[mkfarnam]

Originally Posted by brad84720

My partner recently brought up the idea of moving back to his home state of OK and living a "simpler life" on a farm. I am very intrigued by the idea of doing this and we're planning a trip out to some towns south of Tulsa to give me a sense of the area and what things are like.

I'm wondering if you can offer this southern Californian (now living in a small town in Utah) some advice on what to check out when we're there. I've read some of your thoughts on the goods/bads and realities of life in Oklahoma. What would you recommend to a big city guy looking at life in a small Oklahoma town?

If you saw the movie " Rainman" alot of that scenery was shot around Gunthery, OKC and Tulsa, and around that area of OK.

[Synopsis]

Gerty is high fallutin' then, they have a paved county road going through it. All the rest of the roads in that town are dirt though. I love old dirt roads. Like redbird said, dirt/gravel roads lead to tranquility.

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by mkfarnam

Now that's what I call a City Slicker...

The Dairy farm I was raised on was on a 5 mi. gravel road that I had to walk to school on.

OMG, MK, where have you been???? Good to see you back.

[mkfarnam]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

OMG, MK, where have you been???? Good to see you back.

Colleen.. I've been here but my body took a detour and still has not completely returned.

I'm going to post a seperate thread on this because I would like to know if anyone has excperienced this.

[linicx]

If I were asked by someone from California to recommend an area somewhat near Tulsa that was tranquil, where I could have a ranchette or small farm, I would recommend tbe North end of Grand Lake around Grove. Why? Not because the area is beauritul and neslted in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and has awesome scenery. And not because i have a cousin who has horses and 40 acres. I would recommend it because accidents happen on farms and ranches, and I would not want to be a hour from a hospital. The fact is, unlike most small town USA, Grove has the hospital, the EMT, and the life flight service to any haspital in the four states. The Grove hospital does a pretty good job of stabilizing the trauma patient, and getting them ready to fly - which cuts down the wait time between when the patient arrives and when the chopper leaves with the patient. It's a little farther east of Tulsa, but there are other resources closer, too.

I love Tulsa. It's chic and arty, and fun and upscale, but for the big name box stores, mall and multiplex movies, Joplin is just fine. The plus for Grove is this. It is closer to a wider variety of other urbanized areas sucn as Branson, Eureka Springs, Fayetteville, KC, and Lake of the Ozarks. Even St. Louis is closer to Grove than Tulsa. And it has an awesome private sailing club, too.

This is just my two cents and another view from the Crows Nest.

[brad84720]

Some more questions for you. I will most likely be living about 45 mins. from Tulsa and will be doing so on a farm. I think it's the transition from a suit-wearing computer based office to a more hands-on life that is a bit hard to get my head around.

Has anyone transitioned from a very urban office life to a rural farm life, and if so, do you have any advice for me. Thanks a great deal. Brad

[Goodpasture]

I learned to drink heavily............

[HeatherDawn]

GP, you already knew how to do that. LOL

Brad, get the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. You really don't need it in these modern times but it will make you feel cool to know the stuff that's in it. :-)

[Goodpasture]

I understand Carla passed away a few years ago (two or three years ago, I think). She camped out with a bunch of us on the Buffalo River in Arkansas five years ago, or so.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by brad84720

Some more questions for you. I will most likely be living about 45 mins. from Tulsa and will be doing so on a farm. I think it's the transition from a suit-wearing computer based office to a more hands-on life that is a bit hard to get my head around.

Has anyone transitioned from a very urban office life to a rural farm life, and if so, do you have any advice for me. Thanks a great deal. Brad

Anytime you transition from city to country it is a life change. In Sunday church you might sit next to a cowboy that just came in from chasing a calf that got lost. Stores clost at 5pm and so does the pharmacy, grocers an hour later. Banks close at 3pm. The post office is open for an hour on Saturday morning. It might be two days before the plumber shows up to unstop the toilet.

Your soft hands will be dirty and sore until they toughen up. The only time you wear a suit and tie might be to a funeral. Or maybe to a nnight out at a really fancy restaurant in Tulsa. Otherwise you'll most likely find yourself more comfortable in jeans and boots. Boots are great, but don't get a riding heel if you don't intend to bust broncs. You want the lower walking heel because they are 100 times more comfortable if you've never worn a high heel shoe - and even if you have. Some farms have horses. If you get a horse you'll be saddle sore for a month because saddles are formed from wood, and you'll be riding a log.

Farms are long hours that start before dawn, a lot of hard work whether it is milking a herd, tending cattle or planting, plowing and bailing hay. If you don't like sunshine, dirt, sweat and smelling like a feed lot most of the time, it is not a life for you.

The only people who live an idyllic life on a farm, hire others to do the work. I have friends and cousins who raise cattle, pigs, sheep, trees and crops. I love to visit and feed the babies, but otherwiser it is not for me. The best part of their farms is the food! These are large farms. They have 500 head of livestock, 1200 acres of corn. They are not 40 acre ranchettes with a two acre garden in the back. They have that too because the wife puts up 100 -200 more quarts every summer. .

If you are having second thoughts, please visit the farm before you go from the air conditioned frying pan into the dirty, sweaty fire.

Farming is an entirely different world if you were not raised in it. The new farms are modern. They use GPS amd crop software to determine what crop to grow in which field. Its an exciting new world. But it is stll hard work.

Know your soil.. If you buy land that has a lot of clay and hardpan you wil regret it because not all clrops grow well in that type of soil. If you want to be suceesful look for good black loam and be prepared to pay a premium price..