By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day, I was reading an article about how this year’s mild winter is going to create an environment full of pests.

Many pests were not killed due to the winter wind and freezes; instead mesquites have shown up in many areas in February while butterflies could be found flying the first of March.

In doing so, many people wonder what this year’s garden season is going to be like.

But I am not going to worry about it. Nature has a way of dealing with pests and utilizing nature’s techniques will help me have a successful gardening season without having to use alternative methods.

Start with Healthy Plants

Healthy plants are just one way to start the season off right. It has been discovered that pests do not Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Last year, I started the Charlestown Community Gardens in Indiana.

It was a great experience that taught me a lot about human nature.

Our community garden space, not only, provided raised beds for gardening but also created an atmosphere by which like-minded people could gather.

By the end of the gardening season, we were all ready preparing for next year’s garden space.

The Charlestown Community Garden phase II occurred on April 1, 2012. The weather was not prefect, as a matter of fact it rained earlier in the day, but as every gardener knows the garden must go on so we went out anyway.

It seemed that Ceres, the Greek goddess of agriculture, shined down upon us and made the sun come out. We rolled out landscape cloth, move several tons of rock, laid beds, and filled them with well-seasoned horse manure. All this was accomplished in one day and as we looked at what we had completed, I realized that Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Have you really wondered why we garden and why gardening topics, movies, books, organizations and the such seem to sprout up like weeds in a spring lawn.

Well, I wondered the same thing.

I also wondered if these reasons were the same all the way around the planet or if there were regional reasons for gardening?

I also wondered, how do people get gardening information and is this information retrievable based on generations? To answer these questions and more, I have created a survey for individuals to take but one may wonder why?

The reason is simple; if we know the answers to these questions we as a society can better plan communities in preparation for this movement but before I get ahead of myself let me talk about gardening history.

Gardening, along with plant and animal domestication, is what Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Sometimes the simplest things in life are right before your eyes and this can be said about gardening.

Many years ago, I grew fern spores in agar medium. It was my first experience growing something in a soilless mix.

Since then, I have tried a couple of different soilless mediums but I never tried this common kitchen staple.

One may be wondering what this secret ingredient is and before I tell you let me tell you what it contains that is so important for plant health. This secret ingredient provides nitrogen, which is very important for chlorophyll production and sugar. This sugar, on the other hand, feeds beneficial microbes that protect plants from such things as damping off.

At this point, you may be sitting on the edge of the planting Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

It is really kind of funny how each generation has a book of dooms-day and this book is full of scandal and intrigue.

This year’s book and movie seems to be The Hunger Games.

The just of this story is the fact the world has out grown its “green jeans” and something has to be done.

This story line is a universal truth that we as a society seem to ignore. When I was in school, the scandalous book was 1984, which I read in 1982. The premise of this book was again, our society growing too big and technology not being able to catch up with our massive numbers.

In The Hunger Games, though, culinary likes are described and Katriss makes a point to like the lavish meal of lamb and plums served in the Capitol. To help one replicate this dish and make it, at least part, hyperlocal, I would like to discuss plums.

A plum tree is a great addition to any orchard but Read the rest of this entry »