I’m Siara

There were few things I seriously wanted to be when I grew up. At the top of my list was a circus performer. However, my lack of performative talent and reserved nature don’t make for good entertainment, so I had to settle for a temporary role in the VIP tent at Cirque Du Soleil. I also considered pursuing a career as an emergency veterinarian, though my unflappable nature was not developed until well into my adulthood, so that was out. Lastly, I dreamed of becoming a witch. This I thought I had a chance at since I knew my mother was a witch. She had a magical way of healing. Bumps and bruises were soothed with a flower and oil ointment. When I was sick she would send me to retrieve the "green box", which is still somewhat a mystery to me but I trust it nonetheless. She would place a few beads of something derived from plants, animals, and other natural substances under my tongue. She would transform animal bones on the stove top into a sipping broth sure to assuage any winter illness. The effective, natural, and gentle results were so remarkable, I've been unable to turn off my deep passion and belief.

Eventually, I left behind my childhood passions to become actively involved in the tiny house and natural build movement. I worked briefly for Habitat for Humanity training volunteers on how to accomplish daily tasks and use power tools. When unexpected health challenges arose, I dediced to tap into my inherit healing power. I returned home to my mother’s rural West Virginia farm. I suspected being closer to her and the land would help me fulfill a lifelong dream. My journey into this work has revived a hunger for ancestral wisdom. I’m now in my fourth year of cultivating crops and studying herbs and food as medicine and utilizing nutrition to address overall health and wellness.

Soil Hued Mojo

Honoring ancestral ways of knowing and doing.

In 2023, I began crafting Soil Hued Mojo with great intention. At the time being newly post-partum, my mission was to empower women to take control of their health, wellness, and the vitality of their families to relieve some of the common complaints seen in pregnancy that can be directly linked to nutrition. I donated monthly “fussin bags”, grown and carefully prepared on the farm using Afro-Indigenous techniques to encourage milk production, ease sore muscles, combat anxiety and nausea, and to support an overall healthy pregnancy. Additionally, I set up free wellness stations in health centers and gyms throughout my local community, stocking tea blends, salves, and self-designed information pamphlets.

What began as a commitment to provide support to Black families soon evolved into supporting the larger community through nutrition and herbal education and products. I began making and sharing my remedies at local farmers markets, received small grants to improve farm infrastructure for increased yields, and began leading Fire Cider skillshares. Soil Hued Mojo has allowed me to lay a solid foundation for an integrated lifestyle that sustains me and my daughter’s social, emotional, spiritual, and economic growth. A holistic lifestyle of genuine freedoms not commonly offered to our children and one that allows her to grow up beside me and among family, minimally influenced by the dishonoring dominating culture.

Thank you for supporting my dream.