Friday, March 15, 2013

Where the Buck Stops and the Soap Starts....

Above is Starmaker - our nubian buck....wee bit fat, I know.  But ain't he a looker?  Snapped that pic a while ago now, but it's still my favorite of him all happy tail wagging while he munches on yaupon...He is where my soap really begins.

Bet someone is wondering what he has to do with soap huh?  Well, without him and his bucky saanen sidekick "Crisco" I would not be making soap.  That's right, no bucks = no milk = no soap! 

For those that don't know, here's the run down (it gets a little blunt and pg13 rated for a paragraph ya'll, not that bad but - be warned)....A doe (female goat) needs to kid (give birth) in order to produce milk.  In order to do that you need a buck to do the deed....so in theory at least, my soaps and lotions start with 2 goats bumpin' uglies...it's a farm...not just soap...so a little graphic and full of the facts of life but true. Without that guy above and the udder below I probably wouldn't make soap...

Yup...my milk for my products comes from here (and a few others) twice a day, fresh as can be :)  Sure...I freeze it before I soap with it to help with the whole "lye heats it up thing" and I always pasteurize it prior to putting in a lotion or sugar scrub (gotta be sure to kill off any nasty stuff since it'll be sitting around a bit ya know?).  But we drink it fresh, chilled and raw. I also make cheese and yogurt and such...but we still have PLENTY of milk left over from that!  Sometimes, we even have baby goats to help drink it up lol...but not always and a doe can "stay in milk" (meaning she makes milk - duh right?) for at least ten months around here while baby goats are often long gone by then. We sold the last goat from the last kid crop back in January (we bottle raise - whole 'nother blog ya'll) so I have had milk, milk, and more milk for a while now totally kid free! Currently I get about 3 gallons a day from 3 does...that's a lot of creamy goat milk goodness!  If you've never had it fresh and raw you HAVE to try it out!  So so so much better than store bought goat OR cow milk!  And so many awesome benefits too!  (But that my friends is another day and another post...)

 I know a lot of others buy goat milk to put in their soaps and I think they are missing out (though I know not every one has a place to put goats)...but it makes me kind of sad because the joy of owning goats is part of the fun!  Yes, it's work too...but I love my herd! If you've never had a goat...you need a few...I'm just saying...I love having our goats, no matter how much work they make for me:

Even when they do stupid, bad things, like climb on the picnic table behind the house....

Or when the baby in that belly has a super creepy looking "Alien moment" and sticks a hoof out like that to say hello...see it poking out the side there?


Or when they reach over to steal something out of my pocket...she was taking my cell phone when I got that pic with my other camera...Lucy is nosey...
And the baby goats that take my spot at the kitchen table and crowd me out of my chair can be obnoxious....

It's all worth it for those quiet moments when you look out and they are being good and eating and doing appropriate goat things! (Plus, the baby goats are REALLY super adorable when they aren't getting into stuff!) The fresh milk is priceless too :P

This is where my milk comes from.  This is where my soap and lotions and such start...because lord knows we get enough milk lol...I have a freezer full AND a fridge full as I type!  Sure, I make cheese and such too...but it's not the same as soap making.  Cheese = cooking = work and dishes I have to wash....soap making = fun experiments and artsy stuff and dishes that practically wash their sudsy selves! You can't really go putting glitter and shimmery micas and swirls in your cheese now like you can with yout soap....it's just not the same...I mean, I guess I could, but I wouldn't want to eat cheese with glitter on top.

This ya'll, this is where the buck stops and the soap starts for me and even though most days I have a hard time finding time for evrything, I love every single minute of it when I look back. Without the herd I never would have started soaping :)



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