Archive for the ‘garden’ Category
Four new Rural Mysteries
The first four books in my new Rural Mystery Series are now available on Amazon and from bookstores in New Brunswick. Each of the books presents an adventure in a rural setting in the Maritime Provinces, and tells of a mystery to be solved.
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Each mystery features a cover showing one of my paintings and is illustrated by me with black and white drawings that contribute to the telling of story. The mysteries are novellas, each about 20,000 words in length, so they are quick reads with fast-paced stories.
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A Quick Look at Each of the Books:
Garden Paths: After her uncle’s death, Ella discovers her unknown birth mother, and a beautiful garden crafted by her long-dead mother and kept by her uncle in her honour. As she explores the garden and the community where her mother lived, she encounters her unknown relatives and lays claim to her heritage.
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The Road Leads: Chelsea, with a stretch of vacation available, convinces her next door neighbour to accompany her on a visit to each of visit five locations marked on a map found in the glove compartment of her vintage car. Together, they travel to the locations, by car, on foot and by all terrain vehicle, and discover the secret revealed by their discoveries.
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Under the Stars: Hazel, who considers a big field in her community the perfect place to wander or pursue her interest in viewing the stars, is upset when a group of squatters takes over ‘her’ field. Now she must find the person who owns the field and recover her former haven.
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The Trail Through the Pines: On the date of her move into her new house, Greta’s friend Stacy goes missing, leaving Stacy’s car parked at the base of the hill where Greta lives. The police organise a search, but Greta must try to find her friend in her own way and stumbles into the clutches of people who mean her harm.
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As with my Urban Mystery Series, I have linked my Rural Mysteries with my Meniscus Science Fiction Series. In each of the Rural Mysteries, the aliens of planet Meniscus abduct someone. Readers of the Meniscus Series can then discover the abductees in the pages of the thirteen books in that series. This explains the subtitle on every book: A Meniscus Peripheral.
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I hope you will enjoy the Rural Mysteries. You can find these books at Dog Eared Books in Oromocto, at the Write Cup in Saint John, and on-line at Page28 https://page28books.square.site/shop/new-brunswick-authors and Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/Garden-Paths-Alexandra-Tims/dp/1069375365
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All my best,
Alexandra (a.k.a. Jane)
Garden Paths
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One of the titles in my new Rural Mystery Series, ‘Garden Paths,’ focusses on a mysterious garden. The garden is on land left to a woman by a family she has never known. When she comes to Nova Scotia to claim the property, she finds the garden, and discovers the story of its creation.
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Synopsis:
When Ella Bartholomew’s uncle dies, she is shocked to hear she has not been remembered in his will, although he is the only family she has known. He has, however, provided for her in another way and Ella discovers that she is now the owner of an unfamiliar property in Nova Scotia. When she visits the mysterious property and the nearby community, she discovers a family and a history she never knew existed. On the property, she finds a beautiful garden and a statue of her unknown mother. Now she must discover the secrets of the garden and those of her mother, and win a battle with a vicious claimant to the property and the garden.
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I had fun writing this book because I was able to write about my own garden and the various plants I have grown. I also love making simple maps and I made a map to help describe the garden in the book (Ella’s mother called it her Million Acre Garden). In the garden is a maze, one of my favourite horticultural features. The Noel Shore area of Nova Scotia is also one of my favourite landscapes.
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The book will be available at the end of April, so watch for it at Dog Eared Books in Oromocto, on-line at Page28 (https://page28books.square.site/shop/new-brunswick-authors/IRBL3TCIF655VYUFJCU3F5DC?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc ), and at Amazon.
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Enjoy your spring reading!!!!!
All my best,
Alexandra Tims (a.k.a. Jane)
lily-of-the-valley
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lily-of-the-valley
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Convallaria majalis L.
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where they came from
I do not know, perhaps
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from my mother’s old home
in a shovel-full of lilac
a sheet of white writing paper
in a green box crammed with letters
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perhaps from my grandfather’s farm
tucked in beside the creeping Jenny
a green and white plate printed
with a saying about home
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perhaps from a seed in the gravel
spread on the paths or the road
a line of red pebbles
in a spill of quartz
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every summer the colony spreads
green flames lick at gravel
white bells, delicate perfume
scarlet berries
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a letter not written
a plate hung on the wall
a pathway leading home
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All my best!
Stay safe!
Jane
our little deck garden
This is our best year yet for our deck garden. We have two Vegtrugs (filled with climbing yellow wax beans and parsley) and two bag gardens (a bag of soil supported by a table and planted right into the bag)! The bag gardens contain cucumbers and zucchini. In addition I have a pot filled with all the basil I’ll ever need.
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my climbing yellow wax beans
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So far I have had two feeds of beans (so good), three cucumber sandwiches (beyond wonderful) and NO zucchini (although, to be fair, there are three zucchini growing towards optimum frying size). Zucchini hate me. I also have a daily handful of parsley and basil (eye-opening and prevents scurvy – in my head I am often on planet Meniscus where foraging is necessary)!
