Regenerating Soil and Community in Haiti | Featuring Sidney-Max Eitenne

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“Without community, sustainability cannot exist.” – Sidney-Max Eitenne

This week on Herbal Radio, host Lucretia VanDyke is joined by Sidney-Max Eitenne from Grown in Haiti. Join us as the explore:

  • Gathering the community to regenerate the soil
  • Listening and learning from the patience of Elders
  • How plant relationships teach us about human relationships
  • Food security by having sovereignty over the seeds grown
  • Avoiding plant trends and turning to the plants around you

As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.comto let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

Learn more about Sidney-Max & Lucretia below!

🌺 Sidney-Max Etienne is the founder and executive director of Grown in Haiti, a Haitian-led regenerative agriculture nonprofit in Cap Rouge, on Haiti’s southern peninsula. He arrived in 2014 and lived in a tent for more than two years, hauling water from a spring while planting the first trees. The organization grew out of that time on the land.

Grown in Haiti now runs a community nursery, a farmer network called AgriNatif, and water catchment holding close to 50,000 gallons. Its Farmer Support Program prioritizes women. More than 25,000 trees have gone into the ground through the work, and over 300 volunteers have come through the property.

His practice is syntropic agroforestry, planting in dense succession so that soil and canopy build together. Much of what grows in Cap Rouge was never planted by anyone. Documenting it has become part of the work, with more than 100 species recorded on iNaturalist so far, including nine birds found nowhere outside Hispaniola.

He teaches a free syntropic farming course through the Earthed platform and spoke as a finalist at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin. He also serves as vice president of the Caribbean Agroecology Institute. In 2026 he completed research through the Caribbean Institute in Gender and Development at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, on women’s socio-economic contributions to Haiti’s agricultural sector.

Born in Haiti, raised in the United States, he moves between Brooklyn and Cap Rouge.

Where to find Sindey-Max & Grown in Haiti:

💻 Website: https://growninhaiti.org

📸 Instagram: @growninhaiti

📱 Facebook: @Grown in Haiti

🎥 YouTube: @GrownInHaiti

🎶 TikTok: @GrownInHaiti

🌿 Donate to Grown in Haiti: https://growninhaiti.org/donate

📑 Read Grown in Haiti’s article in Vogue: Following Haiti’s Devastating Earthquake, These Environmentalists Are Busy Supporting Their Community

~~~

🌻 Lucretia VanDyke began her herbalism journey as a little girl mixing herbs, clays, and muds on her grandparents' farm. Today, Lucretia VanDyke has been in the herbal industry for over 20 years. As a holistic educator, speaker, herbalist, ceremonialist, spiritual light coach, intuitive energetic & reiki practitioner, diviner, storyteller, artist, and world traveler, Lucretia has accumulated over 3000 hours of training. She has studied with indigenous healers and some of the greatest minds of our time. Lucretia has been a holistic esthetician & healing arts practitioner for over a decade focusing on integrating indigenous healing rituals, plant spirit medicine, and meditation into modern-day practice. Lucretia brings her vivacious spirit and message of self-love in her work to inspire others to embrace their unique beauty and purpose. She is currently collecting stories throughout the south while working on expanding her BIPOC community healing arts and herbal education program.

Where to find Lucretia:

📸 Instagram: @lucretia.vandyke

💻 Lucertia's website: www.lucretiavandyke.com

📖 Lucretia's Book: African American Herbalism

