By Liz Gordon-Hancock
Bluffton Farmers Market is the place to be on Saturday mornings in town. According to the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce, our town "boast  the best farmers market in northwest Ohio." 

In celebration of our small but mighty farmers market, the Icon will feature a vendor each week over the course of the summer.

This week's feature vendor is Old Homestead Soaps and Lotions.

Ashley Breitigam is the owner of Old Homestead Soaps and Lotions.

Breitigam stumbled upon the business idea of making soap from goat's milk back in high school. She grew up on Old Homestead farm, a Century Farm of Ohio, and is the sixth generation to live there, raising goats. In 2008, the farm, located at 2855 County Road 29, Bluffton, was part of the Hancock County Farm tour, and her family wanted to show what you could do with goat's milk. The show was so successful that Breitigam decided to make and sell soap out of goat's milk as an FFA Entrepreneur project. She took her show to state, and then to nationals, and was one of ten winners to win a big monetary prize (out of 500 contestants). Her business was born from that success, and enabled Breitigam to pay her way through college.

She now makes soap bars, lotions, liquid soaps, salves, lip balms, bath salts, bug spray and deodorants. Everything contains goat's milk, except the salves, deodorants and liquid soaps.

Breitigam is now married and moved off the farm, but she says "I go morning and night and help milk and feed the goats. We milk eight goats right now and the rest are babies and/or bucks (boys)." The farm currently has 30 goats.

It seems goat's milk has a stream of untapped health benefits. According to Breitigam, it "helps with eczema and psoriasis because goat's milk has healing properties." As a lotion, it can soothe bug bites and treat acne. It's also packed with vitamins and minerals, according to her website.

Breitigam shared an interesting tidbit about goat's milk: it takes your body twenty minutes to digest goat's milk, whereas cow's milk takes six of seven hours and it is still in your system. Her family wholeheartedly believes drinking goat's milk lowers cholesterol and lessens stomach ulcers, among many other health benefits.

The lotion made from goat's milk is very smooth and doesn't leave a film or residue on your skin. Old Homestead Soaps and Lotions offer 25-30 different scents to choose from, or you can opt for unscented.  (These items also make excellent gifts, with the added bonus of being made in Bluffton, Ohio.)

Plus, Breitigam offers poison ivy soap, facial bars and an all-natural bug spray.

If you're looking for a more natural, paraben-free product, then you need to try Old Homestead's products.

By buying Breitigam's products, you're supporting products that are sourced and made locally. You can purchase items at Saturday's market or go to her website: www.oldhomesteadsoap.com.

Breitigam has been selling at Bluffton's market for eleven years now. Stop by Old Homestead Soaps & Lotions and discover how passionate she is about the array of products she makes from goat's milk and how they can benefit you.

About the Bluffton Farmer’s Market
This story is part of a summer series on Bluffton Farmer’s Market vendors. The market is open each Saturday through the end of October from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Citizens National Bank parking lot, 102 S. Main St. For vendor information contact Greg Probst, director, at [email protected].

Next week's vendor featured will be Julie Brown of Sweet Dream Gourmet.