Independence, MO, farmland, anyone live that lifestyle? (Lee's Summit, Jackson: how much, house)

[movingover]

I am considering moving to Independence, MO and buying a large plot of land with a house on it. I am not a farmer, and have no intention of commercially farming, in fact I am an experienced software engineer. So this would be quite a lifestyle change.

I would like to have the land though to do some personal farming, but I don't know anything about this. Does anyone do this out there? Is the soil correct for vegetable farming in small amounts?

I would plan to still work in the city (KS,MO), but have the family do light farming.

So tell me, am I dreaming a pipe dream? Or could this be a workable lifestyle? What about property taxes on 20 acres of land, what does that run annually?

Thanks.

[luzianne]

I could be wrong, but I think to buy 20 acres you're going to have to move outside the city some - not much, but some. Maybe Orrick, Grain Valley, something like that. And the closer in you are, probably the higher the prices.

[christina0001]

I don't know how small you mean, but many people in the area have homes with small vegetable and flower gardens, and there are many larger farms not so much in Independence but in nearby towns, so I think you would be fine as far as the soil being good, etc. I couldn't tell you how much the property taxes would be; you might want to telephone Jackson County and see if they would be willing to give you a rough idea.

[northbound74]

Far-eastern Independence might have some tracts of land that large, but they could be pricey. You wouldn't have to go very far out of town to find something like that.
The soil is very rich, and all sorts of things grow around here.

[Sillypups]

Anything is possible.

Gardening is a wonderful thing for children to learn. You disk, plow or till the ground. Experiment with all veggies. They plant them...weed them... water the plants and watch them grow. Harvest the food they grow.
They might even learn to can tomatoes and other veggies.
Make sure you plant flowers around the outside of your garden, The bees will help polinate your plants.

You'll need plenty of room for cucumbers to grow or melons, pumpkins etc... Zuchinni & yellow squash all grow on each plant. They don't take up much room.
Try different varieties of tomatoes, big beefy, yellow, star, roman, blue... there are so many varieties.. Peppers grow on a bussh. You get a lot of peppers per bush.
You need to plant several rows of corn to get it to polinate correctly.

Looks like you have a bit of reading yourself to do, before the family attempts this job..

It's not hard. It is time consuming, if your going to do it right. !st & number 1 rule...WEED...WEED...WEED... Weed every day or the weeds will take over big time.

It a great responsibility for children. Something that is lacking BIG time in this country. They will respect you down the road.

Property taxes vary from county to county. I'm very far Northeast, MO from you, so I couldn't even guess what your taxes might be in that area.
20 acres is a nice plot. Having a zone around you where nobody else can get near you is a plus
Privacy is ALWAYS a good thing.
I say...if you can afford it...go for it.
Best of luck to you 7 yours on your new adventure.

[MrsMo]

Although not Indep, this would be close..Go south of 40 hwy on Old Noland Rd., then right before KCIR , there will be a church on the corner, go towards Truman Med Lakewood, go towards Lee's Summit. Beautiful drive, some nice homes set on nice plots of land.DD and I were driving out that way on Saturday and both of us said how we'd love to be able to afford to buy some land and build in the area. Probably not as much acreage you want, but nice area to look at and think about.