never seem to get to, such as scrubbing down the milking parlor, washing windows, and staining the siding boards on the dairy, as she is doing in the picture below.

So all in all, Chelsea's internship has been going great for us and I think she is truly enjoying herself as well!  It has made us realize that maybe internships aren't so scary, that maybe stepping into the unknown isn't a bad thing!  I realize that if we keep up the internship program, we may eventually run into our own horror story (yikes!), but for our first one, with Chelsea, the Lord has definitely blessed us!  

Thanks Chelsea, for pushing us to try this.  We are so glad that we did!

Recent Randominity....

Okay, so "randominity" might not be a word, but it sounds so good that it should be!  This post is going to concentrate on all of the little things that have been going on in our lives.  I'll just lump them all into one post.

We have recently had the blessing of buying a little truck.  It serves well for the pool business and market trips, as well as trips to pick up goats, as it has a hitch!

Noah and I have enjoyed taking it to the market.  It has plenty of space with the bed, but it's small enough that we call it our "Little Zip-Zip" truck, because that's exactly how it seems to drive (remember, I'm only used to driving a large van!).  

Recently we have had some persnickety milking does, so for a joke, I hastily scribbled this and pasted it to the wall in front of their faces when they come in to get milked.  

For those who can't read it, it says:

"ATTENTION GIRLS:

In regard to selling season, we suggest that you mind you P's and Q's, because once a rash decision is made, it cannot be undone.  Thank you!

-Management"

It then includes a "Naughty List"

It seems to have made a difference, though, because all of the girls are behaving better!

Chef Brandon from Juniper Restaurant came to the market not too long ago to give a cooking demo.  His samples were delicious and he was kind enough to use our crumbled feta in one of his demonstrations.

Here are some photos of Noah, Ethan and Mist one morning cleaning the pool.

Me and my Border Collie Mist.  She is doing so well.  We have had her now for one whole year and she is doing excellent.  Every time we see her work, she simply amazes us.

A beautiful sky...

Our youngest two baby goats, recently weaned.  They were definitely blessed with spots, which made them instant keepers in Mom's book!

My wonderful grandparents, a legacy of love...

One day, while watching the goats out in the field, I noticed these two odd looking birds walking among the goats.  The milking girls were definitely interested in them as you can tell from the photo below....

Also, our garden grew some very interesting characters this year...such as the long-nosed fellow below.  He was just too cute to resist, so I put some eyes and a mouth on him.

Ain't he cute?!?

Ethan, being Ethan....trying on a wig.  Doesn't he look absolutely groovy?

Here is half of a photo of my niece, Berea, with the booties that Jordan is knitting for her.

Here is a better picture of Berea...she's so adorable!

Here is Victoria, enjoying a day out at the Upper Canada Village.

We love this photo of Victoria.  Such a farm girl.

Here is Gram snuggling with Berea, and both of them fell asleep. : )

Rocking Berea to sleep.  It was such a joy for her and Poppy to be able to travel up to Canada and see Berea when she was only a few weeks old.  With Victoria they had to wait until she was three months old, so this certainly was a thrill for them, with Berea being such a newborn still.

My wonderful parents...

For Noah's birthday, we spent the day at the lake.  Dad grilled out for us a delicious meal of shrimp kabobs.  The weather was wonderful, nice and breezy.  The only downfall was that our suntan lotion didn't work.  So WE GOT BURNT!  Severely burnt.  Like I've never gotten burnt in my life.  Which of course meant peeling.  Thankfully it was almost completely healed by the time we went to the Shindig!

Noah's cake!

The swimmers

The cook...

The food...

The view...

Ethan enjoying a Turkish meal at a nice restaurant.

So hopefully that covers all of the little things that have been going on in our life lately.  One big, giant random post. : )