The Root Tender’s Lore
A Life Made by Hand
Welcome kindred spirits. I’m Alaura, known in these hedgerows as The Root Tender-a stillroom witch, fiber artist, herbal folklorist, and deathcare guide living with my husband on a 19 acre homestead in Ohio.
Here, we live close to the land, the seasons, and the slowly returning arts once whispered over cups of nettle tea and bundles of drying roots.
This space is both story and sanctuary-where chickens listen to Penny Dreadfuls, herbs infuse on sunny windowsills, and wool is spun with spells and soil still clinging to the fleece.
“The old ways are not lost. They are just growing quietly underfoot.”
Threads of Fiber & Lore
My journey into fiber arts began with a single drop spindle and a longing to reconnect with ancestral rhythms. What began as a fascination with sheep and wool has become a deeply seasonal practice-spinning, dyeing, weaving, and knitting from the animals I raise with care.
I believe each strand carries a story, and my hands remember the ones that came before.
Herbalism as Folk Magic
Herbalism found me in the way of all good magic: slowly, and then all at once. I practice folk herbalism as a partnership-with the plants, the land, and the rhythms of our ancestors. My work centers around small-batch remedies, seasonal zines, and sharing the weeds we’ve forgotten how to see.
You’ll find me in the hedgerow, notebook in hand, talking to chickweed and cleavers.
Companion at the Threshold
As a home funeral guide and pet death doula, I serve those crossing life’s final threshold with tenderness and ceremony. Death is not the opposite of life-it is the root beneath it. I walk beside families and animal companions, offering comfort, ritual, and grounded presence.
This work too, is part of tending the garden.
The Henhouse Theatre
Not all of my work is solemn-some of it is wonderfully absurd. I host Henny Dreadfuls, a theatrical reading series where I read Victorian horror tales to my chickens. It’s a love letter to story, silliness, and the belief that every creature deserves a little drama.
An Invitation
Whether you are here for the herbs, the stories, the wool, or simply to slow down, you are most welcome here.
May you find something here that reminds you of who you are and who your great-grandmother might have been.