By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day, I was reading an article about how expensive invasive species are to the environment.

Some species just become a simple nuisance while others completely take over and change an environment.

A common example of this situation occurred several hundred years ago when the first “white men” entered North America. As we do today, they wanted to bring the comforts of home.

These include spices, traditions, plants, and animals. In the beginning, the environment was able to handle these newcomers to the land. But the beauty of the land was not enough and in doing so it had to be Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As you know, I am a country girl at heart.

I have seen many ups and downs in my lifetime that have affected me in one-way or another.

As a child, my dad lost his job shortly after we moved to the country.

Being a proud man, he sold everything he could think of and then applied for help.

No help for us but like I have said many times, “Country people will survive.”

Then, in the 70’s I saw something that changed my life on TV. It was when farming was Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

My childhood was like a country song by Barbara Mandrell.

Her saying “I was country when country wasn’t cool” completely describes my life.

My first five years of life were spent in a large city in Kentucky.

But social turmoil was going on and my dad did not want me involved in it when I started school so we moved to the country in Indiana.

At first it seemed I was the odd girl out. I started first grade at 5 years old and was just overly different then my classmates. I am part Native American and my appearance did not match the German ancestors that were in my classes. As time went on, I became more and more a tomboy, naturalist, environmentalist and when agriculture classes opened up for girls an agriculturist.

My dad always depended on me to take care of the farm. As a matter of fact, I was Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As long as I can remember, blackberry pie, brambles and my birthday have always been tied together.

This relationship started as soon as I was old enough to eat blackberries.

My first experience with homemade blackberry pie was at cousin’s house that lived and breathed farming.

She married a young dairy farmer back in the 1930s and it seemed never left that time period. Her kitchen was filled not with processed foods but homemade goodness of potted meats, homemade cheeses and home canned fruits and vegetables. Her cooking centered on using Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I was on the computer and found a term that raised by brow.

This term was micro farming.

As my eyes moved across the letters and my mind processed these symbols, I began to imagine little farms in test tubes or on microscopic slides.

How wrong I was.

Micro farming by a loose definition is any farm operation that is run on 1 to 5 acres.

These acres can be front yards, backyards, neighboring yards, and even apartments. The definition of micro farming is really up to the farmer.

This farming movement is not limited to plants but includes the whole permaculture movement. Some individuals are finding ways of even raising Read the rest of this entry »