Hometown: Elkins, Ark.
In Town: Erin Johnson had been a stay at home mom for twenty-three years. She and her husband have six children aged 24, 22, 18, 14, 8 and 6. Now that the kids are growing up and leaving the nest, she thought about what she wanted to do in the future. Erin owns and run Six Arrows Farm and Gifts in Fayetteville Arkansas.
“Someone told me this store is like a Hallmark movie, and it is.” Says Erin, “I am so fortunate our town leaders, the mayor, the city council, and the other small businesses in this town are so supportive of one another. I can still be family oriented and still have this. If I do not make a dime, my heart is so full.”
“I want to use local vendors. I want the majority of the store to be Arkansas made products. I have a friend in Cave Springs that own a micro-dairy; I carry her products; goats milk soap, magnesium, and tallow. I bought jewelry from some young girls in Elkins. I have locally made etched glass and pie plates. I have vendors from all over Arkansas: Aromatiques in Heber Springs, Milk & Pail in Huntsville and Yoder Family in Wesley.
In the Country: Community is especially important to Erin. When her family moved to NW Arkansas, they were looking for that quaint small-town atmosphere. They lived in Fayetteville for a brief time before settling in Elkins.
“I had time on my hands during covid and I was interested in making sourdough bread and having our own milk, so I bought a Jersey cow.”
The 2020 pandemic brought about a lot of changes for Erin and her family she said. “Having a dairy cow and learning to make sourdough was just the thing to do. Covid and a cancer diagnosis that year cause our family to reflect and re-evaluate what was important in life. It forced us to pray for things we’d never dreamed of before, a homestead.”
The Johnsons purchases a small farm outside of Elkins and the journey began.
“We have fourteen acres and four cows; one Holstein, two Jersey and one Highland.” Erin continued, “We are not currently milking, but when we do, we love using the raw milk for our family. We enjoy making butter, cheese and other yummy things. We have chickens and collect eggs for our family and friends, we have our livestock guardian dog, Sweetie. Our cows are grass fed, with supplemental feed as needed and we feed high-quality hay in the winter. The animals are monitored for health issues. We are learning as we go.”
Having a small homestead farm was just the beginning of the journey and little did she know where it was going to take her.
