Mothertree Apothecary

Hi! We are Alder (they/he) and Mera (they/them); two passionate queer herbalists, witches, artists, forest spirits and agroecologists. We are both drawn to foraging, food justice and activism, which form the foundation of what we do at MotherTree. Our name was inspired by a sacred, old growth redwood tree who lives 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. As healers, we are in relationship with the cycles of nature, cultivating ceremonies that incorporate yoga, sound healing, and deep connection to mother earth. We are dedicated to personally connecting to all of the herbs we provide by either growing them in our organic garden or wildcrafting in the wilderness of California. We are spiritually connected to plants through our own ancestral lineage and strive to decolonize our relationship to the land and herbalism. We strive to undo the colonial legacies from our presence as descendants of white settlers on this land on the unceded land of the Awaswas speaking Ohlone people (Santa Cruz, CA). We recognize that the permacultural and herbal practices we implement are based upon indigenous traditions. We do not harvest endangered or culturally relevant indigenous plants in our area and give a portion of our profits to the Amah Mutsun Land Trust. We hope to make food, wellness and herbalism accessible to all and donate a portion of our herbs to Santa Cruz Herbal Mutual Aid. Thank you for supporting our dream, we’re so excited to share the Earth’s abundance and wisdom with all of you.