Crafting Herbal Products and Communal Offerings to Reconnect and Heal Our Community

About Us:

Welcome! We are Alder (they/he) and Mera (they/them), two passionate queer herbalists, artists, plant nerds, forest spirits, and agroecologists. We are passionate about the bioregional, social justice, and ancestral aspects of herbalism. Weaving the complex, colonial history of Western herbalism into our intentional practice. Our aim is to connect our community to their ancestral medicine pathways to mitigate the harm of appropriation both ecologically and culturally. This is rooted in our mission to have personal relationships with all of the herbs we use in our medicine through growing it ourselves in our organic garden, or ethically wildcrafting it within our bioregion. 

Our name was inspired by a sacred, old-growth redwood tree near our house. We fell in love in the presence of her ancient wisdom and hope to embody the same grounded, generous energy through our work. Building a heart-centered community is at the core of our business model. We cultivate earth-centered community by hosting ceremonies that incorporate plant medicine, sound healing, yoga and deep connection to mother earth. We aim to help heal our Earth and culture one plant connection at a time. 

We are spiritually connected to plants through our own ancestral lineage and strive to decolonize our relationship to the land and herbalism. We aim to undo the colonial legacies from our presence as descendants of white settlers on the unceded land of the Awaswas speaking Ohlone people (in Santa Cruz, CA). We recognize that many of the permaculture and herb practices we use are based on indigenous traditions. Because of this, we do not harvest endangered or culturally relevant plants in our area, educate our community of the ecological and cultural harm appropriation causes, and donate a portion of our profits and herbs to local QTBIPOC organizations and Indigenous land trusts.  We hope to make medical and food sovereignty, wellness and herbalism accessible to all and tend to this sacred land. Thank you for supporting our dream, we’re so excited to share the earth’s abundance and wisdom with all of you!




Certifications and Experience:

Mera: 

  • Clinical Herbalism Certification (Berkeley School of Herbal Medicine, Present) 

  • Herbalist Certification, 1,000+ hours (Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, 2023)

  • B.A. in Agroecology (University of California, Santa Cruz, 2022)

  • Blossoms Herb Farm Apothecary and Farmer’s Market Lead (Santa Cruz, 2021-2022)

  • Permaculture Design Certification (Santa Barbara City College, 2020)

  • 2+ years working on organic farms (2018-2021)

  • Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT-200 (Yoga to the People, 2017)


Alder:

  • Clinical Herbalism Certification (Berkeley School of Herbal Medicine, Present) 

  • Herbalism Certification (Ecoversity, 2023)

  • B.A. in Agroecology (University of California, Santa Cruz, 2023) 

  • Permaculture Design Certification (Ecoversity, 2021)

  • Lead Farmhand at the Terrace Foundation’s Urban Farm and Educational Outreach Center (Santa Barbara, 2016-2018)

  • 4+ years of experience foraging and growing medicinal mushrooms (2018-Present)