By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As I sit in my backyard enjoying my green tea I take stock of my space.

I have my vegetable garden, my kitchen garden, my orchard, my historical garden, and a grazing area for my rabbit Rufus.

What more could I want?If I wanted more where could I put it?

My garden grows on 1/5 of an acre and while container gardening was an option I still had the problem where to put them.

Last Saturday I went to a talk put on by my local chapter of Master Gardeners that helped me think outside the box. Vertical gardening for apartments, balconies, and anyone who had run out of space like me was the topic. This was not the “vertical gardening concept” purposed by Mr. Dickson Despommier but instead dealt with rooftop gardens and living walls. I was fascinated by this concept especially living walls.

This was something I could do without changing the whole structure of my roof for a rooftop garden. This series of blogs will Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Dinner and a movie has become a family tradition that we all look forward to every summer.

There is nothing like spreading the sheet over the fence and projecting our movie or choice on the homemade screen.

We can relive or introduce the time of drive-ins without leaving the backyard.

But this year is different.

My children are bringing their “special” friends to share our family tradition. I look forward to the new recipes, new movies, and new memories that these “special” friends will bring to our movie night. But most of all I am looking forward to my kids’ calling from their own homes wanting to know when “Family Movie Night” is going to be and helping them pass on the tradition of “Family Movie Night” to their own children.

Below is what we have planned for our Lady and the Tramp movie night. But be creativity in your own movie night that is how memories are made.

Snacks: Carmel Corn, Gummy Worms, and Italian Ice
Drinks: Sparkling grape juice with dinner and Lemonade with Basil frozen Ice Cubes
Entree: Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs with Garlic Bread and Mixed Breed Salad (mixed green salad)
Dessert: Spumoni

Recipe for homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 Cups water Read the rest of this entry »
  
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By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As I sit in my backyard and survey my beautiful and hopefully bountiful garden I crack open a new reference book.

I discovered this book at the local feed and seed store in my community.

The title and cover caught my eye among the canning, 4-H books, assorted DIYs, and tractor maintenance manuals.

The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! edited by Carleen Madigan was not just another gardening book but represented a modern day movement that is cropping up everywhere. You can find it on the Internet, in neighbors’ backyards, and even at your child’s school.

The Backyard Homestead claims that 1,400 eggs, 50 pounds of wheat, 60 pounds of fruit, 2,000 pounds vegetables, 280 pounds of pork, and 75 pounds of nuts can be grown on a quarter of an acre. This sounds great and in a perfect world we would never have to go to the grocery store again but Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As an avid gardener I cannot imagine not having some land, and when I say some land I am talking about 1/5 acre in my case.

My yard is divided up into space for my shed, 3 cars, landscaping in the front, my blueberry bed, Chestnut trees, and my herb and vegetable garden.

All my plants fit snugly on my land but what are people to do who want to garden but have no land.

Some container garden, some farm on walls, and some roof garden but I can tell you that nothing beats farming on the land.

As our population grows land becomes scarcer, the gardening movement grows and land is placed in a multi-use tug of war. From this agricultural paradox came the idea of yard-sharing. This concept was born from our two modern day obsessions, that is social networking and safe food with a little Freecycle and a dating website thrown in.

But how does this work? First, Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Blueberries are great for urban gardens.

Their compact shape and texture can create visual interest in flowerbeds while being a perfect container plant if space or land is limited.

The trick to growing blueberries is one, keeping the soil acidic enough and two, planting at least 2 different varieties for fruit production.

To get started one must decide where you plant to plant your blueberries. This step is very important because the area or container will need to be supplemented with acid building materials 3 months before planting. The pH, lime index, nutrient status, and organic matter will Read the rest of this entry »