update from 10/22/2025

An 85-foot red oak tree fell on the property on Monday evening, August 11, 2025. It fell only inches from the house and did not cause any physical injuries to the furry and humans who live and work in the home. The home acts as the main residency of Sarah and houses the Aflorar Herb Collective Asheville Hub and Saritas Botanical Sanctuary (gardens and spaces of rest and relaxation) in West Asheville.

We got an insurance claim to remove the fallen tree and restore electricity, fix the roof on the herb hub, and replace some items on the farm that were damaged. It's been 2 months since the fall and I have learned so many lessons. The land is cleaned up and this fallen tree has given us so much abundance- new projects, wood, and more sunlight for the growing. I see now that when death and rebirth and digesting and composting are all intertwined and a part of the growth and transformation process.

I know that the climate catastrophes we are in will continue to happen and will help us to grow and invent new ways to be with the land. We will reuse and restore- using the wood in new ways. We will make logs for inoculating mushrooms, we will chip the wood to make pathways in the garden and feed our growers and volunteers with needed mulch in the coming seasons.

We will continue to love the land and pray with it daily and ask it to teach us.

update from 9/30/24 at 1:30pm

It’s gonna take years for us to rebuild WNC! There are few resources for aftercare around grief support, herbal mutual aid, and rest. We are using the land as a small supply hub which takes a lot of resources to hold. We have 3 organizers on site working around the clock to provide direct support for folks inside and outside the area. We have no internet and spotty cell service. Knowing where to get help/resources is taking us a lot of time and phone cell batteries. We have to find water every day and have rain barrels so we are so thankful that we got a little rain yesterday. The grief and trauma from all this will take us all a while to heal from.

The land and home is safe and we’re starting to clean up and get things organized so we can be on site, process herbs for community care, and have places of rest and healing for our community.

Thank you for your support. We love you and know we can rebullid together!

Sarah Nuñez has a passion for bringing traditional healing practices to individuals and groups seeking transformation and change. Currently based in the vibrant mountain community of Asheville, NC, Sarah is deeply involved in building positive people power and healing modalities "for the people and by the people". She is growing herbs and flowers on a 1/2 acre farm in West Asheville for the communities she serves across the United States. For the past three years, she and her friends, family, and Aflorar Herb Collective volunteers have built a beautiful botanical sanctuary that now needs a little more TLC and money to make it into a space that can hold, nurture, and produce all we need to thrive.

Sarah's efforts have supported the distribution of herbal care kits through Aflorar Herb Collective to hundreds of people across the country. She is mentoring herbalists, teaching workshops and hosting healing spaces at conferences, in community, and in the botanical sanctuary. To keep this work going we need some new tools to grow and sustain.

The money you contribute will support the following projects:

Paying for land acquired in County auction

Clearning Land- Tree and brush removal

Annual Taxes

Cleaning land from unhoused neighbors

Fencing

Building supplies

Farm equipment

Composting toilet

Rain harvesting system

If you or a group you are a part of are interested in supporting these efforts with in-kind skills, resources, materials, labor, please reach out to Sarah on IG or email.

Thank you for your support of this vision and work!

Una de las pasiones de Sarah Nuñez es llevar prácticas curativas tradicionales a individuos y grupos que buscan la transformación y el cambio. Sarah tiene su sede actualmente en la vibrante comunidad de las montañas de Asheville, Carolina del Norte, donde está profundamente involucrada en la construcción de empoderamiento positivo para la gente y modalidades de curación “para el pueblo y por el pueblo”.

Sarah cultiva hierbas y flores en una granja de 1/2 acre en West Asheville para comunidades en todo los Estados Unidos.

Durante los últimos tres años, Sarah y su comunidad han construido un hermoso santuario botánico que en este momento necesita un poco más de cariño y dinero para convertirlo en un espacio que pueda contener, nutrir y producir todo lo que necesitamos para prosperar.

Los esfuerzos de Sarah han apoyado la distribución de kits de cuidado a base de hierbas a través de Aflorar Herb Collective a cientos de personas en todo el país. Sarah también es mentora de herboristas, imparte talleres y organiza espacios de sanación en conferencias, la comunidad y la granja donde vive.

Ahora necesitamos nuevas herramientas para crecer y mantenernos para que este trabajo siga adelante.

Estamos recaudando fondos para apoyar los siguientes proyectos:

Material para secar hierbas y deshidratador

Más terreno para el cultivo

Vallado

Suministros de construcción

Construcción de lugares para el descanso y la relajación

Equipamiento agrícola

Fregadero exterior

Inodoro de compostaje

Sistema de captura de lluvia.

Si usted o alguien con quien trabaja está interesado en apoyar estos esfuerzos con conocimientos, recursos, materiales o mano de obra en especie, no dude en ponerse en contacto con Sarah, [email redacted].

Gracias por su apoyo a esta visión y a este trabajo.