~~~

Check out the video version of this interview on YouTube!

~~~

WANT MORE HERBAL RADIO?

📺 Watch all video interviews here!
📱 Follow along on Instagram

 

Mountain Rose Herbs is a purveyor of the highest quality organically grown herbs and spices, teas, essential oils, & botanical goods. You can find our organic botanical offerings on MountainRoseHerbs.com.

📖 Request a FREE copy of our 2026 Printed Journal shipped straight to your door!

Join the Mountain Rose Herbs community!
Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter
Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Like on Facebook
Follow on Pinterest
Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog
Follow on TikTok

🌿 Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. 🌿

Episode artwork for the Herbal Radio podcast episode: Regenerating Soil and Community in Haiti | Featuring Sidney-Max Eitenne. Image features Sidney-Max (smiling, black man with brown eyes, a bread, and dreadlocks, wearing a black tank top, surrounded by a digital illustration of wildflowers.)

 


Topics: Herbal Radio


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Regenerating Soil and Community in Haiti | Featuring Sidney-Max Eitenne

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY    LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS   WATCH ON YOUTUBE

“Without community, sustainability cannot exist.” – Sidney-Max Eitenne

This week on Herbal Radio, host Lucretia VanDyke is joined by Sidney-Max Eitenne from Grown in Haiti. Join us as the explore:

  • Gathering the community to regenerate the soil
  • Listening and learning from the patience of Elders
  • How plant relationships teach us about human relationships
  • Food security by having sovereignty over the seeds grown
  • Avoiding plant trends and turning to the plants around you

As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.comto let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

Learn more about Sidney-Max & Lucretia below!

🌺 Sidney-Max Etienne is the founder and executive director of Grown in Haiti, a Haitian-led regenerative agriculture nonprofit in Cap Rouge, on Haiti’s southern peninsula. He arrived in 2014 and lived in a tent for more than two years, hauling water from a spring while planting the first trees. The organization grew out of that time on the land.

Grown in Haiti now runs a community nursery, a farmer network called AgriNatif, and water catchment holding close to 50,000 gallons. Its Farmer Support Program prioritizes women. More than 25,000 trees have gone into the ground through the work, and over 300 volunteers have come through the property.

His practice is syntropic agroforestry, planting in dense succession so that soil and canopy build together. Much of what grows in Cap Rouge was never planted by anyone. Documenting it has become part of the work, with more than 100 species recorded on iNaturalist so far, including nine birds found nowhere outside Hispaniola.

He teaches a free syntropic farming course through the Earthed platform and spoke as a finalist at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin. He also serves as vice president of the Caribbean Agroecology Institute. In 2026 he completed research through the Caribbean Institute in Gender and Development at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, on women’s socio-economic contributions to Haiti’s agricultural sector.

Born in Haiti, raised in the United States, he moves between Brooklyn and Cap Rouge.

Where to find Sindey-Max & Grown in Haiti:

💻 Website: https://growninhaiti.org

📸 Instagram: @growninhaiti

📱 Facebook: @Grown in Haiti

🎥 YouTube: @GrownInHaiti

🎶 TikTok: @GrownInHaiti

🌿 Donate to Grown in Haiti: https://growninhaiti.org/donate

📑 Read Grown in Haiti’s article in Vogue: Following Haiti’s Devastating Earthquake, These Environmentalists Are Busy Supporting Their Community

~~~

🌻 Lucretia VanDyke began her herbalism journey as a little girl mixing herbs, clays, and muds on her grandparents' farm. Today, Lucretia VanDyke has been in the herbal industry for over 20 years. As a holistic educator, speaker, herbalist, ceremonialist, spiritual light coach, intuitive energetic & reiki practitioner, diviner, storyteller, artist, and world traveler, Lucretia has accumulated over 3000 hours of training. She has studied with indigenous healers and some of the greatest minds of our time. Lucretia has been a holistic esthetician & healing arts practitioner for over a decade focusing on integrating indigenous healing rituals, plant spirit medicine, and meditation into modern-day practice. Lucretia brings her vivacious spirit and message of self-love in her work to inspire others to embrace their unique beauty and purpose. She is currently collecting stories throughout the south while working on expanding her BIPOC community healing arts and herbal education program.

Where to find Lucretia:

📸 Instagram: @lucretia.vandyke

💻 Lucertia's website: www.lucretiavandyke.com

📖 Lucretia's Book: African American Herbalism

~~~

Check out the video version of this interview on YouTube!

~~~

WANT MORE HERBAL RADIO?

📺 Watch all video interviews here!
📱 Follow along on Instagram

 

Mountain Rose Herbs is a purveyor of the highest quality organically grown herbs and spices, teas, essential oils, & botanical goods. You can find our organic botanical offerings on MountainRoseHerbs.com.

📖 Request a FREE copy of our 2026 Printed Journal shipped straight to your door!

Join the Mountain Rose Herbs community!
Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter
Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Like on Facebook
Follow on Pinterest
Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog
Follow on TikTok

🌿 Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. 🌿

Episode artwork for the Herbal Radio podcast episode: Regenerating Soil and Community in Haiti | Featuring Sidney-Max Eitenne. Image features Sidney-Max (smiling, black man with brown eyes, a bread, and dreadlocks, wearing a black tank top, surrounded by a digital illustration of wildflowers.)

 


Topics: Herbal Radio

Herbal Radio℠ Podcast

Written by Herbal Radio℠ Podcast on October 2, 2026