RIP Harrowsmith
I'm sure I'm not the only person who daydreams about owning some land in the country and living more self-sufficiently. One spring you're planting a few vegetables in the garden and the next thing you know you're dreaming about fruit trees and chickens and making your own cheese.
It's counterintuitive that at a time when interest is sustainable living is growing, the magazine that has been in the forefront of this movement in Canada, Harrowsmith Country Life, has ceased publication after nearly 35 years:
http://www.quillandquire.com/google/article.cfm?article_id=11922
The good news is that issues of Harrowsmith/Harrowsmith Country Life (the name was changed in 1994) going back to 1990 are available in the Science & Technology Department at the North York Central Library, and the Toronto Reference Library's collection goes back to the very first issue in 1976.
These magazines are a great resource for anyone interested in rural living, and there's lots to enjoy for city-dwellers as well. There are articles about restoring and renovating older homes, about energy efficiency and living off the grid, about growing organic fruits and vegetables, and about making preserves, spinning wool, building fences, digging a root cellar…I could go on. The point is that while Harrowsmith Country Life will be missed by real country squires and wannabes like me, the wealth of information published in its pages is still available at the Toronto Public Library.
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6 thoughts on “RIP Harrowsmith”
Oh too bad, I loved this magazine. Glad that TPL recognizes the value in keeping the back issues.
Great post… RIP Harrowsmith
And I had paid my subscription up to January 2013! Expensive venture for getting nothing back!
Harrowsmith charged my credit card for renewal on July 27, 2011 when they already knew they would be closing. Why have they done nothing to inform subscribers and at least send us a refund?
My wife has been battling complications related to her cancer treatments and their demise went unnoticed for some time. I have every issue from Harrowsmith #1 through the last pine mailed by Harrowsmith / Country Life, and enjoyed every one, even though it got quite “yuppy” in more recent times, which may well have led to its death. I, too, was paid up well beyond but if it helped a few more issues get published, I don’t mind. What they did to Barbara B., though, was unethical … though the person who processed the renewal may well not have known he/she was about to be unemployed.
brian , do you happen to know which issue ( probably in summer of 1979 )covered a fair in edgewood b.c.? i am pictured in the issue and would like to acuire a copy for memory sake . enjoy , tim