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Reading Room:  Other "down to earth" magazine recommendations??  |
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frugal234
Farmgirl at Heart
2 Posts
2 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 16 2009 : 11:04:01 AM
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Hi,
I'm new here and wanted to inquire about magazines that are down to earth, i.e. not "upscale," that anyone knows about. I know MJF has a good magazine and I used to subscribe to County Woman but am unsure if it's still going to be as good now that it has been purchased by Reader's Digest.
I would like to find other magazines that are for the "non-upscale" folks, ya know what I mean? I have little interest in any ladies magazines these days that are mainstream........ LHJ, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Southern Living, BH&G, etc. I've gotten Southern Lady and Victoria, but even these are a bit too slick for what I'm looking for.
Hope to read some good recommendations!
~Robin in Alabama |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2009 : 11:28:50 AM
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I Love Countryside Magazine. I subscribe to quite a few but they are also getting to "upscale" for me.
Lillian |
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homemom
True Blue Farmgirl
1593 Posts
Ruth
Warwick
RI
USA
1593 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2009 : 11:31:59 AM
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I love Country Woman. I have't subscribed in a couple of years because money was tight. I get them from my mom sometimes. I didn't know that they were purchased by Reader's Digest.
I like Victoria very much. It's one of my favorites. Another of my favorites is Country Living. Also Hobby Farms has a new magazine Hobby Farms Home that is supposed to be great. I haven't seen it yet but am looking for it.
Hope this helps.
Ruth
Living the farm life in my heart.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Ruth
http://farmgirlinmyheart.blogspot.com/ |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
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sweetproserpina
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
meg
Vinemount
Ontario
Canada
535 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2009 : 4:35:04 PM
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There's a great country living magazine in Canada called Harrowsmith.
Really good, fun magazine, read by country and city folks alike. No decorating features, frilly ads etc. just neat articles (gardening/cooking/animals/environment, etc.), tips, recipes and some country humor thrown in.
Not sure if you can buy it in stores in the US, but you can definitely subscribe from there :)
"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world."
http://quaintandkeepinghouse.blogspot.com New Homekeeping Blog!
http://theprimroseway.blogspot.com/ |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2009 : 5:57:05 PM
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| I like Hobby Farms Home and Grit. Those are the two I consistently buy. I used to read Backwoods Home quite a bit. Oh, and Mother Earth News but it got kinda "glossy". This month's issue of HFH has a great article @ baking bread and making butter. I haven't tried the bread yet but I did make the butter. Surprisingly simple. There is also an article about knitting a sweater (and breaking free of patterns) and starting your own book club. Oh and a couple really nice gardening articles that have piqued my interest too. |
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miraclewelsh
True Blue Farmgirl
138 Posts
Samantha
Northern
Wisconsin
USA
138 Posts |
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frugal234
Farmgirl at Heart
2 Posts
2 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2009 : 06:58:28 AM
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Wow, thank you all so much for these recommendations! I'm checking out their websites now and hoping to find an introductory offer.
~Robin |
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Contrary Wife
True Blue Farmgirl
2164 Posts
Teresa Sue
Tekoa
WA
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2009 : 07:01:19 AM
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I agree that COUNTRYSIDE & BACKWOODS HOME (not to be confused with BACKWOODS) are good choices if you want down to earth magazines.
Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
MJ's Heirloom Mavens Badgebadger
MJ's Heirloom Mavens Bookclub Coordinator
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2009 : 07:13:31 AM
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We get Backwoods Home too and I agree- down to earth.
Lillian |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
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Old Spirit
True Blue Farmgirl
1498 Posts
Rae
MN
1498 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2009 : 07:06:13 AM
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Robin
I really like Country Woman because of it being a little bit of everything. I also like Backwoods Home a lot. Some articles aren't quite for me but they overall have a lot of great information.
Progressive Farmer is a bit more in depth on somethings but yet I have found some good information for us.
Good luck.
Rae
I love living in the country!! |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2009 : 11:01:27 AM
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Looking for back issues of HOBBY FARM HOME. Are their any out there?
Nancy Jo
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
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Woodswoman
True Blue Farmgirl
512 Posts
Jennifer
Altamont
NY
USA
512 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2009 : 2:44:37 PM
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One of my favorites is Mother Earth News. I love seeing the other ideas-I'm going to check them out as well!
Jennifer
Farmgirl Sister #104
"Nature brings to every time and season some beauties of its own".
