Last weekend, we took off for a day, drove up and down the coast, and visited towns like Half Moon Bay and Pescadero.

Pescadero is tiny, but it’s a lot of fun. One of our favorite places was Harley Farms, a small goat farm that sells their own goat cheese, soap, lotion, and other products made from goat milk. It was really fun to see the farm and the goats up close, learn about how they’re raised, and watch the farmers take care of them.

Harley does a brisk business, largely due to how much they open the farm to visitors. Anyone can walk right up to their grazing areas and pens, pet the goats, and check out the equipment used to process the milk.

It’s impressive how many alternative revenue streams they’ve found by marketing both the farm and the goats. They sell their boutique cheeses both on the farm and online, give tours, host public and private events, send out press releases, and even keep a blog.

Small farmers vs. big agribusiness is a constant refrain in the press, so it’s fascinating to see how well this small farm has done for themselves. More importantly, though, it was a ton of fun!