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my parsley garden … daily grazed!
my cucumbers … leaves are now huge!
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All my best.
Stay safe!
Eat parsley to prevent scurvy (a joke).
Jane
A place to be still
I love to be outside but my knees do not always cooperate. So, I make certain I have a place to sit on my walk-about. I love my concrete bench. I get a great view of the yard. In spring there are crocuses. At this time of year, a huge patch of sensitive fern. In fall there will be red maple leaves. But the bench is cold. Not a place to sit for long! Not a place to linger.
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A place to be still
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Cold concrete,
embedded, still,
where leaves
of purple crocus
press through turf,
sensitive fern
overtakes lawn,
autumn builds
layer on layer.
Cold concrete,
embedded, still.
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All my best,
Jane
herb growing in winter
For Christmas, my husband bought me an Aerogarden – a way to grow herbs and other plants hydroponically. My garden has been set up for 19 days and has five plant pods underway – two basil, one parsley, one mint and one thyme. The sixth pod is having some troubles but is now replanted with more basil. I will keep you up to date on my garden’s progress!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
a moment of beautiful – old-fashioned flowers
the space: the side of a cottage in the late summer sun
the beautiful: a riot of Golden Glow, leaning against the wall
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Last week, on a drive along the South Branch of the Oromocto River, I noticed the fall flowers have taken over from the summer species. The fields are filled with Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) and the ditches with Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea (L.) C.B. Clarke). In some of the yards were three flowers I think of as ‘old fashioned’ – French Marigolds (Tagetes patula L.), Hollyhock (Alcea spp.), and Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata (L.) var. Hortensia). I love the orange of the Marigolds, the papery pinks and purples of the Hollyhock, and how the Golden Glow leans!
These plants were my first introduction to the concepts of ‘annual’, ‘biennial’ and ‘perennial’. The French Marigold was an annual, and grew only for a single year. The Hollyhock was a biennial (although some are weak perennials), living a year without flowers and then blooming in the second year. The Golden Glow came up year after year without benefit of seeds or fuss, a perennial.
I remember helping my Mom collect seeds so she would always have the Hollyhocks and French Marigolds. If I close my eyes, I can see my hand holding the pointy black French Marigold seeds and the flat Hollyhock seeds with their furry edges.
When we first built our house, I was anxious to have these plants in my garden, but after blooming for a few years at the edge of the house, the Golden Glow died out, and I could never get Hollyhocks to flower. Both need lots of sun and we have only shade to offer. I often grow French Marigolds. I still have the seeds I collected from our first garden here, stuffed in an old metal seed box. I doubt they are still viable, but when I open the box, I see the seeds of the Marigolds that bloomed here 32 years ago!
The seeds I collected from our first garden of Marigolds in 1980… they are kept in an antique box marked ‘St. Albans England – Ryders Seed – D.P.’ Ryders was a seed company operated in England beginning in the 1890s. It sold seed in ‘penny packets’ to be affordable for everyone.
What are your favorite ‘old-fashioned’ flowers and do you see them much anymore?
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Pearly Everlasting
Anaphalis margaritacea L.
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Pearly Everlasting
sign of summer’s passing
yet – immortelle
picked by the road
by the armload
hung from rafters
children’s laughter
runs beneath
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downy leaf, wooly stem
white diadem
perfectly matched flowers
thatched in gold
dry and old
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Linnaeus named
for Marguarite
memory sweet
paper petals keep
pale perfume
summer grace
in a winter room
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Published as: ‘Pearly Everlasting’, The Antingonish Review 92, 1993
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
the growing part of ‘growing and gathering’
So far in my posts, I have talked mostly about harvesting wild edibles. I am starting to get a little produce from my garden, so I thought I’d do a post for the ‘growing’ side of ‘growing and gathering’.
I have only a small garden, laughable by many standards. We have too much shade and since I won’t allow the nearby trees to be cut, I must be content with spindly carrots, sorrowful pea vines and a plethora of slugs. However, I also have lots of perennials and a small herb garden, enough to keep us in regular small harvests of additions for our dinners.
On Monday, I decided to prepare my favourite lunch, couscous, with a gathering from my garden. I used:
~ a handful of black and red currants (just ripening this week!)
~ a sprig of thyme
~ a few leaves of oregano
~ a small spray of parsley
~ a handful of chives
~ one clove of garlic from the shadowy garden.
To this I added a small purple onion from the grocery store…
I chopped the onion and the herbs quite fine…
I sautéed everything in olive oil, very briefly (to keep it all crisp and keep the currents from going mushy)…
and added the mixture to my couscous, prepared with boiling water and a quarter teaspoon of powdered chicken bullion.
A delicious dinner, a little tart, but perfect for my taste buds!!!!
© Jane Tims 2012
