Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Growing up in the country, I learned quickly how to work smarter not harder and this was true when it came to gardening.

While planting tomatoes, peppers, beans, and peas was rewarding, it only provided one crop and most of the time that crop came all at the same time.

There was not a lull between harvests where one could really enjoy the flavors of the season.

Pepper plants all seemed to bloom and fruit at the same time along with determinate tomatoes, and beans.

While peas are a typically a cool season crop, Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day, I was searching on the Internet and came upon an article that described a situation that surprised me and at the same time did not surprise me.

While I do not live in this community and have no clear-cut understanding of this city’s laws, I feel everyone needs to take note of this situation.

Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan decided to grow her own organic vegetables this year.

The soaring prices for organic produce were getting too high for her budget so she decided to take matters into her own gardening hands.

While her house does sit on property Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I was surfing the net and came across two new terms that I as not familiar with.

So being curious, I looked more into these terms.

The words describe very similar practices that include hyper-local food and Locavore but to me it all meant the same and that is survival.

Growing up my family and I grew what we could, u-picked what we could not, and splurged on the rest. My mom never canned but our freezers were always full of homemade jams, jellies, assorted vegetables and fruits.

My great uncle always raised a beef for us and it was a tradition to go to their farm in the late fall, play cards and pick up the beef. What great memories that instilled in me of home, hearth, family, and a way of life that is disappearing.

The bullseye diet and the one-block diet, both utilize Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Organic fertilizer is one of my favorite secret tools in my gardening tool belt.

Out of all the organic fertilizers out there, my favorite is compost tea.

This fertilizer is easy to make and can be made by anyone anywhere.

The equipment required when making compost tea is very simple. A food grade plastic bucket with lid or oak barrel, burlap, and compost is all that is needed.

If the gardener does not want to have to dip out the fertilizer tea, a spigot can be placed on the bottom of the bucket or barrel. The fertilizer will flow through the container using gravity.

Once the Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I was surfing on the Internet and found a wonderful program.

This program was called The Great Sunflower Project.

As I read the project, I thought how simple it was but, on the other hand, how important it was to mankind.

The site stated that every third bite of food was essentially created by a pollinator.

I thought how true and what can we do to protect our nation’s greatest food source. As I continued to read the site, the answer came to me in the blink of an eye and that was getting the public involved.

This is such an important step when it comes to Read the rest of this entry »