Meet the Skeebas- Marek, Courtney, and Denise- the farmers of Homestead Ranch in Lecompton, Kansas.
Homestead Ranch is a small 3 acre family farm that raises La Mancha and Boer goats. Since Kansas' raw milk laws are strict and allow the sale of unpasturized dairy products only from the site where they are produced and the farm is in a rural area making travel to the farm by customers an unreliable business model- the Skeebas transform their goat milk into soaps and lotions which they sell online and at the Lawrence farmers market.
We met up with Courtney, Denise and Marek for their morning milking. After visiting Alabama and Arkansas, we were of course interested in their experience as queer people living rurally. When we asked them do describe how they identified, the most important way they said was, "...as a family..." This just about melted our hearts. Courtney and Denise said they have felt extremely supported and respected by their neighbors both for being farmers and for being a queer family.
Check out that soap, so beautiful. Courtney and Denise are both self taught caretakers of goats and soap makers. We talked in depth about the long and hard trial period it took for them to get their soap recipes perfected.
Here are some of the kids born this year.
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