Introduction

My name is Mikaela Farmer, living in balmy Southeast Arkansas with sixteen chickens, two dogs, one cat, and one boyfriend. I am not married, I have no kids, and I am 28 years old, which I know, is an INSUFFERABLE age to have a blog. I’m with you there, but we are in this together now. You’re welcome.

I have lived in Arkansas since 2016 (except for a brief stint in 2020, where COVID and other factors both ruined and rebuilt my life, more to come on that in the future) but before that, I grew up in Vermont. Yes, that is real life state in United States, located in the Northeast where it’s summer for a month, fall for a month, and cold, snowy, and/or muddy for the rest of it pretty much.

Work Hard, Play Hard

My boyfriend, John, and I have an agri-drone business called Rogue Air LLC and he also has a dirt moving business, and I personally have a business for nature photography, finding deer with thermal drones, and more so as far as free time there typically isn’t a lot of it so juggling all of our ventures and also keeping the farmstand stocked could be tricky.

Before being a drone pilot, I have managed an airstrip for crop dusters, managed a 2,000 head beef herd for Cummins Prison and Arkansas Department of Corrections, worked for a tree company and vet clinic, multiple dairy farms, done some light to moderate ranching in Montana, built decks for bass boats…well you get the idea. There isn’t much of a theme.

I am a hobby gal; the after-work hours is what I live for. Hunting, fishing, cooking, gardening, stained glass work, soap making, going out to the river, I love it all. I am also particularly adept at wrangling opossums, which is a useful skill almost never. It’s a diverse portfolio, but busy hands means a good night of sleep.

The Farmstand

Delta Dawn’s is a farmstand that was born from pallets, old shop tin, and good vibes without much thought of success, but ended up being successful beyond anything I could have imagined, and for that I am very blessed. It started out being a fun hobby and a place to put extra fruits, vegetables, and flowers I was growing in my gardens and it grew into something great. The premise was to keep items very affordable, and if someone was in need, they could either pay what they could or trade with me; leave a note, a cool rock, a story, etc. in exchange for fresh goods. The grocery store situation here in the delta is depressing at best, and I refuse to buy a carton of strawberries and pick around the moldy ones, or drive 45 minutes to a larger town to buy some equally moldy herbs, and there was no way I was the only one who felt that way.

The stand runs on a self-serve honor system and is open 24/7, and many people were concerned about me running it that way as far as me getting paid for items, but in general people were incredibly honest and I’d like to think we were able to help some people as well. Towards the end of the first season, we also started a free food box, and people could donate food, or take it as needed, and that was a hit also.

Growing gardens and working with the farmstand, I like to do things on a budget so I can grow as much as I can, and that is part of what this page is for; doing the most you can with as little as possible. There may be some affiliate links along the way, which compensates me for you checking it out, but there is no pressure to do so, it’s just a way to show you what I used, and I will always give my honest opinions on those products. If a product didn’t live up to the hype, you’ll know it.

Welcome to the Chaos