Natural Living Magazines

With the demise of Mothering magazine some women have wondered where they can turn to get their natural info fix. Here's a list of magazines that are geared towards a more natural lifestyle they may be electronic/digital or print. Some are free and others are paid subscriptions.

Natural Life Magazine, includes articles on natural parenting & green living. We were sent this magazine after Mothering stopped publication. I like the articles but I think the price is a bit much. ~ Digital

Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine, we get this mag at the chiropractic office I work in.  Heavy emphasis on chiropractic care but a very good natural parenting magazine. ~Print

Natural Nutmeg, this is a free e-zine,it is brought out by natural health care providers in CT. ~Digital

Sustainable Living, free e-zine, mainly gardening

The Compleat Mother Magazine, This magazine is the mother of all natural mothering. ~Print

Hip Mama, don't know too much about this magazine so here is what my attachment parenting book said about it. "Hip Mama is the most provocative parenting magazine in existence. Unlike many other parenting periodicals, Hip Mama doesn't leave out nontraditional and low income reader families."

New Beginnings, this is the magazine Le Leche League puts out.  You can check out a couple back issues for free as e-zines.

Mother Earth News, the original in sustainable living. ~Print  & digital

Kindred, Natural parenting, sustainable parenting, green parenting, & Conscious parenting~ Digital PDFs~ Free back issues

Kiwi, Organic Family Lifestyle and parenting magazine ~Print & digital~ Paid

Juno, "a natural approach to family life" ~Print~ Paid

The Mother Magazine, Every aspect of natural parenting is explored, from conscious conception, peaceful pregnancy, gentle childbirth, full term breastfeeding, natural immunity, attachment parenting and the first few years of childhood, through to education, parenting teenagers and parenting one's self.~ Print~ Paid

Natural Child, "Green Healthy Living from pregnancy through birth and early childhood. "~ Digital~ Paid

Life Learning, "personalized, non-coercive, active, interest led learning."~Digital~ Paid

Bamboo, "Whole Family Living" This one is by far my favorite. It's free, has beautiful content and very well put together. Very professional.~ Digital~ Free

Natural Awakenings, "Healthy Living Healthy Planet". I found this little gem at my husbands work. I grabbed the free publication as I was leaving. This is a work at home magazine that makes their money on the advertising they feature. This in turn makes it free for us. There are local editions throughout the nation so you will have to search their map for your local copy. The website is full of great content and aside from this one being in print they also have a great digital copy on the website. ~ Print & Digital~ Free

Just added as of 8/27/12
Green Child Magazine, "Raising your child the way nature intended." This was a Pinterest find. Recipes, natural products and green living tips is what this free magazine has to offer. ~Digital~ Free

Do you know of any natural magazines? 

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Sorry about the mess

I'm changing things up with the look of my blog. Some links don't go anywhere and some things are incomplete. I hope you understand. My intention is to post more.
Thanks!

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Garden Update

I guess I should post a little update on our "garden". You know, it has been two years.

 Blueberries, Roma Tomato & Marigolds

 Our Crazy Sage and Mint, they're even bigger now that we've had lots of rain.

In this main area we have our large Daylily, Rosemary, Echinacea, random Pea plants, Broccoli, Sage, Mint, Sweet 100 Tomato, Anaheim Pepper, Roma Tomato, Chives, Green Bean plant that is being decimated by bugs, and two perennials which I don't know the names of . 

We also have some stuff going on under our deck. Mostly volunteer "weeds" that we want to keep around. I recently planted Comfrey, two Broccoli plants and some more Roma's. I hope they do well because it's not full sun under there. I will try and get better pictures of the whole space but here are the ones I do have so far.

 Cleavers (a new one that I just recently identified)

 Stinging Nettles, which we've already gotten a harvest out of.

