GOATSbearing gi s

Harden creates skincare products

BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE | STAFF WRITER

GREY EAGLE –

Lateshia Harden scoured the internet in search of something, anything that could get her infant daughter’s eczema under control. Her research led her to purchase her first goat, hoping to use its milk to create a gentle soap. Today, Harden is the maker of a whole line of goat milk skin care products.

Harden’s product line, called Twisted Oak, includes eight different soaps and six different lotions, all made from the milk of the goats at her rural Grey Eagle farm.

“We literally went into the farming with no experience whatsoever,” Harden said.

After buying the first goat in 2014, Harden immediately started experimenting with soap recipes using goat milk.

“I learned how to milk a goat,” Harden said. “Then my one goat turned into 35 goats.”

The original goat, Tina, is an Alpine goat, but the majority of Harden’s goats are Nigerian Dwarfs. She chose the Nigerian Dwarfs because they have a higher fat content than full-sized goats.

“They don’t produce as much as some others,”

Harden said. “But, I think their quality of milk is much better.”

Harden does not push her 35 goats for production –she only has five out of the herd milking at any given time. She milks each goat by hand, taking her on average 30 to 40 minutes a day, which gives her about two quarts of milk a day. All of the milk is used towards her products. In the summer, all her goats are on pasture, rotationally grazing her 40 acres. Besides the grass, the goats are fed a regime of sun-

The flower seeds, lactation pellets and a mineral supplement. eld a supt.

A display of Twisted Oak products includes lips balms, lotions and soaps. Twisted Oak products are all homemade with goat milk and other natural products.

The goats, Harden said, also provide fun and learning opportunities for her children.

“I love (the goats’) personalities,” Harden said. “Everyone is totally different. Kidding time is a household favorite time of the year. Everybody gets involved.”

Harden’s husband, Anthony, and their three kids; Kyja, 8, Kaiden, 6, Kiara, 4, all help with daily chores.

“We try to engage our kids in all of the life cycle,” Harden said. “We see the good and the bad. We see the babies being born, and sometimes they get sick and don’t make it. It’s such a life-learning experience.”

The kids help Harden fulfill orders of her growing business by helping to fill lotion bottles. Harden does online wholesale, which includes a website and a Facebook page for cus- tomers to find her products. But, her favorite clientele are members of the local community.

“It’s so heart-warming to hear of people who heard about me from their friends,” Harden said. “That means more to me than anything else.”

Because of the overwhelming positive demand for her products,

Harden is looking to expand her business into a new facility.

“I went from making everything in a 4-cup measuring cup, to mixing bowls, to now in 5-gallon stainless steel pots,” Harden said.

When Harden first started out on her adventure in her kitchen, she was a stay-at-home mom and thought it would be a great source of income. She then had to expand into the lower level of her house and now has grown out of that space as well.

Harden researched online how to make soaps and lotion, which led her to formulate her own recipes. Harden’s main recipe uses a gallon of milk at a time, which makes about 75 bars of soap.

“It was so exciting to be able to know I can do this and make something from something else,” Harden said.

In creating her line of soaps and lotions,

Harden uses essential oils and other naturally and locally-sourced elements. She works with a local beekeeper to get honey, which is used in several of Twisted Oak’s soaps, including her top-selling oatmeal milk and honey, a staple among her customers.

“It’s soft enough to nourish your skin but not going to melt away,” Harden said. “Also, my products are lightly scented, so they aren’t overbearing.”

Of her six varieties of lotion, Harden said her Lilac is a summertime favorite, and a unique one called Sweater Weather is a fall favorite.

Harden page 13 from page 12

“It took two years to perfect my soap recipe to get it the right consistency,” Harden said. “I didn’t want to use any preservatives, and it needed to be paraben free. That took a really long time and a lot of research.”

A percentage of every order from Twisted Oak is donated toward purchasing Christmas gifts for kids in the community.

The distinct logo on all of Twisted Oak’s products is of an actual tree in the pasture of Harden’s farm, which also inspired the brand name and is what the Hardens now call their farm. It started out as one tree at the base, then split and twisted together as it grew. Harden found the tree so beautiful that she had her sister take a picture of it, which was then used as the logo for her growing business.

When Harden was in elementary school, she toured a yak farm and decided she wanted to have yaks of her own one day. Her childhood dream became reality in 2018 when the family bought four yaks.

The group of yaks has since grown to be a herd of nine yaks now. The Hardens use the yaks for their meat and also harvest their fur for its fiber.

Twisted Oak farm is also home to a flock of chickens.

As this growing farm and family thrives, so does its business.

“It was never about having this thriving business,” thrivss,” d e

Harden said.

“I just wanted to help people. If you show love, you will receive love.” making soaps and lotions with the milk ever since. of their material traits they are a lot calmer than most of the other beef cattle breeds. Having docile cattle is important to the Klaphakes for several reasons. They said it makes is so much easier when working and moving cattle around and it’s imperative to safety on the farm as Austin and his fiancé, Leczi have three young kids that enjoy being outside around the animals.

This unscented bar of soap is one of eight varieties of soap Twisted Oak produces. A gallon of milk is used to make each batch of 75 bars of soap.

This unscented bottle of lotion is one of six varieties of lotion Twisted Oak produces. Each of Twisted Oak’s products are lightly scented and use essential oils and other naturally sourced elements for scent.

“We don’t chase our cattle, we call our cattle and they always come,” Austin said. “We want to be able to take anyone out to the pasture.”

Russ said the Klaphake’s traveled to other ranches across Minnesota, North Da-