The Freckled Farm Soap Company

Tag: summer

  • Summer Goat Milk Soap

    Although it has felt like summer for weeks already, it’s finally officially summer and you know what that means… our Summer Goat Milk Soap is here!

    Summer Goat Milk Soap from The Freckled Farm Soap Company

    We love all of our soaps (otherwise we wouldn’t make them) and we really look forward to when our seasonal soaps debut, but personally this seasonal soap is my favorite. It’s made with green tea and aloe! I spend so much time outside in the sun and I absolutely love the way this soap makes my summer skin feel!

    For this weekend only get 20% our Summer Goat Milk Soap when you purchase it through our website!

  • What’s in our Soap Dish – July

    I hope you have been enjoying the peek into our soap dish so far this year. You have seen how the changes in the weather have changed our soap choices, and now that summer is in full swing another change is here. What’s in our soap dish this July?

    Summer Goat Milk Soap

    On the first day of summer we brought back our Summer Goat Milk Soap. I really love this one! I am always excited to see it come back! This is the perfect soap for summer skin was it is made with aloe and green tea.  This soap only has the light scent of the green tea and is free of any essential oils, so there is nothing to possibly irritate sunburnt skin further. I spend so much time out the in sun, and while I try to be good, I don’t always keep up with my sunscreen, so I use this soap all summer long. This is in no way an alternative to sunblock, but it at least helps comfort my skin if I get too much sun.

    Find Our Summer Goat Milk Soap Here

  • What’s in our Soap Dish – June

    The warmer weather is here! How will this weather change, change our soap dish? Read on to find out what’s in our soap dish this month!

    Castile Goat Milk Soap

    Our Castile Goat Milk Soap is making another appearance in our “Soap Dish” series. In January it was for it’s ability to moisturize during those really dry months. This time it’s because of it’s shave soap abilities. The Castile has a lotion like lather, giving you the perfect slick, smooth surface to shave with, and that moisture stays with you! So now that the shorts are coming out it’s time to bring out the Castile again!

    Find our Castile Goat Milk Soap Here

    Sunrise Citrus Goat Milk Soap

    Our Sunrise Citrus Goat Milk Soap is the perfect soap to kick off your summer. It has a bright citrus scent that’s a great way to wake you up and start your day!

    Find our Sunrise Citrus Goat Milk Soap Here

  • Beating the Summer Heat

    I love the heat! I’m comfortable even on the hottest days of the year… The cold is what I have trouble with (if you were following us last winter you are well aware of this!). The animals however don’t deal with the summer as well as I do. We have to take certain precautions to make sure that they are safe and healthy even in the hottest temperatures.

    The goats deal with the heat the best. We just have to make sure they have constant fresh water and shade. During the hottest parts of the summer we may have to come out several times a day to make sure the water buckets are filled. A few summers ago, when we were dealing with extreme heat, I witnessed a bucket of water emptied in front of me between the llamas and goats. We have several buckets spread around. We always keep at least one in the barn and one in the pasture.

    The chickens will tell you when they are too hot. They pant and egg production may go down. In very extreme heat chickens may become listless, which is a sign that they could be in danger of heat stroke. We help our chickens deal with the heat by making sure they always have fresh water, occasionally we will add ice to the water to keep it cooler longer, we give them frozen fruit and veggies to eat, and give them fruits with high water content like watermelon. It is also important that chickens have shade and space to dust bathe since this can help them regulate their temperature.

    In the spring we shear both llamas to prepare them for the summer and like with the rest of the animals we make sure they always have fresh water and shade. Afton, our cream colored llama, does fairly well in the heat. He dust baths a lot, but is no where near as miserable as our black llama, Blue. Poor Blue struggles in the heat, so at least once a day, on the really hot days, we go out and hose Blue off. He loves to stand in the running water.

    Heat can be very harmful to animals. It is extremely important that you take measures to keep your animals safe in the heat. For most fresh water and shade is enough, but keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t need further help.

  • What’s up Wednesday – June 3rd

    I’m sorry I missed last week’s What’s up Wednesday. The busy season for the soap business, photography business, farm, and garden are all in full gear… at the same time. We are so incredibly grateful to be this busy. I hope it stays like this!

    So much has happened on the farm in the last two weeks. Four of the eight goat kids have gone to their new homes. They all went to good homes and we couldn’t be more thrilled. We still have 3 bucks that we are trying to sell. Selling bucks is no easy task. Farms only need one or two to breed to their entire goat herd and from what I am hearing from other farms there have been an unusually large number of bucks born this year. We were lucky to only have had fifty percent bucks… not many in this area have been so lucky. I am hoping these sweet boys at least go as pets to someone. They are all so gentle and have amazing personalities.

