About
In medieval times, the hortus conclusus was an enclosed garden where flowers, food plants and medicinal herbs were cultivated. Similar to a library of the time, it was likely to be found in monasteries or cloisters, and served as a repository of knowledge, as well as a place of refuge for people, plants and wild creatures. The other meaning of hortus conclusus in the Middle Ages was as an epithet of the Virgin Mary.
This enclosed garden is dedicated to being a place of knowledge and refuge in our online world today.
In these pages, you will find resources about the healing power of plants: as food, medicinal herbs and as gardens.
This information comes from my perspective as a herbalist in training, a former journalist covering the food system and as a writer attuned to the spirituality of food. I hope it will stimulate and inspire you. My goal as a writer and healer is to offer my gifts in service of helping to mend the relationship between humanity and nature.
What I do
Writing and editing
My work has been published in The New York Times Book Review, Forbes.com and Forbes India, Art & Auction magazine, and other smaller titles. I have worked as an editor and communications manager at a variety of technology companies.
Gardenising
I hold a Gardeniser Pro licence, an EU qualification for the organisation and management of community gardens.
Events
I organise and moderate panel discussions and webinars.
As a DJ, I provide custom playlists of music. (See my portfolio page for samples of my work.)
Herbalism
I am currently a student of traditional herbal medicine with Nikki Darrell at The Plant Medicine School in Ireland. In 2023 I will be studying garden therapy at IGT Berlin.