By Sarah Nuñez

Preparing for the fall equinox feels far away as I gather my thoughts during a heavy summer rain in late July. We usually begin to brainstorm what to share in our newsletters a few months before, as this newsletter is a window into our work, hearts, and harvest, created by many members of our collective.  

This morning I started the day walking into the gardens in the heavy rain to check on the water flow on the land. Ever since the 72 year old, 85 foot tall red oak fell in August of 2025, almost one year after Helene and now one year ago, I am ever present with the flow of water, where it puddles, where it flows, and careful that the rain barrels (which fill up in seconds during a heavy downpour) are emptying in just the right places.. 

July Rain notes remind me of what Dolly Parton says, “if you want rainbows you have to put up with the rain.” I also enjoyed the song Summer Rain, by Carl Thomas as I reflect on the seasons we've been through this year. Check it out on our playlist!

With all the rain this summer season, we were not able to save the rain for watering the gardens, so it ended up emptied back into the storm water system. While this practice is not ideal, it's the best we can do at this time as we wait to build a more hefty rain harvest system on the land this fall to include a cistern that will hold 1,500 gallons of water and keep the water on the land.

Most of the time, we are doing the best we can, and I want to remember that every day as I offer grace to myself and others who are all walking this path with us. Storms come, dumping a lot of water; then it collects, empties, and the cycle continues. Building out our organization’s systems, people, and structures gives the same vibes as well. We’re building and pouring into ourselves, our structures, our people, and our gardens each season with intention and sometimes all the feels!

Rainstorms remind me of how grief feels and settles in the body. A rush of feelings, falling quickly, splashing all over, moving fast, that has a way of flowing and moving exactly what it needs to move. Then I wait,  knowing it will come again. Sometimes unexpectedly, as a flash memory while walking in a store, driving in my car, or sitting in the garden. I think of grief with rain and the trees and the storm. I know it is cyclical and will come and visit me again soon; then, once it empties or settles, I can go and splash in puddles and dance in the droplets, remembering that this too is temporary.

May the sun shine down on you right after the rain and provide you with a few moments of beauty nurtured by nature. We are, in essence, a fragment of rain showers watering the soil,  puddled water ready to splash in, and light beams reflecting back to us all our souls' desires. 

This season of summer has been full of rain showers and rainbows to share with you, my dear friends. A season of dreams coming true, just like eating a ripe peach or drizzling your favorite honey onto granola or in your teacup. We are ripe with deliciousness, sweet as the bees' nectar, and letting flow and transitions be the puddles that we will splash in and sink into the ground soil, into the depths of the land, to nurture all that is being created here on this land, within our whole beings, and together we share these blessings with all of you. 

While we tell you more about what all we have been up to, we wish to also connect the tributaries of our rivers to others doing amazing work in our ecosystem.

Kairos Center published survival strategies last year, and it leads me home on a regular basis. Abundance will flow; don't give up on humanity, and build culture in all we do.

Lately, I am reminded about what I consume energetically and spiritually and last month's Black August Freedom Church of The Poor Sunday gatherings were a reminder of what it can feel like to take time weekly to devote time to my self, beliefs, and rituals.

While we remember and ground ourselves with the rains, sunbows, and our teachers, let's take a little trip into a recent trip Camille took from Puerto Rico to Appalachia and that Sarah took from Appalachia to Puerto Rico. 

We are building tributaries across the lands that deeply touch our souls.

In the spirit of sharing responsibility in the collective, I got to sub in for Sarah at the Appalachian Community Funders cohort gathering in Bristol, TN from June 23rd- 25th. Right along the border of Tennessee and Virgina……. this land is familiar.

This Tennessee border line has been a “recurring character” in my life - I was born right along this border line, but about 360 miles (579km) away. But I technically didn’t live in Tennessee; I lived on the Kentucky side of the border line because in 2000 my dad was stationed at Fort Campbell…sorta a weird start to my life, pero que se va a hacer. 