    We moved the the bantam chicks outside into their new coop! They were getting tight in their brooder and we were getting tired of having the clean it twice a day… chicks create a lot of dust and dirt. We purchased a coop last year to use for our free range chickens to sleep and lay their eggs. It ended up being a really poor quality, even though we paid a pretty penny for it, so we decided to move the free rangers back into the sturdy coop where they were safe. The “free ranger” coop sat empty for a long time. We weren’t sure what to do with it. It would be a waste to just throw it out, but we were pretty sure it would just fall apart should a dog or other predictor decide to jump up against it. When our friend Rachel brought us the bantam chicks we knew we needed to find them a home once they were done with their brooder, so we decide to reinforce the coop and make it into a tractor, allowing the chickens to help us with pest control around the farm. We removed the entire bottom of the coop… meaning we pulled it away because it had basically wasted away and had already fallen through twice from the weight of the chickens (see… piece of junk). We sat the coop directly on the ground and used the run area the coop once sat on as a run for the front of the coop. It was just the right size considering they are only bantams and will be moved daily. We totally removed one set of nesting boxes because they too had fallen apart (we had half the number of chickens in this coop than it called for by the way). Kevin reenforced or replaced all the areas that were falling apart or felt weak. It has made a cute little chicken tractor! I am so glad we were able to use it and it won’t go to waste… I hate waste.

    Chicken Tractor - The Freckled Farm - The Freckled Farm Soap Company

    In soap news, our Summer Goat Milk Soap is on the curing racks! I am so ready for this soap to be done! It is so wonderful for summer skin. I used it all last summer and I’ve missed it so much. It’s made with green tea and aloe, so it’s soothing for skin that has had a lot of sun exposure. It will debut on the first day of summer later this month!

  • Summer Goat Milk Soap Giveaway!

    Today is the Summer Solstice and we are extremely excited to introduce our new Summer Goat Milk Soap! This soap was created with your summer skin care needs in mind. It is made with goat milk (of course!), natural oils, aloe, and green tea. It is scent free and is perfect for those days when you feel that you have maybe gotten a little too much sun!

    Summer Goat Milk Soap Giveaway from The Freckled Farm Soap CompanyWe all know the benefits of aloe on dry, sunburnt, and irritated skin. Who hasn’t slathered themselves with aloe after a day of spending to much time in the sun? With our Summer soap we use the aloe in addition to our goat milk as a base, making this soap even more moisturizing and healing! It calms and cools skin. Green tea has been shown in studies to help repair damaged skin cells  and fight free radicals caused be UV rays. So as you can see this soap calms, cools, and can help repair your skin. It’s the prefect summer soap!

    Enter Below for your chance to win TWO bars of our Summer Goat Milk Soap with an additional bar of your choice…

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    All entries will be verified. If the individual entering does not follow through with the entry action (i.e. liking our Facebook page, following us on Instagram, etc) then the entry will be void. The giveaway is valid to US citizens only. Winner will be notified on June 29th and will have 48 hours to send the address of where they would like their soaps to be mailed.

  • Beating the Heat on the Farm

    One of the biggest concerns during the summer is keeping animals safe in the heat. The last two summers here in Virginia we have had days that have exceeded 100 degrees and the humidity level soars all summer long. I have compiled a list below of how we keep our animals comfortable on The Freckled Farm

    Beating the Heat on the Farm

    All Animals

    1. Water  – All animals require clean fresh water year round, but during the summer the water will get warm and gross quickly. I will refresh the waterers at least twice a day. I try to keep the water as cool as possible. We also have more than one water bucket.
    2. Shelter – We make sure all of our animals have adequate  shelter to escape the sun
    3. Shade – At any point during the day there is shade somewhere in the pasture. This allows the animals to be outside and graze without having to be in the heat of the direct sun. Our coop was build in the shade of white pines, and our dogs have a labyrinth of bushes to hide in.

    Chickens

    1. Frozen or Cold Treats – Last summer was much hotter than any weather we have had to contend with this summer. The poor chickens were suffering. I would freeze fruits and veggies as treats. It kept them occupied and cool.
    2. Avoiding Starchy Foods – Starchy foods raise the chickens’ (or anyone else for that matter) blood sugar which in turn raises their body temperature. During hot days I avoid giving them bread items, and corn and grain products. On days like this they generally only get their chicken feed, fruits and veggies, and very small amount of black oil sunflower seeds.
    3. Dust Bath – We make sure the chickens have dust bath areas.

    Llamas

    1. Hose Down – One of our llamas in particular (Blue) LOVES to be hosed down. He suffers from the heat far more than our other llama. This is likely because he is black while Afton is cream colored. As soon as he hears the water he is a up against the fence asking to be sprayed. He will stand in the water stream for 10 minutes if you let him. On hot days I check him several times a day and I will hose him down if he is showing signs of being too hot.
    2. Dust Bath – Like the chickens the llamas like to roll around in the dirt. Right in the center of our pasture you will find a large bare spot where the llamas have rubbed away all the grass.

    Goats

    We don’t do much extra for the goats. They are not fans of being hosed down and I’ve never really seen them rolling around in the dirt like the llamas. We just make sure they have cool fresh water and a place to get out of the sun. Of all the animals on the farm they seem to handle the heat the best.

    During the summer please make sure you take extra care to make sure your animals are safe and comfortable. Keep and eye on the weather and watch for signs like labored breathing, lethargy, and loss of appetite.