We're accepting early entries to our Holiday Writing Contest!
Click here to read the story and send us your entry!
We're accepting early entries to our Holiday Writing Contest!
Click here to read the story and send us your entry!
It’s fun! Upbeat! And different from any magazine you’ve ever seen! Welcome to Our Iowa, the magazine that celebrates all that’s great about living in Iowa.
October/November 2025
October/November 2025
The Vietnam War may have ended 50 years ago this year, but the comfort offered by Quilts of Valor continues.
We're featuring a farm in Black Hawk County where owners Teresa and Steve Hager value faith, country and heritage.
A dramatic-looking thunderstorm rolled across the countryside, rewarding this reader with a remarkable view.
The arrival of fall brings with it unmistakable scenes and scents from the Iowa countryside.
My name is Cristen, and I’m an Iowa farmer. In my family we raise corn, soybeans and pigs. I love cooking, writing and sharing contest winning recipes with people I know. Memories made in the kitchen are some of the most treasured memories I have. I am a mom of two—a daughter who loves pigs and sports, and a son who loves pigs, tractors and…tractors. He gets that nowhere strange as I, too, love big tractors.
Steve is a self-taught weather observer and student of weather folklore from Lowden. His observations come from his decades-long hobby of keeping meteorological logs and studying old weather records and almanacs. He teaches readers about weather trends, planet movements and what the forecast means for our crops!
Mary writes our Amish Diary, cataloguing a week in her life for each issue. You won’t see her picture, because Amish adults don’t wish to have close-up photos taken of themselves, but what you will get is a peek inside the daily life of our Amish neighbors. Mary, along with her husband and children, raise dairy goats and have a flock of 2,000 laying hens.
Sharon Lesan from Ankeny is not only our October/November featured cook--she also topped our Iowa State Fair Church Cookbook Favorites recipe contest this summer! Her recipe, simply called Strawberry Dessert and found in her mother's copy of the Up in the Ayr Family Favorites cookbook, was the judges' favorite in our "Strawberry Showdown".
My name is Cristen, and I’m an Iowa farmer. In my family we raise corn, soybeans and pigs. I love cooking, writing and sharing contest winning recipes with people I know. Memories made in the kitchen are some of the most treasured memories I have. I am a mom of two—a daughter who loves pigs and sports, and a son who loves pigs, tractors and…tractors. He gets that nowhere strange as I, too, love big tractors.
Steve is a self-taught weather observer and student of weather folklore from Lowden. His observations come from his decades-long hobby of keeping meteorological logs and studying old weather records and almanacs. He teaches readers about weather trends, planet movements and what the forecast means for our crops!
Mary writes our Amish Diary, cataloguing a week in her life for each issue. You won’t see her picture, because Amish adults don’t wish to have close-up photos taken of themselves, but what you will get is a peek inside the daily life of our Amish neighbors. Mary, along with her husband and children, raise dairy goats and have a flock of 2,000 laying hens.
Sharon Lesan from Ankeny is not only our October/November featured cook--she also topped our Iowa State Fair Church Cookbook Favorites recipe contest this summer! Her recipe, simply called Strawberry Dessert and found in her mother's copy of the Up in the Ayr Family Favorites cookbook, was the judges' favorite in our "Strawberry Showdown".
