Goats Galore

While Barbara Leone was living in suburban Hamilton Township, New Jersey, she longed to trade the busy bustle for a quieter country life where she could provide locally grown food to the community. Her son, Anthony, and daughter, Joy, shared her desire. In fact, Joy had a dream of her own: to care for goats. She was about 6 years old when she visited a family friend’s farm, learned how to milk a goat, and fell hoof-over-heels in love. “She became totally obsessed,” Leone says. “I knew one day I wanted to find a property my family and I could farm on, and goats would be a huge part of the picture.”

With a little luck, what started out as an idea turned into a fated plan.

“One day, we were out for a drive and noticed a house for sale with land. It happened to be an open house, so we decided to stop in,” Leone says. “As we walked through the property, we could see ourselves living there and building the kind of life we had talked about. The rest unfolded from there.”

They purchased the seven-acre farm property in Delaware Township, near Sergeantsville, in 2017. “We hit the ground running," she says, “doing research, meeting other goat farmers, and getting involved in 4-H.”

They started with three goats. Though the herd was small, the goats were producing more milk than Leone and the children—Joy was then 11 and Anthony, 17—could consume. They made cheese and drank milk but still had an abundance. When Joy learned that goat’s milk could be used in skincare, she began making soaps and lotions. In 2018, Leone founded The Bubbly Goat, named after their foray into goat milk soaps, and started selling the skin care products at local farmers markets, including Stockton Market, the Yardley Farmer’s Market, and a pop-up held at the former DeAnna’s Restaurant in Lambertville.

“Goat’s milk is very gentle and nourishing for the skin, and is high in vitamins and minerals,” Leone says. “It also contains lactic acid, which is a natural exfoliant, and fatty acids help moisturize—making it great for those with psoriasis or sensitive skin.” The lotions and soaps come unscented or with scents like wild lavender, almond cream, orange grove, and honeysuckle.

In 2019 Joy was awarded the title of Junior Miss Agriculture, representing the state of New Jersey, for her skincare products. But as the pandemic closed many farmers markets in 2020, the family had to switch gears. “People were desperate to get out of the house and do something to connect,” Leone says. “Regulars started reaching out to see if they could buy directly from us and also visit with the goats.”

Leone began offering private visiting opportunities with the goats. “We got such a huge response,” she says, “we had to create an online booking system.”

As people came to the farm to spend time with the goats, Leone began to notice something. “People’s moods started to change. They’d start to relax and get calmer and be very sweet with the goats and to each other,” she says. “You could see the humanity in people really awaken.”

Since then, agritourism has become an integral part of The Bubbly Goat. The farm hosts school groups, seniors, therapy groups, and families and offers goat-centric events, such as baby goat snuggle sessions and bottle-feeding in the spring. In the summer, guests can participate in goat play dates, goat yoga, and classes held off-site in a commercial kitchen that teach the basics of making soft cheeses like chèvre, farmer’s cheese, or cajeta, a sweet goat milk caramel sauce.

Multiple hands are needed to coordinate events, manage the herd, and keep the farm running. Anthony, 25, is in charge of property maintenance, event management, and herd health, while Joy, 20, makes the soaps and lotions and teams with her mother to milk the goats. With a herd of twenty LaManchas and Nigerian dwarf goats, the milk pail runneth over. During the spring milking season, the goats are milked once in the morning and once at night. LaManchas, a large standard-sized goat, can produce nearly a gallon of milk a day, while the Nigerian dwarf goats produce two quarts. “You’re always on the clock when you own a farm,” Leone says. “It takes a lot of responsibility, timing, and physical work to collect the milk and process it into a product.”

Managing herd health is one of the biggest challenges. “We’re always changing where the herd grazes,” Leone says. “You don’t want them grazing where they’re doing their business because you’ll repeat the parasite cycle. By rotating the pasture, the parasites have nothing to feed on and die. We also check their eyelids weekly to be sure they are pink. If they aren’t, it could indicate anemia caused by parasites.”

Bubbly Goat soaps and lotions are sold at Kimberton Whole Foods in Ottsville, Casa Bizarro in Frenchtown, Needle Creek Brewery in Hopewell Township, and Basil Bandwagon in Lambertville, Flemington, and Clinton, NJ. In addition to goat’s milk products, they also sell candles, eggs, a small assortment of vegetables and bedding plants, and merchandise like shirts, hats, and mugs.

“It’s a joy being a part of the River Towns and sharing our love of goats with others,” Leone says. “There’s such a great sense of camaraderie, connection, and support between farms like ours and the community. Where I used to live, if I told someone I had to hurry home to milk my goats, they’d look at me like I was crazy. But around here, people get it.”

Lauren Johnson is a freelance writer and regular contributor to River Towns. She spent a year on a goat farm making cheese in North Carolina, where her favorite goat was named Grimace.