I can’t believe another month has already gone by! Here is a round up of the 365 pictures, A Picture a Day From The Freckled Farm, for the month of February. Enjoy!
Follow us on Instagram (@TheFreckledFarm) to see the pictures each day. Baby goats are days away and things will be blooming on the farm before too long!
Oh my goodness it has been an amazing year. I am so proud of what we have accomplished with both of our businesses and I am incredibly grateful for our wonderful, loyal customers, who allow my husband and I to work together, build this farm, and live our dream. I cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store for us as we start our journey of both Kevin and I putting a full time effort into both of our businesses… It’s certainly going to be an adventure.
Stand out moments of 2014
Thank you for all your support in 2014! I can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store!
It was a cold day on The Freckled Farm yesterday… as it was for most of the country. Monday and Tuesday night we closed the animals up in the barn and coop. Normally we leave the doors open to the pasture and run, but we wanted to prevent any wind from getting to the animals and to allow the deep bedding to do it’s job. The animals faired well through the cold weather, although there were points when I was working in the pasture that I could see the goats shivering. They ended up spending the entire day in the barn, only coming out when I was doing farm chores. We have one chicken though who decided that she wanted to molt late in the season and still hasn’t gotten all of her feathers back. I have worried about her quite a bit, but she seems to be doing fine.
On Tuesday Kevin went out to feed the animals around 5:30am and the temperatures were in the negatives with the wind chill. He closed everyone back up after they were done eating and I went and let everyone out once the sun came up. I had to go out several times during the day to remove the ice from the water buckets. This is my least favorite winter chore. We thought about getting heated buckets, but the breeder of Tina and Hillary told us to avoid them because they lower the goat’s resistance to cold, and if the bucket should break or the electricity go out the cold water could end up hurting the goats. So I trek out the barn and coop every couple of hours to remove the layer of ice that has formed on the water and add warm water. Last year there were only a few days that we really had to fight ice in the water buckets. If we lived in an area that is as cold as what we are dealing with right now all the time I might have consider investing in something else to combat the problem!
In other news, today is our first day at My Courthouse Market in Goochland, VA. This is an INDOOR farmers market located inside the YMCA in Goochland Courthouse. The market runs from 3pm-7pm. Come and visit us!
Last week, while introducing our Rosewood Salt Soap, I said that we have a lot of great things in store for this year. I thought I would take a moment to share some of the exciting things that we are expecting to happen in 2014…
The most exciting thing we have coming up are the additions to our soap line. We will be introducing a new goat milk soap every month! This month it was the Rosewood Salt goat milk soap. Next month it will be our coffee soap. Some of these soaps will become permanent scents in our line, while others will be seasonal. Make sure you check back, follow us on facebook, or subscribe to our blog, so you don’t miss out on one of our amazing new scent.
We will be offering a soap to represent each season. These soaps will only be available during the season in which they represent. If you become a fan of that scent you will need to stock up before the season is over or wait for it to come back next year!
We will be at lots of craft shows and farmers markets throughout the year. Visit our “Where to Buy” page to see where you can find us.
We will be adding several non-soap items to our line, including bath teas, bath bombs, scrubs, and more. We will be testing out new products at craft shows and farmers markets, and the most successful products will make it to the website.
As far as the farm goes we will be adding baby goats, our first buck (no more drive-by breedings for us!), more chickens, an additional coop, new pastures, expanding our garden, and so much more!
We have so many exciting things in store this year and we can’t wait to share it with all of you!
It has been an eventful year to say the least. Honestly, I am shocked at how far we have come in such a short amount of time.
In 2012 the farm truly came together. The coop went up, chickens moved in, the barn was built, fencing was set up, goats moved in. It was an incredible amount of work. We entered 2013 a working farm… the first huge step towards our dream. I thought that our craziest year was behind us. It was all going to be a steady and slow climb from here on out. Boy was I wrong! We started 2013 by adding the llamas to the farm… An unexpected and exciting addition. Shortly after that, in early spring, we started the research and development phase of the soap business. It was time to get down to business… we not only wanted to perfect our recipes, but we wanted to know how they affected all different skin types. We wanted to open the business being able to tell our customers, with confidence, exactly how our soaps would affect their skin. This involved a lot of research, countless test batches, a long list of soap testers, and lengthy surveys. Near the end of the summer, after nearly 6 months of work, we had 5 very solid recipes and we were ready to do the actual business side of things. Kevin continued to make batch after batch of soap, preparing for the day the website went live, and I did the packaging and business side of things… of course Kevin did a lot of the coding for the website because that is an area in which I am clueless. After what seemed like a marathon we opened shop in September 21st. I started applying to craft shows. Friends and family were sending information about every show they ran into my way and I managed, miraculously, to get us into 5 shows!
