Featuring practical articles full of easy-to-apply information, Lives and Landscapes is the magazine of Montana State University Extension. Stories will cover subjects such as improving nutrition, growing lawns and gardens, being good stewards of land, both small and large acreages, improving knowledge of family financial tools and more. Lives and Landscapes helps newcomers and longtime Montanans to live well and be stewards of treasured resources while enjoying the last best place.

MSU Extension publishes Lives and Landscapes three times annually and is pleased to offer these free digital versions in HTML. The magazine is also available in print and in PDF format. 

 

Current Issue: Winter 2025

Winter 2025 Issue
Building Blocks of a Local Food System
Featured Montanan: Avice Hoff
4-H Youth: Ready to Lead
How to Speak to Aging Parents about Transitions in Later Life
Cancer Screening: Something You can Control
Ask Steward: The Scene of the Accident
Managing Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle through Fall and Winter
Bees and Bare Ground
Indoor Seed Starting Basics
Houseplant Winter Critters
Master Gardener Spotlight: Hort Report

Black Angus cattle are herded together and covered with a thick layer of snow, one cattle looks directly at the camera with its ears facing forward. The words at the top read: Lives and Landscapes Winter 2025, The Magazine of Montana State University Extension.

 

To order the print version or download the PDF, visit the Winter 2025 issue in our online store.

 

Fall 2024

Fall 2024 Issue
Autumn's Harvest: A Season for Gathering Crops and Information
Ask Steward: Sharing the Road with Snowplows
SB199: Montana's Local Food Choice Act
Featured Montanans: Blackfeet ECO Knowledge
Supporting Montana's Youth through 4-H and STEM
Suicide Prevention in Teens: Stigma No More
Fueling Young Athletes: Practical Tips for Caregivers
Resources for Learning to Knit and Crochet
Heat Pumps and Mini-Splits: New Options for Home Heating and Cooling
Landscaping to Reduce Water Use: Approaches and Benefits with Turf Reduction
Master Gardener Spotlight - CSI: Clever Squirrel Investigation

A green combine unloading grain into a silver semi in a dry field. The words at the top read: Lives and Landscapes Fall 2024, The Magazine of Montana State University Extension.

 

To order the print version or download the PDF, visit the Fall 2024 issue in our online store.

 

Spring/Summer 2024

Spring/Summer 2024 Issue
Outdoor Food Safety
How to Choose Beef
Montana’s Voter Review Process
Montana Property Taxes: Does my land qualify as agricultural land?
How Dry is It? Measuring drought in Montana
Invasive Ornamental: Baby’s Breath
Ask Steward: From sheep to sweater
Supporting Youth during Parental Separation or Divorce
Healing Young Minds and Bodies through Outdoor Adventures
Featured Montanan: Sarah Calhoun
Home Garden Soil Testing and Fertilizer Guidelines
Master Gardener Spotlight: The journey of Missoula’s Rocky Mountain Gardens

Woman cutting wood with a circular carpentry saw in a field of dead grass. Text at the top reads: Spring/Summer 2024 Lives & Landscapes the magazine of Montana State University Extension

 

To order the print version or download the PDF, visit the Spring/Summer 2024 issue in our online store.

 

Winter 2024 Issue

Winter 2024 Issue
Avalanche Safety: What to know before you go
Embracing an Active Lifestyle to Improve Sedentary Habits
Winter Care of Horses
Working Wild University Podcast
The Basics of Pruning Trees and Shrubs
Do’s and Don’ts of Dormant Oils
School Counselors: What is their role and how to access them
Winter in the Kitchen with Kids
Featured Montanan: Matt Pierson and The Producer Partnership
Working Well Together: Understanding yourself and others
Ask Steward: How do I repot a houseplant?
Master Gardener Spotlight: The need for seed

Two horses stand in a snowy corral. Text at the top reads: Winter 2024 Lives & Landscapes the magazine of Montana State University Extension

 

To order the print version or download the PDF, visit the Winter 2024 issue in our online store. 

 

Fall 2023 Issue

Fall 2023 Issue
Proactive Strategies for Teaching Discipline
4-H & Agriculture at School: a Chick-tastic Opprotunity
Opioid Misuse, Counterfeit Pills and Naloxone: What to Know
How a Dynamic Hay Market Affects Livestock Hay Prices
Reasons Not to Feed Deer
Ask Steward: How can I Control Mice in my Home?
Build a Unique Reading List
Selecting and Growing Cold-hardy Vegetables in Montana
Featured Montanan: Megan Torgerson Rural Storyteller
Welcoming Newcomers to Montana
Fall Home Invaders
Master Gardener Spotlight: Watering Evergreens for Winter

Cover image of Lives and Landscapes Fall 2023 features a striking photo of a rainbow coming out of a dark, stormy sky. and appearing to touch down in the middle of a green hay field dotted with golden hay bales. A brown barn sits off to one side. Barn and fields are lit up by the sun, while jagged peaks with bits of snow sit in shadow beneath the dark clouds in the background.

 

To order the print version or download the PDF, visit the Fall 2023 issue in our online store. 

 

Spring/Summer 2023 Issue

Spring/Summer 2023 Issue Articles
Boating Safely in Montana
Outfitting a First Aid Kit for the Trail or a Vehicle and What to Consider
Understanding Alzheimer’s Through Storybooks
Ask Steward: How can Kinship Caregivers get Support in Montana?

Why 4-H?
Windbreaks and Shelterbelts: Are they really worth it?
Fly Control Management for Livestock
Managing Risks on the Range
Featured Montanan: Little Creek Lamb & Beef
A Grandmother’s Wisdom
Master Gardener Spotlight: Oh, DEER, They’re in the Garden Again
Volunteering with MSU Extension
Summer 2023 4-H Fair Dates

LILA Spring/Summer 2023 Cover

 

 

To order the print version or download a PDF, visit the Spring/Summer 2023 issue in our online store.