About Us
Grace Harbor Farms
I love that stuff!
Grace Harbor Farms
Chapter One
Tim and Grace Lukens started with two goats in 1999 to have milk and dairy products in case the Y2K computer bug actually came about. When the commerce of the world did not come to a stop at the turn of the millennium, they started making goat milk soap as a way for the goats to pay for themselves. Soon they were selling the goat milk soap at the Bellingham Farmers Market and people asked them to make goat milk lotion as well. By the time Grace had perfected the goat milk lotion recipe, she and Tim knew they had launched a new business. People were writing them letters and telling them about how their skin problems were cleared up by using the goat milk soaps and lotions.
We are Christians. When it came time to name our farm we prayed. We wanted our farm's name to reflect our faith and our statement of purpose. God gave us the name "Grace Harbor Farms" and told us what it means. Grace Harbor Farms means that God, by his Grace, brings us into a Harbor, a safe place where we can grow, a Farm. We are still not sure why the "s" on farm, but God will show us in his time. In the meantime we are delighted to be serving him, and you, with this farm and the talents he has placed in our care. We trust that you will be blessed by our products. We will always treat you with respect, integrity, and love. We know that the most important thing God has placed in our field of influence is you, our customer.
Grace Harbor Farms has been producing fine goat milk soap and lotion products since 1999. In 2003 we became a Grade A Dairy and Milk Processor. Through our retail outlets in the Northwest, and this web site, we are delivering our products into the hands, and bodies, of people who are discovering the benefits goat milk and our natural soaps and lotions. I developed the MSM cream in 2004 when I was in a wheel chair with foot problems. We started selling it in 2005 has it become our best selling skin care product, and no wonder, it is an effective pain reliever. Read the whole story here.
We recently learned about Guernsey Cows and the unique properties of Guernsey milk. We are now producing yogurt and bottled milk from Guernsey cows. Learn more about Guernsey milk here.
Years ago the Lord told me that he would make my home a place where people come for prayer, for healing, for wholeness and for Jesus. I am seeing this word fulfilled more and more. At first it was family members and friends who came for a place of rest and comfort, then people started to come with their skin problems for our soaps and lotions. When we started selling milk people with sick children or digestive troubles themselves came because they had learned about the healing effects of goat milk. People really do come here to find healing and the Lord is using all these products to help them.
We make no medical claims--we simply tell you what other people have discovered. Please browse around our web site, and especially take a look at the testimonial page where other people have told us how much they appreciate our products, " Grace Lukens, co-owner of Grace Harbor Farms.
Cows and Goats
Grace Harbor Farms
Chapter Two
When we, Tim and Grace, started thinking and praying about a name for our business, we wanted the name to reflect our world view, our commitment, and our lives. We prayed together about the name and came up with "Grace Harbor Farms". "Grace", a gift from God. We can't earn it, it is given. And by God's grace he brings us into a "Harbor", a safe place out of the tempest and out of the storm, and "Farm", a safe place where we can grow. This business was, and is, to be a safe haven for us, for our employees, our customers, our vendors, and anyone else in our community with whom we have contact. We loved the name! What we didn't understand at the time was the "s" on farm. Why "Farms", plural? Well, now we know.
As our business has grown we learned that we can't do everything. We have to depend on and support other families in the community to continue making all the products we are producing. So we have contracted with two other farms in Whatcom County to produce our milk for us, and we, here on the Birch Bay Lynden Road, are now solely the processors of the milk.
Wendy and Richard Glunt in Ferndale produce all of our goat milk for us. Wendy is the person I, Grace, bought our first goats from in 1999. Without Wendy's help I would have been lost in trying to figure out how to raise and care for goats. Many times I called Wendy, sometimes in the middle of the night, with questions and problems. She was always gracious to give me help and information, and under her guidance our little goat farm grew, and grew. A couple of years ago Wendy and Richard decided to become Grade A themselves and produce milk. But they didn't want to make cheese, or bottle milk. They wanted to produce milk and sell it. They raise show quality Saanens and by having their goats actually producing milk for the marketplace and being "on test"--monthly testing of commercial dairies milk, they could get better recognition for the quality goats they raise. So they asked us if we would buy milk from them. We agreed. Then as we got busier and busier here it became way to cumbersome to milk goats and cows in the same milking parlor. So we made an agreement with Wendy that she would produce all of our goat milk for us, and we no longer have goats on the property.
Then the Golden Guernsey Yogurt took off like wild fire. In two years we went from producing yogurt from the milk of one cow to 14. We could no longer house enough cows on our property to meet the demand for milk. That's when Mylon Smith drove into our driveway. Mylon explained to us that he was building a Guernsey herd and would like to produce milk for us. He and his wife Shannon love the Guernsey breed, and their children are even involved with the raising of their cows and their farm. After more prayer and consideration we made arraignments with Mylon and Shannon to produce all of our Guernsey milk for us. In the providence of the Lord, Mylon and Shannon are more than willing to raise and feed the cows to the standard that we and our customers, you, demand. We insist that the cows be raised as naturally as possible, fed no corn, soy, beets or any other GMO feeds and have free access to pasture. Mylon and Shannon recently leased a certified organic dairy for their dairy.
We are so pleased, and now we understand why the "S" on Farm. We are supporting two other diary farms.
The other advantage to having other farms produce our milk for us is that we lower the risk of contamination from the animals in the creamery. By having the animals on our own farm we always ran the risk of carrying contamination into the creamery on our shoes especially. Now we have greatly reduced that risk, which is good for all of us.
