Missouri can be fantastic but PLEASE only come here if you are someone who minds their own business.

I'm in Missouri, it's a decent place to be. We have constitutional carry, and "Castle Doctrine" stand-your-ground laws which is awesome. Most places here are very freedom oriented politically. There's a High % of guns compared to most states for sure, and Missourians historically made a lot of shine and blew things up for fun. Winter can be more than mild some years and we get freezing ice storms. Summer is hot as hell with insane humidity which makes it feel hotter. The weather can and does change rapidly. Tornadoes ✔️. There's an insane amount of bugs.. ticks, chiggers, and other not-so-nice critters to contend with. You can't just sit on the ground here and expect to be okay. The cicadas are insane right now and it's really gross. Plenty of poisonous snakes too. There's lots of water here, and it's a huge dense forest of trees everywhere except the flat north. You can't just venture out into the woods willy-nilly as it's so thick most places you literally can't traverse it without a machete, and you'll loose your bearings quickly if you don't have a compass. The ground is very rocky in most places which makes farming and digging in a challenge. It's more work than most people expect. Some places along rivers are flood prone, of which we have many. Definitely stay out of the big cities especially St. Louis, it's severely crime ridden in places and some places are not safe even in the daytime. Some rural areas are very economically depressed, and there's lots of small dying towns without good employment nearby. Some smaller towns have very corrupt local gov, so make sure to research that. There's quite a lot of bad drugs and druggies throughout the state, more than most places. If you know what you're getting into it's a fine place to be and probably one of the safer places for the coming struggles.

Moved to Southern Missouri 3 years ago and I love it. Mind your business and treat people with respect and you will be just fine. Winters with the wind chill can get real cold but nothing compared to Canada. The Ozarks aren't for the weak, don't come here if you're looking for a half step between worlds, this is all in country.

I live in MO and love it here. Land is still rather expensive though ever since the pandemic.

The Lake of the Ozarks is the largest man made lake in the US. In Missouri they spray chemicals all the time on fields and the power company sprays along all power lines to keep from doing as much maintenance. You don't want to use any type of drain system to bring water in. Unless you use raised beds you are going to work a long time (years) to make a garden worth using, half the state is full of rocks the other half hard pan clay. People pack guns because we like our safety, from other people, cougars, bears, coyotes among many others, plus we have several snakes you don't want bit by. Land is getting cheaper at the boothill because storms and earthquakes are in an uptick right now. Just got to remember if it sound to good to be true it most likely is. I was born and raised in Missouri spent time all over the state.

We left Michigan last year and settled in MO near Neosho / Joplin. Land price was unbelievable, and we found a spot with amazing soil (hard to find great soil around here). Neighbors are all very like minded if you stay out of larger cities. Can't be happier with our new home here.

My family packed up last year and fled Seattle for Missouri.... Love it! Got 13 acres!

Lived in Missouri most of my life, might as well go a little further south and get into Arkansas. It’s just a little bit prettier, and the growing season is a little longer. You can grow watermelons no problem in Arkansas with little effort, but Missouri it’s mostly a no go. Also, any fruit trees here are hopeless due to pest pressures and late frosts. Blackberries, strawberries, asparagus, and sour cherries do well here for permaculture. Apples, pears, peaches, are a lost cause without serious spray schedules.

'The weather can be a bit radical' - understatement mode

Some of those areas are appealing due to cost, but looking at the USGS glyphosate map has me rethinking the midwest altogether.

We left Washington state for Missouri 4 years ago and landed in the ozarks - Texas county has been a great place for us

No building codes in the Ozarks!

Southwest Missouri is already homestead “Mecca”. Great place to live if you keep your eyes open and mouth closed. Be a good neighbor and you’ll get along fine. Soil is thin and sooooo rocky, (sharp and flinty) so gardening is difficult unless you build raised beds. Post holes are an all day event. Grazing is the way to go.

So nice to have met you at the Doug & Stacy event Curtis!

We have 60 acres near Norford Lake/ Tecumseh, Mo.(Ozark County). Great area to be.

I picked up over 100 acres near Clearwater lake at a steal. It's beautiful there, two large ridges overlooking a crystal clear creek, high ground in the trees, incredible views. BUT, I cant begin to tell you how bad the ticks are in that region, it's an absolute pandemic of ticks. We need the wildfires back to bring balance. It's different there, the neighbor runs Longhorns cattle in the valley and they dont exactly use fencing. The people dont seem to stay on their own land when they hunt either.

Eastern Oklahoma next…..NE to SE. Tip: The Boston Mountains straddle the ARK/Okla line as well as the ouachita Mountains. Broken Bow lake holds the most pristine water in all of Oklahoma surrounded by Forrest.

Was great to meet you at the homesteading life conference. Stay clear of the southeast and the new Madrid fault line….

I live in Pulaski county Missouri… my land isn’t as rocky as my parents just 30 minutes away, in Miller County.

Yay! My state! Might have a bit of trouble trenching for a French drain in our rocky soil. We are in the south on the border with Arkansas, 3 miles from a lake.

Cool you made it to the Doug & Stacy shindig. Folks don't get much better than them two. Great video as always!👍

The Ozarks is one of the worst places to homestead; thin soil, bad water, small (stunted trees), meth… it’s become WAY overcrowded in the past 15 years. In the 80’s, most properties were 40 acres or larger, now you’ll find people on top of people living on 5 acre lots. I’m amazed and saddened how much it’s changed.

Good afternoon Curtis, can you please look at Virginia and New Hampshire?

