In celebration of International Women’s Day, we, at CoirProducts.co.uk, spoke to growers and gardeners about women of past and present who inspire them, what a sustainable future means to them, and how women can play a role in driving such a sustainable future. Many of the growers and gardeners emphasised the role of individual and collective action in driving sustainable futures.
Women inspiring women
For many of the gardeners and growers, their biggest inspirations are those close to home.
A keen gardener and up-cycler, Kay (@brook_cottage_) looks inward and to the people around her, specifically to her grandmother Lilian, “I have been incredibly fortunate throughout my life to have been surrounded by inspirational women, who all gave me a profound sense of belief that as a woman anything was possible. My grandmother Lilian was the most headstrong, vibrant, beautiful lady who didn’t suffer fools gladly. I’m sure her flower filled yard is where my love for flowers was first awakened! She was way ahead of her time and worked throughout her life at a time when women were expected to ‘look after the home’”.
Much like Kay, Tanya (@lovely.greens) also draws inspiration from her grandmother. “My love of gardening started with the homegrown berries and vegetables that my grandmother grew. She still has a garden, now in her eighties, and that in itself is an inspiration. Having a passion for growing plants, whether edible or ornamental, gives us an incredible pursuit that can reward us with good health and an active mind for the rest of our lives. But the thing that most interested me as a child was the magic of digging up potatoes and eating sweet raspberries from the cane. Food straight from nature!” Later on, for Tanya, a chance encounter with Carol Klein on Gardener’s World rekindled an interest in plants.
For Jo (@pritchy_plants), while women in her family, both young and old, have been her biggest inspirations, there are also others. “Firstly, all the women in my family, young and old. Some of them are gardeners and have shown me how enjoyable it is to plant, be patient, and then get pleasure from plants. In the wider gardening world, Sue Kent is a massive inspiration. She shows how obstacles can be overcome with positivity and resilience. She is fabulous to watch on Gardener’s World. Away from gardening, the late Queen Elizabeth is another stand out woman for me, for her dedication and duty to her country.”
Lydia (@yourorganicpt) is inspired by a host of incredible women. “In terms of the gardening instagram world I’ve been inspired by the likes of Lucy Hutchings (@shegrowsveg), Kirsty Ward (@my_little_allotment), Aimèe Cornwell (@peggyfarmandforage), Hayley Brown (Hayley’s_lottie_haven) and so many more women who all grow, build, educate and empower online. But I’m also heavily inspired by my mum, my aunties, my mother in law and many female mentors within my personal life who have taught me about resilience and strength. Then there are the incredible business women and herbalists who inspire me daily from Deborah Meaden (who features on Dragon’s Den) to Sarah Atkinson (Medical Herbalist and business women based in Cumbria).”
Similarly, Sandy (@goodrootsbarn) is inspired by various women from the world of horticulture. These include Beth Chatto, Judy Dench, Beatrix Potter, and Frances Tophill. About Beth Chatto, Sandy says, “She really paved the way in sustainable garden design and her philosophy of “right plant, right place” holds firm today,” while Sandy also shares a passion for trees much like Judy Dench.
Hayley Hayeley (@hayleys_lottie_haven) is inspired by her mother, sister, and best friend. “They are all incredible women in their own right and have influenced me to be the person I am today. When it comes to gardening, starting out one of the biggest inspirations was @deannacat3. Even though Deanna’s garden is in a different country, I felt instantly content with her passion for organic gardening. Seeing all the produce she grew in an urban garden, how all the produce was stored and the simplicity of the lifestyle, made me believe it was possible for myself to achieve those goals, even on a small scale.”
Coming from a very large family, for Kelly (@ohhomelygirl) it is the women close to home, who have inspired her the most. “My mother had seven sisters and each had the most wonderful gardens. They were creative women with a real flair for gardening and sustainability. My DIY-ing, repurposing, recycling and self-sufficient homegrown ideals are a direct result of their influence. Influence I have had the privilege of witnessing since I was a little girl.”
What does a sustainable future mean to you?
Sustainability continues to dominate many policy debates and discussions. With the future of the planet under threat, growers and gardeners spoke about small changes that make a big difference.
For Sandy (@goodrootsbarn) sustainability entails living coherently with the natural world around us and asking ourselves what impact our actions have on the planet. “I strongly believe in the power of the purchaser, and as consumers we need to be aware of where it came from, what it’s made of, what resources were used to make it and what we are going to do with it when we’re done. If the answer to any of those questions is harmful to the planet, then you simply don’t buy it and look for an alternative. And if we stop buying the non-sustainable products and use our buying power to choose a more sustainably made option then those large organisations will be forced to adapt and make the changes the planet so desperately needs.”
