🌿 The Heart Behind New Dawn Herbal

Everyone thinks my name is Dawn. It’s not. New Dawn isn’t named after a person — it’s named after a moment in my life when everything shifted, when I finally stepped onto the path that felt true.

Before founding New Dawn Herbal, my story wound through motherhood, healthcare, land stewardship, and plant education — each chapter teaching me something essential about care, community, and the natural world.

I spent years in healthcare and even went to nursing school, believing that was where I was meant to serve. But over time, I felt myself drifting further from the kind of care that felt honest to me. By 2022, after a season of soul‑searching and getting back on our feet, I knew I couldn’t stay in healthcare any longer. My heart needed something more grounded, more hands‑on, more connected to the land.

That same year, I enrolled in Persimmon Herb School, and everything shifted. Learning herbs felt like coming home — a new way of seeing the world and understanding myself. That was my new dawn.

Soon after, I stepped back into the workforce and landed what truly felt like a dream job: managing storefront and farm properties at Little Mount Lavender alongside my partner, Jonathan. There, I learned the rhythms of agricultural retail, customer care, and small‑batch production.

When our time there ended, I worked as a horticulture and nutrition educator with the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service, teaching families how to grow food, understand plants, and care for their bodies through simple, accessible practices. Those experiences showed me how powerful small‑space growing can be, and how deeply people crave connection to the land.

The land‑based skills I gained through Little Mount Lavender and Cooperative Extension became the backbone of our quarter‑acre homestead — where we now grow herbs, food, flowers, and fruit trees, raise our flock of hens, and create a home where our boys can learn alongside us, watching, helping, and growing up connected to the land.

These roles weren’t just jobs. They were stepping stones — teaching me how to care, how to teach, how to grow, and how to build something humble and meaningful.

They led me here, to New Dawn Herbal — the place where all those threads finally come together.

— Keisha Bruce, Founder & Herbalist

🌿 Meet the Family

New Dawn Herbal isn’t just my work — it’s our family’s way of life. Everything we grow, make, and teach is shaped by the people (and animals) who share this little quarter‑acre with me.

Keisha — Mama, Herbalist, Founder

I’m the hands behind the herbs, the voice behind the workshops, and the heart behind New Dawn Herbal. My work is rooted in motherhood, land stewardship, and the belief that everyday families can grow more than they ever imagined in the spaces they already have.

Jonathan — Partner & Land Steward

Jonathan is the steady backbone of our homestead. With years of property management and land stewardship experience, and carpentry, he keeps our systems running, our soil healthy, and our projects grounded. He’s the one who helps turn my big ideas into real, workable plans.

Our Boys — Growing Up Connected to the Land

My oldest, age 13, is a wonderful example of a growing young man — responsible, kind, and always willing to help where he can. Whether it’s hauling soil, helping with the chickens, or keeping an eye on his little brother, he shows up with a sweetness and maturity that makes our days smoother. I’ll take this season of helpfulness while I can — before he remembers he’s 13 and suddenly too cool for chores.

Our youngest, age 7, is an adventurous, sensory‑seeking soul who experiences the world with his whole body and spirit. He’s autistic, and he teaches us daily to slow down, to be more present, notice the textures, and to follow curiosity. Watching him in the garden reminds me daily that nature is meant to be experienced with wonder.

The Animals — Our Everyday Companions

Our homestead wouldn’t be complete without the rest of our crew.

We have two cats who patrol the garden beds like they own the place, and Chewy, our loyal dog, who believes his job is to supervise every outdoor project and keep everyone in line.

We also keep a flock of five hens and one very opinionated rooster, who turn scraps into breakfast and compost, teach our boys responsibility, and keep us laughing.

And because we’re a family of curious minds, there’s almost always a rotating “entomology side‑pet” in the house. Right now, it’s Titus and Trish, our two tobacco hornworms who are overwintering in a soil‑filled 10‑gallon tank — living their best slow, sleepy lives until spring.

Our Quarter‑Acre Homestead

Together, we tend a small but abundant piece of land — herbs, vegetables, flowers, and five dwarf fruit trees that make up our little orchard. It’s not a big farm, but it’s full of intention, care, and possibility. This is where our boys learn alongside us, where neighbors can stop to ask questions, and where New Dawn Herbal truly begins.