Weekend in Goldsboro and working on the Small Farm

This was my first official full weekend in Goldsboro. Saturday morning I went with Clare to the dairy to help James, the dairy manager, with the feeding of the calves. They feed them a corn meal blend once a day and throw in a hay bale for the older calves as well. That afternoon we all went to one of the pubs in Goldsboro to watch the US vs. England match in the world cup. That evening was pretty chill as most of us were pretty tired so we ended up watching Food Inc. Sunday we spent almost the whole day indoors because it was so hot outside. We had a large potluck for dinner which included the most delicious food! I made a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, apples, grapes and a peanut dressing that I made myself (one of the other interns instructed me how to do so). Unfortunately I consumed a little bit of pineapple in a delicious chutney that someone made, but I was saved from another undesirable reaction by some awesome ginger, lemon and honey tea that was made for me.

On Monday we went to the small farm unit in the afternoon and did some solid manual labor to help out the apprentices. I went with the group to do some blueberry picking and then later sifted through a huge pile of sandbags to figure out which ones were still good for use. We also moved a huge donated hay bale, which is harder than it sounds, but at least we got to ride in the bed of a truck with a huge pile of hay!

I absolutely love it here! I thought it was going to be difficult not having TV or internet in the house, but it's actually been the best thing for me. On Sunday night after the potluck instead of going inside to check facebook or watch some Sunday night TV, a group of us went outside and watched the sunset while having a relaxed conversation. It's great to be able to get up early without being tired and spend a couple of hours each day cooking great organic meals. Sometimes I miss being home but I am learning so much cool information not just from the internship lessons and research, but also from the other interns. It's such an eclectic group of people and I am continuously being surprised in a great way. I am sure I will have 11+ new friends by the end of the summer.