When Katie Ladny Mitchell decided to raise a handful of chicks back in 2021, she had no idea that four years later she would be offering educational homestead tours with over 50 farm animals.
Ms. Mitchell operates Dellview Homestead – a five-acre hobby farm located off Dayton Pike 12 miles from downtown Chattanooga.
“Back in 2021, owning chickens was illegal within the Chattanooga city limits,” Ms. Mitchell said. So she and her husband invested in a piece of land in nearby Rossville, Ga. There, they not only worked together with their five children to clean up the neglected acreage, but they also planted a garden, built a chicken coop, and kept chickens.
As much as they enjoyed the homesteading experiment, traveling to and from the Rossville property eventually became tedious. “It would have been much simpler to just get rid of the chickens,” Ms. Mitchell said. “But once we'd dipped our toes into homesteading, we were ready to dive deeper.”
It took three offers on three different homes before Ms. Mitchell found a property near Chattanooga on which she could keep farm animals legally. The property which would become Dellview Homestead was initially under contract with someone else. But Ms. Mitchell's realtor, Cindi Arendale, advised the Mitchells to lengthen their offer's time frame. When the house later fell out of contract, their offer was next in line.
The week before Christmas, 2022, Ms. Mitchell and her family moved from Hill City, North Chattanooga to Jackson Road in Soddy Daisy. They named their new five-acre property Dellview Homestead for its picturesque view of Signal Mountain. But things were not always picturesque on the homestead.
Two weeks after moving in, the septic system failed and needed to be replaced, making Ms. Mitchell's husband question their move to the country. “Thankfully,” Ms. Mitchell said, “we were able to sell our Rossville property for $11,000 more than the first offer we'd received. And the cost of getting a new septic system? It was $11,000. We feel like God wants us here.”
Ms. Mitchell offers educational homestead tours and homesteading workshops by appointment only from 10:30 a.m.–noon on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and certain Saturdays from August through November and late March through July. The next Saturday morning tour is Aug. 30. All tours must be confirmed via email.
Families, friends, co-ops, and enrichment groups can reserve a tour date and receive a fun, hands-on experience with goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens, a mini cow, ducks, geese, and even two emus. Each tour includes an interactive goat-milking demonstration, a goat's milk v. cow's milk taste test, an overview of the Nitrogen Cycle which turns manure into compost, and the opportunity to pet over 50 farm animals.
Those interested in reserving a tour date or learning more information are welcome to email Ms. Mitchell at dellviewhomestead@gmail.com.
Katie Mitchell has also written eight books and has a homesteading blog - homesteading hullaballoo blog