Photo Credit: Scarecrow Fest 060 by Michael Kappel used under CC BY-NC 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Garden art is something I am passionate about.

It can simply be the color of a pot or the story of a stepping-stone that gets my gardener’s heart to beat out of tune.

But sometimes the simplest things in life are the best and this is where the lonely and often forgotten scarecrow comes into the picture.

The history of the scarecrow is somewhat limited. The just of this history is that people erected these life-like statues in their fields to ward off pesky animals and evil spirits. No field or garden was complete without at least one or two of these lovely monuments to past times.

Today, scarecrows can be found Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Untitled by Brian Talbott use under CC BY-NC 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The combination of hot weather and a drought has created an extremely tasteful crop of peppers.

To keep from wasting even one pepper, I have created a to-do list of ways of preserving the season.

1. Pepper Vinegar
Preserving peppers in vinegar is an old-time way of not only saving peppers but also a way of flavoring vinegar. To make your own pepper vinegar is easy.

First wash out a glass jar that can be corked. While a metal lid can work, sometimes the vinegar can react to the metal. Once the bottle has been washed and sterilized, begin to fill it with washed peppers. You can fill the jar with a monoculture of peppers or an assortment. After the bottle has been filled, warm white vinegar in a non-metal container until it begins to bubble and boil.

Once that begins to happen, pour into the bottle through a funnel and cap off. The longer it sets the better the taste of the vinegar. Both the vinegar and peppers can be eaten.

2. Pepper Ristra
A pepper ristra is a decorative Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Fallen Leaves by Brian Richardson used under CC BY 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

I hate to waste anything and that includes leaves.

Every year around this time, I see bags of potential black gold sitting beside trashcans.

How sad this makes me when I know that all it takes is a little effort to change trash into treasure.

If you are faced with this dilemma this fall season, consider trying one of this alternative approaches when it comes to fall leaves.

1. Compost. Chopped up leaves are great additions to any composting program. They add the much need carbon that many composting bins lack during the summer months. To utilize this technique, do not add the leaves all at one time. This will shock the delicate system. Instead, add a handful every time you add kitchen scrapes to the pile. Utilizing this approach will help to create a more balanced composting system, which in turn will speed up decomposition.

2. Bedding for worms. Red wigglers love dried up Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Happy Bokeh Wednesday! Garden Style by Matt Harris used under CC BY-NC 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As an avid gardener, I have tried many different approaches when it comes to fertilizing.

I have made my own fertilizer with manure and compost.

I have also gone plain Jane and just let incorporated compost fertilize the plants.

While both approaches have worked, I have longed for an easier way. This is when I found Winchester Gardens products.

Getting older and busier has forced me to look for ways of doing things easier. I use self-watering containers and mulch gardens so that I do not have to water as often. I choose disease-resistant plant varieties so that I do not have to treat for plant disease and/or pests. I also choose to use a once a season fertilizer program and that is where Winchester Gardens comes into my planting scheme.

In my vegetable garden, there has always a Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Tomatoes by Ruthie Hansen used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As prices go up, people are always looking for ways to save on their food budget.

Some will resort to extreme couponing while others will look toward bulk buying as a way of dealing with this challenging economic time.

But the best way to save money on your food budget is simple and that is to create nature’s grocery store.

It is always open, there is never a recall on your product and it is very convenient.

Below are my top 10 reasons why I garden.

Hopefully, if you are not gardening, these reasons will inspire you to start. If you are an avid gardener, let me know why you garden.

1. I have control over when my produce is picked and how. No more bruised or underripe produce.
2. I can design what I want to eat verses what a traditional store or farmers market has available.
3. I can control what treatments are administered such as fertilizer and pesticide. Read the rest of this entry »