I went to the ACF gathering and connected with folk throughout Appalachia- the mountain range that has held me for the last 7 years. This was the first in-person cohort meeting, so I was a little nervous but so excited to represent and share about Aflorar Herb Collective. I met a great cohort made up of 7 groups: Tri-Cities Mutual Aid and Solidarity Network, We Are The Teachers, INC., Appalachian African American Cultural Center, West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, CB Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum, Southeast Kentucky African American Museum & Cultural Center, and the Asian Cultural Center of Tennessee.  When I first looked at all of our cohort, I thought, “Well, I see how some are connected, but how are we all connected?” As we spent more time together, we all noticed a common thread: storytelling. All of our groups have stories to tell that need to be heard. 

Funders have an obvious power dynamic among their grantees, and envisioning a future where those barriers are lowered (structured differently) feels like a big step in the right direction toward getting adequate funding to organizations and making sure it’s sustainable growth for each group. We love how Appalachian Community Fund is doing this with us!

Giving guidance, exposure, tools, time to rest, and connection is visionary and just what we need at this time!

 Telling our story with Aflorar, talking about the healing of our organizers who work in rapid response and don’t have the necessary tools and privilege to have a break, so it’s care kits for them to aid in the heightened emotional system. 

Skill sharing this way, through statelines, our world feels so big to us, but we are so tiny in reality that there’s so much for us to learn about to do to try to improve, and by hearing what others are doing, by connecting through this people-first funding model, you receive these opportunities 

I came back inspired…

I was stepping into a role that represents Aflorar and our collective does amazing work that I believe in so wholeheartedly. I want to do it justice, and I got to connect with a different part of me being on this land again.

On State Street in Bristol, Tennessee, I was surprised by the amount of Tennessee flags lining the streets. This sort of pride with flags reminds me of Puerto Ricans (my people), and that takes us to Sarah, who recently visited me in PR!

While Camille connected to roots of TN and reflections on pride, identity, and common threads, my travels to Puerto Rico in early September gave us a new view on what could become with our work on lands and with people whose struggle is so familiar to us in Western North Carolina. Hurricane threats, heavy rains, loss of water, and power. While ours was isolated to the storm, theirs is ongoing, and we have so much to learn from one another. 

While sitting in the evening breeze, listening to coqui frogs chirp and smelling thick tropical tree leaves fall, we dreamt up ways we can move differently AND support our people across Appalachia, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. We visited our Growers Network member, Ash, appreciated so much deep rest time on the beaches and rivers, and started planning for next year's storytelling and our Growers Network program. We are excited to share more with you about our 2027 plans in the Winter Newsletter coming out around the Winter Solstice.

Recently, our close friend Ada took herbal goodies to Bogota, Colombia, for an event she was facilitating. We sent over lemon balm and tulsi from this year's harvest along with a few other treats to help support holding major grief. Ada shared with us that the tea kettle was filled the whole training and people kept going back for more the whole workshop. When disaster hits, no matter where we are, we can always reach for the herbs to love us up.

We are excited to share that our staff member, Camille, moved to Puerto Rico at the end of  2025, and she is doing some great work building with one of our growers, Suuru Ashley Torres Carrasquillo. They just obtained 5 acres of land in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and we are so happy to share some pictures from Sarah’s recent trip to Puerto Rico. AND we're helping amplify Suuru Ashley’s work here too, so please consider donating to their project.

Venmo: @Ashley-Torres-32

PayPal: torresashley@icloud.com

Our own Marcos Morales and Teresa Lajara will be at this year's Other and Belonging Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, October 9-10 and hosting a session on Healing Justice: Collective Art and Community Care. If you are close to Louisville, please check out this conference and our lovely crew doing their thing!!

While Camille is helping us catch stories in Puerto Rico she is also teaching others about our work. Check her out teaching folks how to make area sprays with the zine she made for Aflorar. Download your own copy too.

While we connect with our tributaries across the region and Puerto Rico, we are also building deep connections and love right here at home in Western North Carolina through our mutual aid and community care work.

I was busy this summer stocking community spaces and partner locations with teas, tinctures, salves, and other supportive goods. Our mutual aid drops have been flowing through the community like cool water, offering a little relief, nourishment, and care along the way ~~

In a recent convo with Jackie from Consulta Tu Compa, we talked about the different ways folks are connecting with the herbs and teas at the locations or like we call them our liberation zones. Sometimes, a familiar scent can bring someone back to a loved one, a familiar place, or a practice they grew up with. Other times, the herbs offer relief in the present moment. Jackie shared that a salve was given to someone experiencing knee pain, and it brought them some much-needed relief. 

