The Path to House of Hens and Grit

Adrianne’s Story

Healing as a Journey

Years ago, I was probably further away from becoming a voice in natural healing than anyone can ever be. I was 18, struggling with a negative self-image and lost in a Texas University with shallow interactions and heavy drinking. I wasn’t learning anything I was excited about and I didn’t have a lot of positive or valued relationships. It was a complicated and somewhat dark time in my life, yet, as it turned out, I had to get to a dark place to say I wanted something better for myself..

I was taking classes in human development and family studies to eventually become a teacher or a social worker. That’s the way I was being steered, encouraged. “You’d be a great teacher, Adrianne. You’re great with kids.” However, the classes did not feel inspiring and I had no focus. Between classes, I was working in the supplement department of a health food store, and those days brought me closer to this path than I could have ever realized.. People would come in for help. They’d tell me their health problems and ask what supplements they should take. I had absolutely no qualifications to recommend herbal supplements, but I did have the internet, so I’d do a quick search online. I still remember how this one guy told me he had Gout, and his prescriptions weren’t working. I looked it up for him and read that Wild Cherry is good for Gout. I didn’t even know what Gout was back then, but a website said Wild Cherry and I knew we carried Wild Cherry Supplements. So that was how my herbal studies began. It was me and a computer in the supplement department of a health food store in a dusty Texas town.

And so, I made my move. I dropped out of college at the end of my second year and enrolled in the Colorado School of Healing Arts. This was a major turning point for me. Soon, I found my passion, taking specialized classes in Lymphatic Drainage, Cranial-Sacral Therapy, and Herbal Medicine. I surprised myself even, as I hadn’t seen that coming. I was looking for a way out of the heavy responsibilities that came along with being an adult. Instead, I found the door way through to my life’s work.

Meeting my Mentors in Herbalism

I studied Massage Therapy, Sports Massage, Reflexology. I started an oncology program, and learned to apply complementary therapies in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiation for cancer patients. After finishing the program, I bought a one way ticket to Guatemala. I had heard about a Mayan midwife, and I wanted to learn more about birth work, Mayan Abdominal Therapy and Herbalism. I wanted to learn about the medicine used in places where there is no Doctor. I didn’t know it at the time, but Mayan Midwife, Dona Odilia became a dear friend and mentor to me, and I’m still in regular contact with her and her family. During my first visit to her home, I attended births with her and learned about mayan medicines, such as plant baths, or bajos; traditional Mayan sauna, also called, temezcal. We worked with rebozos to put the uterus back in place after a birth and wildcrafted plants in the mountains for healing post natal steams.

In addition to my influential time with Dona Odillia, I interned at a women’s clinic in Guatemala called Manos Abiertas, making me realize that a clinical settings are just not for me. I was also blessed with the opportunity to study with the philanthropic midwife Vikki Pennwell, participating in her “Mercy In Action” program in Boise, Idaho. The program taught me so much about birth work from a classroom and text book setting. This was incredibly helpful for rounding out all my hands on, clinical experience in rural Guatemala.

Everything Falls Into Place

Every time I returned stateside, or came out of a long apprenticeship, my lovely farmer man would be waiting for me with open arms. He put up with my wanderlust and even wandered a bit with me. It was on one of these trips to Guatemala that he asked me to marry him. I had been learning so much, and I wasn’t even necessarily aware that I was gathering all the information for any specific reason. I was just interested in each next step, and in always learning more. I take such joy in the act of Trusting the Universe and seeing where it leads me. We became pregnant, which we were thrilled about, and as a mother, my interest in herbal medicine expanded in a whole new way. I wanted to raise my children as close to the Earth possible. I wanted to teach them how to grow their own food and make their own medicine.

Now, my husband, our three young children and I live on our homestead in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon. Everyday, I am outside in the garden with the kids, teaching them how to live off the land, how to sprout trees from seeds, how to ask plants for permission to harvest, how to tend to our cattle, our flock of chickens and ducks, and how to prepare medicine for ourselves and share it with our growing community. 

When the children go to sleep, I get most of the work for the House of Hens and Grit done, like bottling and shipping orders and doing the writing for my website and making Instagram posts. I enjoy sharing our story with others and hearing how our lives and the information I offer impact those who find us online. I gain a sense of community in the process and I feel tremendous gratitude when receiving positive feedback about how our products make a difference in their lives.

House of Hens and Grit Philosophy

We work with whole plant remedies, from Seed to Sale. The final product is more than its list of ingredients. There are many quiet, unseen choices made to bring the whole picture together. Lessons-Songs-Prayer to the Holy Mother. I’m here to share some of the energies, ethics and actions infused into our medicine.