My Kitchen Garden & 5 Book Recs

... and a giveaway!

When I was a child, my grandpa’s nickname for me was “farmer”.

Even though I grew up in the suburbs about 20 minutes south of Detroit, my parents always grew vegetables in our yard. I remember one summer we had squash and zucchini plants growing along the front of our house… where most people had shrubs.

One day someone was out walking and ask my mom where she got such magnificent bushes for the front landscaping. She laughed and told them it was just veggies growing. (If you’ve even seen a hardy yellow squash plant growing, you know how big they can get.)

Spring weekends were spend going to our friends farm to collect manure… it was good for the soil. Mornings were spent watering, and evenings were spent weeding. It was just a part of our day-today life.

I think my love of plants was heavily influenced by our visits to The Henry Ford Museum (it’s a must-visit if you love history). We lived close and would visit at least a few times a month for most of my childhood.

The farmhouse was always one of my favorite places to visit. The kitchen garden felt like a labyrinth of excitement. Especially when it was in peek garden season. The ladies who ran the house would explain in their presentation that when the farm was first running in Connecticut in the 1760s, the canning process as we know it had not been invented. The would dry herbs and use whatever means of preserving they had at the time.

Even though my days of having a large backyard are gone (for now), I’ve been working on my own little kitchen garden for my back patio.

This past weekend, my son and I planted some seeds we have. (Update! We have sprouts. I will share photos soon.)

We planted a few varieties of lettuce, cilantro, and basil. Fingers crossed are seedlings feel hardy this year.

I’ll be purchasing spearmint, dill, thyme, and rosemary a little later in the season from the garden center to plant as well.

One thing that has really helped with my herb garden is creating a cozy space for them to grow. I’m a big fan of a cedar raised bed. We had had ours for a few years and have (for the most part) avoided being visited by the little furry friends out back.

I tried to find my exact raised bed, but these are cheaper and look to be identical. if you are considering starting your own little patio kitchen garden.

Now on to the book recommendations!

I’ve curated a list of a few fiction and nonfiction books that just feel like the perfect pairing of flowers and gardening. And, you know I have to leave you with a few tea suggestions as well. ☕✨📖 Make sure you read to the end if you would like a chance to enter the book giveaway for this post.

(I had plans to take a photo of my copy next to my lilac bushes, but it has been raining for two days straight. 🌧️)

An elegantly illustrated celebration of Jane Austen’s life and literature as told through the flowers, plants, and landscapes that inspired her.

Through explorations of the botanical inspirations and symbolism in Austen’s work and personal life, as well as historical information about the gardens and landscapes of the Regency Era, Jane Austen’s Garden will transport readers back in time to the lush English landscape of the early 1800s. Woven throughout are DIY projects to help you create a home garden worthy of a surprise visit from Lady Catherine de Bourgh or maybe just give your dining table a bit of historical flair. Accessible, entertaining, and enhanced by the enchanted illustrations of celebrated artist Jessica Roux, Jane Austen’s Garden is a fun twist on a familiar subject that will delight plant lovers and Janeites alike.

This book is a must-have for Jane Austen fans who are looking for something a bit Jane to add to their collection. It’s so unique from all the other Austen nonfiction books I have.

Check it out HERE.

Jane Austen loved a garden. She took a keen interest in flower gardening and kitchen gardening alike. This book strolls through the sorts of gardens that Jane Austen would have known and visited: the gardens of the great estates, cottage gardens, gardens in town, and public gardens and parks.

Some of the gardens she owned or knew exist still in some form today; among the gardens highlighted is the restored garden at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, England, complete with a sample planting plan of the flowers grown there now.

The book also includes touring information for gardens featured in film adaptations of the novels. With lush photos, social history, excerpts from the novels, information on her life, and period drawings, this book brings Georgian and Regency gardens and Jane Austen’s world to life. In the Garden with Jane Austen captures the essence and beauty of the traditional English garden.

As the heroine of Mansfield Park Fanny Price observes, “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.”

