Rose Valley Falls Herb Walk

Please join me on Saturday, April 11, to experience a local scenic wonder 300 feet high and learn about Rose Valley’s diverse plant communities. 

Sisar Creek Nature Hike 

This beautiful oak-forested trail along Sisar Creek is one of my all-time favorites in the Ojai Valley. It’s actually located in the Upper Ojai Valley at the foot of the monumental Topa Topa Bluffs. Please join me for a Nature Hike there on Saturday, April 18, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

 

We will see and smell aromatic California Bay trees along with several other riparian trees, including Bigleaf Maple, not often found at this lower elevation. We’ll search for the elusive and uncommon Sweet Cicely and identify a wide variety of edible and medicinal plants. Expect butterflies; the spring wildflowers are busting out all over.

 

Just $25 for all ages. Kids 5 and younger free with an adult. To learn more and sign up, click here or on the photo above.

"Wild Food and Medicine of Early California:" A 2-Part Experiential Class for OLLI 

What was it like for Indigenous Californians and early settlers to find and prepare plant foods and medicinal home remedies? This immersive, hands-on course invites you to find out by stepping into a “village-for-a-day” experience. Over two interactive sessions, participants will work together to process flavorful black walnuts and to prepare a pain-relieving sagebrush liniment. Along the way, you will learn about regional plants, seasonal rhythms, and the cultural knowledge that sustained communities for generations. Class size is limited to 30 participants. There will be a a small additional fee for course materials.

 

This OLLI class, taught by me, is offered on two consecutive Wednesdays beginning April 22 and ending April 29 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Each week’s class will include a one-hour “herb walk” on the campus to meet the native plant community in the flesh, so to speak, and learn about their uses. The second hour will be an outdoor, hands-on workshop

 

Enrollment began March 16. For more information and registration, please visit OLLI at CSUCI. I will not be handling any registration or payment for this class.

Full Moon Sunset Nature Hike 

On Thursday evening, April 30, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., Rondia and I will lead a Full Moon Sunset Nature Hike to a vista point above the Ojai Valley where we can watch the sunset afterglow and rising of the moon. Both will happen around 7:20 p.m. Although the actual time of the full moon is on Friday, May 1, at 10:23 a.m., it is obviously not visible then. And It rises too late that night to schedule a hike. So April 30 is the ideal time to view it in its fullness.

 

We’ll meet at the trailhead at 5:15 p.m. for a 5:30 p.m. start, then gradually hike about 1.5 miles to the viewing site, experiencing some elevation gain on a well-worn, dirt fire road with uneven footing in places. Along the way we’ll stop to meet some valuable edible and medicinal plants, including:

         We’ll also identify Poison Oak.

 

After witnessing the sunset and moonrise, we’ll walk back to the trailhead by remaining daylight, moonlight, and flashlight, returning to the trailhead at about 8:00 p.m. I will have copies of my book, Medicinal Herbs of California, for sale and signing before and after the hike.

 

If there is interest we can meet up at Ojai Valley Brewery for an after-party.

 

Click here or on the photo above to learn more and register.

"The Ocean in the Oak Canyon:

A Stinging Nettle Mystery"

Why does a jar of dried mountain nettles smell like a bag of Japanese seaweed? The answer involves "biochemical mimicry," nitrogen-rich riparian canyons, and a specific spring harvest window that is closing fast. Check out my latest HerbBlog post, reprinted in the article below, to solve the mystery and learn how to capture this peak nutrition for yourself.

You can order my book by visiting the Herb Walks bookshop or by clicking on the book cover image above.
 
To request a simple autograph or have the book signed to your name, when you reach "checkout"  use the “Order notes (optional)” field. This personal touch is something not available when purchasing on Amazon or other vendors. 
 
If you already own my book or you're considering buying it, be sure to click on the following link to check out the free hyperlinked bibliography I created to save you the hassle of copying long URLs from the printed page to your browser, enabling you to easily visit any of the web sources linked to the 350 citations in the book.