Rison Student Establishing Her Own Farm at 17

  • SUCCESSFUL FARMER ALREADY - Alaina Reeves, the 17-year-old owner of Gnome Home Farms, poses with a harvest of oyster mushrooms she raised inside the greenhouse she has set up at her home. She has already established a market for her mushrooms with local chefs and restaurants, and she is also selling dehydrated mushrooms online. Ultimately, Alaina said she wants to have about 20 acres for her mushroom farm, a hydroponics farm, herbal garden and small farm livestock. (Photo courtesy of Michael Reeves)
    SUCCESSFUL FARMER ALREADY - Alaina Reeves, the 17-year-old owner of Gnome Home Farms, poses with a harvest of oyster mushrooms she raised inside the greenhouse she has set up at her home. She has already established a market for her mushrooms with local chefs and restaurants, and she is also selling dehydrated mushrooms online. Ultimately, Alaina said she wants to have about 20 acres for her mushroom farm, a hydroponics farm, herbal garden and small farm livestock. (Photo courtesy of Michael Reeves)
  • ANOTHER NEW VENTURE - Alaina Reeves works with a new incubator she recently received to help her hatch chicks that will be used for personal use as well as be sold for private flocks for individuals and families. Alaina said she is always looking to expand the market of her farm. She said she would like to get into other forms of livestock in the future once she gets out of high school and finds her a place to farm. (Photo courtesy of Michael Reeves)
    ANOTHER NEW VENTURE - Alaina Reeves works with a new incubator she recently received to help her hatch chicks that will be used for personal use as well as be sold for private flocks for individuals and families. Alaina said she is always looking to expand the market of her farm. She said she would like to get into other forms of livestock in the future once she gets out of high school and finds her a place to farm. (Photo courtesy of Michael Reeves)
RISON - Studies show that about 90 percent of college students change their major once they get to school. For Alaina Reeves, a junior at Rison High School, that probably won't be the case. In fact, Alaina said she has no plans to go to college full-time. Instead, she said she is looking for opportunities to get some hands-on experience learning what she really wants to do farm. Alaina, who just turned 17 in January, is already well on her way to making her childhood dream of becoming a farmer a reality. She owns and operates Gnome Home Farms. Alaina grows culinary mushrooms used by chefs and restaurants in the region as well as hydrated mushrooms that she sells through her online store. She is also dabbling in raising microgreens to expand her market, and she is now using her new incubator to hatch chicks that she will use for personal egg production as well to sell for laying hens. Alaina's mother, Tabatha Reeves, said her daughter has wanted to be a farmer for about as long as she could remember. As early as about age 3, she recalled Alaina having a fascination with farms. She said she even special ordered a small farm set for Alaina as a Christmas gift when they were living in Germany while Alaina's father, Michael, was stationed there with the armed forces. At first glance, Alaina may not come across as a farm girl at all. She even admits that she is not all that thrilled with getting "dirty" when she is up to her elbows in mushroom substrate. Alaina said she had thoughts of perhaps becoming an architect, a fashion designer or even a cosmetologist. However, when her experiment in growing mushrooms began to yield fruit, she said she discovered what she really wanted to do. The idea to start a farm - and a mushroom farm in particular came during the COVID pandemic when Alaina said they were looking for something to do. "I enjoyed eating them, and it was a hobby that we did when COVID hit," Alaina said about the situation that led up to her starting her…

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