Hey folks! Congratulations on making it through another winter. As of March 20th, we have officially entered the Spring season, despite the chilly air outside. Spring is often considered a time of rebirth, of reacquainting ourselves with nature and the earth after the winter season. So in honor of the Spring Equinox, here is a zineography of zines related to farming, gardening, herbalism, environmental justice, and food. Hope you enjoy!
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All of the zines mentioned in this zineography can be found at the LeFrak Center in Barnard Hall or requested from offsite to be read in the Barnard Archive and Special Collections. You can browse the open stacks for our circulating zines and borrow them from the circulation desk.
If we only have one copy of a zine, it is non-circulation and must be read in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections reading room. To request access to a zine, email archives@barnard.edu by 11 AM Wednesday for use on the following Friday-Thursday.
Farming/Gardening | Environmental Justice| Health |Food| Outdoors Activity| D.I.Y./Family
Farming/Gardening
Almaguer, Maria. "Little Garden Journal." Royal Oak. 2007.
Maria Almaguer, of Summer Girl Press, and a librarian in Michigan, publishes a colorful, hand-crayoned mini one page folding zine about her gardening and the flowers she and her neighbors grow in the short Michigan summer.
Evans, Sarah. "Root." Halifax. 2002. Print.
After moving from the city to a farm in Halifax, Sarah Evans handwrites a small, cut and paste zine about reconnecting to the land through organic farming and sustainable farming. She includes pictures and a recipe for rhubarb pie.
Green-Eggs, Sam. "Chickeney." Vancouver. 2007. Print.
Sam Green-Eggs, a self-identified butch dyke, writes about the rural and domestic aspects of her life, including living with her mother. The first issue addresses teaching weeds, gardening, and teaching kids who have chickens. There are also salsa and cookie recipes, and writing about testing the community- supported agriculture model for selling crops. The text is handwritten and inside are black and white pictures of the crops.
Knauf, Sandra. "Green Woman."Colorado Springs. 2008. Print.
Greenwoman is the perzine of writer, gardener, and stay-at-home lower-middle-class mom Sandra Knauf. In each issue, Sandra shares her experiences as an avid gardener and struggling writer who is constantly learning more about environmental sustainability and the local ecology of her Colorado Springs home. Sandra is also an urban chicken farmer. In issue one, Sandra writes about one of her hens that changed gender from female to male, the experience of becoming a Master Gardener through a course at Colorado State University, and her negative opinions of the mayor of Colorado Springs. Issue two focuses on roses and brings up the mythological history of Green Man and Green Woman. This issue also includes cartoons and discusses the Obama campaign. The theme of issue three is bees, including their ecological importance, the author's personal experience catching bees, two guest contribution stories about bees, a description of a mead factory, recipes for foods and items that include honey, and several reviews of bee-themed movies. The fourth issue chronicles the author's experience with chicken-raising. It also includes an editorial about how lawns waste water in Colorado, a guide to harvesting rainwater, a piece about homosexuality in animals, and reflections on the relationship between gardening and art. This is the first issue that lists Sandra's Etsy store URL: http://maefayne.etsy.com. Issue five of Greenwoman details the Sandra's experience working as a for-hire gardener with some of her friends from the Master Gardener's program. It also includes three guest contributions about weeding and life lessons, apples and borrowing a shovel. "Veggie Comix" and a guide to herbs are additional features. The sixth issue looks at the transitions in the author's life as her daughter heads off to college and she replaces her 1930s stove. There is also includes a detailed account of growing local garlic and a run in with Girl Scouts. Guest pieces include a pull-out issue 12 of The Juniper by Dan Murphy and stories about church food distribution and "gardening by moonlight." These zines also include recipes, film reviews, zine reviews, photographs and collage. Every issue starts with a letter from the author.
Firewood, Sine. "Firewood." Port Townsend. 2002. Print.
Sine's DIY zine discusses living off the land as a form of protest and how one can promote anarchist ideals by building shelter and planting trees and vegetables. She describes famous protests in history, such as the Knoydart land dispute, and provides poetry and quotes about anarchism and justice.
