Marlane Ainsworth

Short Bio

 

Thirty years ago, on the verge of a mid-life crisis, I loaded an old van with five kids, two guinea pigs, and a camping stove and headed down to the south coast of Western Australia to join my husband, Rob, on an off-the-grid 20-acre property we had just bought and named Evergreen. Here, in ancient wetlands, surrounded by reeds and the eerie sound of moaning frogs, I found the inspiration and healing I needed in the garden we grew together.

 

As a writer, I love sharing the wisdom gleaned from the wild garden at Evergreen. For the past seven years, I’ve published weekly blogs on this website, and there is a free resource for you called 6 Messages From a Wild Garden. Click the link on the Resources page for your free copy,

 

I’m writing a memoir about what prompted me to move to Evergreen. My little gift book about what this place shows me about living a meaningful life is titled What My Garden Told Me, and is available on Amazon. Click the link on my home page to order your own copy!

 

 

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Long Bio

 

I grew up with my two sisters in Willagee, a working-class suburb near Perth, Western Australia. When I was eight years old, my parents joined an American-based fundamentalist, apocalyptic religion, which formed my early worldview.

 

At eighteen, I flew to England to attend the religious college at Bricket Wood. After two years there, I moved to the USA for further study, spending a semester in Pasadena, California, and the final three semesters at a Big Sandy, Texas campus. I graduated with a four-year B.A. degree in Home Economics and a minor in Theology.

 

Rob and I have five children. As they were growing up, I realised that the beliefs I’d held since childhood no longer made sense to me. After several years of bitter soul-searching, I decided to leave that church. Our oldest child was fourteen and the youngest four when we moved to Evergreen. They’ve all left home now but return to the peace of the countryside when they can, bringing partners, children, dogs, surfboards, books, and warm clothes.

 

I’ve been writing for years and have had two children’s novels published by Fremantle Press. In between writing, I’ve been a proofreader, barista, potato sorter, and bookshop clerk. For the final ten years of my public working life, I was a coordinator of community services for people with dementia, a personally moving and rewarding experience.

 

I’m now retired, and my days are dedicated to sharing the joy and wisdom given freely to me by the wild but peaceful environment at Evergreen. We named it Evergreen because even in the middle of hot, dry Australian summers, the three acres of lawn growing in peat outside our house are always a brilliant green.