Welcome to this wandering hearth βκ©
Youβve entered a nomadic seasonal kitchen, a herbal journal and a wandering hearth. Here, we move slowly with the wheel of the year, conjuring & ritualising recipes like spells, tending intently to the hidden riches of the earthly soil that holds us ~ both inside & out.
My name is Giorgia, and I find myself playing in the realms of folk herbalism, wild crafting, seasonal nourishment, and cyclical resonance. Guided by the rhythms of the seasons and the wisdom of the animist world, I have set out to explore ways of living that are slower, more rooted, and in deeper conversation with the Land and the symbolic patterns that weave through the everyday, no matter the landscape.
Weaving together my Italian-English and Celtic roots, I'm currently living and creating between the UK, the mountains of Northern Italy and more recently British Colombia, Canada.
(we wander far & often over here)
A little on where I've come from...
I began working in hospitality at 14, jumping early on into a cafΓ© job and then going on to learning the rhythms of a busy kitchen alongside my Pap who is a passionate foody and the heart & soul of the Italian restaurant he opened back in 2007.
Mum, Grandma, and my Great Aunt were the women who, in my eyes held the form & fort of my maternal side from day 1. I carry happy memories of very little me licking bowls & spoons, making dough dollies in the kitchen with my Mum & enjoying the extravagantly decorated sweet treats my Great Aunt made ~ though she passed when I was very young I can still remember her attention to detail & passion for baking. I also could never forget the best after-school sandwiches made for me if I stopped by on my walk home from school to my dear Grandmother's house.
What might seem like ordinary family rituals & rhythms, were anchors or more like tree roots that grew slowly underneath my feet tethering me to feelings of safety, love & home.
Today, I carry the essence, roots, florescent blooms of home & kitchen as hearth like wild medicine gathered in a wicker basket upon my back as I fulfil the calls of my nomadic spirit and set forth ever deeper onto this road of life. Always moving towards something more, always carrying what matters.
The further I walk, the more I ground into deeper dimensions of what true Presence, Reverence and Resonance feel like, and recognising my place within the many subtle worlds and layers that crackle within and around me/us as creatures of this planetβ¦
The medicine of Trees, the quiet teachings of wild lands, the Elements, the Ancestors, the Stars, as well as health challenges I have come to travel with since youth. They all walk with me as my companions and compass..
My health challenges over the years have been the catalyst into a slower, more meaningful quality of presence. I reached the point of overspill and eruption, feelings of hopelessness in continuously feeling let down by my local doctors and hospital appointment results (or lack there of). I decided to take what felt like the only option available to me.. It was the Pandemic, and the resource I had most of, was time.
I began learning the wisdom of the body through the ancient intelligence that's found when you start to see the correspondences between your own body and the light of Nature herself. I signed up to the School of Evolutionary Herbalism and began to go deeper..and deeper..
I bought so many books on eBay, went out searching for plants I was learning about in my local green spaces.. I began growing herbs in pots in my living room, writing Materia Medica in my journals so I could remember why I was using Nettle in my morning tea for example..I was learning how and what to blend together to create formulas that would encourage and boost my energy..that would work together to help heal my womb, my cycle, my kidneys.. and admittedly ~ my spirit!
I began deepening into studies of Astrology and the correlations between Plants Planets and People. The elements. The Organ Systems. Experimenting with homemade natural skin care ingredients. Medicine Making techniques in many forms, I went deep! and have often looked back seeing that the timing of everything was miraculous.. and my life changed.
Since that time, I have grown to feel passionate about educational hands-on experiencing in the realm of Land Medicine, I love crafting soulful meals & healing balms infused with local-to-where-I'm-standing wild medicines & well-tended ingredients alongside the vast wisdom and stories of Indigenous Traditions /Cosmologies and Practice I have come to encounter on my travels and through books and online media, aswel as formal courses & workshops.
I have circled back around over the last 3 years, honing my intent and focus on the lands of my birthplace, ancestry & ancient peoples of the British Isles. The Brythonic Tranditon & Welsh Myth & Medicine.
From my experience, our mainstream education systems feel flawed and undernourished when it comes to equipping young people with the tools and the safe, open spaces to explore their Bodies, Health, Natural cycles, Nature & the vastness of Spirituality..I've often pondered on where I would be now if I had received this kind of education a lot earlier on..
Through creative workshops, foraging walks, and feast circles, I aim to offer practical tools, nourishing recipes, wild plant & naturally therapeutic wisdom to help heal & hold body/spirit, supporting the inner rhythms ~ our own, and the greater mycelial networks we belong to; nurturing both the heart, humanity and the ancient spirit flowing through us all.
I see my herbal kitchen & cooking as cosy, soulful, and inspired by wildly changing landscapes & culture, woven intricately with my heritage ~ I passionately co-create with Mother Nature fully intending to reconnect in ritually rooting my practice in the wild, the ancient, the notion of home/belonging and the deeply human, often unexplainable hunger for resonance, connection & a certain kind of community.
The intention of this publication is to evolve as a living portfolio and digital hearth space ~ a different kind of gathering place. Rather than curating an algorithmic feed (which I've tried on many times & it just doesn't fit my feels) Instead Iβve chosen to root my words, recipes, and offerings here ~ an online space that feels a lot more resonant. A place to share my seasonal food and herbal musings, my often-hidden ponderings & reflections, and committing to a ritual of a deeper more fluid writing practice in service to myself, my community and all which lies beyond the seen realm.
And so, I welcome you here whole heartedly, to pour a cup of tea and join me in this cosy space for the long haul., I hope we grow in openness & sincere authenticity as we journey from here on. I'm not entirely sure what's going to unfold here ~ I guess we'll find out together.
Thankyou deeply for being here
Giorgia x
