Cold Weather on the Farm

Brrrrrr.....it's cold outside! 

Well, at least for us Texans!!  :)

When I milked the goats yesterday the cleaning cloths froze before I was done milking!  Poor April was so cold.  She seems to be more sensitive to the cold than her sister Nancy.

When it is below freezing outside we have to be extra careful to make sure the goats have access to water....not ice!  So about every two hours we carry out a pot of boiling water to keep ice from forming on the top of the water bucket. 


Luckily Farmer Willie is working from home today, so he gets to help with that job!!  :)

Their water already has a film of ice on top so we break that up with a shovel and then add the hot water.

April was super excited to have some warm water to warm her up!!

And that's how it's done!!  :)

Bumpkin Bars!!

Bumpkin Farm is now up and running!

What's the difference?  Well, now we have a cool name and a logo thanks to Urban Creative Studio via etsy!!

And we have officially sold our first batch of soap, otherwise known as Bumpkin Bars!!

So for today's post, I thought you might enjoy seeing how we make the bars.

This batch is a peppermint 100% goat milk soap.  We say 100% goat milk because most goat soaps are made with some water added.  Since we use the milk that we get each morning we have a nice supply and are able to use all milk.

First things first, we get all of the supplies laid out!

Then we start to measure out the ingredients beginning with the solid oils like palm and coconut oil.

Then we measure the liquid oils out!

After that we begin to melt the solids.

Once that gets going we finish measuring out the essential oils, any specialty oils and the milk.

Here we are measuring out the peppermint essential oil.




We measure our milk out in frozen cubes.  It is much easier to control the temperature of the milk when you use frozen milk and there is the added benefit of it being easier to get an exact weight on!

Once that is measured the solid oils are usually melted and we add the liquid oils such as olive oil.  This allows time for the oils to sit and cool to the correct temperature!

Adding the olive oil to the coconut and palm oils!

At this time we also measure out the lye.

During the next step we add the lye to the milk.  This is done very slowly and carefully as lye can severely burn your skin if it is not handled correctly.  Another hazard is adding the lye too quickly.  If this happens your burn your milk.

We at Bumpkin Farm always take the utmost precautions when handling the lye!!  Goggles, long pants and sleeves, shoes and rubber gloves are a must!  We also keep a bottle of vinegar out in case of spills or splashes.

As the lye and milk cubes mix the lye heats the milk up quickly.  Because of this we monitor the temperature of the mixture.  If you keep it at just the right temp, you end up with a beautiful, creamy colored soap!!

Look at that great color!!

One of the final steps is the mixing of the oil mixture and the milk mixture.  At this point the lye is extremely dangerous so we have to be really careful!

We pour the milk mixture into the oil after they both reach about 95 degrees Fahrenheit.  After these are mixed well we use a hand blender to really, REALLY mix them!!  When they are mixed and things are going as planned, you watch for the mixture to reach something called "trace." 

This is the point that your mixture reaches the consistency of pudding.

Once we have mixed, and mixed, and mixed and we reach trace, we add the essential oils and any extra oils such as sweet almond oil or shea butter!!  Then it is poured into the mold where it sits and cools.

After 24 hours the bar will begin to harden.  At this point we have to cut it quickly!!  We use a lot of palm oil in our soaps and they tend to harden fast so we have to keep an eye on it.

 After cutting, the soap then sits on drying racks for one month. This time helps the soap to dry and harden, thus helping it last longer!  It also allows the chemical reaction to finish where the lye, milk and oils become soap!

And finally.....

We have the finished bars!!  And boy do these smell good :)

The Lye-f Of A Soap Maker!!

Lye-f.....Get it....Life??!!!  I am wayyyy too funny!!!

The newest adventure we are taking on here at Bumpkin Farm is the art of soap making!!

Okay, so I decide that making goat milk soap is the way to go.  Of course the next step is learning how!  How better to learn than Google it??!!

So I find pictures of beautiful bars of soap, recipes galore but one thing they all have is a warning about using Lye.  No biggie...I took chemistry...I know how to handle chemicals.

Well, let me tell you, Lye is SCARY!!!  The first time we made soap I thought that I would probably end up burning all of my appendages off!!

I followed the directions and suited up in long sleeves, gloves and eye protections, then lo and behold I opened the Lye container and spilled the crystals on my bare foot! 

Of course this was followed by my jumping around the kitchen screaming to Farmer Willie that the end was coming and my foot was on fire.  I was sure that toes were falling off!

He calmed me down a bit and I realized that I really felt nothing, my feet, toes and all, were fine.  Ended up my only injury was a sore throat from screaming so much!  :)

Sure, it was a bit dumb to forget to wear shoes, but I learned my lesson!!

Then came the fumes!  When you mix the Lye with the milk it and oil it begins to put off strong fumes.  I became convinced that I had breathed in too much and my lungs were shriveling up into raisins. 

I might have overreacted a bit there too!!

You will be glad to know that each time I have made a batch of soap, I have become more comfortable with using Lye.  Now I don't take it lightly mind you, but after taking precautions I realize that it will all be okay!

It amazes me how the process works.  How for hundreds of years this process has been used and is still how we make soap today!!  You take a caustic substance, mix it with milk and luxurious oils and a reaction happens where they combine, the caustic substance disappears and wah-lah, you have safe to wipe all over you soap!!

Just another amazing example of processes that God set up in our world!!  Who woulda' thunk it??!!