I have never watched your channel before just this video so I maybe missing the point but Springfield area has huge Homesteading community. Including a festival in the fall with vendors that is extremely good. Plus if you want to forage for things(Mushrooms, edible foods) there are some awesome groups in the southern part of Missouri.. We are still learning everything but I would be willing to guess that it's very supportive in that area. Especially when you are first starting out.. It will launch you years ahead, just going to the Homestead expo.. I've went too two of them and they are awesome..

Are you looking at the New Madrid fault area, it’s history and likelihood of a replay?

Hey! I've been in the right spot for four generations!

My suggestions for the next states would be Kentucky and Tennessee. Also talking about the differences between the two. I personally live in Michigan definitely curious on your thoughts there.

Can you please do Oklahoma; particularly NE closer to MO?

I was born and live in Missouri. Bone chilling cold in winter, extreme humidity and heat in summer and lots of rain and flooding in between. The ground is always wet from the dew. Wooded areas are very dense which must be thinned out to even walk through. Mosquitos, chiggers, ticks, poison ivy, snake filled area. Not for the faint of heart. I personally hate living here. I suggest watching the OZARK series with Jason Bateman to understand what backwoods folk are like. Seriously scary.

Northern Wisconsin Northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are great great for natural food sources. Its easy to propagate the wild foods and there is water absolutely everywhere

Love your video's, have you ever done Tennessee? we have 5 acers looking for maybe 10 to 25 acers.

Callaway County has a nuclear reactor, for those that care about the potential threats surrounding that. There is a wind farm in the area between Memphis and Kirksville if you're looking for property deals.

The Lake of the Ozarks might be beautiful but you get a crap ton of tourists for Spring Break and the Summer. I wouldn't suggest it.

Early 1900’s people just left the New Madrid-Mississippi River area Ozarks or went crazy from constant earth quakes (liquefaction) causing much of those curious water patterns and now gorgeous terrain. Supposed to do a replay here-likelihood better than San Andreas or Juan de Fuca out west. Does your system consider those dangers?

What are your thoughts on places in west Virginia

Lake of the Ozarks is a huge tourist attraction there's tolls and seasonal traffic water quality is low and they like to cover up the ecoli contamination that spikes around the holidays. You will have water quality issues if you don't thoroughly filter your water and is no exception to pesticide spray. All the rich people from out west are moving to the Ozarks and buying up cheap land and putting up giant houses so the people who live here can't compete for affordable land and housing. In the Ozarks we grow rocks you'll have to figure out a new way to grow food and every inch is on a sink hole just fyi y'all.

Hi Curtis! The Ozarks is an eroded plateau with limestone parent rock, good phosphorous in the lowlands .. and that is also the clue for how those lakes formed, the water just goes every which way trying to make it off the rocks .. and then after the channels got deep, we dammed them up. That valley across from Mark Twain National Forest, overlooking Bull Shoals is something else, a beautiful sight, and VERY fertile. If you move out there, take the Love of Jesus with you, because in Taney County, the Law is handled personally and biblically. Sure, there is a Sherriff .. but that is only because someone voted.. you know who you were .. stop it.

I like this, do Florida!

Take a look at New Brunswick.

Northern MO (above KC) tends to get extreme weather (more snow, stronger cold snaps in winter, lotta tornadoes head up that way, etc.). The areas surrounding KC tend to get more of the "big city" type politics. There's a huge scandal going on right now in Jackson county regarding a ridiculous and illegally done jump in property tax that's driving folks out of their homes, with property co.s coming in and offering to buy them up- so definitely better if you can avoid the areas surrounding bigger cities, but even still there are lots of good folks here. Not much for organically minded agriculture, but it would be great if more would come this way! Another thing to be aware of is a tendency towards drought in summers. Winters are short and fairly mild, but then there's usually a freak cold snap of -30s (real feel) for a week or two. Squash Vine Borers are prevalent, at least where I'm at, so anyone looking to grow squashes needs to grow resistant varieties. Just a few observations from an ex-new englander transplant 🙄.

Most of the water in s Missouri/ n Arkansas is via dams and the army corp of engineers... white river is world class fishing bc of these dams.

Farmland here is gmo/glyphosate and sprinkled with wind turbines. Sad what they have done to this state.

Curtis. Please review Oregon. I have always thought of it as weird and difficult to homestead but it has rich farmland and a pretty decent climate. What do you think? Is it possible or is it liberal hell...as Portland is.

They get a lot of tornadoes

Do alberta?

All 50 states

Isnt this tornado ally?

I live dead center of KC area metro.. KC is 320 sq miles.... with near 2.5mil people in the metro.. My homestead is just a small walk from the hood.. if SHTF.. we boogie to the country.. real deep red America there...

as a person who lives in missouri, I would avoid it at all costs.

I'd skip Missouri

DO NOT COME TO MISSOURI OR THE MIDWEST IN GENERAL!!! Please stay in whatever Eastern or Western area you're in, we're full lol.

It's terrible. Stay far away.

Shhhhh!!!! Dang it!! Missouri Suck! Don’t come here. Oh sure you can grow the heck out of food. And yes plenty ofo places to be away from people. Most rural areas got the nicest people. But geez it sucks! Go to Kansas. 😂😂

The lake of the Ozarks is man-made

Lived in Missouri most of my life, might as well go a little further south and get into Arkansas. It’s just a little bit prettier, and the growing season is a little longer. You can grow watermelons no problem in Arkansas with little effort, but Missouri it’s mostly a no go. Also, any fruit trees here are hopeless due to pest pressures and late frosts. Blackberries, strawberries, asparagus, and sour cherries do well here for permaculture. Apples, pears, peaches, are a lost cause without serious spray schedules.