I was raised in my great grandfather’s old farm house. He was born in my bedroom. Farming was his whole life. He raised sheep and chickens, and made hay. Lambs were born and reared in our basement for decades. I always say that I must have gotten a piece of him, since no one else in the family farms now.

My great grandfather died before I was born. He left the farmhouse and 80-acres to my parents. My dad and grandfather continued to make hay, they are creatures of habit, and eventually my mom used a good portion of the land to raise horses.

My younger sister and I grew up with horses and a few chickens, but we never really farmed. There was always something in me that loved animals, as I grew older, I knew I wanted to work with them. By the time I was thirteen, I decided milking goats was in my future. There was no particular reason, other than I just felt like I had to do it. 

Throughout my high school years this dream stuck. I struggled pretty heavily with addiction through high school and I had a hard time feeling like I fit in anywhere. I started working at 15, and could never stay at a job for more than 6 months to a year. I felt like I wasn’t going to amount to anything when I got older, but my dream to farm still stuck. 

At 17, I was working a dishwashing job at a cute little restaurant. Once a week a guy from their produce farm would come in and sell produce and flowers. He was the first person to ever give me flowers, and he always striked up a conversation with me about life. I had mentioned to him that I dreamed of making goat cheese and he said “why don’t you get a job on a goat farm?”. I had truly never thought of doing that! And he was truly such a wonderful person not only for that idea but for talking to me about my dreams and trying to help me find a way to make them come true instead of laughing and saying “yeah right” or “really?” like so many others did.

I reached out to the closest creamery, Appleton Creamery, owned by Caitlin Hunter. I remember going out and telling her I would do anything to work there even if it was just shoveling poop once a week. I knew I needed to be there! I had never really been around goats before so when I went out for my interview, I was shocked at just how perfect they were. I knew that this was the life I wanted to live. 

I got the job, and since I was attending an alternative school, due to my struggles with addiction and failing out of high school, I was allowed to do half-days at school and the rest of the day I worked at the farm.

Sadly, my struggles didn’t end. I chose drinking and using substances over apprenticing on the farm that summer. I still learned so much in the time I was there, but I always kick myself for missing out on so much for something so useless.

After a year of working there, I went out and partied and traveled and went to huge electronic dance music raves for a few years. I was in a toxic relationship that was going nowhere. I was trying to save money for a goat farm but kept wasting it on substances and partying. I felt like my dream was never going to come true. 

And then I met Greg.

Greg and I instantly clicked! I told Greg about everything! We would spend the whole day just driving around talking about our lives and dreams—and goats.

I told Greg about my dream to farm and make cheese. He loved the idea. He lived two and a half hours away so we decided to get an apartment together after a few months of dating, the next month I found out I was pregnant and instantly got sober. 

The apartment we lived in was infested with mold. I was so sick I couldn’t breath while I was in it, I was constantly sick and I was pregnant. So we moved quickly, into a rough trailer park and an even rougher trailer. The first day we were there I spent outside racking up all of the trash that filled the lawn. The sink, oven and toilet were so filthy I thought we would have to toss them. After two full days of heavy scrubbing—everything looked like it was actually in pretty good shape!

We lived in that trailer for about six months before moving into a little house on two acres across from my parents house and the place I grew up. My grandfather was renting it out to us. The first thing I asked him and my dad was if I could put goats on the property! There was a tiny little shed off of the back of the house with a bunch of junk in it—in my imagination it was already a goat barn! We turned the shed into a little barn. My dad made us a beautiful little gate and a door off of the side for the goats, and we all installed fencing together. 

On April 25th 2022, I got my first goats as a late birthday present. Two beautiful little 10-week-old Nubians, with the longest floppiest ears I have ever seen! Our farm grew quickly after that. We added a few older does for milk and a buck for breeding. We had our first kids on the farm that April. 

In August of 2023, we welcomed our second daughter into the world. The first thing I did when we brought our baby home was bring her down to the goats to meet everyone. 

This year we have focused on showing our goats at American Dairy Goat Association shows. We want to make sure that we are not only breeding our goats to make the best quality milk but also for longevity. We want our dairy goats to be structurally sound so we know they will be able to produce for us for a long time comfortably. The care of our goats is the most important thing. Without proper care and proper breeding, we couldn’t make cheese as delicious as we do and we couldn’t offer goat kids to other farms that want something that will provide milk for their family or business. We learn new things at every show, like what to look for in our breeding program to improve our herd. 

We have also made so many wonderful connections with people in the goat world. Everyone has been so helpful, they answer our questions, give solid advice. It’s a special group of people to be a part of because it’s hard for someone outside the goat community to understand the importance of these animals.

These goats have brought me so much joy and taught our family so much. They provide us with so much more than just milk and cheese. The goats love my children—and my children love them. I couldn’t imagine a life without them!

These goats have brought me so much joy and taught our family so much. They provide us with much more than just milk and cheese. The goats love my children—and my children love them. I couldn’t imagine a life without them!

We should have a dairy license by the time this article is published, which means I accomplished my dream. I will be selling cheese from our little farm in Belfast, Maine. All of the hard work is finally going to pay off! We sell registered dairy goat kids for homesteaders and for show. I love to see people get into dairy goats and am happy to answer questions they have about starting their own goat journey. You don’t need lots of land. You don’t need a big fancy barn. You don’t need to be an expert to get into dairy goats—but you do need to know basic care and the hard work that goes into them every single day.

I share this passion for goats on YouTube @fullmooncreamery and on Facebook @fullmoonfarm

You can also find us on TikTok, Instagram and at our website! https://linktr.ee/fullmoonfarm