By Sarah Nuñez and edited by Paulina Mendez

Welcome back to story time with Sarah. It's a chilly spring day, just after the celebration of our mothers and mothering, trips across Appalachia, reconnecting with old friends, and new structures being built all around us. While this season is one of growth and changes, we are holding some sadness for all the transitions happening. Sometimes the fruit of our harvests can be bitter, sweet, juicy, and messy, just like the strawberries we picked and enjoyed eating at La Chacra Farm with mari mujica in early May. Right after the celebration of mamas, graduations, and spring blooms mari and I enjoyed some warm strawberries harvested in the morning sun while sharing stories of home, love, and our dreams.

As the strawberries warmed our hearts while we said goodbye for now, we were even more excited to know that the people and support for our work across Kentucky and North Carolina (and beyond) is stronger than ever.

Just after the visit to La Chacra, I drove to Lexington to meet up with farmers, herbalists, and educators as a gathering of great minds and hearts to see what might be possible in eastern Kentucky. We don't have any formal plans yet, but we shared a meal, ideas, dreams, and SEEDS from maris' gardens. It's just beautiful how we can spread the plants and dreams from person to person AND garden to garden every year.

At this gathering, we also shared stories and some art created during 2023 as part of "Herbs. Art. Healing", a project organized by mari, Lorena, and Connie, which included various workshops and was partially supported by the Kentucky Foundation for Women. We are rich in stories and strong in using our talents in so many ways. Aflorar believes that our work is about using art, storytelling, remembering, and everything in nature to help lead our lives and vision.

In the coming months, we hope to take a little trek to see each other's farms and see what resources we can share with one another. The farms are spread throughout eastern Kentucky, and I was so excited to learn more with our friends there and to continue to see their dreams.

While seeding dreams of what's happening for the land and changes for mari, we have more heart warming moments to share about changes with Aflorar happening this summer.

Isabella will be stepping back from their role with Aflorar Herb Collective this week. They joined our work in 2023 as a volunteer and what started as curiosity about herbalism became one of the most formative experiences of their life. Tending to the land, showing up for mutual aid, and welcoming people into spaces of rest and care, connected them to something ancestral and true. It reminded them daily that healing is not just personal, it is collective.

Isabella shares “I am stepping back because my body is asking me to. I've been navigating a chronic illness and focusing on my own healing is the most honest path forward. Disability is part of my story. Rest is resistance. Tending to ourselves is part of the work, too.” 

This is not goodbye as Isabella will continue to show up for Aflorar as a volunteer and supporter. Please stay in touch with them through their own project of land and farming at @upliftaccess.herbalremedies on Instagram.

We Love You and will always keep close your warmth and care!

Helps us welcome the sweetness of Cc to our collective 

Cc first came to the land last year with her mom and was so vibrant and excited to find us. She has been a huge support at events, tabling, and supporting art and healing days on the land. She started as the Mutual Aid and Community Care Organizer for us this week and will be supporting with events, tabling, volunteers, and more for us in the coming seasons.

We have been pretty busy this year!

836 people served

207 care kits/baskets distributed 

Served Minneapolis, Minnesota | Oakland and Santa Ana, California |  Arlington, Texas, Louisville, and Lexington, Kentucky
North Carolina Counties: Mecklenburg County, Bladen County, Buncombe County, Durham County

27 different orgs/communities/entities served

The Climate Resilient Organizing Hub in Asheville is moving quickly to complete phase one and construction has been underway all spring! We have completed the framing, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical, and received quotes for all the land work, including the teaching space pavilion, rain harvest systems, and storage. The land has been cleared to make space for growing, street beautification, and rain gardens. It's exciting to have it all come together, and we're still planning to open the doors again in early August 2026. If you would like to come and visit, do a tour, or site visit, please contact Sarah at sarah@aflorarherbcollective.org for scheduling. 

For a calming, stress relief, and pain reliever bath salt recipe, just mix Epsom salt, lavender flowers, chamomile, and essential oils in a large bowl. Add to warm water and soak your feet or body in this relaxing and calming blend.

