Goats: The cure for all things, like, ever.
Itchy Skin? Try homemade soap.
Grumbly tummy? Try goat milk.
Need a good laugh? GOATS.
Thanks to local dairy goat farmers, Mike and Annette Coursey, of Coursey Family Farm, the Llano Estacado has access to fresh goat milk, yogurt and kefir, and nourishing soaps and body butters of many scents.
I got the chance to meet with Annette about the benefits of dairy goat products, freshly produced in Lubbock, TX. After reading about the establishment of the farm, I wondered how Annette adjusted to the decision to transition from banking to dairy farming.
“This is what God had for me.” Annette is soft-spoken and wildly intelligent, telling me of her ambition to follow God’s path as he led her out of the corporate world into a more rural way of life.
After viewing a video about sustainable goat farming, produced by their niece, Annette and Mike looked to their family for support in beginning their new venture. “Mike and I always wanted a farm. We started with three acres, on to 15, and then settled on 30, here in Lubbock, where we built our new facility.”
Mike and Annette began dairy goat farming in Milsap, TX in 2009, and moved to Lubbock in 2015. Since the move, Coursey Family Farm has made a name for producing fresh dairy goat milk and various goods, including the customer favorite: homemade soaps.
“Goat products have tremendous health benefits. The fat-chains in goat milk are much more easily absorbed and rich in healthy gut bacteria,” says Annette. You can learn more about the benefits in this Look Around Lubbock video. Nubian Goats, known as the “Gentle Giant of the Goats,” are calm and affectionate characters. With a pat on the head and soft stroke on the neck, they are ready to milk!
Not only is the goat milk delicious and plentiful in nutritious benefits, the soap is equally as healthy. “I’ve had chemo patients say that this soap is the only soap that does well on their skin. It’s nourishing and moisturizing, and the natural essential oils help calm the patients.”
Annette makes various scents, some with natural exfoliants. “I have a regular client, a local farmer, who prefers the cinnamon orange and clove because it gets all of the grease off, while maintaining the moisture. Especially in the winter season, when he’s working on equipment, the soap keeps his hands from cracking and bleeding.”
Customers also enjoy scents like peppermint, tea tree and dead sea mud, and my personal favorite, lavender.
Christmas is right around the corner! Coursey Family Farm has perfect holiday gifts, including a new line of “baby soaps.”
Call Annette (817.992.8560) or catch her at the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market. Since Farmers Market season is coming to an end, you can also find her booth at Levelland Trade Days and on Buddy Holly Avenue the first Fridays in November and December for the First Friday Art Trail.
Be sure to follow them on Facebook and check out the website to hear more about their story!
