Looking Back at 2011, and Forward to 2012 at Simple Organic

We had such a great year here at Simple Organic. Before we propel ourselves into the new year, I wanted to take a minute to look back at the best of 2011.

In addition to our great individual posts, we did a really informative series called Compost Q & A that you might want to revisit as you plan your next garden. And we also started a new monthly feature, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite posts each month, From Pinterest to Real Life.

Pinterest has become a great source of traffic for SO and is the perfect place to save articles that you find helpful here at Simple Organic. Many of our articles have already been pinned and repinned.

Here are the most popular posts from each month last year.

• January: Organic or Not, That is the Question
• February: 15 Things I Just Don’t Clean
• March: 10 Childbirth Norms Parents Can Refuse
• April: Identifying and Avoiding Toxins in Beauty and Personal Care Products
• May: How a Simple Diet Change Cured Infant Eczema
• June: How to “Go Green” When Going Out
• July: 13 Ways to Get Kids to Eat Their Vegetables
• August: Because Sometimes I Get Tired of Healthy, Natural Living
• September: Your Guide to a More Natural “Time of the Month”
• October: Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu Symptoms
• November: Why I Drink Raw Milk
• December: Too Many Holiday Treats? Give Yourself a Sugar Break

2012 Simple Organic Writers

And now I wanted give you a look at our awesome team of writers for the next year. While we did say good-bye to a couple, as Megan Tietz and NJ Renie are moving on this year (we’ll miss you both!), we did add a few new voices to our team in the last few months.

Read on to see what our writers are up to in 2012, and for full bios, head over to our Contributors page.

Katie Kimball is committed to being a good steward of all God’s gifts, and taking care of the earth is part of daily life as an at-home mom of two young children in Michigan. A former teacher, she feels blessed to blog at Kitchen Stewardship, where she shares baby steps to balancing your health, earth, time and money through the eyes of faith.Katie’s latest eBook is Smart Sweets and her next book, Better than a Box, will be a tutorial to help people take their old favorite processed foods recipes and remake them for real food cooking.

Stephanie Langford is a passionate homeschooler, organic gardener and amateur nutritionist. She’s also the wife of an entrepreneur and a mama to three little ones. Taking a practical approach, she writes articles on inspired natural living for homemakers at her blog, Keeper of the Home.In early January, Stephanie will have a menu planning ebook coming out, called Plan It- Don’t Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan.  She’s also due with her 4th baby in early February, so lots of exciting stuff happening this year for her!

Tiffany Larson is passionate about passing on her love for the outdoors and a healthy lifestyle to her two young children and her family spends their free time on the snow, water, dirt or road! Tiffany can be found on Facebook at Mommy Goes Green and as a contributor at The Creative Mama.

Emily McClements, like many moms, began her journey toward natural living when she found out she was pregnant with her first child. She is now the proud mama of two little ones. She chronicles her journey toward living “frugally green” at Live Renewed and is passionate about helping her family live differently and responsibly as they strive to be a good steward of all of the resources God has provided them with.Emily is also a regular writer for Babble’s Toddler Times blog, and she’s expecting baby #3 in June of 2012.

Krissa Jeldy has been with SO since the fall of 2011 and is a busy mom of two who, since starting a family, has become passionate about learning all she can about living a simpler, more natural lifestyle. She juggles her time between her job as an educational specialist, homeschooling her kindergartener, and chasing after her toddler, and blogs at More Than Mundane.

Stacy Karen joined our team in the fall of 2011 and is a homeschooling mom of three and minister’s wife. Stacy is mildly obsessed with making anything and everything from scratch and shares many how-tos on her blog A Delightful Home(as well as encouragement for mamas striving to create happy homes for their families).She and her sister are working on re-launching their website, Real Fit Moms, where they will encourage moms to find true fitness and go beyond “striving for skinny” to find real health. Stacy also just released her first ebook; Simple Scrubs to Make and Give, which I’ll be reviewing on SO this winter.

Donielle Baker is or newest contributor, joining us for 2012. We are very happy to have her on board as she is an amateur herbalist and natural momma to two littles, with another babe in heaven, after struggling with infertility.  You can also read all about her and her Fertility Story over at her blog, Naturally Knocked Up.Her natural fertility book, Naturally Knocked Up, comes out in 2012.

And that just leaves, me, your fearless editor! I’m thankful to be here guiding along this fantastic group of writers and interacting with you all on Twitter and Facebook. This past year was an exciting one with my family as we welcomed baby Hallee to our family, and I’m looking forward to all 2012 brings here on the blog and in my family.

Thank you for being a part of our community of readers here at Simple Organic. I’m looking forward with great anticipation to the new year we have ahead of us! What was your favorite Simple Organic post last year?