Location Suggestions in the Ozarks to start a family hobby farm (St. Louis: sale, houses)

[Cali BassMan]

Just where did that feller go anyway, he git tired of making friends here??

[dusky_beauty]

He probably found a more explosive audience to troll..... that or his grandma needed her computer back to shop for cameos and rare piggy banks on ebay. ^_^ I know those types.

[dusky_beauty]

Just thought I would share with ya'll what I have in my stewardship now-- I've got a yearly lease on a 10 acre parcel (with a 4 bedroom mobile) 45 minutes out of Phoenix. I provided my own animal fencing and cultivated the garden plot from scratch.

This is what the soil looks like when you first break ground.
http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i336/duskybeauty/2011-07-23_18-14-50_769.jpg (broken link)

Now, they may not be as pretty as Ozark rocks, but its the best we've got here in the territory formerly known as Mexico!


This is how my garden looks now (I planted in April. I should have planted in Feb here.) It's pretty overgrown with bermuda grass right now. It's regularly 115 here during the day and I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion harvesting my last batch of sugar peas, so I'm skimping on the weeding.
http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i336/duskybeauty/2011-07-23_18-19-09_911.jpg (broken link)

From this plot I have harvested sugar peas (10 lbs), probably in excess of a hundred pounds of Zucchini and about a dozen watermelons just about ready with more produce coming along including that dwarf sweet corn you see, a lot of pumpkins, some cukes, and some honeydew and cantaloupe in different patches.
I was told after I started that you "can't" grow corn in summer, and I "can't" grow tomatoes because they burn up and die. I can assure you that each of those corn stalks has good ears on it, and that I have tomatoes in my fridge (and my bushes still producing.)

This is the lot next door, approx 10 feet away from my veggie plot.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i336/duskybeauty/2011-07-23_18-20-36_76.jpg (broken link)

[ozarksboy]

OK, I was wrong about you. The pictures prove it. That's a pretty desolate place, and you've managed to do well with your garden. The soil here is rocky and poor, but you ought to be able to grow lots of stuff to sell at the farmers markets. Has your husband checked the hospital at Rolla? Google Phelps County Regional Medical Center. (We don't have a mall or a Starbucks, but apparently you don't need either one. You might turn out to be a better Ozarker than many of the natives.)

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by Cali BassMan

Just where did that feller go anyway, he git tired of making friends here??

He was invited to leave.

[Cali BassMan]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

He was invited to leave.

Ahh I remember when I was a kid, Had an Aunt over in Dudley who was bothered by some fella, He got invited to leave too...........

[dusky_beauty]

Originally Posted by ozarksboy

OK, I was wrong about you. The pictures prove it. That's a pretty desolate place, and you've managed to do well with your garden. The soil here is rocky and poor, but you ought to be able to grow lots of stuff to sell at the farmers markets. Has your husband checked the hospital at Rolla? Google Phelps County Regional Medical Center. (We don't have a mall or a Starbucks, but apparently you don't need either one. You might turn out to be a better Ozarker than many of the natives.)

Thanks for the compliment Ozark, this is actually the first serious garden I've ever done, I tried last year in containers and a bed I conditioned but I was expecting our third child at the time and the heat + my condition was a little too much for me.

I'm sure you're sick of the city people coming in here who have seen pictures of the Lakes and hardwoods and read the Laura Ingalls books and think they know the Ozarks. I've seen people expecting a paradise in oregon, and no jobs when they get there. We have always been lucky, by the Grace of God. My spouse is one of those hard working guys who has never had trouble getting a job, keeping a job, and not too proud to work.


Anyway-- I've been reading that top soil is really thin in some locations, so I suppose if I have to I can do raised beds no problem, and I'll probably put emphasis on soil PH that supports good graze over table crops like veggies and berries (demands of both are really different.)


I have investigated Phelps county hospital, and it looks like a good prospect. I've also looked into the hospital in Houston, which seems to be connected to all the rural ambulance depots (I'm not sure if it staffs them, or if the ambulance company does though.)
I don't know much about Rolla, Licking or Houston yet though, other than it's position on the map. I don't think I've been to an actual mall in about 4 years(?) I'm too cheap for starbucks (and the mall for that matter) but I really would like to know if there's a Tractor Supply Company Store?

Hubby and I agreed he would apply everywhere we could live with that had a full time opening, accept the best offer, rent something just big enough for our minimum needs as near to his job as we could find, and then look for the homestead around the job.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by dusky_beauty

Thanks for the compliment Ozark, this is actually the first serious garden I've ever done, I tried last year in containers and a bed I conditioned but I was expecting our third child at the time and the heat + my condition was a little too much for me.

I'm sure you're sick of the city people coming in here who have seen pictures of the Lakes and hardwoods and read the Laura Ingalls books and think they know the Ozarks. I've seen people expecting a paradise in oregon, and no jobs when they get there. We have always been lucky, by the Grace of God. My spouse is one of those hard working guys who has never had trouble getting a job, keeping a job, and not too proud to work.


Anyway-- I've been reading that top soil is really thin in some locations, so I suppose if I have to I can do raised beds no problem, and I'll probably put emphasis on soil PH that supports good graze over table crops like veggies and berries (demands of both are really different.)


I have investigated Phelps county hospital, and it looks like a good prospect. I've also looked into the hospital in Houston, which seems to be connected to all the rural ambulance depots (I'm not sure if it staffs them, or if the ambulance company does though.)
I don't know much about Rolla, Licking or Houston yet though, other than it's position on the map. I don't think I've been to an actual mall in about 4 years(?) I'm too cheap for starbucks (and the mall for that matter) but I really would like to know if there's a Tractor Supply Company Store?

Hubby and I agreed he would apply everywhere we could live with that had a full time opening, accept the best offer, rent something just big enough for our minimum needs as near to his job as we could find, and then look for the homestead around the job.

Raised beds are going to be your best bet, I have to do that here in FL, and amend, amend, amend the soil, as its very poor.

[dusky_beauty]

You know you're a farm girl at heart when you are contemplating the logistics of leaving behind your plasma tv and bedroom furniture, but moving your compost cross country....

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by dusky_beauty

You know you're a farm girl at heart when you are contemplating the logistics of leaving behind your plasma tv and bedroom furniture, but moving your compost cross country....

Goats would be the answer to that.
Lots of poo, weed control, poo breaks down fast and is pretty much ph neutral, and you get milk, too!
We love our goats!