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MAGAZINE REVIEWS
Organic Gardening magazine
A Rodale Publication
Sept/Oct 2001 issue
Nov/Dec 2001 issue
How many gardening magazines do you know of that could double as
collector’s items? The folks at Rodale have been publishing OG
(Organic Gardening) magazine for decades, since 1942 to be
precise. And as far as I can tell from the only two issues I currently
own (Sept/Oct 2001 and Nov/Dec 2001) these magazines are keepers. I feel
like a total dolt for never having picked up an issue before. The covers
are simply stunning works of art, often using vintage plant
illustrations from Burpee seed catalogs.
In the Sept./Oct issue the cover features a quaint painting of chickens
by Louis Paul Graham from 1911. And this issue of OG has
some of the best articles I’ve read on gardening in a long time. There
are articles about keeping chickens in your backyard, how to construct a
small chicken coop, the history of beets, the importance of organic seed
saving, how to build a garden bed and more. I especially dug the section
simply called “Organic Gardening” in which the staff republishes classic
advice from their archives. In the Sept/Oct. issue, the classic article
is an essay from 1975 by 90-year-old gardener Ruth Stout who explains
her secret for perfect gardening conditions: hay mulch. She really makes
vegetable gardening sound fairly simple. This issue was so damn cool I
tried to talk my boyfriend into not only buy bales of hay so I could use
it for mulch, but also to invest in a couple of hens. I don’t think he’s
convinced that either is worth doing, but that’s how powerful a hold
just one issue of OG grabbed me.
The cover of the Nov/Dec 2001 issue has a vintage Burpee catalog
illustration of the California poppy. Again, OG comes out
with an addictive issue. Some of the articles here include a
retrospective on native wildflowers and prairie grass, tips on
overwintering spinach, the history of poppies and a whole section on the
pumpkin, complete with instructions on how to build a super-sturdy
trellis.
Aside from the informative and extremely entertaining articles, there
are of course the regular sections of OG. Don’t skip over
reading the Letters to the Editor section. They’re a hoot. In the
Nov/Dec issue, a newlywed couple wrote in about their love connection in
an Internet compost and mulch forum, which led to their wedding in a
community garden. Those crazy kids got married over a compost heap
altar! People also write in with photos of their potatoes and melons
that they think look like people. I thought only my mom did that! Very
funny, indeed.
Some of the other OG sections I couldn’t get enough of
include:
- Dig In - News, watchdog reports, unusual plant profiles and
cool product reviews.
- Solutions - Your typical Q&A about pest control, composting
and more.
- OG 123 - How-to section on topics such as storing summer
bulbs or creating an underground compost heap.
- Gardener to Gardener - Ideas, tips and stories from other
gardeners. This is where I learned that planting rosemary around your
outside plants will keep the bunnies away, and that planting some kale
in your veggie patch distracts aphids from bothering your other plants.
And that growing some herbs where your cats hang out will help get rid
of any fleas they might have. (I learned a lot from this section.)
- Compost Corner - Get even more pointers from folks doing
their own composting. The section has an endless amount of good tips for
beginners and advanced composters.
- My Journal - A different gardener every issue does a
bullet-listing type journal about various events during the month. I
think our journals are better, but at least OG attempts to
add something a bit more creative here than most gardening magazines!
Most of the issues are around 50 or 60 pages long. But if you still need
more reading material than the magazine offers, you can visit their web
site for weekly and daily features,
tips, articles, reviews and more. It’s a good site to have bookmarked.
I know that after reading just two issues of this magazine, I’m slightly
obsessed in finding the older issues that everyone keeps raving about.
Let’s just say I’m spending a lot more time on eBay these days. So if
you see any issues in your local thrift store or at a garage sale, I
highly suggest picking them up. As I discovered from OG,
great gardening advice never goes out of style.
- Bonnie Burton
garden grrl
www.grrl.com
Read Bonnie's plant journal on this site.
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