To learn more about bath salt, check out page 6 of our Guide to Herbal Remedies zine 

Sarah and local Asheville community members were recently highlighted in the Tzedek Social Justice Fund UpLift podcast, talking about the Climate Resilient Organizing Hub and other projects recently funded through their community-led grantmaking. Click here to listen! 

Gaia Herb donated thousands of plant starts from more than 20 herb varieties to us for the 3rd year in a row. This year, we teamed up with Southside Community Farm and DJ Mike Holmes and welcomed 85 families to the giveaway on Saturday, May 16th, from 10-4. It was a beautiful, warm day where community members gathered to pick out their plants while eating strawberries grown on the farm and listening to Michaels tunes. We also supported many community gardens+farms, including Children First Communities in Schools , Big Witch Indian Wisdom Initiative, and Tierra Fertil with plants. We love this event for many reasons, but our favorite is that it makes starting your garden accessible! You don’t need a lot of space or many plants to start your garden, only patience, sun, and water! 

The official Aflorar Herb Collective website is LIVE!! We have been planning this site for so long and are very excited to share it with the world!

Take some time to slow down. Breathe. Color. Dance. Read. Be present.

• Guide to Herbal Remedies Zine 
• Bilingual Plant Cards 
• Give a listen to Aflorar’s Spotify Playlist
• Raices & Resistencia 2025 Coloring Book 

Picture by Safi with Peace Gardens of bees on her poppies

In March, April, and May, we hosted a few volunteer events that supported us in moving the materials for our production into storage for the construction of the Climate Resilience Organizing Hub. We made care kits and herbal goodies for the monthly Acupuncture Free Clinic of Asheville, Campaign for Southern Equality Rest and Resilience Days, Legacy Neighborhoods, and many other groups. 

We had staff and volunteers attend the WNC Herb Festival, Appalachian Funders Network Gathering, Organic Growers School, Transplanting Traditions Gathering, ASAP Business of Farming Conference, Dia de Bien Estar with Poder Emma, and Play for the City this Spring. We have been busy like the bees pollinating all the strawberries (and poppies) in the fields this season, and it's been fun connecting with all of you!

Volunteers from Warren Wilson Herb Farm and our own volunteers like Aishia and Zeni helped us clear and cure bamboo, plant and weed our gardens, make herbal blends, and tend to our own care needs this Spring. Thank you all so much for all you are pouring into us so we can continue to do this work.

Special thanks to all the folks who donate their compost to Compost Now. Because of you, we moved 100 bags of compost to folks across the region to help families grow gardens on their porches, lawns, and land. If you would like to donate your compost, too, you can sign up here. 

If you would like to join in on the fun, please fill out this form, and we'll follow up with more details soon.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for holding us in your hearts and prayers this summer. We will be back in early September with updates on the growing, land, and our people. Until then, eat those yummy strawberries and happy plating.

Donate to our work and consider a recurring monthly donation to help us throughout the year. We wish to have 10 new recurring donors this year. You can spread out your love to us every month! With your donation, you can help us with:

• $20 will pay for 1 month of gas to deliver herbs to our liberation zones across the community
• $120 or $12 per month will mail 10 care kits to people across the country 
• $180 or $15 per month will buy enough herbs to make 100 small pouches of our tea blends, breathe steams, and bath salts 
• $250 or $20 per month will pay for a tea station at a local community event for organizers and social justice warriors who need to rest 
• $500 or $40 per month will support one of our growers in the growers' network 
• $600 or $50 per month will provide us with enough tincture bottles for 6 months of supplies

Thank you for your time and care in joining us and reading more about our work and the love we share with communities and each other. We'll see you again at the beginning of Summer for the next newsletter.

We are choosing to honor the land, our people, and you every single day!

Please join us, friends.

With love,

Sarah, Isabella, CC, Camille, Paulina, Mari, and Teresa