Rosco Heber

I put up some shade cloth which helps but it was still getting too hot in spring inside. Put more vents in, running fans. I got it so it was only 10 degrees warmer inside. I looked into swamp coolers a bit. Never found out how much humidity in the air is too much. I noticed humidity in early spring wasn't too much here. Might rig one up next fall. I didn't have my greenhouse set up correctly and water accumulated and pulled the plastic down, letting more water fill up till my 1in pvc was bending and breaking down the the ground. Disaster. I did learn that if i have it wide like i do (18ft) i need to support in the center. I also am going to put in some more supports as my pvc was a bit over 2 ft apart. So add two more pvc sections in the middle, support in center and make sure its tight and one of our heavy rains won't cause another disaster.
I've got the top off now for the summer. If i had it to do over I'd use 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 pvc and do a better job with the framework. ITs been a big learning experience and so far money pit.

"they call it a hunters dream." That means its mostly vertical and there is no road going there. Nearest electrical is going to be a mile away. Usually you can tell by the price. If its the cheapest/acre thats it.

"Arkansas's dual-agency practice?" I don't have any idea what this is. After finding a job I would just ask people. I found out that a lot of the land listed for sale was being bought by people who were contacting absentee owners of the land. Lots of people moved out of the hills for jobs and lot of land is owned by people who rarely come back. You might look and see who is behind on taxes and contact them. I remember in Newton Co,(where Jasper is) lots of small parcels were delinquent. People with the small stores know what is going on. Could put some notice at the store that your looking for land. I was checking the paper every week and almost bought 10 acre outside of Drasco, but I was beat by someone who didn't need to think about it as much as me. So i guess to sum it up I'd say get a job, talk to people and look around a lot. I also had a book on buying land in country which was very informative.

If your thinking of living as far out as Leslie then I'd say there is going to be a lot more land available. Its only near the bigger town where all those looking for weekend cabins are buying everything up. Marshal, Alread west of Clinton, Snowball by the Buffalo. But a long long commute unless you can find a local job.

I came home once to find piles of what at first looked like snow. They were my dead chickens. I tied one around the neck of the guilty dog and left it there for a day. Didn't kill anymore chickens since they were all dead. It did kill a cow but couldn't get it around his neck.

" Never heard of Tumbling Shoals Park" Well that's not the name of it. (870) 307-5250 and its Lakeside RV. When i live there I could hear the frogs from the pond over at the campground. You can walk to the beach. Those 55gal plastic barrels are used, but food grade. Someone in LR sells them claiming they had juice concentrate in them. There are two people in Pangburn selling them. One shows pics and they had some kind of chemical in them. I'm going to see this week about getting a few from the other guy. One is not enough unless you want a tiny garden. I lived up in the National Forest before coming back to Heber. They told me there when buying land to make sure about water. I'm using too much from city for my garden now so that is why I'm looking for storage. I've got a real big garden for in town. I've seen several teaching jobs advertised lately in Heber and I think maybe in Concord. Might call the school.
Another thing. City give out mulch free. Its leaves, ground up trees, and grass thats sat out for a year or so. Some times its great, some times too many sticks and rocks, but overall can't beat it. Its south on 4th street (from court house on Main) about 1/4 mile. East of cemetary. SHow up at 7am or noon and they load it. I've gotten dozens and dozens of trailer loads. Soil here is Clay and terrible. Mulch is the answer.
There is also a Community Garden in town. Last spot got taken other day. Call extension office in Heber and maybe next year. They said they might expand it. They have free water and some mulch. I've got big spot but ground is terrible and i'm going to have to put a lot of mulch on it. THey do plow in spring.

"Wagon Circle RV Park on Libby Rd" They are very strict (stupid) about their very low speed limit. Are they putting in some new sites at Tumbling Shoals park? Must be if they don't have electric yet. Chick and Deb who own Tumbling Shoal park are great people. Lived there a year and been planning on going out to see them. What kind of work if any are you looking for? Not much in Heber. Searcy or too big Conway. You got to get away from all the weekend, and retired people. They are driving up the price and taking everything. Mt View is even worse or maybe the same. Land divided into lots for retired people to bring the suburbs to Mt View and even fewer jobs there. Some land between Drasco and Mt View maybe, back way back off main roads.
Might try advertizing for a place to put your house RV thingi. Maybe on Facebook. You could always haul water I guess. There is a guy in Pangburn selling 55 gal, food grade barrels for $10ea.

Janet Branson wrote:Heber Springs or Bust! My grandfather is there and I plan to have my tiny house delivered to an RV park in Tumbling Shoals unless someone has a better idea. (Open to suggestions!) The park idea is just temporary while I find a few acres in Cleburne county, most likely owner financed. It is a relief to learn there are permies in the neighborhood. I too am interested in joining a community of like-minded folks.

What do you mean by "tiny house"? Is it an RV? I stayed at the RV park near the COE park in Tumbling Shoals while I looked for land. Never found anything I could afford, but I wasn't going to settle for 2 or 3 acres. I ended up buying a house in Heber. All sorts of people around here looking for "owner financing". Look on Facebook at Heber Springs, Drasco, Ida, RoseBud. THere are several Facebook groups. I've seen an add for some acreage to put an RV on down Libby Route. Check our Worlds Worst "News Paper" for an add since I don't remember where I've seen it. Might have been on craigslist.

I'm in Arkansas Ozarks with lots of clay. I dug out parts of garden each year and added many many trailer loads of mulch i get for free. I dug at least 18in keeping the top soil separate. Then put in mulch and till, more mulch and tilled. Then some of clay back in and more mulch. You get the idea. Its a lot of work and my garden is 5000 sq ft. Last year in our front yard, which had even worse soil. I dug out large holes where i was going to try growing tomatoes. Each hole got 3 or 4 large wheelbarrow loads of mulch. That worked pretty good. I've probably got over 100 pickup loads in garden but its made a fantastic difference. No one around here has soil like I do.
I figured out how much sand I would need according to what i read about clay and since I'd have to buy it paying thousands of dollars didn't make sense. I also pile extra free mulch to age, and have that when i need some.

My soil was clay and terrible when i bought the place 5 years ago. My first years corn was 12in high. Last year it was 7+ feet. What i did was add organic material. OUr town give out mulch free. I've gotten dozens and dozens of trailer loads. Each year I would dig out an area putting the top soil in one spot. Then dug up down about 18in and then loads of mulch which i tilled in. Next more mulch and some clay in to till. This went on till I'd mixed loads with soil. Its a lot of work and most people aren't going to do it.
Every year i get more mulch and it get tilled and has made a HUGE difference. I'm 62, have a bad back so for me it being too much work isn't an excuse.