Blog Tour Stop & Review: Greenwoman Magazine

Greenwoman Magazine 
Winter 2012/Spring 2013

About Greenwoman

"Greenwoman Magazine celebrates garden writing in all its forms: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, commentary, biography, art, and comics! 

Daring and fun, Greenwoman is for the hip gardener who loves digging into the world of art and environmental thought that underlies gardening."

Greenwoman Magazine is a completely independent, one-woman-owned-and-run publication.  (Well, two-women, when Sandra’s daughter Zora, who is the Deputy Editor, has time from her full-time college work).

http://www.greenwomanmagazine.com/

My Review

Greenwoman Magazine: A Literary Garden is chock full of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, commentary, book reviews, arts, and comics. It’s an ideal read for those interested in homesteading, gardening, and literature with a natural theme.

The contributors offer quality writing that is engaging and fun. I found myself immersed in this issue, enjoying the artwork, and gaining some great information along the way. It is a unique publication that stands out from others in similar genres, and most importantly it is a one-woman-owned-and-run magazine!

The pieces that I enjoyed the most are:

• Poultry Season by Bonnie Simon

Bonnie writes about her chickens and the emotional bond she forms with them. I love how the chickens ultimately become her pets.

All day long, my little bird-friends roam around the backyard, doing what chickens were born to do. They run around and flap their wings. They eat all the kitchen scraps in what used to be the compost pile. They hold meetings under the deck. They make me laugh and remind me how to greet every day as an opportunity for something good.

• A Generous Season by Tom Preble

My heart strings were tugged while reading Tom’s piece. I never knew how romantic someone could make a story about their sweetheart’s garden and the overflowing growth they create with their green thumb.

• Grow by Carolyn Williams-Noren

• Diary of a Garden Goddess by Sandra Knauf

Sandy documents her part-time work as a professional gardener over a three-month period. Her writing is smart and witty as she describes the strenuous work, various clients, co-workers, and her love of gardens. I could read an entire zine or book made up of Sandy’s garden entries. She is a fabulous writer. 

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Visit Greenwoman Magazine's website to sign up for a free copy of the magazine!

Guest Post: Gardening with your children

I've had such a busy week that I completely forgot to share my guest post that I wrote about gardening with my kids. Going Green with the Grizls featured my post on Monday, check it out!

Gardening with your children Guest Post by Sage @ My Name is Sage

What's the Word June Blog Challenge

Tabi (tabi happy) is hosting a June blog challenge called 'What’s the Word June.' The challenge is to incorporate the word of the day (which Tabi has listed) into your daily blog. The words Tabi has chosen are fun and some are not commonly found in most blog posts so it will be interesting, but I am always up for a good challenge!

The word of the day is: smitten

It’s been close to eight weeks since I planted veggies for my indoor container garden. I have been watering them, hand pollinating them, and sometimes even cheering them on!  I am excited that I have been able to keep them alive and healthy this long. I was pretty nervous I would have a hard time growing vegetables indoors.

My cucumber plants grew amazingly fast. Remember this post? You can see how tall they have grown and how they are taking over my windowsill. When the cucumbers began to get larger, they started to hang down, applying a lot of weight to the plant stem and I saw places throughout the plant where the stems were breaking. I panicked because I didn’t want them to die. They have been growing so good and I didn’t want them to take a turn for the worst. I bought a metal cage to insert into their pot and entwined the plant up the cage, alleviating some pressure from the stem. A few leaves were damaged in the process but I read if the damage is minimal, they can heal themselves. Phew!

So far I have spotted a cherry tomato on one plant and on another, a larger tomato is growing with signs of two others coming along nicely. I am completely smitten over the tomatoes. I had a rough time growing them outside on my patio last year. They are doing so much better inside.

Veggie Update & Baby Chicks

It's been a week since I measured the veggie plants so I opened up my gardening journal, grabbed the tape measure, and went to work. It's hard to get an accurate measurement because the plants are twisting around so the measurements are close estimates.

The cucumber plants measured around 6 1/2" - 7 3/4" last week and now they are between 10-18 inches! We've spotted close to a dozen teeny tiny cucumbers, too.

Do you see the teeny tiny cucumber?

The tomato plants started off around 8 1/2" - 11 3/4" and now they are both 14 inches tall. A few flowers are beginning to open. Thankfully, we have had quite a few sunny days so the plants are getting lots of sunshine.

Since the plants are growing lightning fast, I decided I needed to stake them. I went to Big Lots and found a 4-pack of marshmallow sticks (for camp fires) for $2.00. They work perfectly. The onion seedlings are 3"- 4" tall and we've harvested & enjoyed most of the spinach.

Since repotting the chives, they have doubled in size!

A few days ago I received a wonderful surprise. My apartment manager delivered a gigantic planter full of beautiful flowers. Our manager offers a monthly contest for residents who pay their rent early or on time. Each month a random winner is chosen and we won for the month of May! Our back patio was bare since all of our plants are indoors so this prize was perfect. The maintenance man even hung it for us on a decorative hook since it is extremely heavy. 

Yesterday my friends Krista and Jess posted they would be live streaming their hatching eggs. I made sure to check their blog throughout the day and after dinner the kids and I watched two chicks hatching. It was amazing! As soon as Bella woke up this morning she asked about the chicks and when we checked, we caught the third chick hatching, lucky us! And then a fourth.

It was beautiful to watch and I am thrilled the kids experienced the chicks hatching. It's not too late to go to their blog to check out the chicks. I'm sure they'll be documenting the chicks' progress.