Sustainable agriculture resources. You may also find more information of food related topics here

Missouri Farmers Union

Financing Ozarks Rural Growth & Economy (FORGE)

Missouri Organic Association

By supporting local, small family-operated farms, you become part of the solution to global food contamination, industrial agriculture and runaway energy and transportation costs. The food doesn't take two weeks to leave the field and arrive on your table, so nutrition is preserved. Locally grown food, much of it organic or naturally grown without petrochemical pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics or modified genes can be found in various communities in the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks.

When snow is on the ground, the sun is hiding, and the days are dreary, ponder this. Many people can grow a couple of tomato plants all winter long inside their homes. Of course the key is size and variety.

Most tomato varieties I've ever grown will tower over a human, and will climb up tall trellises, if they are tied securely enough. But sometimes (in the winter) we might not want a behemoth of a plant inside our house. Last year we grew, by accident somewhat, a tomato variety that is absolutely PERFECT for the south window in wintertime.

For the past several years, here in Missouri's Ozarks, we are finally seeing turkeys again. Decades ago, when we first camped and hiked in this area, we saw dozens of wild turkeys, and were never surprised to see flocks wandering across fields, or crossing roads from one side of the forest to another.

Not too long ago the Donald Danforth PLANT SCIENCE CENTER, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132 mailed a slick, color cardstock brochure out to many, including our household. I noticed the pre-printed "box" (in place of the stamp) that reads NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID ST. LOUIS MO PERMIT NO 5385.

One of the most difficult-to-grow food crops for those living in mountainous areas such as the Ozarks regions of Arkansas and Missouri is grain. Because most of us who live on "Billy goat land" do not farm row crops in large quantities, we rarely grow much of our own wheat, barley, oats, etc. And in fact, when some of us try to grow corn, wildlife gets 99% of it.

This is a good time of year to check out the woods and meadows for mushrooms. It just so happens within 3 days of each other, I found two edible and beautiful specimens.

An extremely versatile food item, overlooked by most, is the chestnut. As most know, the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, was almost totally obliterated from the landscape of the eastern half of the United States during the early 1900's, in part due to a bark fungus blight. Problem is that although the blight killed many, many of the trees and stunted many others, people at that time assumed it was 100% lethal so they began cutting down apparently healthy chestnuts, thinking "why bother?".

Who says one must live in California to grow figs?

Hubby planted figs in large containers which he rolls outdoors in late spring, and back indoors in early fall, making certain to avoid freezing or even light frost. Our trees have survived this way for years now, and all of them produce fruit in summer, and often during the winter months indoors. However the winter figs lack sweetness and aren't worth keeping. Possibly it is the lack of heat that contributes to a super-bland winter fig.

Many people like garlic, and some even like to grow the stuff. There is a related crop in the onion family known as Elephant Garlic. Although it is not a true garlic, it is pungent and it is large, usually larger than the garlics.