PESHTIGO – When Casi Lark and her husband moved from Green Bay to Peshtigo in 2020, the plan was to set up a small hobby farm with a garden and chickens on their three acre plot. But once Lark brought home a pair of baby goats, establishing the Blazing Bear Homestead became a natural progression to share her love for the new addition.
“I grew up on a hobby farm. My mom was an animal lover and I always had horses growing up, so this isn’t new to me,” Lark said of making the transition back to rural farm life.
What really kicked off her own personal farm were the Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats, a small breed of goat popular for their high milk yield. The Lark’s herd is 20 strong — a small amount for some, but the perfect amount for their homestead.
Lark said, “As we got into it, the goats really charmed us and we loved having them so much. We couldn’t have just two, so we started adding more goats. Then we were like, ‘Wow, we’re spending this much on food for them now, how can we make this more sustainable so that the goats can pay for themselves?’”
From there, Blazing Bear Homestead expanded to introduce the mobile petting zoo and open their doors to allow visitors on their property.
“It struck me suddenly that I love snuggling these babies so much — I bet everyone else would too. That’s where the baby goat cuddle sessions came in, which was kind of our first foray into the agritourism stuff,” Lark recalled.
Baby goat cuddle sessions are held during the summer months and have many benefits in addition to taking pictures with the adorable goats, she explained.
Their website explains that interacting with baby goats promotes stress reduction, releases endorphins, promotes mindfulness and encourages positive social interactions.
Similar benefits and enjoyment can be gained through the other events the homestead partakes in with their mobile petting zoo. The Larks spent the summer traveling with the goats to different events and are available for booking on their website.
Right now they are hosting their final sessions of Goats and Gourds, inviting families and children to paint pumpkins and visit with the goats.
The herd grows and changes throughout the year. Lark explained, “I don’t want to just be a backyard breeder that will breed anything that’s cute. They have to be a good milk producer, have good character and be contributing positively to the breed.”
Breeding goats also allows the Larks to produce products made of goat milk like soap and lotion.
Lark said she went the route of making goat milk products instead of selling the milk because it requires becoming a licensed commercial dairy producer, which isn’t a feasible option for them at this point.
“I started making the goat milk lotion because my husband has psoriasis and we’re constantly looking for a better lotion that actually helps. It turns out that goat milk lotion is the best one we’ve tried so far,” she said.
Lark said her products are not only unique because they are made in-house, but that “I make it with more actual goat milk than you would normally find in goat milk lotion. If you go to the store and buy goat milk lotion, there’s probably no more than 10% of actual goat milk in it. So, my formula is a little bit different that way. I just want to reap the benefits as much as possible.”
Reaping the benefits from her work is one of Lark’s main goals in everything she does on the homestead.
“I believe that the future should involve more people making their own products and growing their own food,” she said, noting a desire to work with local small businesses to make the most of what each person can do.
“I helped run the new Peshtigo Farmers Market this year, and that really filled my cup because there were people there who made their own products and grew produce and had a surplus to sell. That is how we get away from having to shop at big box stores all the time, which is personally important to me.”
Blazing Bear Homestead is located on Hale Road in Peshtigo and is open only during scheduled events, like Goats and Gourds on Saturday, Nov. 1.
For more information about the homestead, events, purchasing products and more, visit www.blazingbearhomestead.net/ or Blazing Bear Homestead on Facebook.
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