- Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:48 pm
#378108
I've mentioned a few times on this forum that Leah and I have plans to move ourselves and FlytrapStore to Missouri this fall. I grew up on a farmstead there near the town of Festus, Missouri, and our primary reason for moving back to where I grew up is to help out my aging parents. Both of them have fairly significant health issues and aren't really able to maintain the property now.
My dad has been grooming me to take over the farm for a few years. Initially, I was resistant because I never thought I'd move back to the midwest. While I like it well enough, I've loved living out west since I left Missouri back in 1999 to go to graduate school at the University of Arizona. It never really was a goal for me to move back to Missouri. I've lived in Arizona, then Montana, then Colorado, and now Oregon for the last 12 years. FlytrapStore was founded when we moved to Oregon in 2009, though I had started the planning process of getting it going when we were living in Boulder, Colorado, including starting this website in 2008.
Well, after many years of persuading by my father, and mostly due to the fact my dad can't really maintain the farm any longer coupled with the fact that I'd really like to spend more time with my parents because they're getting up there in age and might not have too many years left on this earth, plus I can help them out as needed by living close by, Leah and I are planning to move in October or November this year (2021).
During conversations with my father, I mentioned that we really couldn't grow well in Missouri without a significant greenhouse built because the winters are far too cold there. So we decided to do it right and put up a 30'x108' GrowSpan Series 2000 greenhouse with 12 foot sidewalls from FarmTek:
https://www.growspan.com/structures/com ... es/s-2000/
https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/p ... gs230.html
GrowSpan S2000
S2000.jpg (778.79 KiB) Viewed 19648 times
Here's a link to a 3-D rendering of the greenhouse that the company worked up for us:
https://esapco.sharefile.com/share/view ... eb732f9328
I love how they put little flytraps on the greenhouse benches!
I just got back from the bank where I wired a 50% downpayment for the structure. Ahhh!!! Leah is in sticker shock at the cost, which is totally understandable. But once we sell our house in Ashland, we should cash out with enough equity to be entirely debt-free with a little cash in our pockets. And we'll be set for a long time in terms of running FlytrapStore, as the greenhouse should last 20+ years without much maintenance. So we'll probably be good to go until we're ready to "retire" -- though I intend to grow until the day I die!! And there is a possibility we could grow to add another greenhouse or multiple greenhouses if needed. The property is over 60 acres of flat bottom farmland so there is definitely room to grow! And the weather there is far more conducive to growing excellent flytraps and other carnivorous plants, so we'll be able to offer many more and much larger plants more regularly!! I'm very excited about that because we always seem to be low on stock for most items.
In any case, I'm super excited about this dream-come-true of a huge 30'x108' greenhouse we're building this summer of 2021. The immense life changes coming soon for Leah and me do have me a little freaked out, but I am excited for the adventure and the next chapter of our lives and for the very bright future of FlytrapStore.
When we get settled there in Missouri, we'll likely be looking for some help. At the very least, we'll need some people to assist with potting and other tasks around the greenhouse. But I have some ideas of how to grow FTS as well and we'll likely be hiring some other more significant positions if all goes to plan. We shall see! I'd love to recruit some FTC forum members, if possible and feasible, to come work with us. There are lots of good people running around on this forum!!
I'm super stoked about this greenhouse and can't wait for it to be completed later this year.
My dad has been grooming me to take over the farm for a few years. Initially, I was resistant because I never thought I'd move back to the midwest. While I like it well enough, I've loved living out west since I left Missouri back in 1999 to go to graduate school at the University of Arizona. It never really was a goal for me to move back to Missouri. I've lived in Arizona, then Montana, then Colorado, and now Oregon for the last 12 years. FlytrapStore was founded when we moved to Oregon in 2009, though I had started the planning process of getting it going when we were living in Boulder, Colorado, including starting this website in 2008.
Well, after many years of persuading by my father, and mostly due to the fact my dad can't really maintain the farm any longer coupled with the fact that I'd really like to spend more time with my parents because they're getting up there in age and might not have too many years left on this earth, plus I can help them out as needed by living close by, Leah and I are planning to move in October or November this year (2021).
During conversations with my father, I mentioned that we really couldn't grow well in Missouri without a significant greenhouse built because the winters are far too cold there. So we decided to do it right and put up a 30'x108' GrowSpan Series 2000 greenhouse with 12 foot sidewalls from FarmTek:
https://www.growspan.com/structures/com ... es/s-2000/
https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/p ... gs230.html
S2000.jpg (778.79 KiB) Viewed 19648 times
https://esapco.sharefile.com/share/view ... eb732f9328
I love how they put little flytraps on the greenhouse benches!
I just got back from the bank where I wired a 50% downpayment for the structure. Ahhh!!! Leah is in sticker shock at the cost, which is totally understandable. But once we sell our house in Ashland, we should cash out with enough equity to be entirely debt-free with a little cash in our pockets. And we'll be set for a long time in terms of running FlytrapStore, as the greenhouse should last 20+ years without much maintenance. So we'll probably be good to go until we're ready to "retire" -- though I intend to grow until the day I die!! And there is a possibility we could grow to add another greenhouse or multiple greenhouses if needed. The property is over 60 acres of flat bottom farmland so there is definitely room to grow! And the weather there is far more conducive to growing excellent flytraps and other carnivorous plants, so we'll be able to offer many more and much larger plants more regularly!! I'm very excited about that because we always seem to be low on stock for most items.
In any case, I'm super excited about this dream-come-true of a huge 30'x108' greenhouse we're building this summer of 2021. The immense life changes coming soon for Leah and me do have me a little freaked out, but I am excited for the adventure and the next chapter of our lives and for the very bright future of FlytrapStore.
When we get settled there in Missouri, we'll likely be looking for some help. At the very least, we'll need some people to assist with potting and other tasks around the greenhouse. But I have some ideas of how to grow FTS as well and we'll likely be hiring some other more significant positions if all goes to plan. We shall see! I'd love to recruit some FTC forum members, if possible and feasible, to come work with us. There are lots of good people running around on this forum!!
I'm super stoked about this greenhouse and can't wait for it to be completed later this year.
- By Intheswamp
- By Cheesy_sandwhich_45
- By wcrosman
- By andynorth