Q&A Monday!

  I *almost* forgot to write today's post. Almost. Between trying to get an appointment set up with my vet this week (need to get a health certificate for Summer. She's going to a friend in Pennsylvania!!!), harvesting and planting the microgreens, and eating lunch; well... I was just about to post something else on here when I realized that it's Monday and I'm supposed to be answering questions!! I'm so off on my week days, and the week's only just started. This does not bode well. LOL.

  But here we go! I remembered just in time that it's Monday!

Penelope, you left a comment asking about making soap; specifically goat milk soap. I love making soap!! And especially the goat milk stuff! It's way easier than most people think, and much less dangerous than it's said to be (yes lye can do damage, but it's pretty easy to stay safe).

  My favorite recipe that I use these days is from a small raw milk dairy down in TN. I've used this recipe countless times, and I've also bought soap from these folks (yeah, ironic. A soap maker buying soap... I wanted to compare theirs with mine, okay!?). You can grab the recipe by clicking HERE! If you're serious about making soap, then I would highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend buying a good quality stick blender. The cheapest one at Walmart won't do it, either (trust me; that's what I bought and still fight with every time I make soap. It overheats really fast, stinks, and is poor quality).

 One tip I like to offer to soap makers is a twist on the stirring part. Pretty much all recipes (including the one I just gave you) will tell you to "stir the oils until you hit trace". This is code for stirring until your liquid oils/fats/lye turn into what honestly looks like banana pudding in consistency and you can trace smiley faces into it. I get really bored with all that stirring though, and when you've got an awful stick blender like mine AND you're doing a large 5+ lb. batch of soap, it can take an easy 1.5 - 2 hours to come to trace. I'm an impatient soap maker. So here's my tip on stirring: Stir with your stick blender for 15 solid minutes right off the bat. Then let the liquid sit still for 15 minutes. After that, stir for 5 minutes at 15 minute intervals. So basically you're letting it sit more than you're stirring. I love doing it this way, as I can go do other things while it's sitting, and my total stirring time comes out to about 20 - 25 minutes. I can handle that.

  I can't think of any books right off the top of my head that I like for soap making, but I have a couple websites. One is The Goat Spot, in their "Crafty Cabin" section. If I mess up a batch, or have a general question about something, then I usually go here to ask it since I get a pretty quick answer, and folks there are accustomed to using goat milk in their soaps. When I'm looking for soap making supplies, I like to shop at Bramble Berry. Their prices are decent, and their quality is really good. They also have a handy, dandy thing called a "lye calculator", which I prefer to call a "recipe creator". Hehe. This is what I use when I find I'm out of an oil that I needed, and now suddenly need to make up some sort of random recipe that will still make soap. You just enter the amounts of each oil that you want to use, and it tells you how much liquid and lye to add. Kaboom. You're cookin'.

  Those would be my tips and advice for you. I hope they help!!


Tasha, you had the next question, and that was "can does (female goats to new readers here) be bred in December? Breeding season typically starts in August/September, so not many people think about December breedings. To answer your question bluntly, yes. Goats will *usually* continue to come into heat up until January (I've had a few does keep cycling until March, and I ended up with August babies!). Nigerian Dwarfs will cycle all year around, so you can breed them whenever you want. I've always bred my does in November and December since I don't like cold weather kiddings, and I don't want them born during March which is our mud season (well, it's muddier than usual.). Breeding in November will give you April babies, and breeding in December will give you May babies. Lots of green grass and warmer weather during those months. :)

Kaia, I answered your question in the comments. Hope you don't mind!

 So there you have it folks! Soap and baby goats! Fun topics, if you ask me. ;)

Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey Soap

Here are a few pictures of my big batch of lard soap I made yesterday. :) The soap turned out really nice, and I ended up with 52 bars!!

I also got two smaller batches of "fun soap" made today. One is a 2.5 lb. batch that's been made with olive oil, palm oil, and shea butter. This was the batch that I went crazy with and put cocoa powder and vanilla fragrance in. It smells SOOO good! Like chocolate pudding, or fudge or something... 

The second batch is made simply with olive oil, and palm oil (ran out of shea butter, or else I would have thrown it in there). The fragrance for this batch was the winning vote from FB readers (and if you're wondering how to find me on there, search for 'Goat Song Farm'!) and was a blend of vanilla and ginger. This one smells crazy good too, let me tell ya'. :)

I'll cut up those two batches tomorrow and hopefully post pictures of them on the same day. But for now, I figured I could at least show you my oatmeal soap.

