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A Farm of My Own:  Where to Go? Homesteading; Square 1.  |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 15 2011 : 4:35:52 PM
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Like everyone here, I want a piece of land to call my own, build up for my children, and feed them as they grow up. My hubby is totally on board. He's currently working on a nursing degree here in AZ with it's second to none schools and in state tuition and works in sales full time while I stay home with the children and leave a light footprint on a leased property.
Our intention is to take his nursing degree elsewhere, and set up a productive family farm while he holds a medical job to pay a mortgage and house expenses while I put my entrepreneurial savvy to work building up our home and some income to feed into it. (The idea is the job gives us the money to maintain the property like it was any other house, and the farm money goes into improving the farm.)
My first step apart from the goal and basic business plan, is to decide where we will set down our family roots, and I am so overwhelmed with the choices I dont even know where to begin!
If anyone can give me suggestions of good regions to be a hobby farmer that might fit my needs, I would be incredibly grateful.
Must haves:
Property must be inexpensive overall- I'm looking in the range of 5 acres and a passable house <160k. I'm Ok with (and in fact prefer) to be about an hour away from a city.
Winters must be mild- My mother, while still fairly young and spry, lives with us and has health problems. I also like to keep my animals well into old age and I prefer them not to suffer in too much cold.
The ground needs to be growable, growing season needs to be decent- I need a large garden and I'd like fruit and nut trees. Forest for a woodlot would be preferred.
Animal friendly (goes without saying)- Some programs I'm looking into are heritage livestock, working dogs, bees and fowl. I also keep a couple ferrets (as pets only) and occasionally my beloved woozles fall under the "exotics" category, so a simple to navigate state exotics law would be great.
A reasonable commute for shopping, working, a farmers market or co-op to market my products, and a passable school and hospital/clinic (both to work at and for health care.) 15 minutes to an hour is right in my preferred range.
Nearby hunting/fishing, up to two hours away.
With those conditions met, I'm wide open to suggestions. I'm kinda thinking Washington/Idaho/Oregon, but I'd love to hear suggestions of other areas folks might be more knowledgeable with (Or some narrowing in those states would be excellent too.)
I'd really like to start looking at properties and working up how much I'll have to borrow to invest, and learning about the communities I'd like to make my home.
I'm forming my business plan (and designing a custom house/barn, if I buy bare land) and looking to go from square 1, to homesteading 101 inside 3 years :D
One more year to pay down our existing debt, and another 2 to build wealth.
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2011 : 10:08:34 PM
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I found a website for my dad just a few days ago. It's called 'The Land Man Online'. It has a place on it for our state that he is gonna make an offer on. It's 89 acres with a house for $179,000. You might give it a look see.
I do know that the winters are milder in the mid-states, tennessee, kentucky, so forth. They also have a fairly long growing season.
To check out the animal laws for each state you could contact the county board of health for the properties you would like to consider. They could direct you to the people in charge of the areas directly. I know our county has pretty loose animal laws, but 1 county away you have to be permitted to have more than 3 of any one kind of animal.
You also might want to check into the farmstand laws as well. There can be really nice loopholes in the processed and raw food laws for roadside stands and farmers market vendors that can allow for a little extra income. Indiana rewrote their laws last year to make it super simple for roadside standers!
Just some thoughts.
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2011 : 08:31:38 AM
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That's an excellent resource and excellent advice, Thanks!
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2011 : 3:38:17 PM
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I've started looking at kansas and missouri, if anyone is from there and has some input on what they like (or don't like) about it, I'd love to hear it.
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2011 : 4:55:50 PM
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In Kansas and Mo you will have to make sure you are not in a flood zone, sometimes people will tell you no, cause they want to sell the land. (they did that down the road from us, even though my dad went over there when he seen people trying to buy and told them the land over there flooded, they didn't believe and built any way and flood every year, now they are trying to sue dad saying it's his fault! When dad didn't sell them that land and in fact went and told them when they were looking at it to buy so that they would know in case the owner was lying to them, cause the owner here lied to us (one small part of our land floods, it's a bad part though, where the house is! lol haha And they said it didn't!) Any way same for the new people down the road, it's where their house is. But, how they think that's dad's fault I don't know! They need to sue the past owner who sold it to them, or the inspector! Oh well! People are sue happy! we didn't sue any one about it here on our land!
