WELCOME TO RAVEN CREST BOTANICALS
Raven Crest Botanicals is a small-scale medicinal herb farm, apothecary, and retreat sanctuary nestled in the forested hills of upstate New York.
Founded and stewarded by plant loving herbalist Susanna Raeven, Raven Crest is both farm and sanctuary. Here plants are grown with integrity, medicine is made by hand, and connection to the Earth is restored through direct experience. We tend to the garden with reverence and every remedy is crafted in devotion.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to reconnect people with the living intelligence of plants, the wisdom of the natural world, and the steady knowing within themselves.
We cultivate medicinal herbs with regenerative, organic, and biodynamic practices that honor the Earth in every step. We harvest in rhythm with the seasons, in reciprocity and gratitude.
Our remedies are created to support the body, calm the nervous system, nourish the skin, strengthen resilience, and bring balance to daily life.
Beyond herbal preparations, Raven Crest also holds intentional space for retreat, ceremony, and seasonal gatherings that invite deeper relationship with land, self, and community.
We are care takers of the land and protect the waters, plants and animals who flourish here.
We create and hold sacred, intentional space for healing and deep connection with the Earth and ourselves during our retreat offerings
MEET SUSANNA
I am Susanna Raeven, the founder of Raven Crest Botanicals, a living sanctuary devoted to connecting people with the medicine of plants and place.
I am a community herbalist, healing guide, elder, student of Andean Nature Mysticism, teacher, ceremonialist, and musician. My work bridges earth wisdom with embodied initiation by inviting people into the world of plant medicine, through herbal remedies, on the land of Raven Crest and in meditation. For over two decades, I have walked the green path with humble reverence.
My journey deepened twenty years ago in the Amazon, where the living intelligence of medicinal plants opened a doorway I have never stepped back from. Since then, my life has been rooted in listening to the land, to the plants, and to the subtle language of body and soul.
Being a land steward and herbalist means cultivating a deep connection with the plant world and tending to more than gardens. It includes being in right relation with soil, with the seasons, and with spirit. I regard the plants as allies, teachers and kin.
Through herbal preparations, ceremony, song, and guided healing work, I invite others into direct connection with the medicine that surrounds and lives within all of us.
HOW WE GROW
Raven Crest offerings begin in the soil.
We farm on a small scale using regenerative and no-till methods that protect the life of the earth beneath our feet. Our soil is enriched with mushroom compost and nourished through crop rotation and mindful stewardship.
Guided by biodynamic principles and lunar cycles, we align our planting and harvesting calendar with the natural rhythms of the Earth. Seeds are started in our earth-sheltered greenhouse in early spring and nurtured carefully before finding their place in the fields.
Water flows through gravity-fed irrigation. The sun dries our harvests in the warmth of summer. Each root, leaf, flower, and berry is gathered by hand.
We practice the honorable harvest and wildcraft only in reciprocity, with prayer, gratitude, and restraint.
HOW WE CREATE
Our herbal remedies are crafted from beautiful, freshly harvested plants grown on our farm and responsibly wildcrafted from our surrounding forests.
We work with whole flowers, leaves, berries, and roots to create full-spectrum preparations that honor the intelligence of the entire plant.
Herbs are slowly infused in high-quality organic oils and butters to create balms, salves, and botanical skincare. Herbal extracts are made with organic cane alcohol and organic flaxseed glycerin. Teas are blended with dried herbs harvested at peak vitality.
We honor ancient herbal traditions, plant folk stories, and plant wisdom passed down through generations of wise women. Each preparation is made in small batches, by hand, with careful attention and respect.
Our remedies carry the intention and imprint of the love we put into growing. harvesting, and making herbal medicine.
RETREATS & GATHERINGS
Throughout the seasons, Raven Crest opens its doors for retreats, workshops, immersions and apprenticeship experiences.
These gatherings invite participants into direct relationship with medicinal plants, seasonal rhythms, and land-based practice.
Whether through herbal medicine workshops, yoga and meditation retreats, seasonal celebrations, or deeper ceremonial work, each offering is designed to foster connection, resilience, and joyful experiences in nature.
