Working at Flint Hill Farm as the cheesemaking intern was a great experience.
I would like to have my own farm one day and and this was my first step to getting
there. I learned everything from milking the cows, goats and sheep to packaging
and selling dairy products at farmers markets. My favorite part was working with the
animals. It is a great feeling when everything goes exactly how you planned and all
the animals go exactly where they are supposed too. I also had the pleasure to
halter train some calves and sheep. Seeing the outcome of the work I put into those
animals makes so much of a difference when they need to be milked or vet checked.
I wasn’t so sure how well I would do with the cheesemaking, I haven’t really had
any experience with cheese other than eating it. After making various cheeses
I found out that it is quite fun to see milk become cheese, especially when it is the
milk that you yourself got from the cow that same morning. Some of the cheeses
I made were cheddar, mozzarella, and chèvre. I learned how to make other dairy
products as well, such as yogurt, kefir and buttermilk. It is amazing to think that
different breeds of cows can make different tasting cheese. For example Jersey cows
have way more cream in their milk and because of that their cheese tastes a lot
better than from some other breeds like Holsteins. After working on the farm for about
a year and working with lots of different animals I figured out that I would like to
have a sheep dairy farm so I can continue making cheeses.
-Hanna Walker
Flint Hill Farm Cheese Internship 2018