That being said, Kansas can be very dry in July and August, it's a MUST to have well water, or your crops will die, as city water they make you go on watering strikes (won't let you water your gardens, as they are conserving water for drinking). That being said I think we have a pretty good long time planting. I put things out nearly a month ago, and last night was our coldest night at 36 barely squeeked by not freezing, but I am all the way south in Kansas, further north in Kansas got froze! However, it's hot today! But, that's Kansas.
We are also VERY windy, wind every day, which can scatter your seed. I planted beets in rows, however, I have beets growing all over the dang place, except the rows I planted them in! lol Uh.....we got tornadoes about 2 hours after I planted the beet seeds! lol hahaha
And that's another thing, you could get a tornado or drought come from no where and mess every thing up here and in Mo, but there is natural disastrous no matter where you live. Oh and the dust storms, MUST plant trees on your property or the wind will whip the sand right off the ground and all your plants will die-wither from the dust storms AKA dust bowls. (yeah we still have them, not as bad as 100 years ago as more and more people plant trees, but still we get them, even in the winter, then you have dirt in your house about a inch thick, comes straight through the walls and glass in the windows, YES through the walls, and yes through the closed glass windows! This does not happen often, but does happen.
However our land is pretty fertile, and I think our animal laws are loose, I know they, sell about anything at the auctions, from gaters, to bears, tigers and lions! I don't know any animals you aren't allowed to own here. The homeschooling situation seems to be getting better and better here if you are into that.
I like it here. I've lived in Texas, Alabama, and NY and Kansas is where I came back to. However, truth be told Mo is where my heart is, and Arkansas! But, my husband likes Kansas so here we are. And I'm happy here.
Oh and winters, well they can be harsh, but they can also be mild (arkansas is milder and so is Mo). but, it can be different from day to day. It changes yearly and daily. When I left here and moved to NY ten years ago I could go all winter with out a coat or sweater, when I came back they got colder and I HAD to have long sleeves and coats this winter. However, all winter long you get cold days and warm days both. Let's put it this way you can get a blizzard one day and the next day it can literally be 85 degrees and all the snow melt away. In reverse in summer, July and August can be brutal heat, up to 120 degrees! However, last summer stayed in the early 100's. Like 101, 102, etc. So again depends on the year, and the day. As some people say if you don't like the weather wait 20 minutes and it will change. I've heard that elsewhere but elsewhere it's not near as true as it is here in Kansas.
If you are looking for a milder winter, you would do better in Kentucky and TN! I know that for a positive, however, they are more humid in the summer too and I can't take their humidity at all! I would rather suffer Kansas 120 dry summer. (mo and arkansas also don't get that hot in the summer, that's why I like Mo and Ark they are just milder all the way around!). But, there ya go on what I know.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2011 : 5:44:57 PM
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MO mostly caught my eye with so many do-able properties being affordable, and on first glance, my other half's career opportunities look really good. Today I've been researching NW MO around KC area, but I'd probably have to visit the state to compare climates in different zones.
Currently I'm acclimated to Arizona, but I have a heck of a time when it's 110 in full shade. It never rains here, and while land is cheap, the place I'm leasing took 10 years to be garden-able and have a handful of decent trees.
The places I'm seeing with mature trees, gardens, barns, and rivers/ponds are sounding pretty good! The real clincher though, is that if it came right down to it, I couldn't feed my family off of pretty much any available acreage where I'm at without a lot of infrastructure to make it possible (and heaven help you if the power goes out in summer like it did last year while I was heavily pregnant!)
If you could recommend any one area in MO Heather, where would it be?
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2011 : 7:02:02 PM
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Jennifer, it sounds like to me you would like the Ozark areas of Missouri (generaly so/western part of the state), decent rain, milder winters as a general rule and it still can get hot in the summer, but nothing like Arizona...
