In Autumn of 2011 the new Growing Style App was introduced by my friends at Costa Farms.  I was fairly new to owning my own iphone and was extremely excited to have downloaded a new application that was easy to navigate and filled with loads of useful growing information.  Did I mention that this app was also FREE?!  What’s not to love about all that packed into one 5 second download?  This past week the new spring edition of Growing Style became available.   I hope you will click over to your App Store and search for “Growing Style” so you can be inspired this growing season from the amazing people at Costa Farms. You can also click over to www.growingstylemag.com for your free copy!

Colorful Images and Informative Articles at Your Finger Tips

Here’s what Costa Farms has to say about Growing Style Spring / Summer 2012

Why go digital?? Because the world is changing at a rapid rate and we wanted to go the extra mile to EDUCATE, CONNECT and ENHANCE the relationship between gardeners and those ‘plant curious’. Our editor, Karen Jimerson, has a deep, undying love for anything green and affinity for teaching others how to ‘do-it-yourself’, thus we feel GrowingStyle is the be-all, do-all App for iPhone, iPad and Android tablets.

About Growing Style Editor – Karen Weir-Jimerson

Karen Weir-Jimerson is a magazine writer and book author who has been gardening since she was 8 years old (when she planted mint and learned the lesson of invasive plants). Karen lives on three acres in rural Iowa where she and her husband raise perennials, annuals, containers, herbs, vegetables, and water gardens.

Karen is a writer, editor and Master Gardener. She is author of So Much Sky, essays about living and gardening in the country, as well as eight books about gardening, including Better Homes and Gardens Container Gardening Made Easy and Better Homes and Gardens Herb Gardening. Karen is also a columnist for Country Gardens magazine as well as a frequent contributor to gardening and lifestyle magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Midwest Living, Country Home, Family Circle, Nature’s Garden, Garden Ideas, Horticulture, Country Woman, Creative Home, and Country Almanac magazines. Visit Karens website at Author Site.

I’d love to hear from you … share with me what app’s you are using on your mobile devices that make it easy to stay in the garden!

Living in the North, South, East or West really doesn’t matter on most occasions while in cyberspace.  We all have surfing the web as our common interest and the ability to reach countless connections to interact with.  If you have caught on to how search engines work, you will   be able to discover networking groups of like minded users that  you can be inspired by.  This might be why I make it a habit to click on over to SashayMagazine.com

I would like to invite you to take a look at their publication coming out today, APRIL 4th,  not only because some of my photography and an article by me is featured in this printed issue but because the theme is Eco-friendly.    I’m so excited to be included in this publication that I’m going to giveaway a copy to a lucky COMMENT chosen from this blog post about the magazine!       All I ask is for you to please leave a comment about something you did today that is Eco-friendly.

Like most of you who are reading this blog entry written by me (a.k.a : Midwest garden girly) we have the privilege of being connected to the ‘garden world’ in more ways then we have hours in the day.  At our convenience  we find ourselves connected to social networking sites that allow us to stay up to date with the current news for the topics we really want to know more about.  For me this day in Autumn it is the latest cooking, gardening, photography, and Holiday trends.    Not only are we able to stay connected to our favorite magazine publications we are able to stay connected to the authors who are able to capture the topics by the flick of  the wrist.   Even with all this technology  at my fingertips I still find myself wondering ‘what to do’ with the heaping piles of my favorite magazine publications that keep rolling in via snail mail.

There is something about flipping through my favorite garden magazines in the dead of winter.  Stacks of my favorite magazines I just can’t part with are featured in the image above.

One of my favorite Authors recently asked on Facebook : “why do we need magazine subscriptions when  most of the publications are online?’ I don’t remember anyone on her friends list  replying with an ‘answer’ I didn’t already know but I had to add that if you subscribe to the publications like Better Homes & Garden and Southern Living they have extra notes at the bottom of some of their key articles that provide MORE on their websites.   It is kind of like being a part of a ‘special club’ when you subscribe to these publications.

Some of my favorite publications that I have been ‘hoarding’ for the past 10 years would include Midwest Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living,  and PC World.   I know…. weird seeing a PC tech magazine with the cozy reads.

