first day at the creamery
I made it--I'm at the creamery. I moved in Sunday afternoon and yesterday was my first full day. It's been overwhelming to get so much new information thrown at me (and we haven't even gotten into the chemistry of cheese-making yet), but C (the owner) and E and J (the other apprentice and journeyperson) are being very patient. It's completely different from the farm in Maryland. Of course, there I was being paid by the hour, and here I'm getting $100 a week (plus all groceries). C has been encouraging me to ease into the work, take lots of breaks so that I don't burn out, don't work at a breakneck pace because as an apprentice, my job is to learn.
Yesterday morning I helped E take the hay out to the trough while the goats were being milked. Then we spent some time going over the calendar and talking about who would be going to which farmers markets. There was no cheese being made today, but there was milk being pasteurized, and curds to be drained from yesterday, so we did some work in the cheese room. After lunch, E and I took some of the goats for a walk. There are about 35 girl goats who all live together, and then there are three boy goats and two misbehaving girls who live apart. Here is Guy Noir, who has a very suave-looking lock of hair that is usually covering one of his eyes:
Guy is the son of Mr. Green, who is a dignified old man with an impressive beard:
Mr. Green didn't feel like going for a walk, so we took Guy Noir, White Boy, and the two bad girls, Ida and Fat Nana. Here are Guy, Fat Nana, and Ida trying to reach birch leaves:
It's easy to remember the names of those five goats because they're off in their own pen, but it will take me a while to learn the names of the other 35 girls. I thought I would try to take pictures of each goat and make flash cards for myself, but I found that when you try to take a picture of one goat, all the others want to know what's going on:
There is not a ton of land here, so it's not like the goats are roaming over many acres, but they do have some nice space to explore:
In the afternoon, I helped with some more cheese room stuff, including wrapping some chevre in grape leaves and tying it with raffia. It can then be thrown on the grill:
At 5:00, E and I started the evening milking. All of the goats come into the milking parlor, even if they're kids or retired. It's just a part of their daily routine, and a time for them to eat some grain (they always have access to hay and water).
The walk-in cooler is very full right now. I have a lot of cheese-tasting in my near future.
Yesterday morning I helped E take the hay out to the trough while the goats were being milked. Then we spent some time going over the calendar and talking about who would be going to which farmers markets. There was no cheese being made today, but there was milk being pasteurized, and curds to be drained from yesterday, so we did some work in the cheese room. After lunch, E and I took some of the goats for a walk. There are about 35 girl goats who all live together, and then there are three boy goats and two misbehaving girls who live apart. Here is Guy Noir, who has a very suave-looking lock of hair that is usually covering one of his eyes:
Guy is the son of Mr. Green, who is a dignified old man with an impressive beard:
Mr. Green didn't feel like going for a walk, so we took Guy Noir, White Boy, and the two bad girls, Ida and Fat Nana. Here are Guy, Fat Nana, and Ida trying to reach birch leaves:
It's easy to remember the names of those five goats because they're off in their own pen, but it will take me a while to learn the names of the other 35 girls. I thought I would try to take pictures of each goat and make flash cards for myself, but I found that when you try to take a picture of one goat, all the others want to know what's going on:
There is not a ton of land here, so it's not like the goats are roaming over many acres, but they do have some nice space to explore:
In the afternoon, I helped with some more cheese room stuff, including wrapping some chevre in grape leaves and tying it with raffia. It can then be thrown on the grill:
At 5:00, E and I started the evening milking. All of the goats come into the milking parlor, even if they're kids or retired. It's just a part of their daily routine, and a time for them to eat some grain (they always have access to hay and water).
The walk-in cooler is very full right now. I have a lot of cheese-tasting in my near future.
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