At first glance the magazine "Modern Farmer" was very well printed, written and laid out. While there are some interesting bits, this one is mainly geared towards the urban homestead "dreamer". The issue that I reviewed was a bit older (took me a while to read it as it didn't grab me immediately). This periodical is not relegated to a website only so you won't see it on news stands. Below is my take on why it declined.
The good:
Layout. You can tell that a very professional magazine staff was illustrating and putting things together.
Quality: Most photo's in the magazine were pro-quality photographs with very few exceptions. The paper the magazine was printed on was excellent. A+
Articles: One how to article by Shepherd Ogden on saving tomato seed was very well written and thorough. Another by Thomas Christopher on raising ducks was informative.
The bad:
Equipment reviews: Most of the reviewed items I found were the "high end" chic. For instance a wheel hoe/cultivator highly reviewed by the magazine runs about $100 more than similar more practical one from a reputable homesteading store. Easydigging.com vs ASC. Actual homesteaders are generally much more practical than chic.
They also demonstrated in their "blueprint" section a three bin composer from pallets that any middle school child could engineer and likely build without the aid of instructions.
Articles such as a hippie priest of agriculture and travelling to India for some reason abound. Triple meh.
Their re-bound website is well meh too. See for yourself, but I'm not leaving them a link.
The good:
Layout. You can tell that a very professional magazine staff was illustrating and putting things together.
Quality: Most photo's in the magazine were pro-quality photographs with very few exceptions. The paper the magazine was printed on was excellent. A+
Articles: One how to article by Shepherd Ogden on saving tomato seed was very well written and thorough. Another by Thomas Christopher on raising ducks was informative.
The bad:
Equipment reviews: Most of the reviewed items I found were the "high end" chic. For instance a wheel hoe/cultivator highly reviewed by the magazine runs about $100 more than similar more practical one from a reputable homesteading store. Easydigging.com vs ASC. Actual homesteaders are generally much more practical than chic.
They also demonstrated in their "blueprint" section a three bin composer from pallets that any middle school child could engineer and likely build without the aid of instructions.
Articles such as a hippie priest of agriculture and travelling to India for some reason abound. Triple meh.
Their re-bound website is well meh too. See for yourself, but I'm not leaving them a link.
