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​Hello and welcome. I'm Andrea, the Holistic Horticulturist, Folk Herbalist and Heart behind VOLVA.
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I'm a bit of an old hand at this, having dedicated the last 25 years to professional practice. BUT there is always something new to learn - this is what working with Nature teaches us. Here I am in my apothecary, one of my happy places. The other is the garden, where I sow, grow, harvest and craft herbal folk medicine for myself, my clients and the online apothecary.
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My practice is a loving communion of people and plants. I mentor and coach clients and students in the ways of communing with Nature in both the physical connection and the spiritual aspects of working with the Earth, meeting you wherever you are in the world - or in life - with a down to earth approach, quite literally. ​​
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As a grounded practitioner, I work professionally with the Medicine of the Land for humans, animals, homes, spaces and the Earth. You can read kind words from some of my clients here.​
​folk medicine and herbal craft
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I am a professionally qualified Horticulturist and Landscape Designer but, more importantly than this, I am a gardener - I work WITH the plants to learn from them, not learn from books about them which, I can tell you from teaching students in further education, this is essentially what academic qualifications in horticulture are. There's nothing wrong with learning about plants from books - I love this too - but this doesn't make anyone a gardener. It is important to make this distinction; horticulture is the learned science of growing, and gardening is the actual hands-on practice of growing.
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I am a folk herbalist - what the Celts call bean-feasa and the Old Norse call Völva. A Medicine Woman. I have been working with plants, folk herbalism and herb craft for over 30 years, communing closely with the spirits of the plant kingdom. I sow, grow, harvest and prepare the plants contained in my folk medicine and sacred supplies in my own medicine gardens at VOLVA HQ in Central Scotland. The gardens were specifically designed and built by myself to maximise the potency of the plants - you can find out more about the gardens here. ​​
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