By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day, I was out at the community garden and saw my first turkey.

I was told when I started the community garden project in my community that guard turkeys patrolled the area.

How I laughed at this thought.

Guard turkeys on military property. Poetic justice in action I suppose.

As I inspected the raised beds, I noticed the last bed I planted with donated tomatoes had been disturbed. How funny this was to me. The gardens are in the open and no cover is around for them to hide from predators. Who am I to question Mother Nature?

So I repaired the damage, placed some of my hair in t Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

I was raised in a family that did not waste anything.

Old pools became gardens and old garden tool handles became stakes.

But the other day, I saw a repurposed project that took me back to my childhood and when recycling wasn’t cool.

This garden project can be created by anyone and used anywhere.

Apartment dwellers, condo residents and even a person on the moon could use this project.

What many may like about this simple project is that it can be completed in a very short amount of time and only has to be as difficult as you, the gardener, make it.

To begin the project requires saving an old wooden ladder from the trash or using one you already have sitting around. Check the wooden ladder to Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As a gardener, I have learned a valuable lesson and that is plant and they will come.

It seems that pests have an internal clock by which they can time when I plant.

It never fails that during some part of my gardening season, I am visited by some pest.

While I welcome any organism to my garden and am willing to share my bounty, sometimes I have to say enough.

But to be able to control and repel ones guests to the garden, a few observations need to be made.

The first observation that any gardener should note is what plants are being affected, what part of the plant, and during what part of their growth cycle. This observation is very important because it can aid in the diagnosis of the pest.

The second observation that should be noted is Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

I have had a love affair with peppers for a long time and the saying would go I have never met a pepper I did not like.

The long ones, short ones, red, green, and even orange ones have graced my plate sometime during my culinary life.

But my love affair with peppers does not stop with fresh peppers.

I have strung them, froze them, dried them and even seasoned vinegar with them. You too can develop your own love affair with peppers by learning a few tricks to pepper production.

Peppers like it hot and the hotter the better.

I always like to say that peppers are the bathing beauties of the garden. To help them maximize their sun exposure, many gardeners plant their peppers in mulch that is covered in aluminum but I utilize a different approach. I pull out an old kitchen standby Read the rest of this entry »

Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I went to an herb sale and sat in a class called “Mulch Gardening.”

The goal, it seemed, of this speaker was to convince everyone to get rid of his or her tillers.

How wonderful that would be.

A garden produced without fossil fuel and a low carbon footprint – what more could a gardener ask for when it comes to creating a garden space?

A mulch garden is very similar to a lasagna garden but without additional layers every year. The first layer is created by simply mowing the ground and letting the cut vegetation remain there. No bagging, raking, or weeding the area and no digging. Sounds great so far.

The second layer consists of cardboard or newspaper. The corrugated cardboard works great but if you cannot find cardboard or do not have enough newspaper will work. When using the newspaper remember to lay down at least five to six layers and do not forget to only use Read the rest of this entry »