Hart Ranch

Matt and Heather Hart can pinpoint the moment they got into the goat and goat’s milk soap business. Today operating the Hart Ranch in Trafalger, it all started with a 2007 stroll through the 4-H barns at the Johnson County Fair. “Our son, Cody, was in second grade and as we walked through the animal barns, we told him to pick an animal he liked for 4-H. He said he loved the goats,” Heather says. Matt recalls responding, “I guess we are going to learn about goats.”

Learn they have, now raising Boer (meat) and Alpine (dairy) goats and using the goat milk for a thriving soap and toiletry product business out of their rural home. The family originally started the 4-H years with meat goats which led to an interest in dairy goats as well for children Cody and Jessica. As the years went on and the family was milking more goats, there was an abundance of milk so they decided to pasteurize and drink it, as well as make ice cream. Another outlet for the milk was sharing it with those who needed extra milk for baby goats and even pig farmers who use the milk to fill out their hogs for the fair. “Goat milk has high fat content and helped fatten up the pigs,” Heather explains.

“We really wanted the children to have the entire experience of raising the animals and that means producing and using the goats by-products,” Heather says. This included growing and harvesting the hay to feed the animals. She says the entire family loved “Hay Day,” learning that stacking hay was hard work and somehow always fell on the hottest day of the year.

Heather, who is a high school math teacher at Center Grove High School, and Jessica decided one year to make goat milk soap for Christmas gifts. “We thought, how hard can this be?” Heather recalls. Determined to figure it out, they experimented with recipes and watched YouTube videos to work through batches that were barely usable to perfecting the art and science of mastering temperature and process. This led to Jessica submitting goat milk soap as a 4-H project as well as making soap as gifts.

People started asking for their soap and wanting to buy it, so the family took the leap in 2012 to be part of a local fundraiser. Their three scents of soap flew off the small table. With both kids being varsity athletes in high school, Heather teaching and Matt busy with his landscape management career, they did a few shows here and there in the initial years of soap selling.

As the kids got older, time for the business expanded and today numerous events are on the Harts’ calendar as they make and sell 29 different scents at farmers markets as well as via their on-line store. “It was trial and error to determine where to sell, and we now have loyal customers all over the country,” Heather says. Matt makes the handcraft boxes used for the soap that has been shipped to more than 30 states. They have built a customer base over the years by selling at shows like the Hen and Chicks Farm Market in Seymour. “Customers now expect to see us at the various farm markets and seek us out to stock up on their favorite product,” Matt says.

The beauty of selling at farmer’s markets is the ability to get to know their customers. “We get to know people and they treat us like family friends talking about their kids, we have really bonded with our customers,” Heather says. Their customers are loyal to the point of encouraging others to buy the soap. Matt shares the story that he was behind the table at a farmer’s market where a dedicated fan was encouraging a new customer to try the newly added shampoo bars. “I can’t explain it better than our regular customers!”

The soap all starts with the goats, and the Harts point out these animals are almost too smart for their own good. “They will stand at a gate and work with the latch for hours to get it open,” Matt says. He points out that each goat has a distinct personality and he knows their voices. Matt, who now works full time on the farm’s business, handles the milking which must happen every 12 hours. “Consistency is important,” he says about the twice a day milking. He is also now trained in the soap making to help Heather keep up with the needed inventory.

Originally they made the soap in the kitchen, but demand called for more space so production moved to the garage. Eventually an expansion was needed to house the soap making, packaging and storage required to meet customer demand. A little known fact is that soap has to cure for 4-5 weeks so it is sturdy and doesn’t just melt away in water. This means planning ahead for the dozens of scents they are making in 30-bar batches. Honey almond is their most popular scent, with Seabreeze, lemongrass and apple bourbon also being big sellers.

While Jessica and Cody are now grown and out in the world, they help out at shows and at home with the goats. Significant others are even enlisted to help in tying ribbon, chasing loose goats and packaging soap. “The kids saw the very beginning of this business and we’re all proud of what it has become,” Heather says.

Continued innovation and trying new things keep the Harts busy and looking to the future. “People keep asking about lotion so we are working on that in bar form, and that will be fun to unveil at markets this summer,” Heather says. “We’ll keep doing new things and see where it takes us.”