Meet Alanna Gray | Herbalist & Land Steward

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alanna Gray and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alanna, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Not going to lie, this is something I struggle with daily. I have two young daughters ages 6 and almost 3. There are times when I have to work in small blocks of time in between cooking meals, taking naps, and just playing together. I’m very fortunate that they both enjoy being outside in the garden with me and I have the support of my family to help watch them and play with them. I’ve found the best way for us to all enjoy me creating this business is to get my kids involved. They help me prep garden soil, plant seeds, water, and care for the plants. We go out every morning and check on the flowers, chase butterflies, and enjoy the plants we helped to grow!
When I comes to harvesting they love grabbing their baskets and pruners and helping me harvest what we’ll use.
My oldest daughter likes to make her own tea blends and they both work outside together making stews and potions with herbs, flowers, and earth. I love watching them play like this, seeing that what I’m doing is making an impact on them.
Like all humans though we have our struggles, times when they can’t help me make products when I need to work alone. With the help of family and sometimes a movie, we get through it, give hugs, than I try to focus my attention on them again.
In the fall and spring when the garden isn’t taking up a lot of my attention we enjoy adventuring together as a family. Going to the beach, camping, and hiking are a few of our favorite things to do.
I definitely don’t want to be all work and no play, I feel like the play part is so important for me to be creative and to actually enjoy what I’m doing. Even though it’s challenging you have to figure out what works best for you and your family or whatever is going on in your life at the time. Biggest thing I’ve learned is to ask for help when I need it. I really couldn’t do life without my support system.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets me apart from others is that I grow at least 80% of the plant material that are infused into my oils. I believe by doing this you get a product that is of the highest quality, has good energy, and the customer knows exactly where it’s sourced! Also my growing the plants myself I have a deeper understanding of the plants themselves and how they can benefit us. I believe that plants can help us heal on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. If I can match the energetics of the plants to the energetics of the people I feel successful. Plants can help bring us into balance unlike any pharmaceutical drugs I can think of. I’ve very much enjoy watching the plants grow from seeds to harvest, smelling their flowers, tasting them, using the oil I infuse them into, or just sitting with them and listening. Many of the plants I work with are very old, and have thousands of years of knowledge in their genes. For me they are some of the best teachers. As far as my business goes, it’s slow growing, but that is ok with me. It allows me to learn, grow, and perfect. Being a very small business allows me to create when I’m in the right space to do so, not always having to meet high demands. I only like to create when I can give positive, healing energy into my products. I don’t want to sell something that I’ve made while feeling frustrated or grumpy, I believe that energy transfers over to the final product. Slowly I have more returning customers and more locals asking for what I make, or for suggestions to a certain ailment. Creating these personal bonds, and connecting one on one is what I’d like to do more of.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
To be honest I don’t visit the city too often, I’m more of a country girl, who prefers to spend time in nature. When I have friends visiting we usually go hiking of to the beach. Here are a few of my favorite spots! As a family we love Cardiff beach, we can surf, our kids can play in the ocean or the river mouth, and we can bring our dog. We love getting sushi or tacos but tend to try different restaurants whenever we go. We do really enjoy eating out at Janet’s Montana Cafe though, especially for breakfast or after a hike! Our favorite hikes are Kitchen Creek and Laguna Mountain loop. There’s great camping in our area too! William Heise County Park is beautiful for camping and hiking, Green Valley falls is beautiful also, especially if the water is running well. And we enjoy hiking at Cuyamaca Lake.
Since we are located pretty Far East in the high desert we are very fortunate to have a mineral hot springs just 10 minutes from us. Jacumba is magical and I definitely suggest a dip in the pond and a soak in the hot water.
If you’re continuing to drive east towards El Centro you should definitely stop at the Desert View Tower for a beautiful overlook and some fun bouldering.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family. I really wouldn’t have realized how much I love working with the land without them. I was born and raised in Hawaii, my dad would take us hunting every weekend and both my parents had a very strong connection to the ocean. This has been the foundation for me wanting to best serve the earth and connecting with the elements.
After graduating college my now husband and I moved from Hawaii to my sister and brother-in-law’s farm. This is when I learned how to grow plants, plant trees, and experience mild seasons. I fell in love with working with the land.
I am so grateful how supportive they are of what I want do and achieve. My parents supported me taking courses in clinical herbalism, my husband helps me run my booth at markets and watch our kids, and my sister and brother-in-law help me with our kids when my husband is working and they’ve given me the opportunity to grow what I choose on the land.
I really would not have been able to pursue this path without all of their love and support.

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HerbcraftersPortal

Instagram: @herbcrafters_portal

Facebook: Herbcrafter’s Portal

Other: Patreon: Medicine of the Singing Earth https://www.patreon.com/medicineofthesingingearth