Colonial Williamsburg

Historic Gardening: Practical & Pretty, Kitchen or Formal?

/ Sarah Kay Bierle / 2 Comments

Moving forward along the U.S. History timeline, we get to the early settlers and the Colonial Era. In some cases, Native Americans shared their crop growing techniques with the new settlers.

Obviously, in the earliest settlement and colonial days (and along the expanding frontiers) gardening and crop growing focused on food production. But, as the colonials became well-established in larger towns or plantations, they wanted to make their homes and surroundings beautiful. They developed gardens that were both practical and pretty. Continue reading →

With Gladness: Colonial Christmas

/ Sarah Kay Bierle / 3 Comments

with-gladness-coverEarlier today, I made an official announcement: there’s a new historical fiction book published by Gazette665.

With Gladness: A Christmas Story Collection is our second publication and is releasing this Friday…just in time for the holiday season. You can find lots of information here or order your signed copy in our store.

We’re also starting something new…a third blog post each week. Look for them Wednesdays. The series is “Christmas on Wednesday” and each article will highlight holiday celebrations and historical background on the stories in With Gladness.

Today we’ll kick-off the series with a look at some Christmas traditions in Colonial America. Continue reading →