So sales on the site were going well, we had a bunch of shows lined up… there was one more thing I wanted to do by the end of the year. For years I had been saying that as soon as we got the soap business really going that Relay was going to be the first company we contacted about carrying our products. I sent in an application, a few weeks later they asked for a sample, and days after I sent the samples in I got a call saying that they were excited about our soaps and wanted to carry them! We were so excited to be added as a Relay vendor. They are an amazing company and they have been great to work with so far.
We have grown at such a rapid rate that our heads are spinning. This year has been amazing and next year looks like it’s going to be equally insane! We already have several large shows lined up, we will be at the My Courthouse Market in Goochland on Wednesdays during the winter months and will hopefully continue through the rest of the year, we are working on being at one of the local Saturday farmers markets in the spring, and we will continue to add to the stores that carry our soaps…. So much to do!
Thank you to all of you who have supported us and helped us get to where we are. None of this would be possible without our family, friends, and customers. Your support means so much to us. Thank you for helping us achieve our dream!
A few weeks ago we did a little impromptu photo shoot because we needed photographs of us with the animals for several different things. We got some great images, so I thought I would take the time to share them here on the blog. Enjoy!
Breckin and Baby Ruth:
Breckin and Baby Sonia:
Me and my buddy Afton. We have a special relationship. Also, Kevin, Bryce, and Baby Sonia:
Tina had to be closed up in the barn during the photo shoot because she isn’t good with the children.
Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I will introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know our chicken coop!
This is our chicken coop. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?! Kevin built it from a picture I gave him. He is quite talented. The floor of the run is sand in order to prevent standing water and mud, which is an issue on our sloped property. There has a ramp up to the hen house, which features two perches widthwise and two nesting boxes. The door to the hen house slides shut giving the chickens extra protection at night. We also have a night guard on the front and back of the coop. It is solar powered and blinks red at night. It’s designed to deter predators by making them think that a predator is already there.
This will be the last “Getting to Know The Freckled Farm” post for a little while. We’ve now been through all of the animals, and the important farm buildings, but come the spring we will have baby goats, more chickens, an additional chicken coop, and a bigger and better garden, so check back!
Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know our barn!
When we purchased this property it was just a house on some acreage. It wasn’t set up as a farm, but I had a vision of what it could be. We dreamed, planned, and saved for several years. We slowly moved towards becoming a real working farm and finally in August of 2012 we built our barn… or more accurately we had Thad from Louisa Barn and Buildings build our barn. It was an emotional process for me. I had dreamed of my farm for so long and the barn is really what makes a property a farm. Everyday when the builders left I would go stand out in the middle of the construction and marvel as I watched this thing that I had dreamed about for years and years piece together. It’s not a huge barn, but it fits us perfectly and we have lots of space to grow into it.
Many goat people have visited and were blown away by our barn. It’s beautiful and is far more than most people do for their goats. Although it’s not always the case, a lot of people simply have a lean-to or shed to house their goats and really this is fine for a small herd, but we hope to have 10-13 goats when the business is running full steam. My philosophy is do it once and do it right. You save money if you do it well the first time and if you aren’t trying to constantly keep up with your growth or mend a shelter that is not as solid as a barn might be. Also, Virginia weather can be unpredictable and I didn’t want to be left trying to figure out how to house the goats if we had a blizzard like a few years ago.
Our barn is the centerpiece of our farm and we are very proud of it.
The Freckled Farm Soap Company makes handmade goat milk soaps. Our body care products are all natural and made with love. For more information about our products please visit our website: www.thefreckledfarmsoapcompany.com
Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know Buckley!
Buckley is the last animal to be featured in this series (at least until more animals are added to the farm), but it’s not because he holds the least importance. Buckley was the first real big decision that Kevin and I ever made together. We had been dating a little under a year when we decided to take a two week road trip to visit several family members. Our first stop was in Tampa, Florida to visit Kevin’s Aunt and Grandmother. When we got there we discovered that one of their cats had given birth a couple months before and there were all of these sweet little kittens running around. All of them were pure white with blue eyes.. all of them except for Buckley who was silver and black. He was so sweet and beautiful that there was no way we were leaving him behind. He went on the rest of the road trip with us and the rest is history. He is the most tolerant animal I have ever known. I’ve never known a cat that was so good with young children. He is an amazing cat and he is extremely loved.
The Freckled Farm Soap Company makes handmade goat milk soaps. Our body care products are all natural and made with love. For more information about our products please visit our website: www.thefreckledfarmsoapcompany.com
Want to know more about the farmers, animals, and buildings on The Freckled Farm? Every Friday I introduce you to another part of The Freckled Farm. This week you have a chance to get to know Annabelle!
Oh my sweet Belle. She is such a lovely little girl. I wanted a Bassett for the longest time and Annabelle has to be the prettiest there is. She makes this excited little noise that sounds like a goose, which is where she got her nickname… goose. She loves our other dog Frankie more than anything. I don’t know what she would ever do without him.
The Freckled Farm Soap Company makes handmade goat milk soaps. Our body care products are all natural and made with love. For more information about our products please visit our website: www.thefreckledfarmsoapcompany.com