Lydia (@yourorganicpt) emphasised the need to grow organically. “A sustainable future, to me, means growing food organically and promoting biodiversity by using techniques such as no digs, permaculture, biodynamics, and more. All of these practices promote nature, encourage life and feed people in a local and more sustainable manner. Another huge part of a more sustainable lifestyle for me is encouraging sustainable practices within my businesses. We manufacture our own products locally in Yorkshire and also source the majority of other products first from Yorkshire and then from the wider UK. Less than 5% of our products are manufactured outside the UK but I’m still hoping to improve on that also.”
Jo (@pritchy_plants) spoke about the importance of recognising the local. “I see a sustainable future being focused on local areas, whether that’s more availability of British or locally grown flowers or supporting small, local gardens centres and suppliers. I would love there to be less plastic used in gardening, fewer plastic pots, and packaging. I do see it happening bit by bit. Hopefully, alternatives will become more widely used over the near future.”
Yet, for a sustainable future, everyone needs to take responsibility for themselves, and this is what Hayeley (@hayleys_lottie_haven) shared with us. “A sustainable future to me means every person taking responsibility for themselves. While I would absolutely implore the government to make a million more changes, ultimately we have control over the choices we make in day to day life. Tiny changes every week of the year builds up to something big. Education is key and things I would have done ten years ago would now be out of the question. Even the recent salad shortage has challenged people to consider eating seasonally and even attempt to grow their own, taking back control. The allotment site is a great place for learning and discussing environmental issues with people from all walks of life. If there’s one thing us gardeners talk about the most, it’s the weather and we all know that’s being directly influenced by climate change.”
As Tanya (@lovely.greens) explained, a sustainable future is one where we can all live well without harming the planet. “It’s a world of clean energy, healthy soil, and balance between human spaces and wilderness. We’re at the beginning of that journey and as long as there is poverty, injustice, and lack of food, infrastructure and education there will be resistance. If you’re struggling to survive, priorities are different. That’s why it’s important to work with helping people as well as nature if our goal is a better world.”
Kay (@brook_cottage_) shared with us some of the sustainable practices she adopts at home with her family, including planning meals ahead, minimising food wastage, and recycling day. “It’s all about trying to do the best YOU can and showing those around you, that the little things can make a difference, in my case it’s our two beautiful daughters. As a household we try and recycle as much as we can & although our girls probably dread the ‘it’s recycling day’ announcement, they always collect their recycling, sometimes they even smile whilst doing it. They have always seen me shopping in charity shops and taking unwanted clothes and items, they do the same now without any prompting. We try to have minimal food wastage and plan meals as well as we can trying to make sure we have meat free meals.”
A sustainable future, as Kelly (@ohhomelygirl) sees it, includes a more natural way of living. “My big plan is to have a homestead which will eventually play a larger role in sustaining myself and my family. I would like to be as self-sufficient as possible, eventually relying less and less on commercial means of produce and more so on homegrown clean food.”
What role can women play in driving a sustainable future?
Women continue to play a crucial role in driving a sustainable future.
Tanya (@lovely.greens) elaborated on the role of women as caregivers and teachers. “Traditionally, women have major roles as caregivers and teachers, especially for children and other women. If we support those under our care and in our communities, and even further afield, we can also spread the ideas that could take us closer to a sustainable future. Be that regenerative gardening and farming to other life-changing skills and caring for the natural world. It was in school, after all, that I learned about recycling, and from mainly female family about gardening. We have such an opportunity by enriching the minds of the people around us!”
For Kelly (@ohhomelygirl), it is about being teachers. “Knowing how to grow food, herbs and natural medicine was once a domestic skill every family had to master. Now in modern times, with a supermarket on every corner, nobody really bothers anymore…and that’s a shame. I pass on what I know to my children and I hope that they will one day, do the same with their children. I believe it to be such a simple life skill but a valuable one too.”
Sandy (@goodrootsbarn) highlights the power of the collective voices of women. “We can use our voices, especially those who run small businesses, we can shout about the changes that need to be made and show consumers what we are already achieving and how we are doing it. Women drive approximately 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, so if we start making changes through our purchasing power by choosing more sustainable products then just imagine what we can achieve for the planet.”
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