I’m recently off my book tour, or this round of it at least, for Essential Food Preserving(I plan to continue doing events through the next year or so: Reach out if you’d like to host one!)

I love book tours because they’re a chance to meet readers in person, a rare treat in a profession that primarily keeps me behind a screen in my home office. But the people who my books reach are the reason I do this, and the last couple months have been incredibly affirming as to why this work is so important.

People came to me with their stories and questions, and in particular, with stories of their desires to increase their own or their community’s resilience and preserving knowledge, and also to reconnect to the skills their ancestors had.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a tradition bearer, and the time feels ripe with possibility for those discussions to be happening more broadly.

In the food world in particular, we talk a lot about traditions and ancestral foods and “lost” skills, but there’s a level of nuance to it that we often miss, which is that 1. These skills aren’t lost BUT we do all have a hand in preserving them for the future and 2. Part of being a tradition bearer is also adapting the traditions to your life now.

Canning, for example, used to have different guidelines, so even if the way your grandparents did it worked for them, we now have better information about how to can in a consistently safer way. In other words: Use the latest, trusted guidelines (not aspirin canning or whatever other hot tip is trending this week). 

But other practices, like lactofermentation, have remained largely unchanged through time in part because they are much less equipment heavy, and modern tech-heavy, and easy to do safely with limited means. 

This summer, I toured around the East Coast of the US as well as in Cork, Ireland, with my most recent talk being a demo at Cork on a Fork (if you were in attendance and liked the fire cider, you can find that recipe here or of course in my book Essential Food Preserving).

I’ll be doing a signing at the Patrick Street Eason’s in Cork city centre this Saturday: If you want to grab a personalized, signed copy of Essential Food Preserving for yourself or for a gift, please come by!

Future events:

August 22, Cork: Book signing at Eason’s on Patrick Street, Cork City. Come grab a copy of Essential Food Preserving and have it signed and personalized by yours truly!

August 23, Cork [sold out]: Preserving Food, Preserving Food Stories workshop at the Night Coop, part of Heritage Week and generously sponsored by Cork City Council.

August 27, 1-2 PM GMT, online: Fermenter’s Guild talk on food writing, creativity, Essential Food Preserving, and crafting my crazy cobbled together career (and how you can craft yours). This one has lots of room for Q&A, so bring your questions!

August 30, 1-2 PM EST (6-7 PM GMT), online: Fermentation: A Natural History. I’ll be in conversation with Sandor Katz and Yarrow Koningthrough Charis Books & More, in celebration of Sandor’s new book!

September 4 [sold out]: Medieval calligraphy at the Kilkenny Medieval Mile museum. 

September 2027: Rooted in Place: A holistic writing, food, creativity, and mindfulness retreat in Italy

Upcoming virtual fall workshops with me (enrollment opening soon): 

• Bloom, a workshop to build your own sustainable writing practice (now reimagined and even better!): November 2026
• Reiki I training: Everything you need to complete Reiki I training. Certification is available for those who desire it. November 2026. 

I also have additional spaces for monthly, recurring energy work sessions.
These are remote sessions I run automatically for you each month without you having to lift a finger, and my clients love having this kind of support without having another appointment to remember. 

TBD events that are currently in planning stages include: 

-More fermentation and canning classes

-A talk at an arts symposium

-A ferment and forage pop up dinner

-An institute-style gathering for deep reading and conversation around tradition, food, and creativity

-And other goodies!

As a reminder, I’m also available for workshops for corporate wellness programs, community groups, private 1:1 sessions, or even just a fun evening for you and friends with a couple bottles of wine while you learn.

I also offer holistic creativity coaching and energy work (have you signed up for remote energy work yet? It’s pretty great), plus self-paced classes. 

And of course, self-paced culinary classes too. 

Use the code CREATE for 20% off any of them. 

Questions? Want to collaborate? Want to work together in a way I don’t have listed here? Please reach out! julia@root-kitchens.com

(P.S. if you order your books through this link, even if you click through and buy other books, I get a small commission, which helps me focus my attention on writing and creating. Thanks for your support!)