By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I was watching a cooking show on cable and thought how serendipity plays a role in life.

While this show was really about weird foods, the area where this episode was filmed tied in perfectly with a reader’s question.

One may ask where the connection is between weird food and a reader’s question and the simple answer is the sea.

This food show’s location was in Venice and showcased beautiful vegetables, herbs and fruits. These included but not limited to grapes, greens, herbs, and our favorite tomatoes.

The tomatoes were all Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Once again, the garden season is coming to a close and I realize now how much I am going to miss it.

Before I begin to close down the garden space, I pull out my garden log and make sure that I have everything labeled that I want labeled.

I am very detailed in my record keeping when it comes to my garden and some may even say obsessed.

When recording my garden space, I note where each variety of tomato is located.

Before the garden is finished, I return to this notebook and check those varieties that did well. I also indicate those varieties that I saved seed from and where that is located.

After my garden log is complete, I then begin to clean the garden. I remove any tomatoes that are ripe or those Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Tomatoes love heat and the hotter the better to a point.

Many gardeners this year have been faced with a situation that is usual.

This situation is not cold, predators or disease but instead heat.

Across the United States, heat has been a major problem.

Many states have not only been faced with more than a month of temperatures above 90 degrees F but also no rain. States out west, which are used to the heat, are facing environmental conditions worse than Read the rest of this entry »

Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Tomatoes by nature are beautiful plants.

The emerald green leaves provide a clean backdrop that enhances the fuzzy stems that glisten in the morning sunlight.

Later on in the season, the landscape is greeted with bright yellow blooms that, depending on the variety, turn into balls of crimson, gold and green.

These plants do not have to be hidden away in the vegetable garden but instead can be showcased in planters, flowerbeds, and rose gardens.

Planters

Several different planters can be used to Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Tomatoes by nature are beautiful plants.

The emerald green leaves provide a clean backdrop that enhances the fuzzy stems that glisten in the morning sunlight.

Later on in the season, the landscape is greeted with bright yellow blooms that, depending on the variety, turn into balls of crimson, gold and green.

These plants do not have to be hidden away in the vegetable garden but instead can be showcased in planters, flowerbeds, and rose gardens.

Planters

Several different planters can be used to display flowers and vegetables. Determinate tomatoes look wonderful in a planter when combined with marigolds, nasturtiums, and basil. This combination addresses Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Gardening for me is a combination of luck, good genes, and scientific inquiry that starts with extension publications.

I seem to be a collector of these publications and love to read about the newest research being conducted in plant science.

One of the most useful publications I have ever found was one on mulch.

Mulch in recent years has become a generic term that includes leaves, grass clippings, landscape cloth, wood chips, and plastic.

But while all these mulches serve a purpose the plastic mulch is the most unique. Colored plastic, in recent years, has been showing up all over gardening catalogs and home improvement centers. The principle behind the colored plastic Read the rest of this entry »