Our latest Taproot, Issue 10::SEED is out in the world! Subscribers should be receiving your copies as I write (international takes a little longer, you know), it will be arriving at newsstands any day now, and it's in our shop right now. This issue is a special one - not just because it might have my favorite cover of the year (by Geninne Zlatkis), and not just because it's full of all the great content we've collected...but because there's MORE of all of that! For a long while now, I've been a (likely irritating) chirping bird at our meetings saying "more pages! more pages!". While all agreed with me, looking at all the good content coming our way, we had to wait for the time to be right. And with SEED, we decided it was. Ninety-six pages now make up our quarterly. Ninety-six pages of pure content (still ad-free!) - recipes, crafts, instructions, essays, poetry and so much great art. In this issue you'll find everything from instructions on your first cut flower garden (which I am following closely!), an interview with a seed librarian to gardening for wildlife, fermening mustard, and everything in between. (Take a glance at the website for more of a peek inside the pages of this issue.)
There's another suprise for subscribers that comes with this issue - and that's the inclusion of this sweet little notebook with each subscription copy. With art by Phoebe Wahl and plenty of blank pages for your gardening notes or whatever you're dreaming up these days. We'll be including these with all new subscriptions too - while supplies last - until the next issue. So if you've let yours lapse or haven't subscribed yet, you can do so now and we'll start you with SEED and include this extra treat too.
And if you want more to share with friends, or if you just want to the notebook, those are available in the shop now singly or as a set of three. So much fun, yes? I love these little notebooks.
And as is our tradition, we've released two prints from inside the pages of this issue. They're available, signed by the artists, in our shop. Jennifer Judd-McGee (our first year cover artist) created a beautiful papercut piece, So Much Light to accompany Thorpe Moeckel's essay about their family's health journey to living in a yurt. "It's okay, she said, there's going to be so much light" are the words spoken by Kirsten (Thorpe's wife) in the article, that Jen incorporated into the art. Ah, simply gorgeous.
The second print we're releasing with this issue is Manual Meditation (as Phoebe calls it) or "Old and happy garden lady with chicken" as I call it. I told Phoebe when I first saw this piece that I really, really want to be that woman when I grow up. (She thinks my chances are good. Phew.)
Granted, I may have an advantage being one of the people who puts these pages together, but that right there might be just the thing that means the most to me about this magazine. That lady in the garden with white braids that I someday hope to be. When I hold the finished magazine in my hands, when I flip through the pages, I find myself there. Reflected in the pages are the things that are important to me, to my family. They are the things we are doing now, and the places we want to go and things we may want to do someday. Our hope of course, in creating these pages, is that you see yourself in these pages too. That you find a reflection of your values and an inspiration for your future. And that we all find comfort and connection in that, through the pages we hold in our hands.
Ah, thank you friends. For your support of this project - whether that be by subscribing or just bearing with me when I ramble on about it from time to time here. It is appreciated!
