Ate Kay’s Farm, (pronounced ahh-tey), is my small-scale tea and herbal farm. It grows from many years of community food sovereignty work. I grow and forage in both Tkaronto and Ktaqmkuk. My practice focuses on herbs and flowers that can support us through tea, with blends focused on grief, sleep, anxiety, depression, and our ability to manage burnout. These are herbs that can help keep us moving and in our responsibilities. The teas are an offering I have shared with friends, family, and community over the years.

My farming practice is deeply committed to more-than-human life. I do not grow food, flowers, and medicines only for humans. I try to participate meaningfully in relationships with land, water, seeds, plants, animals, and all of creation, following practices shaped by my own experiences and by the knowledge held within my communities. I do not use pesticides or harmful additives, and I do not set traps while farming. Instead, I try to place-make in ways that allow other life to flourish alongside the plants I grow.

This relationship is reciprocal. The land has fed and supported me in more ways than I can imagine, and farming gives me a way to deepen my relationship with and apprentice myself to seeds and plants. I understand them as more-than-human and intergenerational teachers that carry knowledge, support us through difficult seasons, and help bring us toward the futures we want. The teas I grow and offer through Ate Kay’s Farm are an extension of these relationships.

“Ate” means older sister. Ate is a Filipino kinship term most commonly used to refer to our older sister, and it is also a respectful way to address women and femmes who are older than us and to show endearment as a sister. Although there is a shared understanding of what Ate means, there is no direct translation in English. Just as the roles of mother and auntie often extend beyond colonial and societal structures, I understand Ate in this way too. A few years ago, I asked my Lola and family in the Philippines what Ate meant to them, and their answers centred on the responsibilities you hold when you are an Ate and those you are responsible to. I chose the name Ate Kay’s Farm because, yes, I am an older sister, but I also hold responsibilities to my plant kin and more-than-human relations within my farming practice. I hope these blends and remedies support you in all the ways you are needing.