Support Hidden Lotus Co-op's Regenerative Farm & Free Clinic
Donation protected
Starting our cooperative herbal apothecary has been incredible. From teaching the art of tea blending to foraging invasive species for first aid balms to teaching about wild edible plants in the field, we’re so appreciative of this adventure and the impact we've had the honor of making!
Support from the Denton community has been vital to our sustained ability to offer sliding scale and donation-based workshops and remedies, as well as ensuring our participation in mutual aid efforts.
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We are making big moves in 2024, including moving our operations to an organic, permaculture-based farm, converting all of our energy usage to renewable sources (solar and biogas power), increasing our capacity for fair employment by officially becoming a five member worker-owned cooperative, starting our free herbal clinic, and widening our educational wingspan.
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With continued support, we will be able to achieve all of these goals and so much more!
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Who is the Hidden Lotus Herbs cooperative?
Our official membership includes Arandena Leh’mara, Dustin Jarreau, and Silver.
We are a collaborative junction of herbalists, farmers, educators, and artists building resiliency in our community through providing affordable access to herbal products, environmental education, and mutual aid programs. Along with our official members, an assortment of amazing volunteers helps support our operations!
We are sponsored by Cooperation Denton, a community organization focused on building hyper-local dual power based on principles of social ecology and intersectional feminism.
Furthermore, we are also intertwined within Denton Communal Revival, a community group which strives to revive the practice of communal living, freely giving and freely receiving to each other based on need and ability.
Our natural farming and ecological regeneration efforts are greatly supported by Painted Flower Farm, a fantastic local source for native plants and provider of mountains of eco-gardening knowledge!
Arandena
Dustin
Silver
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Our Achievements
Here’s what we’ve done so far through the generous support of Cooperation Denton, who sponsored us with startup funds to build this apothecary as a worker-owned cooperative business:
- 3 cooperative members; ready to onboard 2 more once our new site is set up
- 31 free clinic clients
- 160 people served with low cost herbal remedies
- 4 donation-based / sliding scale herbalism workshops
- 1 donation-based foraging workshop
- Total of 60 workshop attendees provided with sliding scale and donation-based education!
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Our Plans For The Future
In 2024:
- Set up our organic herb farm on a multigenerational permaculture homestead
We have taken great strides in this plan by setting up housing for our cooperative members. The three of us have collectively invested over $11,000 into our housing setup for this phase of our cooperative. We are keeping our housing mobile, so that when we have the funding to buy our own lot of land, we can easily move there.
We have also been working to set up the permaculture systems at this site for about half a year. It is already a promising site with many fruit trees, earthworks for water movement, a pond, domesticated animals, and plenty of wildlife habitat.
Our immediate funding ask is for assistance with the required next steps to build infrastructure for this site and support our continued ability to produce an organic, ecologically conscious supply of herbs, herbal products, and education.
Along with the $11,000 we have put towards housing, we will also be converting our energy usage to completely renewable sources with a DIY solar power system, biogas digester, rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, and composting systems. See the next section for a detailed breakdown of costs.
In 2025:
Continue building our projects here in Denton, improving the soil and site of our farm. Create an impactful and consistent presence at the Denton Community Market and on the streets of Denton. Continue hosting many educational events, spanning out into DFW more.
Build our online educational programs through conferences, classes, videos, and writings
Form a strong cooperative basis and experiment with other cooperative principles and methods
Solidify retail spaces with other cooperative and community-central businesses
Increase bartering and labor/time/skill exchange connections
In 2026:
Begin touring permanent farm locations
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How funds will be utilized:
OFF-GRID PERMACULTURE FARM
- DIY Solar Power System: ~$3,000-$3,500
- Biogas Digester: ~$400
- Rainwater Harvesting: ~$200
- Greywater Recycling: ~$200-$500
- Composting Systems: ~$150
- Irrigation: ~$200
- Greenhouse: ~$400
- Low Tunnels: ~$200
- Live Plants: ~$200-$400
- Seeds: ~$200
- Tools (Broadfork, Scythes, Flower Harvester, Hori-horis, Cut & Sifting Equipment, Drying Racks): ~$1000
FREE HERBAL CLINIC
- Herb Allocation: ~$1000 annually
- Dispensing Containers: ~$300 annually
- Rolling Cart Purchase & Setup: ~$400
- Misc Mobile Equipment: ~$100
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How You Can Support!
Donate directly to our GoFundMe! All funds go directly towards the aforementioned projects to build up our organic farm and capacity for providing our community with free herbal clinics and low cost herbal support products.
Donate to our Open Collective!
Our Open Collective is a place specifically created to support our community projects, such as our free herbal clinic, donation-based herbalism and foraging workshops, free online educational programs, and our CSH (Community Supported Herbalism) initiative. Our Open Collective site offers full financial transparency, so you can see the exact budget we have at a given moment, how funds are being allocated, and exact transactions made. This is a perfect way to track the impact of your donations. You can sign up to be a consistent sponsor for these projects there by enrolling in an automatic monthly donation as low as $5.
Subscribe to our CSH (Community Supported Herbalism) distributions!
If you’re not familiar with CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), you can learn more here!
Subscriptions to CSHs/CSAs are vital for farmers, especially in their first years. Consistent clientele and assured income allows stability for fledgling organic farms like us.
*Your subscription includes a monthly delivery of handcrafted herbal remedies fit for the season and a variety of issues (in the future, will be customizable to your preferences or needs each month!), a self or home care item (ie. bath, beauty, home products), some herbs from our seasonal harvests, information on the remedies and herbs, as well as a newsletter for farm updates. In lieu of a monetary subscription, we will also be accepting labor exchanges.*
Our CSH program allows for direct, long-term support for us and is immensely appreciated.
Buy a product and leave a review on our Etsy shop!
Bypass site and processor fees and send a one-time donation directly to us via Venmo!
@ HiddenLotusHerbs
Non-monetary assistance:
If you can't donate, please share this page with your friends and on your social media pages!
Once we move to the farm site, we'll be able to bring on some volunteer help & apprentices, so keep an eye on our socials for updates!
Thank you so much for reading, sharing, and supporting us!
Our dream of a cooperative organic farm and free education and services for our community is just beginning ~ and we can't do it without you! We are so appreciative of your help!
All of our well-wishes,
Aran, Dustin, & Silver
Organizer
Hidden Lotus Herbs
Organizer
Valley View, TX
