Earth Day 40 years ago
Frank Rackemann did his own drawing to accompany his garden column in advance of the first Earth Day. Of course, his column appeared on the "women's pages" of the Evening Sun.
It is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and a look back to the first Earth Day reveals that garden writers are still talking about many of the same things.
A "Fun with Gardening" column in The (Baltimore) Evening Sun, written by Frank Rackemann in advance of the first Earth Day in April 1970, encouraged readers to pick up litter and trash in their neighborhoods and suggested that homeowners plant "a flower or two for all to enjoy" on Earth Day.
The column talks about pesticides and recent reports that they can kill bees and birds. But in the same column Rackemann advises the use of chemicals to protect trees against scale and leaf minor.
