Ma's Garden

Ethel ‘Ma’ Johnstone planted her garden on a barren block of land carved out of the Australian bush. She embarked on the project with little knowledge but with much hope and optimism for the future in her heart. Fifty years later, the seeds and plants had grown and matured and her garden had morphed into a beautiful haven.
At the same time, her husband Christopher put his trust in his skills and in the future, embarking on a new business that would reward him by providing for his family for nearly six decades.
In the year 1902, and Christopher and Ethel Johnstone left the city with their young family to open a country newspaper and printing office.
“Ma’s Garden” is a gentle tale about the first year of their new life, the people they meet, their tribulations and celebrations. This is the story of the essence of a small town, not so different then as it is today.
“Ma’s Garden” tells the story of the family who owns and runs the ‘Trafalgar Times’ newspaper in 1902, the first year of the new business and of the people a small country town. Christopher is a journalist who leaves the city to take a punt on opening a brand new local newspaper in an Australian country town. After an initial period setting things in place, building a home and business premise, he sends for wife Ethel and their three young boys to join him.
Our tale begins on the day that the family travels to their new home. Aboard the train that day are other characters making the journey for various reasons and whose stories are woven into the fabric of the tale. They include:
•Ethel Johnstone and her boys, Aubrey (10), Mervyn (8) and Vernon (4).
•Hannah Maria Donovan, mother of four children and a farmer’s wife who lives on the Moe Swamp and who is returning home from a visit to her family in Brunswick. She has endured much tribulation because of the state of the land, which is not properly drained and floods continually.
•Mavis Stewart, a young matron who will take on the onerous task of converting the run down Commercial Hotel into a viable business where townsfolk will be able to enjoy good food in salubrious surroundings. The town may not take kindly to a female licensee.
•Jock Robinson, a miner who is about to try his luck searching for gold in the hills at Tanjil, near Trafalgar.
•The South Gippsland Cricket Team, who have been in Melbourne playing cricket during Country Week. One of them, Billy Johnstone, has been asked to train with the Australian team, but his parents are reluctant to release him from farm duties as they rely upon him.
•Mr Catani and the men from the Government who hope to solve the problem of the continual flooding of the Moe Swamp, which is causing great distress.
•A group of soldiers who are returning from the Boer War, amongst whom is Claude Lawrence, an amputee. His wife and family are unaware of the extent his war injuries and he faces many challenges in his endeavour to take up his old life where he left it.
All these people will mix and mingle with the other townsfolk of Trafalgar and this novel is a gentle tale of their lives and loves, their disappointments and their triumphs.
This novel is based on fact, but in the telling, has strayed far from the truth.