My philosophy of life is to be kind, laugh, pray and allow everyone, including myself, to have bad days. I believe it is important to take time to appreciate the good things around me every day.
I love playing the piano, swimming – especially in the sea in summer, dancing around the kitchen whilst clapping and singing loudly (much to our two teenage daughters’ distress), walking in the Suffolk countryside and by the coast and escaping into a good book.
I am domestically challenged, especially when it comes to cooking. I have a ridiculous belief that I can fit more into the day than is ever possible. In order to manage this notion I find that I cannot live without lists… but I have a habit of losing the list!
Above all, love makes my world go around. I feel blessed to be surrounded by family, young and old, true friends and my four-legged companions with wagging tails.
My Roots
Ruth and her husband, Paul, started a plant nursery on her family farm in Suffolk in 2002. She had previously loved her work as a Montessori teacher but she became caught up in her husband’s gardening work while their first daughter was a baby. They built the nursery on an empty field, bought a second hand shed and began by opening at weekends. They were growing plants, potting up and weeding with their daughter in the pram beside them.
Ruth always says that she cannot forget a plant once she has potted up a batch of fifty but she finds that this method of learning about plants means that she remembers the latin name better than the common name! As plants matured and customers asked more questions, so she found that she was referring increasingly to text books about plants and became well and truly hooked as a plants woman. Nineteen years later and Paul and Ruth still run their nursery Kiln Farm Nursery but now it is a full-time business with a shop, employees, several polytunnels, growing beds and retail area.
She loves the ‘hands on’ side of the work and firmly believes that gardening and nature has a place in all our lives, so she enjoys the chance to share this via writing and social media.
The Flower Writer
How often do we hear the slogan ‘Say it with Flowers’?
Flowers have a voice of their own. Just by looking at a flower or a bud we are filled with emotion. It depends on the blooms but they can give us a sense of peace, joy, confidence, love, regret, optimism or renewal. They allow us a whole spectrum of emotions. This has long been acknowledged and over the years flowers have been associated with meanings and messages. Flowers are used in art and literature. They have been used as medicine. They are part of our culture and heritage. As our world speeds up, our interactions with fellow humans, animals and plant life reduces. Our reliance on science and technology increases, so this heritage is at risk of slipping away.
By writing about flowers and plants I wish to breathe a little of their beauty, their history and their properties into my world and hopefully into yours.
Writing and Speaking Experience
Over the years Ruth has been asked to write in various local journals about plants and planting projects. Her first regular commitment was with her ‘Grow Your Own’ column in the East Anglian Daily Times in 2015. The following year she regularly wrote in the ‘Homes and Gardens’ section. In 2017 she was asked to write monthly for the Suffolk Magazine and enjoyed this for three years. She has also written monthly for the weekend ‘Heaven’ section in the EADT.
More recently Ruth has contributed to Horticulture Week about the experiences of running a nursery through lockdown and beyond. In 2021 Ruth wrote for the ‘Garden View’ section in Garden Answers. This year she was delighted to be asked to be a ‘Garden Expert’ on BBC Radio Suffolk’s gardening hour. Ruth is a member of The Garden Media Guild.
