Have you been thinking about -- or already started -- replacing your water-intensive landscape with drought-tolerant native plants and sustainable design? If so, please join me and Ojai landscape contractor Jessica Thompson (pictured above) of Green Goddess Gardens for an Herb Walk and Native Landscaping Workshop on Saturday, June 27.

Now is a great time to plan your new landscape and prepare for a fall planting while making some water-saving changes right away.

Read more and register here.

Discover the variety of native plants that live in the interface between land and sea at Ventura's Seaside Wilderness Park.

We’ll start by walking through the Ventura Rivermouth and Estuary identifying and learning about the plants and complete the loop on the Ocean’s Edge Trail in the sand dunes on the beach.

We will be discussing and demonstrating uses of the plants of the Riparian Woodland, Coastal Sage Scrub, and Coastal Strand plant communities, all of which can be found in Seaside Wilderness Park.

Read more and register here.

Cal State University at Channel Islands (CSUCI) has invited me to present a two-hour slideshow lecture on "Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Ventura River Watershed" as part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. They are offering a choice of dates and venues. The first talk will be on Wednesday, July 8, at Ventura Adult Continuing Education. The same talk will be given again on Saturday, July 11, at the CSUCI Thousand Oaks Campus.

Learn more and sign up at their website. they are handling all the registration which must be done in advance.

As our thank-you to you for opening and reading this newsletter, here is a discount code worth 10% off all items (except Gift Certificates and event admission charges) for the months of June and July at the Herb Walks Store. We are always adding new books to our collection. Have you looked lately?

Just click on the Herb Walks logo below to get the code. Then copy and paste it when requested at checkout.

Please join me to explore the lush riparian environment of Cold Spring Creek, nestled in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains in the Montecito area of Santa Barbara. If it’s a hot day, the shade of the Coast Live Oaks will be a welcome respite. More likely, if June gloom is still hanging around, at least we’ll be far enough from the coast and at a high enough elevation to escape the ground fog.

Yes, the creek is low this year, as they all are, but iwhether or not it is running, the plant life is still abundant thanks to some timely rain last winter. We’ll see California Bay, Western Sycamore, White Alder and Willow representing the trees of the creekside habitat.

Read more and register here.

The superscenic Piedra Blanca Trail heads north out of the Sespe riverbed through yet another remarkable Ojai landmark, the “white rocks” formation, AKA Piedra Blanca. We’ll climb that trail over the rocks in the cool of the morning and make our way up Piedra Blanca Creek to the shade of the Interior Live Oaks and White Alders. Along the way, we’ll identify edible and medicinal native trees, shrubs and plants, experiencing them with all our senses.

I've been asked by a representative of the Chumash not to lead any groups to the petroglyph shown in the photo above but we will see others.

Read more and register here.