Farmstead with gardens, dogs, chickens, goats and geese
Missouri
Hi, we're Vanessa and Eddie. We live in SW Missouri at the edge of the Ozarks not far from Springfield. We have 38 acres but we are working on about 5. We are a safe space and have a love of Nature. We have 2 dogs and a cat that are pets. We also have 2 outdoor dogs that are young and we are working with them to protect the farm. Our main focus is expanding our garden areas for produce and natural medicine and amending the soil to have the best food possible as well as, being as self sufficient as we can be. To do that we have made our own biochar and used some regenerative gardening techniques. We have plans for building a greenhouse and trying some permaculture techniques.
Most days we are working in the garden or working on expanding. We have a lot of trees that were cut and we have been cutting those for firewood and clearing brush as part of the expansion. In addition we take care of our 22 chickens, 2 guineas, 6 geese and our new addition, 3 goats. We have some areas that need some fencing and areas that need clearing for the fencing. Vanessa is an herbalist and we use a lot of herbs in cooking and for health. She's learning about herbal remedies for the goats! She would love to teach about herbs. Growing them, cooking with them, creating medicine for themselves and their loved ones. Eddie is loving his self wicking garden beds and is always ready to make another one and will gladly teach what he's learned. Making biochar is another great resource that we would gladly teach. There are many native plants on our property that are wild food and we will teach them which ones we know and enjoy harvesting. We are also part of training program to learn beekeeping offered to Veterans and their families. We are in our 2nd year of learning and have been planning some of our areas to be forage areas for the bees next spring. We do not currently have beehives on our property.
We have a cabin that sleeps 3 and another that we're getting ready that will sleep 2. They are fully equipped but we will have some meals together. We have fresh eggs from our girls. We are getting the garden planted and some crops will be here soon. We are willing to follow and food choices for them. Vanessa is gluten free however, it's not mandatory in our kitchen. Vanessa has been a vegetarian, although she's currently eating meat right now. That being said, we are familiar with a vegan lifestyle and fully support anyone who might be a WWOOFer with us. We would never make anyone feel uncomfortable with their choices in food or love.
Eddie loves smoking meat and he's always working on perfecting his technique. If you enjoy meat he will definitely enjoy the "excuse" to throw some meat on the smoker. We recently had some smoked potatoes. He's looking forward to trying that out! We love all kinds of music. We usually have music going somewhere. We also love to cook together. When we can spend time indoors Vanessa likes to crochet and do some bead work, or reading another book on herbalism. They are welcome to spend time exploring out on our property. We have a small pond and paddle boat. We're within 20 mins of 3 different lakes where you can fish or find many hiking trails, we're 30 mins to a ride thru cave, 45 mins to some indoor attractions. We are surrounded by Conservation areas that offer nature trails and lots of opportunities to see wildlife. We attend a lot of classes offered by the Mo Extension offices and the dept of conservation. We would love to take any one with us or make sure they can attend something they're interested in. Many of them are free or very low cost. A little farther away is Branson, MO, just 1 1/2 away. In 2 1/5 hours you can be in Eureka Springs, Ar.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Beekeeping
Wild foraging
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Meat processing
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Methods or systems
Holistic management
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Rotational grazing
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Veteran-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
15.4
Hectares
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38
Acres
Vanessa
Member since 2025
Languages spoken:
English
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 80%
Response time: typically within 3 days
Missouri
Springfield, Mo
Reviews
Diana
United States
•
May 2026
Natalia and I stayed here for a week. We learned a lot of amazing things about the different plants that Vanessa has and about everything the animals do on the farm. Coming from Chicago, we didn't know anything about farm life. Vanessa and Eddie are very knowledgeable, welcoming, and friendly people. It was a very nice mix of doing things outside and then hanging out indoors. We loved cuddling with their dogs, Frigg and Atlas, and the cats, Mars and Leroy. All of the goats are super cute and smart. The baby goat, Travis, was born while we were there, and we hope to return to see him all grown up! All the animals are spoiled and loved; they are treated like pets. Great farm for people who are new to farm life.
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Kurt
United States
•
November 2025
This is the most amazing educational experience anyone I believe could hope to ever have. We came here hoping to have a good first WWoofing experience and these beautiful folks turned out to be what Jenn ann I hoped Hosts and the entire experience would be .Jenn had to leave our second week to help a friend who was hurt in a critical accident I stayed and am currently here until the first week of December. There is not enough great things I can say about Eddie n Vanessa I have learned far more than I could of dreamed possible from organics to medicinal herds and practices there are the friendliest chickens n guinea hens 3 shy but loving little goat 2 big dogs that definitely guard the residents of this little Paradise and 2 smaller dogs Atlas and Friggy who stay inside and will have you laughing daily with their silly acts. And I cannot leave out the six geese who you have to experience they are worth the experience alone and will come to your patio door every morning to great you .I don't want to give away all the fun of this magical place so I will just say if you want to have the best experience in your lifetime of being a WWOOER. I will tell you right now Eddie n Vanessa are the kindest hosts you will ever have the privilege of meeting they will teach you everything you can imagine take you on trips to town n make you feel like family I love these people and hope that they will continue to live this lifestyle n help educate the next lucky member to visit this quiet pla...
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Reply from Vanessa
OH! Thank you some much! We really enjoyed having you. We could not have asked for better people to help us. Kurt goes above and beyond any expectations. They really do want to help and learn things. They have shared their experiences with us as well. They truly are the kind of people that you want to share with. It was really fun having people from a totally different part of the country come and share with us and we think they feel same. We are so excited for them on their next adventures. We want them to visit a lot of places but we also hope they come back this way. We feel like we've made some real friends that we will keep in touch with and share our different experiences.
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