Hello everyone. It’s Carolyn today with an unusual post—it’s a novel about gardening and life set in Tucson in 1917 and 1918, the years of the European Great War. We call it World War I today. When American soldiers set off for France and Belgium, the army needed to send along food to feed them. The government urged citizens to cut down on consumption of beef, flour, and sugar and instead to eat more vegetables, ones they grew themselves in Victory Gardens. But many didn’t know how to do that in a desert where the growing season is upside down and rain is scarce.

Enter Ellie. Abandoned by her husband when he took off for war leaving her with a pile of debt, she struggled to support herself with a derelict hardware store that she reinvented as The Home and Garden Emporium.  Desperate to get women to buy her rakes and shovels for their Victory Gardens, she talked a quirky neighbor into giving gardening classes. While the men of the town hounded her for debt repayment and urged her to hire male help, her eclectic roster of women students and customers became a community. Later they organized their own cooking classes, sharing ideas for meatless meals, some using vegetables they grew.

Just as the war is winding down, the Spanish Flu arrives in Tucson as it has throughout the planet. Friends and customers were dying. The community needed to learn to protect itself and to grieve the losses.

There is a happily-ever-after second chance at love, but the hero doesn’t swoop into save Ellie. By the time that happens, she has already saved herself.