Alpaca Farmin’!

Hey everybody! I hope your weekends were fantabulous!

I’m really excited because I’m finally in North Carolina on the Alpaca Farm! The people i’m staying with are awesome, and the alpacas are adorable!

I’m not sure how many food related posts I’m going to be able to do, lets face it, the people I know well think it’s weird that I take photos of my food, I can hardly imagine what complete strangers would think!

But, I can tell you what I did on my first day on the farm!!

I woke up at 8am to learn how to water and feed the alpacas.

They’ve got their own little barn under the deck. Here they are, trying to get out of the hot sun!

They come in so many different colors, and their fur/wool is sooooo soft it’s crazy! They’re all so friendly as well, except maybe one or two. I’m still trying to learn their names, there’s almost 20 of them, so it’s hard to keep track, especially when they look so similar!

The’ve also got a goat named Gracie, and she’s the friendliest of them all! She followed me around and kept nudging me to pet her!

Then it was breakfast time. As we ate, Val, Carlo (The owners of the alpacas) and I talked about what I wanted to get out of this internship, and what I wanted to learn. I feel like they’ve really got so much to teach me! They’re really into sustainability, healthy eating, and are huge supporters of buying local foods and going to the farmers markets! Val even said she’s always been really interested in vegetarianism, so I’m excited to cook up some good veggie food for her!

After breakfast, (It was a late breakfast, more like brunch!) I baked a cake, got some things ready for starting school up at the end of the month, and then it was time to feed the alpacas again!

This time, I got to do it all by myself! Val and Carlo went out for the afternoon, so I got to put my new skills to work! At first, they all just stared at me. I had to hose them down a little (from their belly down) because it was sooo sooo hot out, they needed it to cool down. It was difficult with them all standing in a clump like that, but I figured it out!

Then I filled their little pails up with food, and gave them some fresh hay. I also changed the water in their buckets. It’s kind of an odd thing to say, but I really like this work! I mean, I know it’s not something I’d want to do every day for forever, but it’s a fun experience.

Anywho, after that I took a shower, because I was hot and sticky and covered in hay! I’m thankful half the yard is shaded, because it was about 100 degrees! Once I was done showering, I ate, and then soon after that it was time for my guilty pleasure TV show, Next Food Network Star. It’s a silly show, I know, but it’s kinda a tradition for me and my brother, we watch it every summer.

Adorbs! Tomorrow hopefully I’ll get a post up as well, lots of exciting things are happening, this afternoon I’m going to learn how to scoop up alpaca poop! (Soooo exciting, I know, haha) And hopefully my cake will turn out, and I’ll post some photos of it decorated!

Have you ever lived/worked on a farm? And if any of you have some quick, no fuss, not expensive veggie dishes that you wanna share, I’d love to hear them! Post some links in your comments! Thanks!

Tags: alpca, farm, farmer's market, feed, food, north carolina, vegetarian