By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As the news rolls across my computer screen, I pick up on what is becoming a yearly occurrence it seems and that is a wide spread drought.

Many third world countries continue to suffer from drought conditions and shortages of food but the United States.

My response to this is YES the United States. While we can spend time on arguing over what and who is responsible, I like to act in a proactive way.

Since gardening, in recent years, has experienced resurgence, I feel we, gardeners, should share in responsible water use.

To begin this process, we first need to know what choices we have in water conservation.

Gray Water

Gray water is water from that contains only soap no waste. Water from washing dishes, brushing your teeth and even taking a shower can be processed and used to water the garden. Some equipment is required and some cities have regulations on gray water use so check before using.

This is a great reuse of our water resources that we use everyday.

Cooking Water

Many things that are 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 out in my garden space picking basil and discovered a pest that I love and hate.

This pest is smaller than me and has a beautiful iridescent color of green.

Many hate to see this little creature but for me it brings back memories.

This gardening memory of my dad and I picking beetles off the roses seems so special now but then I viewed this chore as a punishment.

Later on in our Japanese beetle endeavor, science caught up with the gardener and the Japanese beetle trap was developed. This trap uses the smell of sex, in the beetle world, to attract the beetles. They fall into the trap and cannot fly out. While in the trap, they expire.

Another approach that my dad and I never used is to Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Every gardener fears that time of year that the Japanese beetle enters the garden space.

In the past, control was based on synthetic pesticides that had limited success.

But today the gardener has many different choices of organic control methods to choose from.

Plant Choice

One control method used by some gardeners is to avoid planting plants that the Japanese beetle loves. This includes apple and maple trees, grapes, roses, irises, basil, Echinacea, dahlias, cosmos, hydrangeas, zinnias, rhododendrons, and wisteria.

Japanese Beetle Traps

These traps were designed a few years ago to 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 »