New Favorite Magazine: Garden and Gun

by Natalie

I know the title of this post is probably offputting, and you're thinking "She wants me to believe that she reads a magazine that's about gardening and shooting?" It's not, actually, about gardening and shooting (though they have had featured stories about gardens and about guns) but it's really about life in the south, and covers everything from artists to writers to amazing restaurants, city attractions, shopping and recipes. I am completely and totally smitten. People, I'm in love with Garden and Gun magazine.

{photo credit: Terry Manier for Garden and Gun}

How can you not fall in love with photos like this? I'll take this burger, which is at Husk Restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina (named Best New Restaurant of 2010 by Bon Appetit magazine, thankyouverymuch) and I'll start off with a Death in the Afternoon cocktail (Ernest Hemingway's favorite, I learned) which combines vermouth, absinthe and champagne. (The absinthe is just for flavor, people. No one wants to get poisoned.)

{photo credit: Brian Woodcock for Garden and Gun}

I do realize that the above items should probably be over at Food Lush, so I'll toss in a few more fun non-food-related items. For example, I loved the August/September summer issue, which focused on some of the up-and-coming women artists, writers, designers, poets, chefs, singer/songwriters and entrepreneurs who are currently shaking up the south. I discovered an amazing artist, Sally King Benedict, whom I had never heard of... and I now know that if I ever strike it rich, I will have one of her beautiful paintings of the Carolina coast in pride of place in my home.

{photo of painting credit: Sally King Benedict website}

To round out the "garden" portion of the magazine, I was fascinated by a recent review of a new book about Eudora Welty, one of my favorite authors. Rather than touching on her well-known photographs and writings, the book focuses instead on her life in her home and in her garden.

{photo credit: Eudora Welty LLC.}

I could go on and on, because it was truly a surprise to find out how much I enjoyed the magazine. If you're looking for something new and shiny to land in your mailbox every couple of months, I definintely recommend subscribing. Happy reading!