I found a beautiful new magazine full of great content advertised on Garden Rant this weekend, and I wanted to share it with everyone. In the words of its editor-in-chief, Sandra Knauf, Greenwoman Magazine is “devoted to gardening thought in all its forms – fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, commentary, biography, art, and comics. It’s the only magazine where you will find an in-depth article on the state of world seed ownership juxtaposed with a poem likening hot romance to the Scoville Heat Scale of chili peppers, and an interview with a novelist who not only gardens but uses the garden as a theme in her fiction.”
The sample issue that I read this morning (Summer/Fall 2012), was filled with luscious artwork, garden photos to salivate over and, to my delight, poetry and fiction! A fascinating article called The New Victory Garden not only explored the history of WWII victory gardens and the lasting impact of WWII on our lives today, but revealed fascinating things:
That most of the Chicago victory gardeners, initially, were no more experienced and no better prepared to begin gardening than most people in the US today (and yet, they did it!);
The emphasis of victory gardens wasn’t just on “growing food” but was on “nutritional value”;
Food preservation, not just gardening, was a now often overlooked aspect of the victory garden.
A wonderful juxtaposition to this article is an excerpt from Joel Salatin’s book, Folks, This Ain’t Normal, called No Compost, No Digestion. In this characteristically witty chapter, Mr. Salatin reminds us of the importance of food that will rot. He describes his experiences with poison cow poop and non-decomposing hamburgers, and reminds me that I have a vermicomposting project to get off the ground.Â
Greenwoman, A Literary Garden, is 76 pages full of interesting voices and perspectives on the garden, its inhabitants and its significance in our lives. What a wonderful way to spend a summer Sunday morning!
You can find subscription information here. Subscribe to the Greenwoman mailing list and download a free issue here.
Happy reading!
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My book, Confessions of a Vegetable Lover is available on Amazon. The updated edition of the e-book ($1.99) contains all the essays originally published in two volumes as Confessions of a Vegetable Lover and More Confessions of a Vegetable Lover. You can view the book trailer here.
