By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Vegetables can be grown year round regardless of where one may live and without grow lights and/or a greenhouse.

But how can this happen one may ask and the answer is a simple one, plan your planning according to the season.

Springtime is a great time for those cold crops.

These include broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips, watercress, and many different types of greens. These plants love the cool, crispness of a spring morning and can be incorporated with cool-seasons flowers such as pansies, and flowering kale and/or cabbage.

As the days grow longer these plants will bolt, in the case of the greens, and become bitter. This is the time to remove this plant material and plan for the summertime planter. The choices abound during this time of year. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Computers are a great tool and many people wonder how we functioned without them.

They can add, subtract, talk to us, and even help us plan our dream home or in this case our dream garden.

How they do this is a secret of numerous databases and magic supplied by gardening gnomes.

Regardless of the mechanics, designing a garden using a computer is a smart approach even for the seasoned gardener.

First, designing a garden virtually verses on graph paper helps the gardener avoid those silly mistakes before the soil is disturbed. It saves time and improves the success rate of the beginning gardener. Most programs provide a plant database where information can be found. This information includes plant zones, soil, sunlight, and moisture requirements along with possible pest problems.

If the gardener is reluctant to design their own garden, many of the programs have Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

This year I have made a commitment to be more hyper-local in my food choices.

I have decided not to eat anything out of season that I have not canned or frozen and I will not eat anything exotic that I have not grown myself.

But when I made this personal commitment I did not think about one of my favorite fruits and that is the pomegranate.

Pomegranates are not that difficult to grow and actual do well indoors since they are self-pollinating. They can be started from seed or cuttings without much trouble and require only the basic equipment needed for any type of plant.

They can even tolerate a few nights of below 32 F degrees but it is always a good idea to move indoor when the temperatures dip into the low 40s F degrees.

To start pomegranates from seed requires a little work and patience. First remove the seeds from the pomegranate and eat a few during the process. I know what you are thinking, this is about growing pomegranates but everyone needs the energy to continue through this process. Once the seeds are Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Around Valentine’s Day the worry of what to give that special person is throbbing in ones head.

A nice dinner is always a great start to that special day dedicated to couples.

Commercials show giving diamonds as a way of expressing ones love but I have another way that may take time but shows true commitment, love, and can address those cravings that we all have had some time in our lives.

One may ask what could that be. Well the answer can be found in the candy aisle and it is . . . chocolate.

Growing your own hyper-local chocolate is one way of showing how much you care for an individual.

Chocolate mint is one plant that any individual can grow that smells and tastes like the name states, chocolate mint. But growing the true chocolate or cocoa plant is a unique way of telling that special someone that you care.

The cocoa plant is a challenge to grow for even Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I had a beginning gardener who asked me how to sterilize the soil in the garden.

Well I thought it was quite simple but for my friend it was not.

He had gone out and bought pans to sterilize his soil in the oven.

Then he planned to put it back into the garden. Well all I have to say is there are things that make you go “hmmm” and that is what I did.

To help him out, I went over to his place to show him how to sterilize his garden soil. I told him that the concept to sterilizing one’s garden soil requires thinking smarter not working harder. So we planned our attack on how to sterilize his garden soil.

First we marked off Read the rest of this entry »