As part of its relaunch, the bi-monthly magazine is debuting a larger format and heavier paper stock to go along with new cooking-focused editorial content. Organic Gardening is also increasing its rate base by more than five percent, from 260,000 to 275,000 — the third increase for the magazine in the last four years. Overall, the pub has seen its rate base increase 28 percent since 2007.

“Organic Gardening‘s relaunch is in response to a changing mindset among Americans who are choosing to lead healthier, more environmentally conscious lifestyles,” the company explained. “Increasingly consumers are going back to basics, growing their own food, cooking and preserving what they grow, and seeking out locally grown, organic food. The relaunched Organic Gardening delivers the information and tools necessary to help people truly bring the garden to their table.”

Other new features of Organic Gardening include a revised bi-monthly publishing schedule and new contributors, including garden designer Gordon Hayward, nutrition expert Jeanne Ambrose, photojournalist Matthew Benson and chef and author Deborah Madison.

Rodale also said the redesign is dedicated to former Rodale CEO Ardath Harter Rodale, who passed away last month. “Her dedication to improving the lives and health of individuals and families was rooted in the belief that this is the best way to change the world,” the mag’s publisher added. “That belief has been a true inspiration to millions of women, across continents and generations, and is one that will live on in the pages of Organic Gardening.”

Previously: Former Rodale CEO Ardath Harter Rodale Dies At 81

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Former anchorman Walter Cronkite was perhaps the biggest name in the media world to pass away in 2009, and he was honored by a star-studded memorial in September.

A number of famous columnists also left us without their prolific narratives about politics, celebrities and the English language in 2009. Conservative columnist Robert Novak died in August from a brain tumor, Vanity Fair‘s Dominick Dunne passed away later that month after a battle with bladder cancer. The New York Times‘ “On Language” columnist, William Safire, died in September from pancreatic cancer. Another columnist who we had the pleasure of working with last year, men’s wear expert Stan Gellers, died suddenly last winter, just a few months after the publication he had contributed to for more than 50 years, DNR, folded.

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Rodale was the mother of the company’s current CEO and chairman, Maria Rodale, and the wife of another former CEO, Bob Rodale. “We are very sad to say goodbye to an amazing woman, and more importantly, to our mother and the grandmother to our children. She will be very missed,” Maria Rodale said in a statement released by the company today. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Ardath Rodale first came to work at Rodale in 1956. While there, she oversaw renovations of the company’s Emmaus, Penn. headquarters, choosing to implement energy-saving features on the buildings instead of tearing them down and starting anew. Her husband, Bob, was killed in a car accident in 1990, and she took on the role of chairman and CEO. She was CEO until 2002 and stepped down as chairman in 2007 and took on the role of “chief inspiration officer” as her daughter Maria took her place on the board.

She also served as co-chair of the board of non-profit Rodale Institute, which is dedicated to research and education focused on organic food and agriculture.

In addition to her work at Rodale, Ardath was a columnist for Prevention magazine, an author and an AIDS activist, serving on the Harvard AIDS Institute’s International Advisory Committee. She also received many honorary degrees over the years, including two Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from DeSales University and Lehigh University, an Honarary Doctor of Laws degree from Kutztown Unversity and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree from the New College of California in San Francisco.

Ardath is survived by four children, including Maria, and eleven grandchildren, who will no doubt carry on the traditions of Rodale Inc. in her memory.

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