Dig This
The bookazine for people who love dirt!

Shovels Full

I was four years old when I first poked my finger in the dirt.  I hilled up a big mound of soil in the middle of my grandma's vegetable garden, a mountain of sorts in preparation for planting squash seeds.  I really don't remember so much the details of that first moment, just that I kept doing it-poking my fingers and plunging my hands into that warm, rich Iowa topsoil.

Eighteen years later I'm still doing it, now with a little more finesse you might say.  I've got the latest tools with shiny blades and slick-looking, ergonomic handles.  But regardless the style, I love watching dirt curl off the edges of a sharp trowel or the little black lines that underscore my fingernails at the end of each day.  For me that's gardening, pure and simple.

It's with that passion for gardening that I welcome you to this first issue of Dig This, the magazine for people who love dirt-dirt on staple perennials, like our favorite irises, and the smelly, earthy stuff we grow our plants in.  Dig This starts from the ground up, just like gardening. 

Dig This is technically a bookazine.  We plan to print our little project once a year (think of it as the souvenir edition) , chocking it full of as much information as a small book, all the while keeping it as light, handy, and sleek as a magazine.  It's got a flair for irises, but only because I run an iris specialty nursery!  That in no way hampers my love for other green-veined goodies, which the Dig This team is all too eager to share with you.  As I've written these articles and stories, I've decided I'd rather just share all these goodies with you in person, martinis or beverage of choice in hand against a richly planted backdrop.  Our team hopes the conversational nature of this project strikes you as it does us, just like we were having a real-life, down and dirty convo.

So with a muddy thumb, flip through the pages, dog ear a few, and don't worry if you don't get it all the first time.  We've got shovels full yet to come, just after we do a little more digging.

Kelly

By Kelly Norris

Kelly Norris is the founder and editor of Dig This, the bookazine for people who love dirt. He's your best friend in the plant world, addicted to cool plants and the people who grow them. You might say he likes irises too, just a little.