This Sunday as I sort through the heaping pile of magazines that some how went from basket to coffee table to two additional piles on the floor next to my cozy reading chair in the master bedroom.  It is time to do some house cleaning before I can’t find a path to my wing backed chair.    I’ve decided to sort through and move all the Spring / Summer editions from the past year to the office storage.  That’s Right – I have a nice tote bin just waiting for those prize reads to be used as references in the years to come.

In my reading basket I have kept the Autumn and Winter reads from a few of my favorite publications.   One of my favorite articles from October 2009 in Midwest Living Magazine was titled ‘The Call of Fall” by Diana Dickinson.  The images are pleasing to the eye and show the end of the gardening season.  I guess what captivates me to this article is I can honestly say ‘I’m not done… this is only the beginning for the BGgarden’.  I love the vignettes  featured in this article and guess what?  You can read more about it at Midwest Living Fall Garden Color.

Next on the MUST keep list is an article by Jane Austin McKeon in Better Homes and Garden.  Pg. 132 shot of ‘scraps’ that were heading to the compost pile caught my eye.  LOVE THE COLOR featured in this photography by Marty Baldwin.  I wonder if Marty is any relation to one of my favorite authors Debra Lee Baldwin who wrote Succulents Container Gardening? This article not only features some fun photography it also touches base with a practice I’ve been doing for years – composting.    What I like about the article is it combines the Green world with some basic formulas to achieve ‘Black Gold’.   I feel like I’m leaking some top secret information when I share with you the little side note at the bottom of the article ‘ Go ONLINE FOR more information on composting at  ” BHG.com” .

And what would the Autumn and Winter months be like for me without Southern Living Magazine?  On those negative degree white out days I don’t know what I would do without a cozy copy of Southern Living Magazine featuring those year round green gardens.   Not to mention, the (excuse me if you will…. )  Bible of the Christmas Season : Southern Livings yearly Christmas with Southern Living! Christmas in my home would not be complete without a copy of this OxMoor Publication.  Believe me, I will share more about this book the closer we get to December 25.    In my pile to hoard you will find December 2006, October 2009 and the recent edition of the Southern Living Magazine.   I’m loving the article in the HOME Idea,Inspirations & Project section (page 54)  -  3 Ways to set a Pretty  Table.   That table setting by Elizabeth Demos of Savannah, Georgia is to die for!  I’m a big fan of using white dinnerware during the Holiday Season as well.  What better way to pretty up the table then to let the food provide the color.   Once again there is a side note : MORE Holiday Centerpiece Ideas / SouthernLiving.com/ Thanksgiving. I hope I won’t get in trouble for sharing those little side notes from the magazines with you.

Now that I’ve stored those treasures from the past in the office I can safely walk to my cozy reading chair and enjoy my picks for this Sunday in November.    I hope you will leave a comment to what you think about my Inspire – Magazine Review’.  Would you stop back to see what I’ve got open on my coffee table?  After all, isn’t that what blogging is all about?  I hope to hear from you!

The best part of the morning is waking up to the scent of fresh coffee brewing. I’ve been spoiled recently because my husband has taken over the brewing process most mornings. I think he just maybe having fun with the little bean grinder.

What are your favorites in the morning?

Today I snapped a photo of where I start my mornings on a sunny day. I always admired Paula Deen on the Food Network Channel when she would share a romantic morning meal on her Savannah Bedroom Deck with her adorable hubby Micheal. I was inspired to create a quiet sitting area off our bedroom deck once we moved to the country. On my small breakfast table out on the deck surrounded by garden there is no doubt you will find some type of container filled with blooms and a few of my favorite magazines. Wouldn’t you guess that Paula’s Cooking Magazine is one of my favorites in the image share above! I also have my cell phone close by just in case there is something I need to share with my peeps on Twitter.

My Favorite Magazine Picks this Summer Include

Southern Living * Cooking with Paula Deen * Better Homes and Garden * Midwest LIving

The Best part about magazines today are you can find all your favorites like the ones I listed above online!

Don’t forget the raspberry jam!

The berry season is upon us. I want to remind you all of how easy it is to make up your own berry jams. I like using products by Sure-Jell where you will find the directions in the box. If you are like me and short on time you may have to clean the berries and story them in the freezer until you have time to prepare them.

Rapberries and strawberries make up fabulous homemade jams.

If you enjoy easy recipes from the garden you will want to bookmark Garden to Kitchen™. I would love to hear suggestions from you as I change this site. We are adding more shares that will inspire you to get in the garden!