Articles by Cathy England
Cathy England grew up in Indiana, and went to Pennsylvania to go to college at Allegheny College where she holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology.
After the birth of her child, she started thinking more about the food that would be put into his body.
After endless hours of research about organic vs. conventially grown food, a passion for raising organically grown produce became an obsession.
Additionally, Cathy and her family do everything possible to buy local and live sustainably.
Cathy lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, 2 cats and a dog.
While her dream is to move out to the country to farm more land, she currently produces everything that she can in her backyard.
She sells at the local farmer’s market, mostly to meet people in the community, and to educate them earth friendly growing techniques.
As September gets into full swing, so does apple season. This is an exciting time of year as apples become abundant, and harvesting your apples from your own orchard (or someone else's), brings pies, cobblers, and crisps to your table on a regular basis. It is a bittersweet time of year as well, because it signals the end of summer and the abundance of all of the crops that you have been able to grow ...
Posted in Fruits, Veggies and Herbs | No Comments »
If you live in a city or suburban area, the idea of creating a backyard habitat for birds and other wildlife is a responsible thing to do. As residential areas grow, and woodlands are lost, there are fewer places for birds and animals to take up residence, forage for food, and to retreat to in response to dangerous predators. It is not a difficult task, does not use many resources that you do not already ...
Posted in Garden Maintenance | No Comments »
While it would be wonderful to have garden soil with the perfect balance of clay and sand resulting in a wonderful loam that all plants enjoy, there are not very many people who can boast that this is the condition of their soil, even after years of building and conditioning. Raised garden beds are a great way to make up for this deficit in the organic garden.
Building raised beds may seem a daunting task at ...
Posted in Garden Design | 1 Comment »
It may be difficult to imagine your kids gardening or even interested in it. They cannot even feed the puppy that they begged for 6 months ago. Interested or not, it can be of benefit to at least talk to your children about your love of gardening, and why you do what you do. Children may need to be coerced at first to peel away from the television or video games, but once they become ...
Posted in Savory and Sage Tidbits | No Comments »
Any gardener living in the northeastern regions of the United States has probably some knowledge of the devastation of the tomato blight this year. Brown spots, yellowing leaves, decreased production. It is particularly frustrating if you are an individual who relies on tomatoes to can or freeze for use later in the year.
The Cause of This Year's Outbreak
Late tomato blight is a disease that often appears late in the summer affecting only a few plants, ...
Posted in Garden Pests and Diseases | No Comments »
There are many individuals who automatically think of mulch as being the shredded bark that is colored red, brown or black and is used primarily to beautify the landscape in flower gardens. This method of mulching has its benefits which should not be discounted. Any type of mulch retains moisture and suppresses weeds. However, this should not be the only type of mulch that is used in the garden. What other types of mulch are ...
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There are many tools in the organic gardeners bag, but no matter how dedicated, organic gardening is often more difficult and time consuming than conventional gardening. Lasagna gardening is a great way to make organic gardening less taxing. It is especially recommended for those with physical limitations, or the elderly. It is basically a method of sheet composting that if constructed in the fall will provide beautiful garden soil in the spring.
So, why not rototill ...
Posted in Garden Design | 1 Comment »
Guerilla gardening is a term that is becoming more popular and well known, particularly in large urban areas where folks who would like to garden do not have yard space to do so. Guerillas are also people who find it unacceptable to leave perfectly good gardening space wasted. What they all have in common is that they want to make something grow in a place that is unconventional, unapproved, or sometimes, illegal.
Some group are ...
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Planting, growing and harvesting does not have to end with the summer! There are a number of crops that can be planted in August. Because of short growing seasons, or tolerance for frost and cold temperatures, these crops will thrive and reward you late into the fall, even into the early winter after the first light snowfalls. In order for this to be successful, it is time now to begin planning for the fall garden.
Fall ...
Posted in Seasonal Garden Maintenance | No Comments »
Some may dive into organic gardening with great expectations, and a feeling of pride at the choice they are making. However, when the reality of what it takes to be an organic gardener sets in, expectations become disappointments, and commitment to the choice may begin to fade.
For example, in many regions of the country, this has been an exceptionally cool and wet summer. If this is the first time that an individual has tried organic ...
Posted in Savory and Sage Tidbits | 1 Comment »
