I interviewed Sarah Raven at the Henley Literary Festival. The audience was packed. Everyone was on the edge of their seats to find out how this extraordinary women had achieved so much. For Sarah Raven is not only a celebrated gardener, cook and entrepreneur, she is also a wife, mother, stepmother and chatelaine of two properties - the National Trust-run Sissinghurst and Perch Hill, a farm she owns with her husband. The latter property is where she grows most of her cut flowers, her vegetables etc. She and her husband, the writer Adam Nicolson, also have a herd of cattle there. The idea is to become as self-sufficient as possible. She was at the Literary Festival to talk about her new book Sarah Raven's Food for Friends and Family.
Most of the audience were fascinated as to how she manages to do so much. She runs cookery courses, flower-growing sessions, a 'how to grow your own wedding' set of days as well as running the gardens, harvesting the vegetables and cooking for herself and her friends - hence the book. Raven revealed that, essentially, she's a workaholic who gets up incredibly early and survives on little sleep.'I am terrified of suffering from depression,' she said.
The audience were intrigued by this admission. Really it gets to the heart of why any of us do anything. What motivates us?In Sarah Raven's case there is ambition, but also concern that she might suffer from the depression which afflicted her father. Keeping busy is her defence.
But there is also a pioneering spirit within Raven. She wishes to overhaul the way we eat. She wants to bring her message of good, wholesome, home-grown and cooked simple recipes to as many of us as possible.
'I love writing the cook books,' she says. For her, the act of recording her recipes, of keeping a published diary of what she cooks and her ethos in life serves an important purpose. It feeds the creative side within her and she finds it refreshing. 'It's so different to sit down and write rather than to be outside sowing seeds or picking carrots or whatever. My writing makes me more contemplative.'
We learned many lessons that day - not least how to cook delicious food - but also about how writing can be salve to the soul. For Raven, it happens in her quiet moments, the moments when she needs to feel peace and calm.
What moment makes YOU want to write...
Sarah Raven