It’s so special to hear the stories people have with these herbs and to see the different ways they’re being used and shared in the community. We’re beyond grateful for our partners and for the ways they pour into their communities, helping these resources flow a little farther. Here are a few glimpses of the folks and connections that keep this current moving.

We’re looking forward to volunteer days this fall when we can gather again to make more herbal remedies  ~~ 

Find us monthly at the Campaign for Southern Equality Rest and Resilience Days (October 29, and December 17th) and Free Acupuncture Clinic of Asheville at Umoja on October 14, November 11, and December 16.

Thanks to Gaia Herbs for keeping us stocked up on goodies for our distribution, which were recently delivered to PODER Emma’s Casa de Apoyo Mutuo warehouse in the Emma community. We truly do keep each other safe and supported!

We have been pretty busy this year!

910 people served

310 care kits/baskets distributed 

46 partner orgs

15 Volunteer days 

27 Land visits 

7 classes on the land 

Served Minneapolis, Minnesota | Oakland and Santa Ana, California |  Arlington, Texas | Louisville, and Lexington, Kentucky | Little Rock, Arkansas | Erwin, Tennessee

North Carolina Counties: Mecklenburg County, Bladen County, Buncombe County, Durham County

Mexico | Bogota, Colombia |Cayey, Mayagüez, and Caguas Puerto Rico 

The land has been moved--- we are so grateful for the work of Ground to Grown Tree Care in Asheville, NC, who donated excavation equipment and labor to build out the land. We are over joyed for this support and excited to have you in our familia. This space will include rain harvesting, rain gardens, and a teaching space in the coming months. We are equally as thrilled to partner with Mother Tree Permaculture this fall and be a part of their work as a site for their classes this fall. Alongside the students, we will be envisioning what more could happen on the land in rhythm with all parts of the landscape. 

We added a 8X8 shed to hold vessels, garden tools, healing space supplies, and more. This space can also act as a herb drying shed when the power goes out, providing us with more space to process the herbs we are using in our care kits, classes, and demos.

Since early April, we have been under construction. The Climate Resilience Organizing Hub is in full build-out mode. We have many exciting updates for you.

The Overnight stay and practitioner room, apothecary, and organizing space is almost done. We hope to have a completed space by October 30, 2026, ready to host and open our doors. This is a 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath, and workspace. We will be able to host overnight stays for social justice warriors, have indoor space for our events and classes, and host co-working space for local organizers and groups.

We're still dreaming and beginning planning for phase 2, which will include tiny homes for long-term housing, bathing and ceremony spaces, sauna+hot tub, covered teaching area, solar power stations, and herb drying dehydrators for when the power fails.

Stay tuned to our next newsletter to learn more about how you can help. If you want to learn more or visit the land, support, or learn more, reach out to Sarah at sarah@aflorarherbcollecvite.org.

Over the past few months, we have been working with Mary BP for a temporary role as our land tender. Mary and the team have been enjoying harvesting and drying herbs all summer- including yarrow, spearmint, tulsi, hyssop, echinacea, calendula flowers, and skullcap.

Mary BP shares more about whats been happening on the land this Summer.

We learned from Michael Rayburn at Rayburn Farms that the best time to harvest medicinals is early morning or late evening, when a plant’s cells are open and release their moisture more readily rather than holding onto extra water weight. It’s also the coolest part of the day, so the plants are typically at their happiest and most robust.

Once harvested, the herbs go into our dehydrator, laid out on metal racks. Drying time averages 2–4 hours, though stemmier plants take longer while light, airy leaves like mint dry faster.

After drying, we garble the herbs — breaking them down to tea grade. This step also maximizes how well their constituents extract, whether into alcohol for a tincture, or into vinegar or water.

It’s been a wonderful process, and we’re looking forward to drying even more before the season ends, including motherwort, vervain, lemon balm, and more.

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 

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

We also need furniture for the spaces we are creating. If you have any from this list below, please reach out to us. 

Wishlist: queen mattress, queen bed frame, twin murphy bed, 2 lamp shades, large wood table for 12 people, and 2 sturdy bookshelves.

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 in December 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, CC, Camille, Mary BP, Paulina, mari, Teresa, and Ameena