Big beautiful Violets

I also have a few containers on the deck with Lemon Thyme, Basil & Parsley. So far that's about it and this is the first year I've wandered around trying to figure out where I was going to put some of my plants. Mainly the Roma's because I had run out of room in the nice sunny spots.

One of the reason I didn't post anything last year is because I didn't really plant anything. I attempted some Lingonberries and thought they would do wonderful under the shady deck but they never took off. Also last year I was doing a lot with wild edibles AKA Weeds. We were purposely letting the Lambs quarters, Nettles, Wood Sorrel and Amaranth grow. Well living in a townhouse with a lawn care service they decided to "help out" and weed wack everything that didn't look domestic and yank plants out of our front garden area. I shouldn't have been that surprised that something like that could have happened but it totally broke my heart and I felt like something was stolen, as stupid as that sounds. After that I felt like I might never plant anything around here again. Well as you can see I've gotten over it, somewhat. This year I am tagging the plants that I want to keep and trying to keep it clear of some of the low laying plants that can make an area look unkempt. This way my intention is clear. Also sad for them, the lawn care service company that was here last year is no longer in business. So I'm hoping I won't have any problems this year.

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The First Step

  
   The first step to becoming self-sufficient is not a garden, solar panels, or a big plot of land in the country.  It's becoming debt free.  Because if you carry debt you will never truly be free. My husband and I have made the commitment to ourselves and our family to stop the cycle of debt.  We stopped using any and all credit cards and are following Dave Ramsey's plan of the 7 baby steps.  We have finally gotten to a point where we are not pulling money out of savings every month to catch the money left after our month. Every week or two Erik and I sit down and go over what's come out and what will be coming out soon. With the help of a tax return we were able to fund our starter emergency fund and pay off 2 cards and put a big chunk on the next card we are currently working on. We also have 2 Sallie Mae loans that are on the list.
   This has really put things into perspective for me. Looking at our fiances makes us realize that our next move won't be to a couple of acres in the country. It will probably be a house more in the suburbs with a big yard. Somewhere where I can learn more about gardening and raising chickens. See, Dave Ramsey's plan doesn't just show you how to get out of debt it shows you how to become more patients and to work for what you want. I know that one day we will have the property in the country. It most likely won't be for years but we are still young. Maybe we'll even be able to pay for that perfect piece of property out right, the way it was meant to be.
   Since we have started we both have felt a great sense of peace and feel more in control of our money and our lives.

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My Garden

The "garden" is coming in nicely.  Here are some pics of the area and what I have growing.

This is all I have to really work with.  I have a small area under our deck that I planted some strawberries and rhubarb. However, it's being shaded by a tree so the strawberries never took off. The rhubarb will be good next year. 

Brandywine Tomatoes

I also have parsley, rosemary, cilantro (which has already bolted), basil, sage, mint, chive, lemon thyme, cherry tomatoes, and one lone cucumber plant which I'm not sure if it's going to produce (my mother-in-law said you need 2 or 3 cucumber plants for them to produce). I also planted some marigold's from seed and they are doing beautifully. 

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Joel Salatin Lecture

A couple of weeks ago I went to Joel Salatin's lecture.  My sister and I actually volunteered so we could get in for free. His lecture was awesome his first lecture was answering the question how can we feed the world and elitism. I video taped some of the lecture so you guys could have a taste. The second lecture was The Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer. Which he said he has a book coming out with the same name in September. (I'll try and get the other video up soon).

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FRESH the Movie

I'm so excited I'm going to see Joel Salatin lecture on Sunday. If you don't know Joel Salatin then you really should read more about him you can also watch YouTube videos on him. Here is a little Bio: Joel Salatin is an American farmer, lecturer, and author whose books include You Can Farm and Salad Bar Beef. Salatin raises livestock using holistic methods of animal husbandry, free of potentially harmful chemicals, on his Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia. Salatins 550-acre farm is featured prominently in Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivores Dilemma, and the documentary film, FRESH.  

Here is the trailer for the movie, check it out:

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