We are a family of rough and tumble hard workers. We are up with the sun and we stop when the work is done. We live a life that exists outside of time and social media and the Jones'...and we love it. Our skin takes some abuse from calluses to sunburns.

Our first two dairy goats joined our (much smaller) farm and our (much smaller) family over a decade and a half ago. We thought - well, we already raise chickens for our eggs and we have some milk sensitivity in our family so LET'S GET GOATS!

Let me tell you a little something about dairy goats...not all goats make good dairy goats! Ha! Our first two were not well suited to the job. Did you know that milk production isn't just milking any mammal who is lactating? Ethical dairy production centers, among many other important factors like care, comfort, and diet, around selectively breeding goats who produce more milk than their kids require and for a much longer duration than their kids naturally nurse. This is an important factor to allow us to collect and enjoy the surplus milk. Did you know a female goat is called a Doe? And baby goats are called Kids!

Has someone ever given you the impression that ALL dairies inhumanely treat the offspring of their milk producers? Well...hang on...how then do we own and love up to a dozen generations of does on our farm? Because every kid born is obsessively cared for, and many stay here on our farm as a part of our extended family. We aren't a commercial facility, and husbandry is paramount here. Healthy and happy animals are productive animals.

Once our family was firmly addicted to our goats, we began adding does, and more does, and more does. We began showing our goats, participating at a national level, and utilizing programs like the USDA DHIR milk testing program to help us monitor health and production in our girls.

As a family with dry and sensitive skin, it didn't take long before someone handed me a bar of Goat Milk Soap and I was hooked immediately (although I had some improvements to make)!

We can run circles outside working all day, but trap us in an elevator with Miss Doubtfire wearing 6 ounces of perfume and we are all asthmatic leaky miserable fools!

This led me to research how fragrances are made, what goes into them, and how they could cause such significant reactions in some people. It wasn't much of a leap to also research essential oils. Since our family can safely use most essential oils, our soaps are all scented using only essential oils, plant resins, and plant extracts.

Essential oils may provide a safer alternative to artificial and chemical fragrances but they are not benign, and essential oils have some potent properties. Not all are going to be good for skin, and some should not be inhaled, and even further still the safe ones have limits which should not be exceeded in every form you might utilize essential oils. We have researched tirelessly and work to stay up to date on the safest oils and the safest levels to incorporate them into our soaps.

Particularly when our kids were very young, they would often break out in rashes that were frequently mislabelled as being viral. Infact, the rashes were contact dermatitis caused by ingredients in our products such as our laundry soap, shampoo, and body soap. In the beginning I made a soothing salve to help comfort our babies and their inflamed skin, but soon I was diving down every rabbit hole and even taking advanced chemistry courses to help me understand what was going on our skin - and why we were reacting to it!

I carefully narrowed our household products down to some pretty clean and simple ingredients, and for everything else I started to make these things myself.

Lots of recipes, some trial and error, and plenty of fascination and fun led to the soaps we make as a family today. Our ingredients are some of the lowest allergy causing options available, and each has been selected to be gentle yet effective cleansers and formidable emollients for the toughest to the most delicate skin.

Our family now works together to make and pack every bar we send you. Our oldest sons drive the tractor, work the hay field, and build the fences. Our teenagers get up at 6 every morning to assemble the milk machine, bring our ladies in, and collect that crucial ingredient for our soaps - Goat Milk! Our younger kids help cut, stamp, and wrap each bar of soap with small helping hands.

And together we all clean stalls, mend injuries, trim hooves, check every doe daily and meet the needs of each doe here who gives us so much in return. We mix our careful diet that we provide and monitor vitamin and minerals for our herd, we are always there to safely deliver kids and provide the very best deep down scratches to those hard to reach spots. We float teeth, clean coats, teach each lovely lady her name and the routine on the farm.

Did you know we don't just raise dairy goats!? We also have rescue horses, chickens, muscovy ducks, roman tufted geese, kune kune pigs, and Anatolian Shepherd livestock guardian dogs. We also monitor and care for two species of native hawks that nest in on mature cottonwood trees, take extra care for our pollinators, and even care for a colony of feral cats which has included spay/neuter and vet care for the whole gang. And who could forget our engaged tortoise project!

Add a zebra and an ostrich - and life is complete!

Kidding!