As part of this year’s St Ives Food & Drink Festival, we’re delighted to welcome medical herbalist Ruth Weaver for a special Tiny Talk with Rachel Gaunt. Hosted in our new food & drink masterclass venue – The Chef’s Table – expect an intimate conversation that offers a chance to explore the powerful connection between plants, food, and wellbeing.
Ruth is the founder of The Apothecary, a modern herbal practice rooted in traditional wisdom. Ahead of her appearance, we caught up with her to talk about her work, the role of herbal medicine today, and what festival-goers can expect.
Ruth, can you tell us a little about your journey into medical herbalism?
I was born in Cornwall and moved to Scotland in 2009 to embark on a 4 year degree in Herbal Medicine at the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine in Glasgow where I learnt from herbalists and experts from all over the world. I then completed my Herbal Medicine BSc. (Hons) at Lincoln University in 2012.
What is The Apothecary?
The Apothecary in Penzance is a working herbal health hub and drop-in clinic, which opened in December 2025. It is the first Western high street apothecary in West Cornwall area for over 85 years.
We offer drop-in herbal advice and mini consultations for minor concerns, alongside personalised 1:1 consultations for more complex or ongoing conditions.
As a qualified practitioner, I alongside my team of qualified herbalists dispense practitioner-grade herbal medicines not typically available in health shops, including restricted medicinal extracts such as turkey tail and cordyceps. The Apothecary is not another supplement shop – it is a specialist clinic offering personalised herbal medicine.
The Apothecary also serves as a community hub, hosting workshops, educational talks, monthly herb clubs, and herbal sauna rituals.
Cornwall has such a rich natural landscape – how does that influence your work?
I became aware of the issues of global warming during my youth. As a direct response to this difficult truth I devoted myself to making change by aligning with strong values surrounding sustainability and living in harmony with the cycles and rhythms of the earth.
This combined with my love of plants and healing set me on a quest to find a path that was caring and considerate towards this precious earth. By a chance meeting in my teenage years, I was gifted a book called ‘Change the World 9-5’ which affirmed my calling to become a herbalist. I consider that the close contact with the natural world through childhood, played a part in inspiring this connection with plants
How do food and herbal medicine intersect?
Herbs and fungi are the most ancient form of medicine, and the most pharmaceutical close to conventional drugs as they comprise of many hundreds of biologically active chemicals. Foods are much the same, and in understanding our relationship to our environment we may remember how food and plants that grow around us were once a natural part of a daily rhythm.
What can people expect from your Tiny Talk with Rachael Gaunt?
This will be a moment to explore nature’s true power for our healing and health.
For someone completely new to herbal medicine, where’s a good place to start?
Come along to the monthly herb clubs at The Apothecary. Tickets are available on the website along with other events where you will have the opportunity to explore the power of medicinal plants through someone who has worked in the field for the best part of two decades.
Catch Ruth Weaver in conversation with Rachel Gaunt at the St Ives Food & Drink Festival as part of our Tiny Talksprogramme in the Chef’s Table venue. The Tiny Talks with Rachel Gaunt sessions are free to attend – with one on Friday and Sunday during the festival – so come along, listen in, and discover a fresh take on food, health, and the natural world.