Spontaneous Me

It's on days like today that I get a lot of stuff done. Blue sky as far as the eye could see, a balmy 55 degree day, and I was high on caffeine. Oooh yes... It was one of those days. :)

I got my Saturday chores done in record time and by 11am I was working on the day's mad idea. I was making soap. Normally I hate making soap; it's tedious, my stick blender messes up, I have to wash a bunch of dishes afterwards, I'm always out of wax paper right when I need it... So the sudden urge to make soap took me by surprise. But I went with it, and pulled out 10 lbs. of lard, 3 lbs. of frozen goat milk, and almost 2 lbs. of lye. I had just read about a different technique on bringing my soap to trace and I wanted to see if it was true. I had always been told that you had to stiiiiiiiiiiir that soap until it thickens, and whatever you do -- don't stop!! Thus my lack of enthusiasm when it came to soap making. After the second hour of stirring a bowlful of fat and lye, I really start to think that I would rather buy my own soap. But then I read a new way: Stir for 15 minutes. Then wait 15 minutes. After that, stir for 5 minutes, at 15 minute intervals. I tried it today, on the biggest batch of soap I've ever done, and my total stirring time came out to 25 minutes. MUCH better!!! I think I could totally come to love making soap if this technique continues to work. I scented the soap with a fragrance called "oatmeal, milk, and honey" (which ,despite the name, smells nothing like those three things), and for kicks, I threw in a handful of ground, rolled oats. Sometimes it's just fun to be spontaneous. The soap is sitting quietly now. Tomorrow or Monday I will unmold it and cut it up. This was a new recipe, and a new method of making it, so I have my fingers crossed that it will turn out nice.

I was on a roll after that batch and *almost* made another one, but this time with olive oil, palm oil, shea butter, and more goat milk. In the end I decided to wait. No need to experience burn out on the first day, right? So that batch will be either tomorrow or Monday. I don't know what fragrance I'll use for this "fun batch" yet; some readers over on Facebook have been giving me suggestions, and I'm hearing a lot of votes for vanilla, lavender, or ginger. Now that I think about it, it might be fun to throw some cocoa powder in the batch and scent it lightly with vanilla. Hmmm. I think I might be on to something here. ;) No! -- must -- wait -- until -- tomorrow -- to -- make -- more -- soap. *valiantly holds self back from starting another batch of soap at 5pm*

The afternoon fled from me with the speed of goats who hear the grain bucket, and at 4pm I noticed the setting sun giving its grand finale as it began dipping behind the mountains which I have come to love so much. I wanted to be out in it as it bid adieu. So I grabbed the long bow, put four arrows into the quiver that I had clipped to my jeans, and strode outside once I had also accumulated my carhartt coat and some leather gloves. I didn't feel like shooting at a target today... Something fierce and wild inside me just wanted to let loose and see my shafts fly. Even soapmakers have a wild side. With this feeling swirling around me like a playful breeze, I decided to simply practice my long range shooting. I want to go bow hunting this fall. I want to see about bringing down a stag, even if it is a young one. So long range practice is every bit as necessary as close range target practice. I must admit I love the impulsiveness that comes along with long range shooting. It's like the difference between writing in cursive, and writing slap dash. One is refined, methodical, and lovely to look at. The other is crazy, impetuous, and perfectly lovable in its own awkward, quirky way. I didn't want cursive today. I wanted Belligrent Madness. I had no target in mind as I stood at the northern edge of the pasture. I simply drew the bow string, inhaling deeply, and let my arrow fly to the southern end; my mind willing it to go farther, farther, farther. It is so fun, you just can't know.

Today's best shot hit 185 feet. The farthest I've shot yet. I dog-trotted up to the arrow and to my delight I found the shaft half buried into the earth. You see, my arrows are not supposed to go into the ground, and it's very rare when they go more than 2 or 3 inches. I have a special tip that I put on them called a "zwickey scorpio" (if that isn't fun to say, then I don't know what is!) which works like a grappling hook and keeps you from losing your arrows to the ground. Before I had scorpios, I was terrible at permanently losing arrows, since the bow's force would shove them beneath a layer of earth with no trace of it's whereabouts. Since getting them, I haven't lost a single one. The prongs on the scorpio don't allow an arrow to embed itself deeply into anything.

