Meet Desirae Miller | Friend of the medicine + Shopkeeper

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

Hi Desirae, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Adobe Garden originally started as a small-scale hobby. I would infuse herbs into honey on the windowsill of my little adobe kitchen. I would harvest herbs from my garden, marry the infusion out of this tiny kitchen, and share the final goods within the community. With this in mind, Adobe Garden was founded and created in 2018. I was passionate about making herbal medicines and herbal-infused goods gentle and accessible. Since I was a young child, I dreamed and envisioned a place that felt welcoming and safe for all people but most especially for people who don’t have access to that safety like others do. In my mind, I saw jars stacked on jars with herbs and medicinal flowers hanging from jute bundles for drying, where people gathered and shared.

in 2021, I was working at a local non-profit which was so fulfilling, but I finally saw the opportunity to make this distant daydream a reality. I suppose this answer is hard to conceptualize because if I look back, there was so little thought process during that time because if I sat with myself in these thoughts for too long, I probably would have held myself back. I packed my vision in a basket with a lid and jumped off a cliff without looking back.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a marginalized human with many different intersections, it’s kind of always been my goal to lay as low as possible. My entire life has been trying to blend in, stay small and push through while taking up as little space as possible. As I’ve evolved – I realized it is far more exhausting in this box I have forced myself into. I believe that realization gave me the nudge to ensure there was a space for that to be reflected back to others. It’s incredibly hard to feel valid and seen when there’s little representation around you. With our Brick & Mortar being located in a small, rural Utah town I found that most people within marginalized communities feel very alone. I knew that in opening Adobe Garden if I wasn’t actively giving back or providing something unique and special, it wouldn’t feel ethical.

We are proud and excited that when you walk into our space, it is different than any other commercial space you’ve walked into in town. Immediately you are greeted in our courtyard with a warm welcome of sunflowers, cacti, medicinal flowers + herbs, terracotta pots stacked in a corner waiting to hold a new friend, and a beautiful mural done by a local artist consisting of native plants and mushrooms. You’ll walk inside and find queer art made in small batches by local + regional queer artists, local small batch made jewelry, art, and goods. You will see le virgencita blessing the space on our altar, you’ll find dried and processed mushrooms, herbs, teas, and spices. And, most importantly; you’ll see our love for these communities we are so deeply grateful to be a part of. We are queer, BIPOC, loud + proud!

As a mushroom lover, I have found ways to incorporate them into a lot of small-batch, locally made products. Our Mushroom brew + Chai is very popular. It takes me a couple of days to make these as I’m processing fully dried fruiting body mushrooms into a fine powder and blending our recipes carefully and methodically. Our very own mushroom powder is made the same way and it’s so important for our customers to ensure they are getting ethical herbal goods, it’s been very exciting seeing the reaction people have to these items being made in the very space they stand in. Our goal is to make returning back to nature in these medicinal ways, whether it be mentally, physically, or spiritually as accessible and in reach as possible. No one needs a fancy title or expensive courses to feel ready for their herbal journey. It’s okay to start small, at any time.

Being an extremely small business owner has not been easy in the slightest. While I’ve mentioned all the things that encourage us to keep going, I would be lying if I didn’t also honor the challenges that come with it. I’m striving to be realistic in honoring the ebb and flow of anything you put energy into. Overcoming the challenges is only temporary because after you’ve tackled those, more arise. I’ve started to assure myself that this is okay, it’s constantly a learning process and if there weren’t challenges – we simply wouldn’t be growing. I think the many hats it requires as a small business owner can be taxing but also awesome in the knowledge that every single thing that comes from your work, is a reflection of perseverance and honoring of your ideas. As a small, community-oriented business owner, I’ve learned that it’s incredibly important to find compassion for yourself. I’ve learned that you can’t do everything you thought you could in a day, but you always have tomorrow.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Adobe Garden as a whole would not embody the energy it is without the Moab community. My shout-out goes to the village that supports and uplifts their neighbors, who rally in support of each other. Our goal is to continue to give back to the community that encouraged the reality of this being tangible + sustainable with uplifting love.

Website: https://www.adobegardenapothecary.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adobegarden/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adobegarden

Image Credits
Max Haimowitz & Alexandra Keeling