Summer is Here

WOW! Time flies when warm weather arrives. We've been busy making our "Homestead". Tim and I have a goal of becoming debt free and self-sufficient (at least as far as food goes). We bought six chickies this spring--Rhode Island Reds. Tim got the chicken coop built over Memorial weekend and they are looking like hens. By fall, they should be laying eggs. I have 2 ongoing bowls on my counter--one for food scraps for the hens and one for organic material for our compost pile. We also bought several berry bushes--blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, black raspberry, boysenberry & grapes. A friend graciously gave us about 50 more raspberry plants, plus I bought 24 strawberry plants. WOW, right?! We made our garden larger this year, and it's really growing...so are the weeds. I planted tomatoes, peppers, beans, watermelon, gourds, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes, corn, lettuce, spinach, peas, herbs...I think that's it. I also have an idea of making our backyard where our fence and patio table is into an "oasis", so I planted lots of perennial plants and flowers there as well. I planted purple cone flowers, daisies, lavender, hollyhocks, hostas, bleeding heart, blue bells, lily of the valley, irises... With all of this, of course, comes watering and weeding! I'll post some garden pics when I get them edited.