Welcome to the 2007 Missouri State Master Gardener Conference Website

HEARTLAND GARDEN TOUR
Full Day - Lewis & Scotland Counties, Missouri
155 miles round trip

Tour Stops:

• Heartland Community Organic Garden

• Heartland Composting Facility

• Heartland Greenhouses & Hydroponic Greenhouse

• Heartland Cannery

• Heartland Goat Milk Processing Facility

• Sandhill Organic Farm

• Dancing Rabbit Organic/Sustainable Farm

This tour will travel about one hour through farmland to the first stop at the Heartland Community. Here you can see how this religious (Christian) based community grows most of the food for several hundred people who live in this new town built almost in the middle of the prairie. You will see a large organic garden, greenhouses, hydroponics greenhouse and composting facility. If time allows you will see the facility where dairy goat milk is processed into cheese and cow milk is processed to be sold throughout the area.

After lunch you then will travel to a much smaller community known as Sandhill. This was the county seat of four counties before the population grew 150 years ago. Several people live in this egalitarian community making their living on an organic farm.  Many products such as mustard, honey, horseradish and molasses are marketed and sold throughout the United States.  You will be there at sorghum harvest time and you will see how cane is processed using time honored traditions. During harvest many people come here to help from other communities like this throughout the state.

After leaving Sandhill, you will go about five miles to the Dancing Rabbit Village which has very interesting gardens and unique home building designs.  You will also see alternative forms of energy that provide power to the homes.

After leaving Dancing Rabbit, you will have about a 45 minute ride back to Kirksville.

Click Here to go to the Sullivan County Tour Page

Click Here to go to the Kirksville Tour Page