By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

I will have to admit, I have never even heard of broccoli raab until recently.

A friend of mine introduced me to this wonderful vegetable.

It tastes like a stronger version of broccoli but when combined with other vegetables in a stir-fry along with red pepper flakes, the taste becomes out of this world.

If this is not enough to get you to try this vegetable consider a study beginning done by John Hopkins Medical Center. In this study, it was found that broccoli raab was very effective in fighting cancer.

This vegetable is known by several names, which include rapini, broccoli rabe, broccoletto along with broccoli raab. It is related to the turnip and cabbage plant. The best description of this plant is that it Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Yes, I have said it I am a snob about sprouts.

I have tried many different sprouts from many different locations and nothing beats my hyperlocal sprouts.

But one may ask, what are sprouts and why in the world would you want to grow them.

The answer my friend is easy and that is taste. What I mean is taste in its purest, smallest form. A taste that speaks words on how nature should be in an uncomplicated world full of bees and trees, I know, I know I am dreaming. So come with me and discover the world of sprouts.

Sprouts, recently, have been discovered again and low and behold they are held very high on the prestigious scale of nutrition. It has been discovered that these little plants pack a wallop when it comes to antioxidants. It seems that while these plants are very nutritious when they are mature, they are extremely nutritious when they are sprouts.

Many different plant sprouts can Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

This year, I am going to recreate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for someone I care about and that is my uncle.

He loves to garden but having one lung has put a crimp in his style.

He has always been one of those gardeners that loves soil underneath his nails and feels that the only gardening that counts is one that comes from a bent back.

So, this year, I have decided to create a garden for him. This garden will once again allow him to get soil underneath his fingernails. The bent over back will be replaced through the garden design.

Before I begin my garden design, I always like to know the history behind a garden design and the Gardens of Babylon are no different. This garden’s idea came from the true love that one man had for his wife. This man was Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Being an urban gardener with only 1/5th of an acre to farm on, land is very valuable.

I try very hard to plan my garden and to grow as much as I can but sometimes you just have to go hummmmm.

This is what I have done for years when it comes to strawberry production.

I have always felt that I did not want to use that much land for strawberries but frankly I am tired of hard, tasteless fruit, so this year I am going to take the plunge. But…..

Like I said, I cannot justify setting aside that much land so I am going to create my own “land” and that is a container garden.

I am going to plant two containers full of strawberries this year but not just strawberries. I plan to plant my very own strawberry salad planters and utilizing the good neighbor technique. Using this technique should be very successful and will provide me with a bigger bang for my container.

The first planter I am going to plant is Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Being a native of Indiana, I have had my fair share of wild paw-paws.

These banana-tasting delights have been a weakness of mine for years but as urban sprawl as spread across Indiana these lovelies are harder to find.

But there is answer to my dilemma and that is to grow my own.

Paw-paws can be obtained through seed catalogs and bought as seedlings or seeds. If the seedlings are large, they can be hard to transplant so I have decided to go with seeds. But when you go with seeds, you cannot just bring them home and plant them.

Instead, the seeds need to be cold stratified for 90 to 120 days. This process can be done in two different ways. The first way is to place them on top of the garden soil in the fall and allow them to over winter. Come summertime, the seeds will begin to germinate.

The second way of performing cold stratification is by Read the rest of this entry »