Alright. Here it goes. Blog post #1...
First thing you should know about me is that I am not good at things like this. Blogging, journaling, letter writing, and anything else similar to that I have never been successful. The challenge for me is taking the time to actually sit down and write it all out. This is a first for me so be patient and I promise I'll work to get better at it.
So I've been here for almost a month now working at Miller Farm. I had previously little to no experience with farming of any kind and I had only been out to Miller Farm once or twice when I applied for the intern position. Honestly though, that was probably the biggest reasy why I wanted to be an intern here. Miller Farm, historically, has been a huge part of people's lives at Earlham. I know many students who participate in Farm Day every week and even know a lot of the people who have lived at Miller Farm, but I have never gotten involved. I was curious to see what life was like at the farm, so I applied.
I have learned a lot being here. I come at 7 am three days a week to work the morning chores. These include taking the compost and chicken bin's out, letting out the goats and chickens, feeding all of the animals (chickens, goats, cats, and a dog), and watering all of the gardens (five in total). After morning chores are over I start off my day with working in the gardens. It's so much cooler and less buggy in the early morning so weeding, turning beds, laying compost, and planting is far more enjoyable. The afternoons are saved for intern meetings, website work, visits to Orscheln's for animal feed, and brief (but wonderful) naps. When the evening rolls around and it starts to cool off, another intern will do evening chores (similar to morning chores) while myself and others work in the gardens again. When the sun goes down, it's time to go home and sleep.
When I arrived here our two goats, Meesh Meesh and Goatrude, were pregnant. A couple weeks after we started working, I showed up for morning chores and walked over to the goat pen to feed them, but when I tried to open their pen I couldn't. I looked over the small gate and there it was. A baby goat laying there, all fuzzy and new. I had so many emotions and thoughts running through my head that it took me a few seconds to register what that baby goat actually meant. I sprinted up to the house to wake the other interns who quickly dressed and followed me back outside to see the goat baby. Goat Baby #1 has been named Indigo(at). A couple days later wile at the farmers market with Natalie and Mishel, we got a call telling us that Goatrude had a kid. Happy day! Less than 30 minutes later we got another call saying that Goatrude had gone into labor AGAIN and had another kid! We shared the good news with all of our customers and eagurly awaited noon so that we could go back and meet Goat Babies #2 and #3. These two are now named Khal Drogoat (G.O.T. reference for anyone who watches) and Rhuby (short for Rhubarb). The goats and their kids are wonderful and one of my favorite parts about the farm.
We have been to 3 markets so far and we are doing well! Yesterday was the first day we participated in Thursday market near Main Street Diner. It was wonderful to meet a different crowd and talk to some of the other vendors. I also bought some delicious local honey and real maple syrup.
I think that's all I have for you for now. I am excited to start to have more to take to farmers markets and want to help Miller Farm make some connections with other local farms.
I hope you enjoyed this!
Until next time,
Ellen
First thing you should know about me is that I am not good at things like this. Blogging, journaling, letter writing, and anything else similar to that I have never been successful. The challenge for me is taking the time to actually sit down and write it all out. This is a first for me so be patient and I promise I'll work to get better at it.
So I've been here for almost a month now working at Miller Farm. I had previously little to no experience with farming of any kind and I had only been out to Miller Farm once or twice when I applied for the intern position. Honestly though, that was probably the biggest reasy why I wanted to be an intern here. Miller Farm, historically, has been a huge part of people's lives at Earlham. I know many students who participate in Farm Day every week and even know a lot of the people who have lived at Miller Farm, but I have never gotten involved. I was curious to see what life was like at the farm, so I applied.
I have learned a lot being here. I come at 7 am three days a week to work the morning chores. These include taking the compost and chicken bin's out, letting out the goats and chickens, feeding all of the animals (chickens, goats, cats, and a dog), and watering all of the gardens (five in total). After morning chores are over I start off my day with working in the gardens. It's so much cooler and less buggy in the early morning so weeding, turning beds, laying compost, and planting is far more enjoyable. The afternoons are saved for intern meetings, website work, visits to Orscheln's for animal feed, and brief (but wonderful) naps. When the evening rolls around and it starts to cool off, another intern will do evening chores (similar to morning chores) while myself and others work in the gardens again. When the sun goes down, it's time to go home and sleep.
When I arrived here our two goats, Meesh Meesh and Goatrude, were pregnant. A couple weeks after we started working, I showed up for morning chores and walked over to the goat pen to feed them, but when I tried to open their pen I couldn't. I looked over the small gate and there it was. A baby goat laying there, all fuzzy and new. I had so many emotions and thoughts running through my head that it took me a few seconds to register what that baby goat actually meant. I sprinted up to the house to wake the other interns who quickly dressed and followed me back outside to see the goat baby. Goat Baby #1 has been named Indigo(at). A couple days later wile at the farmers market with Natalie and Mishel, we got a call telling us that Goatrude had a kid. Happy day! Less than 30 minutes later we got another call saying that Goatrude had gone into labor AGAIN and had another kid! We shared the good news with all of our customers and eagurly awaited noon so that we could go back and meet Goat Babies #2 and #3. These two are now named Khal Drogoat (G.O.T. reference for anyone who watches) and Rhuby (short for Rhubarb). The goats and their kids are wonderful and one of my favorite parts about the farm.
We have been to 3 markets so far and we are doing well! Yesterday was the first day we participated in Thursday market near Main Street Diner. It was wonderful to meet a different crowd and talk to some of the other vendors. I also bought some delicious local honey and real maple syrup.
I think that's all I have for you for now. I am excited to start to have more to take to farmers markets and want to help Miller Farm make some connections with other local farms.
I hope you enjoyed this!
Until next time,
Ellen
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