Nice looking garden produce mate. Getting really jealous here and hoping to find a plot next Spring.
Thanks, buddy! If I were you I would start looking in the late autumn. Prices go down over the winter.
It took us over a year to find our place. We looked at least 30-40 places. There is lot of over-priced poop on the market. Also, talk to friends and family. That is where the best deals are to be had.
We're waiting for our tomatoes to ripen. My wife doesn't believe me when I tell her about fried green tomatoes. If I have any large enough this weekend they are on the menu.

Our cucumbers are not too shabby. We're going to start pickling them next week. I planted 20 jalapeno plants as well and each is giving 4-5 peppers. I'm going to make some chili/vinegar sauce with them.
As for the chickens, they are actually the neighbors. I don't understand why they don't pen them up. Their manure is great for composting. They do lay eggs in our barn, though. Next spring I am going to get our own chickens and make a pen on the side of the barn and cut a small door on the barn and put their coup in there.
Last weekend I invited my friend Andre and his girlfriend, Elisa. They both just finished their PhD's in botany and work at the botanical gardens in Kyiv doing research. We sat all night around a fire and talked about permaculture and some other techniques I've been researching. We may set up some experiments with his university in Ternopil.
I'm working on putting together a blog about the homestead. We are there everywhere weekend and we've formed a good relationship with the children next door. My wife spends alot of time talking with the girls and Sasha, the 5 year old boy, follows me around alot. We give them some spending money for doing some chores for us and it feels good to make a positive difference in their life(hopefully). Their favorite thing is to ride around in our car (with their Mama's permission of course) We've been helping them learn some English and I talked yesterday with my superiors at my school and they are interested in my idea of offering some courses (English, art, music) in the village to the under-privileged children there.