Environmental Justice
Anarchist People of Color, New York City, Women and Trans Collective."Decolonizing Eats." New York. 2008.
A product of the NYC APOC (Anarchist People of Color Caucus) collective, this zine focuses on stories, anecdotes, and recipes by APOC members about their relationship to food, the environment, and their heritage. Included is writing about nutrients in sea vegetables, the primacy of native traditions, and hegemonic food tropes surrounding people of color. Articles deconstruct different identities through their food patterns including an ethical butcher who was vegetarian for many years and a chart contrasting power structures. There are also recipes for traditional staples including kale, chicha, chucha chuno, chard, and sweet potatoes. The zine is cut and paste and includes a list of resources for different farms and urban food resources.
Guerilla Graywater Girls. "Guide to Water." Oakland. 2001. Print.
This extended, political, DIY zine by environmental activists Guerilla Greywater Girls (ggg) features stories against dams, about Native American farming processes, wetlands, salmon, how water is treated naturally and chemically, and greywater versus blackwater. The zine is hand decorated with illustrations and maps and also includes pieces on how to make a house environmentally sustainable and a diagram of how to build a pedal-powered washing machine. There is a glossary and list of resources.
Scott, Toi. "Queering Herbalism: Essentialist!" Austin. 2010. Print.
Created by queer-identified, gender-nonconforming herbalist of color, Toi Scott compiles articles and resources about Scott's indigenous and black ancestors and their relationship to healing and nature. Scott includes a section on medicine making basics, explores traditional indigenous healing outside of the gender binary, and discusses healthcare under capitalism. The cover is green and features the Black Power fist colored in rainbow.
Windsome, Adelaide. "Global Backyards: Illustrations + Writings on Environmental Racism." Boston. 2008. Print.
This political zine is "a primer to environmental justice issues" about racism in the United States and Mexico. The zine uses words and illustrations to talk about specific locations of environmental racism in the United States since it was colonized. Global Backyards addresses the plight of American Indians, Latino/a's, African-Americans, and indigenous Mexicans exposed to toxic waste hazards, biological labs, and bombings that perpetually destroy the environment and also cause birth effects. The author references the Zapatistas in Chiapas and looks at other areas including New Orleans, Boston, and the Marshal Island. She provides a bibliography, as well.
SL. "Cracks in the Pavement: a Zine about nature, place, and politix." Cambridge. 2013. Print.
SL writes about their anxieties pertaining to global warming and explains how to tap a tree for maple syrup. There is also a personal story about the last days of a dying rabbi. There are photographs, art, poems, handwriting and typewriting.
Health
McMillan, Stephanie. "Grow Food: South Florida Micro Farming."Fort Lauderdale. N.D. Print.
This is a handwritten and illustrated zine about the different herbs that grow in South Florida and their health benefits. It also includes cooking tips and reasons to grow food. The artist is responsible for other zines and minicomics, most notably Minimum Security.
Kent, Janet. "Ease Your Mind: Herbs for Mental Health."Asheville. 2014. Print.
This zine serves as "a primer on the use of medicinal herbs to support mental health." Arranged by symptom rather than by plant, each entry includes the plant's common and Latin name, and a description of what kinds of symptoms or emotional states they are best suited to address, including anxiety, depression, grief, and insomnia. Includes a section on dosage and contraindications, a glossary, bibliography, and a brief overview of how to make teas, decoctions, and tinctures.
Wildseed Feminism. "Wildseed #2: Herbal Remedies for Lifelong Reproductive Care." Atlanta. 2014. Print.
Blanton discusses herbal and natural remedies for managing symptoms of PMS, menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. There are also recipes and black-and-white illustrations of the herbs and plants mentioned. The front and back cover of the zine are printed in color.
Food
Blue, Star. "Just Say No Thank You: A Zine about Being Asexual and Vegan." Occidental. 2006. Print.
This zine addresses the author's exploration of veganism and asexuality in which she hopes to provide a resource for others like herself and share common experiences. She and her contributors provide vegan recipes, personal anecdotes, cut and paste images, and a list of books and online resources.