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2011 : 11:12:06 PM
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Yup what Bear5 said, I prefer the Ozark area more then the northern area (by KC is the northern area). I know if you get good land the ozarks can be rich. I know you can grow grapes, elderberries, ginsing, watercress, and many things very easily, as a lot of them already grow there naturally. I also find a great majority of the Ozarks and Mo very friendly and accepting of new comers. However, your husband would have more medical opportunities in the KC or St. louis areas. But, if you really wanted to live near the Ozarks, I am sure the Joplin area would be fine, or Springfield. If he went into geriatric care at all, I am better in a few years the Branson area would be needing some help, as a LOT of people are retiring up there, especially performers. It's like the family style Las Vegas, all the family oriented "stars" have moved up there, Pam and Mel Tillis, The Osmand's, Yakoff Smirknoff (sp), and too many others to count, not to mention all the just regular folks that have chosen to retire up there. And I have been noticing they have been building nursing homes, and such there. The only thing is since you are primarily going to be living off your husband's income, the best income would be for him to work in a hospital setting in ER, NICU or MICU those are the highest paying nursing jobs. A drs office nurse doesn't make nearly as much unless he becomes a Nurse Practioner, which I would highly suggest he go ahead and start work as a RN and keep going to school as he can (maybe some online courses where he can, and then fill in with real life courses for the ones not allowed to take online) cause that right there has a lot more opportunities right now in this financial climate, as a lot more people can afford to go to a Nurse Practioner then they can a doctor. Also right now with the way it is in this country we are becoming over loaded with RNs, this is the most RNs this country has had since the 1970's boom! So NPs are getting more of the jobs, then "new" RNs, if you have been a RN for a while most of them are keeping their jobs (except in NYC even the old RNs are being laid off! hospitals are closing cause they can't afford to stay open!). So right now it's really best to try to be a NP if you can. However, at least you can work as a RN while going to school to be a NP! (just a little ps I know the areas and medical field opps cause my mom is a dr, and dad is a RN now NP-my mom was a dr in KC for a while, and dad was a RN in KC for many years. I know they always wanted to move to the ozarks, but they didn't cause of the money situation with medical jobs, but that was before branson got big, I think now with so many people going to branson it may be different now.)
However, with tornadoes you can be with out power, I suggest saving for a generator, you can at least have water and a fridge then. And I would put a outhouse on the property for times when the power is out (most well pumps are ran on electric). That can happen in Mo, and Kansas both. We have never had the power go out because of the heat though (like I have in NYC), only because of storms.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
Edited by - MagnoliaWhisper on Apr 16 2011 11:18:15 PM |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2011 : 08:02:39 AM
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Heather, you're a wealth of information! One of the reasons I am thinking of leaving Phoenix is that with all the medical and nursing schools coupled with the poor economy, they turn out RNs and LPNs like mad, and right you are about the hospitals cutting expenses and laying off general care nurses. My mother just got out of a long hospital stay (spider bite, gone septic, throwing blood sugar into a mad spin = 3 weeks in hospital and 2 months of at home health care.) Most of her care was administered by CNA trained people with LPN endorsement from that hospital so they can administer medication, and two RNs on duty for an entire floor of a major central metro hospital was the norm.
My husband's field is ER. At current, he has paramedic training, and he's doing a bridge program that deposits him into the 3rd or 4th semester of the RN course at one of our schools. Originally he wanted to work on an ambulance, but ER is pretty much the same job, only better pay and better job prospects with hospital ER, Urgent Care Clinics, and even ambulance companies. I don't expect he'll have much trouble finding a job, and I'm frugal enough to stretch a paycheck quite a bit once he has one.
I'm going to be looking for a home with some good roadway frontage--not only for my farmstand, but my mother in fact has an entire quilt store in storage, with thousands of bolts of high thread count cotton prints stacked up in her bedroom. We occasionally hit up craft fairs and quilt shows with a vendor table laden with fat quarters, and I think Missouri is just the place to set up shop. People in the west don't appreciate the difference between heirloom quality material, and wal-mart cheesecloth, and I've balked at re-opening a regular store.