I adore anything that Kim Wilson writes. She meticulously researches every topic she writes about. And, the photos she took for this book are stunning.

It’s not in print anymore, but you can check out a used copy HERE.

Even though it’s not named for Jane Austen, you MUST pair these with Jane’s Garden tea from Harney & Sons.

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten

Check it out HERE.

We had two membership upgrades this week! Yay! That means I’ll be donating two books to a local women’s shelter. Lilac Girls is going to be one of the books donated. Thank you so much for your support!

A heart-warming feel-good novel full of friendship, family and romance...

Beth Fraser has spent the last few years growing her business from scratch. She's turned the walled garden at Applemore House from an overgrown jungle into a beautiful and productive flower farm. A sudden change of circumstances means she has to find a way to make it pay more - and fast.

Jack McDonald arrives in Applemore determined to make his outdoor activity centre a success - working with troubled teenagers is something that means a lot to him. He gets off on the wrong foot with Beth, and life in the little village of Applemore is proving far from idyllic. Can he prove that what he's doing is worthwhile, or will the villagers continue to hold him in suspicion?

Check it out HERE.

Pairs well with the Harney & Sons Hibiscus tea.

Annie Walker is on a quest to find her perfect match—someone who complements her happy, quiet life running the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky. But finding her dream man may be harder than Annie imagined. Everyone knows everyone in her hometown, and the dating prospects are getting fewer by the day. After she overhears her latest date say she is “so unbelievably boring,” Annie starts to think the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favorite romance movies? Maybe she only needs a little practice . . . and Annie has the perfect person in mind to be her tutor: Will Griffin.

Will—the sexy , tattooed, and absolutely gorgeous bodyguard—is temporarily back in Rome, providing security for Amelia Rose as excitement builds for her upcoming marriage to Noah Walker, Annie’s brother. He has one personal objective while on the job: stay away from Annie Walker and any other possible attachments to this sleepy town. But no sooner than he gets settled, Will finds himself tasked with helping Annie find the love of her life by becoming the next leading lady of Rome, Kentucky. Will wants no part in changing the sweet and lovely Annie. He knows for a fact that some stuffy, straitlaced guy won’t make her happy, but he doesn’t have the heart to say no.

Amid steamy practice dates and strictly “educational” tutoring lessons, Annie discovers there are more layers to Will’s usual stoic attitude. As the lines of their friendship become dangerously blurred, Annie reconsiders her dream guy. Maybe her love life doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be real.

Check it out HERE.

This book has one of those covers that would make you run over and grab it off a bookstore shelf. 😍

Sometimes the real folly is falling in love.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is prepared for the usual argument when he arrives at his aunt's estate in Kent—the one about Lady Catherine’s poorly built, badly situated folly. What he is not prepared for is to learn that Miss Elizabeth Bennet is currently residing at the parsonage across the lane.

The woman he fled Hertfordshire to forget is still pretty, witty, and poor, not at all the sort of woman his family would approve of as his wife. But when Darcy's warnings prove his foresight in a dramatic fashion, neither will leave Kent entirely unscathed.

Elizabeth Bennet has not forgotten the man whose cold judgment once stung her pride and destroyed her sister’s hopes. In Kent, Mr. Darcy is still exasperating, but he is also unexpectedly kind. As circumstance forces them into an uneasy proximity, Elizabeth begins to wonder whether her feelings are truly as unyielding as she believed.

Once the dust settles, can they turn disaster into a chance at romance? Or will the real ruin be the walls they've built around their hearts?

Check it out HERE.

I am lucky enough to work with Melanie. Although I love all of her books, I’ve been having so much fun creating content around this cover! If you enjoy reading Jane Austen Fan Fiction, give Melanie a follow here on Substack.

Now for the exciting news! All you need to do is leave a comment of which book from the ones featured today you would choose to add to your TBR, and you will be entered to win an e-book copy of Mr. Darcy’s Folly.

Good luck!

Your support means the world to me! For every membership upgraded to $5, I donate a historical fiction or romance book to a local women’s shelter.

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