T R A C E Y   A N D   J E N

Soapmaking has traditionally been a woman’s chore on the farm.  As with many other crafts, women created soaps that were both practical and beautiful.  As mothers and small farmers, we find ourselves engaged in many of the same farm chores women have done for centuries: planting, weeding and harvesting gardens, tending chickens, milking goats, cooking food from our farms, and raising children. 

If the phone rings at Grace Note Farm it is probably Jen.

Grace Note Farm and Maple Moon Farm are about 6 miles apart, and in rural Wisconsin that makes us neighbors.  Although it doesn’t usually make sense to borrow the proverbial cup of sugar, we do share many of the kitchen and farm implements that are unique to our lifestyle. 

We grind grains for bread in Jen’s kitchen mill, separate milk and cream at Tracey’s, and split bulk grocery purchases between us. Jen’s tiller spends almost as much time in Tracey’s trunk as it does in our gardens. This spring we ordered seeds together and Tracey grew all of our seedlings in a neighbor’s greenhouse.  We call each other to cry when a goat dies, or the chickens eat all of the new broccoli seedlings. 

We both feel so blessed by our friendship.