I broke the news to her that I was looking at land last night, and I expected a lot more resistance on the weather since she raves about how nice it is here all winter (yeah... while my fruit trees DIE!) But, common sense reigns-and when I showed her the quality of property we could afford, she was just as excited as I was. (I'm still hearing all about how unbearably humid it is in an place she's never been though! lol)
I'm not too worried about the tornados-- I'll be looking for a place with a good basement or cellar and steering clear of mobile homes on blocks. We actually had one in my neighborhood last year during a monsoon that came out of nowhere and trashed a lot of houses, because obviously no one in phoenix ever thought to worry about a tornado before.
I've also been without power and running water for long periods of time, and I think it's every true farmgirl's "trial by fire" to manage to keep life going as normally as possible without them from time to time :D
This same monsoon I mentioned with the tornado knocked our power out on a main road for 3 days (again, high summer, 8 months pregnant.) I moved all the perishable food to the deep freeze, tried not to open it. I flushed toilets, washed dishes, and hand washed work clothes with water I drew up from the in ground swimming pool while my neighbors cursed the darkness and stayed in hotels :D
Thus far, you're failing to scare me off! What kind of pests can I expect? I'm well acquainted with Buford the field mouse, adept at ant-proofing, and I work at keeping an unfriendly roach environment (even clean places get bad infestations in the sw and cali). We've got scorpions in the yard regularly, and I have on occasion (*shudder*) fished dead rattlesnakes out of my swimming pool.
Actually, that's a lie. I wouldn't get within 30 feet of the snake and I made my 12 year old brother get it out and bury it for me.
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2011 : 09:23:02 AM
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Well the thing with having a NP under your belt is you are only like 1 calculus class away from being a dr, and you can get just about any job, even stay at home jobs. For instance I have 17 siblings, my dad stays at home on Saturdays and answers phone calls like a dr would, he can also prescribe medication as a NP. So many people call him, instead of going to a ER or a dr on a saturday. He gets 250 dollars a hour and gets to stay home, as long as he is by the phone!
That being said, I'm not sceered of the tornadoes either! lol haha I've never left and stayed in a hotel during a tornado either! Of course here they would be just as bad as home unless they had a generator. lol Better to just stay home! haha I would highly highly suggest the ozarks for quilting shops! You are right people will buy, the closer to branson or eureka springs the more people will pay for good quality quilting supplies. (eureka springs is in Arkansas but right over the border, about 20 miles from branson mo).
Oh critters, there is some snakes, primarily you have to be aware of copper heads, however you can buy or collect king snakes which are docile to humans and eat copper heads, peacocks will also eat snakes. They are illegible to kill yourself, that is why you want to get natural killers of them! hahaha Not to breach the law, just common sense you do not want poisonous snakes biting your cows and other live stock or yourself and children and killing you and your live stock!
There's your normal, foxes, panthers, bears, raccoons, skunks, opossums etc, as well. The panthers and bears are in the more rural mountains then city areas.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
Edited by - MagnoliaWhisper on Apr 17 2011 09:28:43 AM |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2011 : 10:38:53 AM
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Yeah, that would be a big NO on collecting snakes to get rid of my snakes. Hate the things. Legless God-forsaken creepy wigglers! BLECH!
Birds though, I love em. I've heard guineas will go after snakes too, and snakes/bugs were my biggest unknown factor.
I keep Great Pyrenees dogs, and they're second to none anti-carnivore livestock guards. I'm considering acquiring a good stock purebred pair for this farm project and putting them to work. I currently have a 50/50 anatolian shepard pyrenees that's good with my family and keeping my coyotes away, but with predators that size I'll have to go bigger, or my sweet lion hearted Molly will get eaten :(
The places I'm looking at are quite rural (and brimming with possibility.) I wish we were ready to go right now!
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2011 : 10:49:06 AM
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I have found that a few really good dogs will keep out most of the snakes, and believe it or not, the old wives tale of used kitty litter in the crawl space works wonders!
My aunt has cultivated a relationship with the black snakes that like to live in her crawl space in a very extreme way to keep out the copperheads around here. She has a very large one that likes to warm himself on her clothes drier in the winter. The drier is in her bathroom and you have to walk past it to get to the potty! She actually will knock on the door and talk to it as she goes in to the bathroom and leaves! The thing is 5 feet long and will just lay there and watch you come and go. She sometimes pets it on her way out! AAACCKK!