So to find one of my arrows 185 feet away and slammed halfway into the ground... Well, it just about made me giddy. A shot like that just might could bring down a young stag. Just maybe? I'm not after any huge prize in my hunting dreams. Just some venison for the freezer. If a big one came along, great; hopefully my bow and arrows will be able to take it down. But just a young buck would please me... 

I shot more arrows; all of them coming close to my record shot, but none surpassing it. I shot fast, I shot furious. I was in my element. One of these days I'm going to have to splurge and buy ma'self a utility kilt. I think that would be awesome. Eventually the sun dipped lower and I knew I needed to stop, or else I would start having trouble finding my arrows in the falling dusk. My left hand is slowly becoming calloused and used to the driving pain that my bow string inflicts. Someday I will get a better bow that won't hurt so much, but until then I bear the bruises and swelling with a smile. After today's practice, my hand hurt with a dull throb, but that was all. Last time I practiced, I came away with a bloody hand, despite the leather glove. I'm getting there. I'm getting better. I have until Autumn to perfect this craft. I know all the deer trails and nesting sights on my neighbor's property. Come autumn, I want to stalk these spots, but with a bow in my hand this time. I look forward to it with more excitement than an average person could understand. 

Looks can be deceiving. Your normal looking soapmaker just might turn out to be an archer who wants a kilt. You never can tell with some people... 

Spontaneity. I love it. We'll make soap in the morning, and shoot arrows like a Scottish lass/lad in the evening. Care to join me?

Soap!

I think my title pretty much says it all! I have soap for sale over in my Etsy shop! (click highlighted words to go directly to the listing)

I only have 10 bars from this batch, so don't wait too long if you would like to purchase a bar or five. ;) 

These bars are a lovely blend of pure coconut oil, and goat's milk, plus they're lightly scented with coconut fragrance. In other words, you may be tempted to try eating one. LOL. 

Coconut and goat's milk combined make a powerhouse of a moisturizer that deep cleanses while being gentle enough for baby skin. This soap is especially good for skin problems such as acne, eczema, and dry/chapped skin.

If I can get these bars sold in the next few days, that will allow me to buy a bag of milk replacer for my soon-to-be-here doeling, 'Last Rose of Summer', so shop ma' dears, shop! ;) 

Again, you can go directly to the shop listing by clicking HERE.

Busy Days A' Comin'!

See this?

Do you know what it is?

It's lard. Straight from the hog.

And I have 60 lbs. of it, all in jars, sitting quietly on a shelf.

Alas, 'tis not for me! A family just recently had their two hogs harvested, and they found themselves with 160 lbs. of pig fat that they didn't know what to do with. So they rendered it down to lard, and brought me a 60 lb. batch to make soap with!! I am going to be busy this week! 

Just looking at all those jars of lard makes me want to raise my own hogs someday... My mouth fairly waters when I think about using lard in the kitchen... If you haven't tried anything made with lard yet, you are missing out on a treat. Lard pie crusts, homemade doughnuts fried in lard, green beans sauteed in lard and then seasoned with garlic salt, apple dumplings made with lard... Okay, I need to stop now; I'm getting hungry. ;) So yes, someday this farm girl will have her own hogs so she can have all the lard she desires! LOL.

But back to the soap... This will be a goat milk soap blend, with honey in it as well, so if it wasn't for the lye, you could probably eat this stuff in a pinch! Lard, goat milk, and honey! Yum! I'm hoping to get about 80 bars of soap from this batch, and if the family likes how it turned out, then I'll get the last 100 lbs. to make some more with. Methinks that is going to be the cleanest family in these here parts! ;) 

Coming Soon...

 When you have surplus goat milk in the fridge, and you have the ability to make soap you.....

Make goat milk soap! 

The goat milk soap has actually been a carefully thought out plot of mine for a few weeks now, my first "experimental" batch just finished curing. :)

To say that the soap is divine seems sort of like an understatement. The store bought stuff doesn't even begin to compare!

Made with olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, shea butter and fresh goat milk, this is a lovely indulgence. :)

Coming soon to local stores in McMinnville...