-Charles Dickens |
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lacisne88
True Blue Farmgirl
1181 Posts
Chelsey
Lake Stevens
Washington
USA
1181 Posts |
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Especially For You
True Blue Farmgirl
541 Posts
Tina
Watkinsville
GA
541 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2009 : 07:09:27 AM
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Robin,
I subscribe to a magazine on line called New Harvest Homestead. I came upon it by chance. Just got the new one downloaded today. I love that it is on the computer i can put it in a file, or print it off if I want to. Just Email her and she will send you a free one to see if you like it.
Tina
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4forMe
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
Dawn
Easton
MD
166 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2009 : 12:30:58 PM
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Another vote for Hobby Farms Home. It is my current favorite. I used to get Country Woman, but I couldn't stand the publisher. It used to come in a plastic wrap with a mini catalog and flyers and the like, I couldn't stand all the trash that came with it AND they were constantly sending me statements to renew right after I subscibed. I still get "Birds and Blooms" which I think is the same publisher because it has the exact same problems. My sweet husband reordered it for me when the subsciption expired and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wanted that one to go away.
Sewing, knitting, gardening mom of 4. |
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Buffalomary
True Blue Farmgirl
199 Posts
Mary
Caldwell
ID
USA
199 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2009 : 8:43:59 PM
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For me it would be Backwoods Home, Countryside, Back Home, and the original Mother Earth news. Somewhere in the 90s (don't remember exactly at the moment) MEN was sold to some guy in England, who fired the old staff and changed the format. That was about when I stopped getting it. It became too yippie for me. I now just pick up a MEN if there is a specific article I want. The old MEN staff started the Back Home mag which had feel of the old MEN.
Buffalomary
Farmgirl Sister #293
You can take the farmer's daughter off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the farmer's daughter!!
Please visit me at my blog: http://buffalomaryscorner.blogspot.com |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jan 21 2009 : 06:26:26 AM
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Dawn - totally agree about the extra stuff and the subscription renewal issues. Very annoying. I used to get Country Living but realized that it was basically just pictures anymore so I decided not to renew - I got so many letters from them saying I owed them money even though the last issue I received was the last issue I had paid for
Anyhow - I like Countryside, Hobby Farms Home, Mother Earth News, MJF (of course:))
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" |
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Old Spirit
True Blue Farmgirl
1498 Posts
Rae
MN
1498 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2009 : 05:19:20 AM
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Thanks for info on Mother Earth News, I used to get it many years ago. Didn't realize someone bought them out but makes sense in the difference when I have picked up one once in a while. Will have to check out the Hobby Farms Home.
Rae
I love living in the country!! |
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shepherdgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1008 Posts
Tracy
California
USA
1008 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2009 : 09:08:05 AM
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For those of you ladies who want to read the magazines but not purchase them, you might try looking in your local library. Ours carries several of the ones mentioned here-- "Mother Earth News," "Backwoods," "Country Woman," and a few others-- no MJF though.. guess I will have to mention it to them.... (LOL!)
I used to have a subscription to "Martha Stewart Living" but I didn't want to have to "store" the magazines so I bought a 3yr subscription and "Donated" it to the little library just down the road from me. (we live near TWO libraries!) The Librarian says it's the most "Checked out" magazine she has! (the Menonite ladies sure appreciate it!) After awhile those magazines start to pile up at the library too, and often a person can pick up an older copy for as little as 25 cents!
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~~ George Carlin |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
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MotherLodeBeth
True Blue Farmgirl
110 Posts
Beth
Calaveras County
California
USA
110 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2009 : 10:23:09 PM
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Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Backwoods Home, Back Home and even Mary Englebriets Home Companion are the ones I sub to. I miss the old Victorian magazine. The there is the goat and chicken magazines.
~MotherLodebeth- I was born in the wrong era~ |
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ChicChick
True Blue Farmgirl
64 Posts
Joy
64 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2009 : 3:10:54 PM
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I think Mother Earth News is great! I've read various "Letters to the Editor" about people hating the new format but I really like the articles, especially the ones which are stories of people who've gone "back to the land". I believe it's part of the Ogen Publication group out of Kansas, but am not positive. I like Grit, Countryside, MJF, Hobby Farms and others as well. I wish there were even more of these types of magazines and less of the ones which show impractical houses, clothes and livestyles which make women feel bad. In fact, I've pretty much stopped reading all my old favorites because of the way I felt after reading them. Better to read this type of "do it yourself" magazines, which support independence and frugality.
Visit me online! www.achickwithaconscience.blogspot.com |
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Reading Room: Other "down to earth" magazine recommendations?? |
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Other "down to earth" magazine recommendations??