I have given over a little ridge between our house and pond to a rather large black snake who killed a copperhead a few years back that had moved in under our porch. My aunt seen it kill the copper head and go into it's hole. She said it came out very lumpy, so they were both female and the black snake ate the copperhead's eggs.
We now call her Missy and have moved our chairs away from her sunny spot there where her hole is. I have three girls who give her a wide berth when they see her. We all understand she protected us and she keeps the mice away from the house for the most part by living in the basement all winter each year. What she misses the inside cats get! LOL!
Living in the country you learn to live with some critters you don't like to get rid of the ones you really hate!
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2011 : 10:57:28 AM
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I don't have cats, but I've never had a problem with indoor mice due to my ferrets (related to polecats). If they get to house roam and find a mouse they will hunt it like a cat, and in fact mice are supposedly repelled by my ferret's musky scent alone (and my babies are descented!)
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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Pasthyme
True Blue Farmgirl
99 Posts
Gail
Mountain View
AR
99 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2011 : 3:55:16 PM
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I moved here to the Arkansas Ozarks 5 years ago and love it. We sometimes go up to Missouri, and it is beautiful there as well. Longer growing seasons than the northeast. Here the soil is rocky (I live in "Stone" County--aptly named. I have raised bed gardens that work very well. Lots to do here, and very friendly people.
www.ozarkfolkcenter.com
www.pasthymesfashions.webs.com |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2011 : 8:48:01 PM
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I'm pretty much sold on it, I've got 3 farms picked out already lol!
Really wish I could get there for this year's season but eh, hubby has to finish school since it's what we're in AZ for.
We've decided on the Springfield area (but well out of the city). The more I look at SW MO, the more I like it, and the more it clicks for me.
I'll be looking for a good house (hopefully an old farmhouse!) with a storm shelter or basement, a highway frontage, a well, a livestock barn, and a shop near the front road with electricity for our quilt/jewelry shop. 10 acres+, with as much land, house, and outbuilding I can find with my mortgage limit :D
Until then, my landlady says not to worry, I should feel free to raise some chickens and a goat (I'll have to get the hubby talked into the dairy goat though....)
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2011 : 9:46:23 PM
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one thing about mo is the towns/cities for the most part in that side of the state aren't big, so it doesn't take long to get into a rural area! lol
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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walkinwalkoutcattle
True Blue Farmgirl
1675 Posts
Megan
Paint Lick
KY
USA
1675 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2011 : 03:40:15 AM
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Oh man! I'm not scared of snake, but letting one just be loose in my house is sorta terrifying, being that I have a small dog and cat that would make a decent meal for a snake 5 feet long!
Farmgirl #2879 :)
Starbucks and sushi to green fried tomatoes and corn pudding-I wouldn't change it for the world.
www.cattleandcupcakes.blogspot.com
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 9:02:39 PM
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Well, today I planted my first real, actual, non window box/container garden to practice for my for keeps farm! Wish me luck!
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. ~Will Rogers |
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Rejena
True Blue Farmgirl
149 Posts
Rejena
WY
USA
149 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2011 : 2:07:12 PM
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found in the PASA newsletter for Mar/Apr 2011 (website: www.pasafarming.org
FARMING OPPORTUNITY:
Farming opportunity for the right individuals; we own a small 13-acre farmette in Central PA, which has not been farmed or in cultivation for over 25 years. Rustic farmhouse, which could be fixed upa nd lived in while farming this property. No barn, just the stone foundation, but small chicken coop and small stream on property. This acreage would be perfect for beginning farmer to farm organic produce, goats, chickens, etc. with motivated farmer/homesteader skills. Interested? Email Judi at yeehawfarm@yahoo.com or call 717-834-9667
Just thought I'd share!
Good luck Farmgirls looking for their farm!
www.violetacresfarm.com
"Kid Run Boer Goat Farm" |
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A Farm of My Own: Where to Go? Homesteading; Square 1. |
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Where to Go? Homesteading; Square 1.