Defiance, Liz. "Compost this Zine." Phoenix. 2002. Print.
Liz Defiance's interest in self-sustainability leads her to a discussion of food politics. She writes about the benefits of gardening, the prevalence of genetically engineered food, and the devastating effects of agricultureagribusiness?. Defiance provides vegan recipes and suggestions on how to eat organic. There is also a section on fertility awareness.
Lowry, Kestra Cael. "The Fruits (and Vegetables) Are Coming!: a Vegan Cookzine." Portland. 2004. Print.
The two titles of this split zine by a 19-year-old trans male are The Fruits (and Vegetables) Are Coming!: a Vegan Cookzine, and GQ GenderQueer, which focuses on a genderqueer identity. The cookzine contains a variety of recipes, most fairly easy to make, such as super simple soy bacon and cinnamon orgasm rolls. Genderqueer is a mixture of poems, prose, and interviews, with a section of various stages of genderqueer identity at different ages, an interview with actors Jenn Defecke and Oliver Klozoff.
Outdoors Activity
Adderely, Emily. "Birds." Philadelphia. 2004. Print.
Emily is Sage Adderley's four-year-old daughter, and she enjoys birds, snacks, and crafts. Adderley, who also publishes Marked for Life, interviews her daughter about birds and shares pictures of Emily and Emily's own drawings of birds and crafts, as well as instructions for a DIY bird feeder and fabric bird nest. Though Emily does not know how to read, Adderley creates a list of books about birds and nature. The zine is quarter sized and mostly handwritten.
Audley, Katherine. "Whoosh!: the Zine for Whale Lovers #1"Portland. 2008. Print.
Katherina, a whale researcher, writes about a family camping trip and looking for orcas and blue whales, and interviews Pachico Mayoral, the first person to touch a gray whale in St. Ignacio Lagoon. She also includes artwork and photos of whales.
Baumann, Suzanne. "Ball Point Botany." Hamtramck. 2010. Print.
This minizine out of Michigan has sketches of rare plants done with a ball point pen.
Phyllis Hordin chronicles hiking trip through the mountains at Sierra Nevada and small towns in the area. She writes journal entries about appreciating nature, looking out for bears, the hikers she meets along the way, and Lucy Pearson: "Hub Cap Queen of the desert." This zine is quarter-sized and includes pictures of bears, scenery, and the Ms. Pearson.
Emma Karin writes about thrifty and clever D.I.Y. solutions to cleaning and organizing a home. Issue one contains a table on how to paint exterior surfaces, information on how to fold a fitted sheet, cleaning recipes, and a recipe for vegan mug cakes. The second issue is about sewing; it contains a fabric, thread and needle chart, lists of stitch and button types, and instructions for measuring yourself. Debuted at the Philly Feminist Zine Fest, issue three advises on summer essentials such as how to spruce up ice cubes, plants to save bees, household products and tips for cleaning the house, and tool box essentials. Issue four starts with an essay on how domesticity is liberating and a legacy of knowledge. Emma writes about preparing for the cold, D.I.Y. bird feeders, a recipe for piping hot liquor, and a list of home remedies for colds.
This compilation zine contains recipes and DIY projects to teach kids about herbal recipes and remedies for common ailments like colds, bumps, scrapes, and bruises. Featuring interviews with several "herbal parents," the zine focuses on certain common herbs like nettles and catnip that are good for family medicine. Detailed are fun projects with kids like pastille making, infusions, harvesting, and berry picking with a focus on organic wildcrafting. Submissions by Randall Amster and other radical parents pepper the zine as well as drawings by the author's friend monkeypants.
This illustrated compilation zine on herbalism consists of contributions from all over the US. People write mostly about their practices and the DIY aspects of herbalism. The authors acknowledge the elitism and privilege associated with "alternative medicine," and consider the frustrations of doing holistic medicine in a capitalist society. The organizations profiled in this zine are geared towards the homeless and those without insurance.
