soapmaking

I made a batch of goat’s milk soap yesterday. It wasn’t rocket science, but the chemical reaction produced by the lye and the milk was kind of scary. Lye can burn the skin and do much worse than that in the eyes. It goes without saying that swallowing it would be a really, really bad idea. Anyway, when I mixed the lye with the goats milk it produced a boiling, bubbling reaction that filled the pot with orange foam. There are many recipes available in books and on the internet. The one I used was from the Storey’s Dairy Goat book. Besides the basics of fat, lye, and liquid, I added oatmeal and lavender essential oils. I used pig lard for the fat and goats milk for the liquid. There are number of options for the fat, lard being the most obvious. Goose fat tallow sounded like an intriguing possibility.

I canned a large batch of applesauce too. We like to use applesauce for moisture in bread recipes. The applesauce turned out wonderfully. Naturally sweet with no added sugar.

We are contemplating selling the soap at the local food co-op and farmers market. We are also going through the process to get a permit to sell raw goats milk. We are really hoping to make a few extra dollars this way.

And, of course, a happy new year to all. It has been an amazing year for us. Ups and downs to be sure, but so many blessings. A helicopter ride to the children’s hospital for breathing problems for our newborn son and several other trips to the emergency room for stitches for the other boys. I think we are going to have to learn to stitch them up ourselves. How hard could it be?

Among the many blessings: My beautiful son was born in our kitchen in an amazing home birth; Jenny and I were married and she moved out to the farm with the boys; the animals are all healthy and productive; the pigs were successfully raised and turned into pounds and pounds of delicious bacon and chops.

There have been many, many opportunities to learn. We’ve learned about how difficult it is to make any money on a small farm. We’ve learned to live on an almost non-existent income, We’ve learned to count our blessings.

We are so truly blessed. We wish all the very best for you in this new year.