Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As a child growing up, I learned a valuable lesson in toxic chemicals and how they consume life.

May dad worked for the Board of Health and was responsible for eradicating mosquitoes.

As the habit of day required, DDT was broadcast over areas that had a mosquito problem.

When we had a mosquito problem at home, we treated the situation the same and that was with DDT tablets.

So on a bright summer day, my dad and I went to the creek and through in several handfuls of DDT. Once that was done, it was time to water my horse so down to the creek we went.

Pudd, my beloved horse, quenched his thirst in the flow of water and DDT. No one knew the consequence of this little action but I quickly learned that lesson even before the scientific studies. Pudd got sick several weeks later and Read the rest of this entry »

By Reggie Solomon

Square foot gardening is the ultimate urban gardening solution!

I stumbled upon this book at the Yale Bookstore this afternoon, and it has changed the way I will forever approach urban gardening.

The Square Foot Gardening book by Mel Bartholomew who also once hosted a similarly-titled television series on public television, is built around gardening in a 4’ x 4’ square subdivided into a grid of sixteen 1’ squares. Mel’s system, which can be organized via a raised bed or at ground-level, incorporates an ingenious vertical trellising design to accommodate vining vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, squash and melons.

The square-foot gardening system is ideal for the urban gardener because it’s suited for small spaces, maximizes growing space by eliminating wasted space between rows, and accommodates vertical growing.

Read the rest of this entry »