Rae Ellis

Thanks Dan, every tidbit is appreciated!

All the info is quite helpful Eugene. Thank you for your insight!

Oh Thank you so much Eugene for your reply. There are 8-9 properties (so far) that I will be looking at in Texas County. All priced just above or below $200,00, all with good outbuildings and from 20-120 acres. There are some other properties one in Pulaski County (north) and one I like in Crawford County. I would like any property to be completely fenced and cross fenced a plus. Many of these properties have ponds as well. My goals are to plant a food forest and many of these properties have woods. I also want to grow all my own food and meat and have alpaca to start a fiber business. Other things I will do is large scale worm farm for castings sales to organic growing operations. I already do this on a smaller scale now, bees and several other endeavors that I will sell the products mostly online. I just want a peaceful, safe place to "do my thing". I know there can be crime anywhere but I don't want to deal with it constantly or have to be on guard every minute.

I am getting ready to embark on a fact finding land acquisition trip to Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska this next week.
The prices seem reasonable in the areas I'm looking at. Missouri appears like my best option at this time because it offers many of the opportunities in the plus column for a Permie wannabe. 1. Very little government regulation overall 2. water rights 3. ability to drill multiple wells if needed 4. able to build as many outbuildings and or living structures as you want. 5. able to easily divide property if needed 6. many properties have springs and/or live water.
Is there anyone out there from Missouri who could give me more insight on living there? Information that an outsider can't easily find out? I need to find a place to fit (fit in?). I am in my sixties and at least initially will be living there alone. This needs to be a smart buy because I'll need to "bloom where I plant myself"
I sincerely appreciate any help, ideas or information you could send my way. Thanks in advance for helping make my dream come true.
Rae

I will turn 63 years old this week and I am female. I have had a lifelong dream to homestead and I'm not about to give up on my dream now. I am not {currently haha} married so will go it alone. I know God will protect me but I have a few ideas to help. One is possibly hiring help, especially the first few years and offer a separate living quarters for a single or a family to live on the property with me, as part of the pay. Also, I plan on installing a bell at the house that will ring when anything walks or drives thru the entrance gate kind of like those old gas station bells that ring when cars came into the station. I plan on having perimeter fencing, livestock guard dogs and a well trained guard dog for me. I will have at least 2 guns. I will use some alarmed motion activated night vision cameras.
It may sound like I'm being overly paranoid but I feel like it's a good idea to be prepared and be able to handle almost anything. Unfortunately, a lot of "bad guys" like to live out in the countryside to stay under the radar. Here in Colorado, there's a bunch of meth lab operations being run out in the boonies. I have an elderly cousin that woke up one night on his rural farm to see 4 guys dressed all in black ransacking his bedroom. He was smart enough to realize that an 80 year old was not match for fighting with a bunch of 20 somethings, so he pretended to stay asleep and let them take what they wanted. They wanted anything of value. Stole his 1 day old pickup, all the electronics and cell phones, cash basically anything that wasn't glued down. They had also cut his landline phone so he had to walk a couple miles when they were gone to call the sheriff. If he would have had a dog or some kind of warning setup, it might have turned out differently. Of course that being said, it may have turned out worse.
The other thing I'm doing is getting myself in good shape physically to be able to work on the homestead and protect myself as necessary. I'm sure I'll be OK out there on the homestead.
Currently I have in a big city on a busy road with tons of constant traffic and a stream of "wierdos"walking by at all times of the day and night. It's actually more scary living here than anything I can imagine in the country. Wish me well....I'm doing this!!

I'm sure you all are way ahead of me on this, but saw this opportunity on FB this am and wanted to share...
Krameterhof Intensive
September 3rd to September 12th

this is exciting because for the first time, there will be english translators so that english speakers can have a hands on experience. Here's the link: http://www.holzerpermaculture.us/krameterhof-2016.html

I was reading this thread last nite and didn't see anything about biochar. Here's a great article I wanted to share about using it to build sandy soils with the science for you http://marshcreekfarmstead.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-permanently-improve-your-sandy.html

I only received part 1 on yahoo. boohoo

I first came up with this idea about a year ago when I was researching the possibilities of selling worm castings. I was so impressed with the results that I personally was having with using worm castings on starting transplants and in veggie production in the garden, that I wanted to see if there was a demand in the organic farming community for the castings.
I sent out a few questionaire emails to local organic farms and I was immediately blown away by the responses. At the end of the email, I asked if they would be open to accepting bids on castings for their next year production. None of the farms responding used worm castings, mainly because they couldn't produce enough for their land and get all the other farming tasks done as well. Most were only using compost to enrich their soils.
The very first response to my email from a local organic farm requested a bid for 80 tons of castings for the 40 acres they plant for the next spring growing season. The recommended application is 2 tons per acre applied immediately prior to seed planting. Needless to say, my brilliant idea came to a screaming halt!
Then I remembered that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of "worm farmers" in my state alone, not to mention the entire country. Most worm farmers use at least some of their castings in their own gardens and I would have to say that most individuals have little understanding of marketing their leftovers. I think they would love an "outlet" to sell their castings.
So my idea is to set up a questionaire to research local interest in participation. Developing guidelines for quality control so that you get the same product every time. Find a centralized location for monthly drop offs and develop a budget for the co-op operation.
The question is: what do you think of this idea and if you are a worm farmer does this idea appeal to you? I have attached a video link about the benefits of using castings in seed planting. Please let me know what you think. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/359373245240051386/