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My husband and I are both retired and moved to the Ozark mountains in Arkansas in June, 2003. We had previously lived in Louisiana, so this move is "north" for us. This is the first "country living" for either of us.

We have 15 acres, about 5 of which are pasture, the rest is "timber." We have a large pond mostly covered over with green algae. There's a small garden left behind by the previous owners, out of which we have already harvested beautiful broccoli and tomatoes. I have already contracted a magnificent case of poison ivy and have become very leery of unidentified weeds -- there's one called a "stickerweed" by our neighbor that leaves bubbly sores.

We are very interested in identifying the multitude of plants out there in the woods, both the dangerous ones (i.e., poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac) and the good ones. I'd like to grow ginseng, bitter melon (my husband is diabetic), goldenseal, and a variety of herbs. We don't have a tractor, but we did just buy a riding lawnmower. And just about all our neighbors have tractors and seem to be willing to help us out here and there.

We're also looking into guinea hens (good for ticks, we've been told -- ticks and chiggers are another new experience we've learned)...

We are "newbies" to country living and gaga to find out all about it.

I live in: United States

My zone is: 6 AR

First registered on August 19,2003.