Muddy Boots Special Guest: Cheryl Kearney - Ruffy fires

Cheryl’s chat with the Muddy Boots crew is really a story about shock, survival, and slowly finding your feet again. She talks through the chaos of the Ruffy bushfires — the scrambled updates, the awful wait to hear what had happened, and the surreal moment of returning to a completely blackened landscape with only her little house still standing. It’s emotional, but she tells it with such honesty that you can almost feel what those days were like.

From there, the episode becomes a gentle, hopeful look at how gardening helps people heal. Cheryl explains how she started clearing ash, watering anything that looked vaguely alive, and reconnecting with neighbours who were all trying to rebuild in their own way. When Keith organised donations of compost and soil products, it wasn’t just practical help — it gave the whole community a lift. By the end, you really get the sense that growing even a few veggies or seeing a tree reshoot can be the first step back toward feeling normal again.

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