Taking a turn about the garden: Blooming into Spring with Jane Austen

Going analogue

I have just entered the final week of my Lenten commitment to abstain from social media sites and apps -- and I don't know if I'm going back. It has been surprisingly easy to give up scrolling for hours out of the day, even if, from time to time, I find myself using my newfound freedom to stare off into space. As part of this commitment to getting off my phone and into the world, I've started walking to work without my headphones in, something I don't think I've done since I was a child unless under duress. Of course, Jane Austen wouldn't have had any such distractions on her walks, so she would have had to content herself with the sights and sounds of the English countryside for much of her life, especially living at Chawton. 

To occupy my mind during these walks, I've been trying to take more notice of the changing seasons, the birds and the flowers as the world awakens once again. Channelling Austen, I've tried to tune into the world around me, taking special care to observe my environment. Something I've found interesting about this is how much of a sense of place this has given me. Living in London, you very rarely get the sense that you are in England unless you've got a view of Parliament or the London Eye, at least not from a landscape and nature point of view. Going on these walks has attuned me to the sounds of nature, which persist even in the concrete jungle; blue tits, robins, and even a European jay with a stylish blue stripe on its wing have featured in these early-morning walks. Of course, squawks of London's startlingly green feral parakeets would not be familiar to Jane Austen. I wonder if she would have liked them or found their throaty peeping abrasive. 

I've even found myself admiring the gardens of the houses I pass by every day, almost feeling compelled to put a note through the door of one house with particularly delightful tulips (alas, I'm too shy!). Appreciating even the daffodils and tulips planted alongside the road by the council gives me a little bit of hope about the world -- we haven't yet lost all of our house-pride. 

Proper relaxation

 Delaford is a nice place, I can tell you; exactly what I call a nice old fashioned place, full of comforts and conveniences; quite shut in with great garden walls that are covered with the best fruit-trees in the country; and such a mulberry tree in one corner! Lord! how Charlotte and I did stuff the only time we were there! Then, there is a dove-cote, some delightful stew-ponds, and a very pretty canal; and every thing, in short, that one could wish for; and, moreover, it is close to the church, and only a quarter of a mile from the turnpike-road, so ’tis never dull, for if you only go and sit up in an old yew arbour behind the house, you may see all the carriages that pass along. Oh! ’tis a nice place!  

I have a highly stimulating day job, constantly responding to demands on my attention, mostly from children who need my help selecting books or working the printer. This means that I often leave work feeling frazzled and overstimulated, like I've been put in a big snowglobe and shaken up. It's led me to prioritise weekend activities that aren't too noisy and chaotic, making time to spend in nature. Now, if you live in a bustling metropolis like London, you probably don't have the sprawling gardens of a Regency stately home on your doorstop. You might not even have any outdoor space of your own to sit in peace. If your city has a university, there's a good chance it has a botanic garden, however small, which shouldn't cost a bomb to get into. Taking a turn about a hothouse might not be quite the same as one of Jane Austen's strolls around Chawton, but it offers a peaceful atmosphere in which to spend time with nature.

Good work and making home 

Mr. Collins invited them to take a stroll in the garden, which was large and well laid out, and to the cultivation of which he attended himself. To work in his garden was one of his most respectable pleasures; and Elizabeth admired the command of countenance with which Charlotte talked of the healthfulness of the exercise, and owned she encouraged it as much as possible. Here, leading the way through every walk and cross walk, and scarcely allowing them an interval to utter the praises he asked for, every view was pointed out with a minuteness which left beauty entirely behind. He could number the fields in every direction, and could tell how many trees there were in the most distant clump. - Pride and Prejudice

There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had in getting a little dirt under your fingernails. Jane Austen's heroes all have their own scrappiness, a willingness to get stuck in, in their own way. If you have a little outdoor space, it is possible to start your own kitchen garden, as Jane Austen's mother had at Chawton.

Letters from Miss Lefroy confirm that Mrs Austen was a fan of planting, digging her own potatoes, cutting roses and tying her own flowers. Nothing, I think, is quite so good for mental health as proving to yourself that you can master a new skill, and gardening is a hobby that can literally bear fruit. If you don't have a garden space, then perhaps think about creative ways to bring the outside in that don't involve cutting your own roses. As the Spring wears into summer, you could visit a local farm, or even just a farmer's market, and pick up some fruit to bring home to cook with, or simply jazz up the fruit bowl. 

A fun trend I've been seeing online recently is getting together with friends to arrange your own flowers. Proper bouquets can be super expensive, as can taking flower arranging classes. However, if you and a handful of friends get together, one of you brings tulips, another brings spray carnations, etc., you can pool your resources to make some stunning arrangements out of boring supermarket flowers, all whilst spending quality time with your friends.

If you want to celebrate Springtime the Jane Austen way, check out our Spring collection at the gift shop.