The Northways Crew

Leah Wolfe

Anti-Social Butterfly

Wolfe is the archetypal herbalist. You know the one. The one that lives at the end of town with all the weird plants. Leah is a folk artist, writer, and herbalist influenced by Appalachian and Northern European heritage as the 12th generation of Appalachian miners and farmers. But, she grew up in the mountains of Southern California (no she does not know how to surf). She was the first person in her broken family to go to university and earned advanced degrees in literature and public health. As an herbalist, she volunteered in makeshift clinics in disaster zones and frontline communities. After traveling through most of the continental U.S., Leah moved to Conneaut, Ohio for love and started the Trillium Center in 2013 as an educational project to promote self-reliance and community health through folk traditions.  

Jessica Berry

Dreamer

Jessica’s secret life is a musical with everyone breaking into song in the back of her mind. She grew up in rural Pennsylvania where her parents tried to make things nice, but eventually the family broke apart and reassembled, and suddenly she had two older brothers. Berry’s great grandparents had 20 children. Needless to say, family reunions are enormous. For a time, Jessica thought she had it all, “I got my degree, my house, my job, my career…” Life was all career, then she became Mom. Everything changed. She catapulted into an early mid-life crisis, went to Yogaville, and escaped the corporate banking world. She moved to Conneaut after taking classes at the Trillium Center, hoping to make a difference. She is working to build a healing center that focuses on traditions to heal through cooking, movement, and lots of dreaming.

Fred Blood

The Night Owl

Fred almost went to Israel with Papa, his grandfather, and archaeologist and wood carver, but a turn of events meant that the best way for a preacher’s kid to escape was to run away and join the army. As a communications specialist in Germany, he saw The Wall come down. His heroes are Bob Ross, Mr. Rogers, and Eddie Vedder. He endures a barrage of vampire jokes, because he prefers the night sky and cemeteries. All. Night. Long. Fred lived in Conneaut, the city his great grandfather helped build as a mason, from 1999-2014 while caring for his Papa. Then returned in 2019 to care for his Nana. And for the first time, ever, he has a permanent address.  

Take a class with Fred at My World Better or Buccia Vineyards. Or click below to schedule a private class in Fred’s studio.