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!