Aflorar Herb Collective is a grassroots organization dedicated to reconnecting communities to traditional herbal practices and healing. We focus on providing culturally relevant herbal support to Chicanx, Latinx, Black, Queer, and Indigenous communities across the United States and Puerto Rico, with an emphasis on communities hardest hit by climate catastrophes, state violence and injustices.
Folks visiting the plant giveaway could come pick out which plant starts were calling to them the most.
Photo Credit: Isabella Clark
One of the ways we bring herbal support, practices, and healing to our community members is through our annual free giveaway of herbal plant starts donated by Gaia Herb and Taproot Nursery. This year, we held our event at Southside Community Farm, a local community farm whose mission is to grow Black food sovereignty in Asheville. 85 families came over on a hot May afternoon to choose from over 20 varieties of herb plant starts. We also supported many community gardens and farms, including Children First Communities in Schools, Big Witch Indian Wisdom Initiative, Aflorar Gardens, Play for the City, and Tierra Fertil, with plants increasing our reach through this event near and far. There were children and parents learning side by side about new herbs through asking questions, smelling, and touching the plant starts. Others came with a list ready to grab their plants for their prepped gardens. Spreading herbal plant knowledge through this event for those plants to spread their roots throughout gardens in western North Carolina, to hopefully one day be used in teas, foods, salves, tinctures, florida water, spiritual baths, and so much more. While the plants were so fun to give away and see everyone’s faces light up, we also gave away 100 bags of compost from Compost Now to help folks feed and nourish their plant babies with nutritious and yummy soil!
Supporting many farms, gardens, and families in WNC is the heart of our work (especially after Hurricane Helene), and we also loved the opportunity to meet new friends from across NC. In late May, we met Georgie Bryant, who is part of two orgs: The ODU Project and SymBodied, at the SVA All Members Gathering. He visited the hub that same week to pick up herbs, plant starts, and some extra love for their events in early June in Durham, NC.
The herbal plant giveaway on May 16 at Southside Community Farm. Photo Credit: Isabella Clark
This is what our work is about: making community care and healing accessible. It doesn’t need to be an expensive, extravagant thing to start your garden, but it is a commitment to nurture your plants, and in doing so, you are nurturing yourself as well. Taking the time to stop and get your hands in the dirt, to step outside after dinner to water your plants, and breathe. Talking with the plants, knowing them through their growth and stages, can be a powerful practice to get into at any age!
