hi, i'm Jenna
My teachings come from the women before me.
This practice was not a clear or linear path. I stumbled into it, often feeling redirected every time I thought I knew what I was doing. Herbalism taught me to slow down and look to those who came before me, to listen for what had already been carried and survived. I am a fourth-generation descendant of ancestors from Southern Italy and Sicily, specifically Campania, Sciacca, and Abruzzo, and I come from a long line of women who walked through fire until it became part of their soul. I work closely with my maternal line, whose roots in Sciacca trace back through generations of women of the sea. Their endurance, intuition, and relational way of knowing continue to inform my practice. In some ways, this work is a seeking of belonging; in others, it is where I feel most whole, continuing what they began.
I came to herbalism through heartbreak. After losing someone very close to me to suicide, and emerging from an abusive relationship before that, I found myself searching for something—anything—that could hold the weight of my grief. I didn’t arrive at plant medicine with certainty or structure. I arrived instinctively, with shaking hands, guided only by the quiet pull of wanting to feel whole again. Herbs became a way back to myself. Through tending my nervous system and learning what could support me emotionally and spiritually, I discovered that plants offered a kind of care I didn’t know I was allowed to receive. As I followed that thread, it led me not only into deeper relationship with plant allies, but into the lives and wisdom of my ancestors.
Our Story
Over the past five years, my study of herbalism has been shaped by mentorship from teachers including Kim Geisler, Brooke Johnson, Jen Stovall, David Meeser, Janet Kent, Lupo Passero, and Ilana Sobo, alongside deep learning in Southern Italian and ancestral folk practices with Marybeth Bonfiglio and Lisa Fazio. My teaching blends folk, practical, and hands-on approaches, offering students tangible skills to take away while centering ritual and deep relationship with the plants. This work is both practical and reverent—grounded in plant energetics, lived experience, and real-world application. I also learn directly from the plants themselves, through relationship, observation, and time spent traveling and studying in Italy and Sicily.
Widow began as a place for me to process, create, connect, and try to make sense of everything I was experiencing. Five years later, it has grown into something much larger than I ever imagined, and I am deeply grateful to share it with others.
I am based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and my work is deeply shaped by the land I live and practice on, Lenape land, where Northern Appalachian plant traditions and the resilient flora of this region continue to teach me daily. My practice is informed by both ancestral memory and place-based learning, honoring where I come from and where I am rooted now. Widow exists at that intersection: grief and continuity, lineage and land, ritual and practice, offering herbal education and care for those moving through thresholds, seeking steadiness, and remembering what it means to belong.
Upcoming Workshops
October 24, 2026
Seasonal Sovereignty Fall Workshop
As the growing season turns toward Autumn, we turn our attention to the medicines that help carry us through the darker months. In this one-day Seasonal Sovereignty workshop, we’ll explore immune health and grief care through the plants and folk practices traditionally called upon during this time of year. Together, we’ll make fire cider and a heart cordial while learning the plants within their larger human stories; their traditional uses, folklore, and place within seasonal and ancestral practices.
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November 1, 2026
Piazza Party: Giorno Dei Morti
Did you know Sicilians celebrate Day of the Dead? It’s referred to as Giorno dei Morti or Festa dei Morti in Italian, and Jornu ri Morti in Sicilian. Traditionally, and especially in the days of our nonni and bisnonni, families would gather in cemeteries for picnics alongside the graves of their loved ones, sharing stories, playing card games and music, and decorating entire cemeteries with flowers, such as chrysanthemums, bringing life, color and celebration to accompany the spirits of those departed. Gather with us for our own diasporic twist on this beautiful, meaningful, bittersweet time.
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November 11, 2026
Plant Communion Tea Ritual
Plant Communion is a monthly exploration of the plants that grow within our bioregion, guided by clinical herbalists Jenna Faccenda and Brooke Johnson. Each gathering centers around a single plant ally, creating space to learn its story, traditional uses, and medicine while developing a more personal relationship with the plant itself. Through tea, ritual, sensory exploration, and conversation, you’ll practice noticing how a plant communicates through the body and begin to explore the energetic and relational dimensions of herbal medicine.
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November 15, 2026
Seasonal Sovereignty Fall Workshop
As the growing season turns toward Autumn, we turn our attention to the medicines that help carry us through the darker months. In this one-day Seasonal Sovereignty workshop, we’ll explore immune health and grief care through the plants and folk practices traditionally called upon during this time of year. Together, we’ll make fire cider and a heart cordial while learning the plants within their larger human stories; their traditional uses, folklore, and place within seasonal and ancestral practices.
Register Now
