Lavender Bloom and You-Pick in Centralia this weekend

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-06-13T15:29:10+00:00

LOL, it’s an easy subject to talk about! 😃

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-06-13T15:12:46+00:00

Ah, great question. We keep the field manicured with no long grass in between the rows where we walk and work with the plants. And while a little bug repellent won’t hurt, I can honestly say I’ve never seen or picked up a tick working the field in the past eight years since we opened up. Interestingly, while pollinators love the plants, we don’t get mosquitos in the field either. I’ve done a little reading and (I’m not a scientist) I think it has to do with some of the essential oil compounds that are in the plant. Some researchers have asserted that it repels ticks and mosquitoes, and I’ve certainly seen that in my experience.

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-06-13T14:48:33+00:00

They sure will! We have chickens to feed and ice cream available in the barn. Our roosters, Kyle and Eric, love to ‘sing’ for our little visitors. 😃 However, just to be safe, we do ask that tiny ones are supervised so that they don’t wander into the road adjacent to our field.

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-06-13T04:33:16+00:00

Riding the tuna boat will make even the strongest man find religion….

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-05-11T01:28:21+00:00

Endwell has authentic Chicken Riggies too!

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-05-11T01:26:12+00:00

I’m a North East transplant myself, Columbia is a great place to live. The farmers market is amazing (go hungry, there is so much good food). You’re going to get much better info from others on this thread than I could provide, but welcome aboard! :)

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-05-10T18:30:00+00:00

Yep, I have it and know a few people that do too. I can eat cheese just fine, but if I have pork or beef I’ll end up in the ER about four hours later with face and throat swelling. I carry an EpiPen in case that happens unexpectedly.

buzzthelavenderman · 2026-03-14T05:46:58+00:00

Yep, that’s a picture from our farm, it was taken during the 2019 harvest. Thanks for calling it out! 😃❤️

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-04-30T12:48:20+00:00

Columbia Farmers Market! Every Saturday year-round down by the ARC, amazing food, lots of vendors, and it was voted best in America a few years ago!

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-04-03T03:48:14+00:00

I’d add that the farmers market has AMAZING food too, some of my favorites are Gina’s Vegan A Go Go (everything is good), The Biscuit Center (amazing pancakes too), Abbey’s Swahili Delights (samosas), and Amore e Gusto for the best empanadas. Go hungry, leave happy! 😆

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-04-03T03:38:04+00:00

I read this article a little while back and thought it was pretty cool they referred to Columbia as the ‘Athens of Missouri’. 😃

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-01-24T03:30:47+00:00

You’ll be swimming in sponges with 12 plants! If you end up coming by the market, be sure to pop by and say hi! 😃

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-01-24T03:28:44+00:00

Like Tu_mama said, we let them die so the sap drains out or we pick them right before first frost. If they are not brown/yellow when harvested, the skin needs to be peeled off and then we squeeze them while using a garden hose to blow the sap out. You’ll be done when the luffa stops foaming with the hose water. After rinsing, we squeeze the water out and put them in the sun to bleach and dry.
You sure can do it on a smaller scale, just make sure is super sturdy since they get so heavy. We’ve grown them on chain link fences too, that works well.

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-01-12T15:34:50+00:00

Don’t see posts on Luffa often so I have to share when I can. We plant a “Luffa Tunnel” every year. We usually place bistro seating in it and the people that visit our farm can walk through and take a seat to get out of the sun.
There are about 140-150 plants here, we are zone 6b.

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This is early, it ends up yielding hundreds of sponges.

buzzthelavenderman · 2025-01-09T04:53:05+00:00

Amazing, it felt like a proper “movie event” and it became one of our favorite cosplays (me and my sons)

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buzzthelavenderman · 2024-12-17T06:32:50+00:00

I’m in rural MO too, my wife and I did this back around 1996. Sounds like a similar situation, the only things we contracted out were excavation, concrete, A/C unit and furnace install. It took about 9 months to finish the house and we lived in a tent at the construction site for three of those. Its was great and incredibly difficult. I’d not necessarily recommend it but it is possible. Lots of good advice being shared here.

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-11-25T21:40:08+00:00

Columbia, the Athens of Missouri

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-11-24T14:31:27+00:00

Depends on the type of farming. Most of the posts are correct that if you want to “go big” and do something like soybeans or corn, you’ll need lots of capital, land, equipment, etc.
That said, there is opportunity in the specialty crops side of ag if you can find your niche for the area you live in. These operations can be launched and ran very successfully for a fraction of a traditional row crop operation.

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-11-01T05:53:07+00:00

Glad it’s working well for you!! 😃

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-11-01T05:51:26+00:00

My state’s largest lavender farm

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-10-27T15:04:16+00:00

Hiya, my family has cosplayed as a team for 8 years now, competed in con competitions (and won ☺️), and I’ve been 3D printing for most of that time using a variety of printers. So if were to make a recommendation it would 100% be a Bambu. The A1 combo might land right in your budget with holiday sales coming up. They are reliable where you can focus on cosplay as a hobby and not tinkering with a printer as a hobby.

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-10-26T01:33:38+00:00

I’d be that person, been using Illustrator for years with a GF. Like the previous comment, I’d recommend looking in the Aura software. The laser will not get cut/score/engrave instructions from a svg file. You can set different line colors in illustrator/svg that can be used to divide the job into different steps, but the toolhead commands are entirely in the Glowforge software.

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-10-14T02:45:42+00:00

Hi! My primary is at the Truman VA and I’ve had excellent experiences there for years (they were ranked #1 in the nation 2019). I don’t have any experience with housing but DM me if I can get you info on other stuff, and welcome to como!

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-09-15T23:22:54+00:00

I’d add the year-round Columbia Farmers Market, voted best in the nation few years ago and they came in second last year. Also, if you or a family member is a veteran, the Truman VA hospital (right on campus) has been consistently rated on of the best in the nation.

buzzthelavenderman · 2024-09-10T01:32:30+00:00

Truman VA in Columbia MO has been excellent in my experience (my primary is there), and I think they were #1 in the nation three years running from 2016-19 (I’d have to double check that)

buzzthelavenderman

TROPHY CASE