Harrowsmith's Truly Canadian Almanac publisher Yolanda Thornton, of Moongate Publishing, debuted a sister title this month called Harrowsmith's Gardening Digest.

The digest replaces Harrowsmith's Spring edition and is a response to readership requests for more exhaustive editorial that addresses all gardening seasons. With its wider focus, the Gardening Digest can stay on newsstands until September when the annual Harrowsmith Almanac is released.


The first issue launched at the Canada Blooms flower and garden festival held March 14-23 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. As part of its role as an event sponsor Harrowsmith hosted a 2,400 sq. ft. garden including three waterfalls and a stocked pond designed by Toronto's Genoscape Landscaping and Design.

A feature by Nancy Payne explores the garden's design, including a sidebar about the Bateman Forest Trail, the show's main garden feature which intertwined with Harrowsmith's space. "The little streams that Genoscape built were flowing from our garden and their garden together," said Thornton. "You could walk from one space into the other space. It was absolutely beautiful."


The issue also includes a calendar feature, more of the brand's popular garden trials (this time focusing on tomatoes), and an in-depth look at the latest Canadian stats for organic produce.

At $4.95 the digest is a dollar cheaper than the previous Spring edition while remaining a comparable size at 196 pages. It is a full four-colour production whereas a third of the Spring publication was printed in black-and-white on newsprint.

To promote the launch, Harrowsmith has purchased special floor display units in selected grocery chains, hardware stores and gardening centres, as well as promotional pockets at retail chains including Chapters and Indigo. Spring subscribers will be carried over to the new title.