Nick Stechschulte

Hello all,
My original search for land was mainly focused on tennessee, however, i've recently broadened that search to include the ozarks. I've found a piece of property in camden county, Mo, real close to lake of the ozarks. I like a lot of things about the propery (including the price) but have some reservations. Camden county appears to be one of a few rural counties that has planning and zoning. Does anyone have any knowledge of camden county planning and zoning and how difficult they would be to deal with? I plan to build a strawbale or other non-traditional residence. It appears ag use is exempt from these regs, but the resident structure would still fall under the regs. Also, once I pay off the land and make the move from Ohio, I don't plan on getting another job. I plan on making all income from sustainable agriculture (a mix of small scale cattle, goat, sheep, and/or swine and various growies) along with some woodworking/crafting. Being that the area is highly dependent on tourism, I figure my woodworking skills could be readily accessed to tap into tourist dollars, but are there enough permanent residents to draw from that i could have a stable customer base for my food products? Is there an appreciation for real food or slow food in this area?

Also, I've heard quite a bit said about how hot and humid summers can be in the ozarks, does that apply to the northern ozarks in the lake of the ozarks region? Being from Ohio this doesn't concern me much as I am used to extreme summers and winters but I'm curious. I've not heard much said of the winters? Can i expect the extremes I've xome to expect in Ohio?

Thanks all

Adam,
Thanks for the thoughtful response. It is a bit of a coincidence that I just stumbled across and listened to the permaculture voices podcast 06 featuring you yesterday while i was out walking the 20 acre plot i mentioned. Your very advice in that podcast made me start to question that 3 year plan and you've reinforced that here again. Perhaps i need to reevalaute. One thing i missed is that you've been able to do that on 12 acres, perhaps I over-estimate the land needed to create a profitable sustainable venture (both ecologically and economically).

Hello all! I've been lurking a few months and listened to a quite a few of Paul's podcasts. What a wonderful wealth of information, i figure the least i can do is join the community and offer what meager input I can. I'm currently a farmer wannabe with a j-o-b that consumes my entire life and I'm looking to make some major life changes. My short-term plan is buy a 20 acre plot in Ohio and practice the craft of sustainable ag while keeping my job, with the goal of working for another 3 or so years to purchase outright a larger tract (60-100 acres) in middle Tennessee where i plan to create my permanent homestead and make sustainable ag my soul source of income (soul purposely misspelled). While i don't plan on homesteading in a way that may pass a 100% permaculture purity test (I find such judgements extremely annoying), I do see the value in nearly all the tenets of permiculture that i have heretofore discovered and look forward to continuing my education.