Our Story

Where it all began

What’s in a Name? In 1999 my husband and I bought 80 acres in northwestern Minnesota, which was 3 hours away from our home and “day jobs”. Thus, Faraway Farm was born! Since then, we’ve planted 10,000+ evergreen trees (usually on a cold, rainy Memorial Day Weekend), a 25 tree apple orchard, expanded our vegie garden to 1/2 acre, and added another 120 acres. Basically we got “back to our roots” as we’re both descended from hearty farm stock.

Why handcrafted soap? Working from sun up to sun down in the dirt meant I used A LOT of soap. Early on I had a very bad reaction to commercial “soap” (think itching, scratching, and ultimately the need for anti-histamines). Since then I’ve discovered that commercial soap is actually detergent. Yuck! No wonder my skin rebelled. Not wanting to ever have a reaction like that again, in 2012 I made my first batch of handcrafted soap and have been obsessed ever since! I found that I love to combine oils, butters, scents, colors and exfoliants in just the right combination for every skin’s special needs.

And now I want to share them with you. Enjoy!

Karen Zimmer

Faraway Farm Chief Soap Crafter