Aerate is loosely about things that grow, but that’s like saying a first date is loosely about where you went to high school, and the Batcave is loosely about a parking spot.
“And so much more” is the apt follow-on phrase.
Growing sends out roots that travel deep underground, reaching far into the culture. They defy barriers and impolitely spread wherever they want. In that spirit, Aerate claims its right to bring you news, stories, videos, artwork and who-knows-what-else about: Planting; tasting; raising outdoor kids; sex; nuking stress; books and film; health and well-being; fashion and design; cooking; music; wherever the tendrils take us.
That’s why we call ourselves “Aerate” — we want to inject our oxygen where it can bring the most life. Plants pump it out, and we are here to do our share.
What you won’t see much of are stories about how to plant a tomato. Not because it isn’t important, but because there’s no shortage of that information in the worls, and a lot of it, unsurprisingly, comes from Scotts Miracle-Gro, who are the people behind Aerate. You most likely won’t feel Scotts’ presence, though, because Aerate isn’t going to be selling products or even pushing them. But we’re not hiding our benevolent sponsor, either.
We love what they’re letting us do. Scotts has been around since 1868, when more than half of Americans worked on family farms — and here we are back to the future with millions of families turning their backyards into personal growing operations.
Suburban homeowners — our New Agrarians — are looking at their raised beds differently. Farmers are looking at their farms differently. Families are looking at their lawns differently — as sacred play spaces. Kids are looking at their screens and fingernails differently. And who knows, even earthworms might be looking at soil differently, slightly trepidatious about their awesome responsibility. This new awakening hands us possibilities.
The butterfly effect has it that a small action in one place can turn into a very large effect somewhere else. That’s our hope, here. Flapping our tiny wings in your direction. Please let us know if you can feel it.
Masthead
Chief Photosynthesizer: Adam Hanft
Executive Editor: Jim Gorant
Senior Editor: Sarah Karnasiewicz
Senior Associate Editor: Aliza Gans
Multimedia Editor: Paul Nagel
Social Media Director: Marcus Haugen
Social Media Assistant: Marissa Stuart
Photo/Art Consultant: Kathryn Marx
Photo Coordinator: Kristopher Fernandez
Consulting Producer: Marisa Bramwell
Founding Editor: Manuela Hoelterhoff
President and Co-founder: Ed Sussman