Cha cha cha changgeeesss.....

As you probably see, the name of this blog has changed. This was done to mark a new chapter in my life... I got married!

Zack and I got hitched in March. It was a beautiful 15 minute ceremony with a home cooked reception after. We wouldn't have done it any differently. And so begins the Heard Homestead.

In the homestead news this week: chickens, gardening, and and various other projects like my outdoor kitchen.

I started another garden plot this year to hopefully grow more food to put away. It's shaping up quite nicely. I decided to trellis my cucumbers this year, but because of lack of money and Zack working long hours I had to make one the the materials that I had laying around; some sticks, twine, and some lashing skills. This is what I came up with:

It's at a slant so I am able to grow some lettuces and greens under the shade of the vines if I so desire. I hope it holds up. I also built a totally vertical one for my sugar baby watermelons to grow on.

This is what is planted in the summer garden this year:
Blue jade sweet corn
Empress bush green beans
Burgundy red okra
Cucumbers
23 tomato plants of various varieties
Lots of jalapenos
Sugar baby watermelons
Sunflowers
Yellow crookneck squash
Zucchini
Eggplant
Sweet peppers

I'm really excited to see how the blue jade sweet corn turns out. It's a small heirloom variety that only gets to be about 3' tall. I hope it is as pretty as it is on the seed packet. I'm anticipating doing A LOT (more like hoping) canning and preserving this summer. We have been in the process of making an outdoor kitchen for some time now but with wedding stuff and work have not got it completed. Yesterday, I went and bought a 2 burner propane gas range and put it in place. Now all we need is to plumb the water hose into the sink. The counter and sink were given to us!!!

Not the greatest of pictures, but you get the idea.

We also have theses little babies and some teenagers down in the coop. We should have more eggs than we know what to do with come fall...

Those are some of the happening on the homestead... Things are shaping up!