Fall Equinox Walkabout at Taft Gardens & Nature Preserve

Please note: This event is presented by the Conservation Endowment Fund (CEF), stewards of Taft Gardens & Nature Preserve. They are handling all registrations. Please visit this page to register. You can email taftgardensvisitors@gmail.com with any questions. Admission to the walkabout is $45/person which includes a $10 donation to CEF.

 

Registrants will receive an email from CEF with detailed directions. Please do not try to find the venue by using other maps or GPS. Allow plenty of time to find the venue and to make your way up the miles-long driveway.

 

Please join me for a Fall Equinox Walkabout at Taft Gardens & Nature Preserve on Saturday, September 19, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. “Walkabout” is an Australian term for a temporary return to traditional Aboriginal life, taken especially between periods of work or residence in modern society and usually involving a period of travel through the bush. That is the essence of what I have planned for us in observance of the Fall Equinox, although for a much shorter time than the traditional Australian journey and as a group instead of solo.

 

Our walkabout will begin in the Australian section of the Gardens and ascend through the wild plant communities in the Nature Preserve to a vista point adorned with a four-directions stone circle on a mesa with a 360 degree view. There we will align with the four directions, connect with the annual solar cycle, and remember our own ancestral origins somewhere on Planet Earth.

 

As we do on all my monthly Natural History walks at the Taft Ranch, we will identify and discuss useful plants and observe birds and animal signs in the context of the local ecology. My intention is to create a space for people to connect and interact with the natural world by learning the language of nature.

Fall Equinox Full Moon Nature Hike

The full moon closest to the fall equinox is commonly known as the Harvest Moon in most of North America. Here in Southern California it’s more like the “Acorn Drop Moon.” In any case, I’m calling this hike the Fall Equinox Full Moon Nature Hike because the full moon will rise at 90 degrees due east on Friday, September 25, just as the sun will do the day before.

 

Please join me and Rondia on Friday evening from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. as we 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 6:15 p.m.

 

We’ll meet at the trailhead at 4:15 p.m. for a 4:30 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. We’ll hike back by moonlight and flashlight, returning to the trailhead around 7 p.m.

 

Along the way we’ll stop to meet some valuable edible and medicinal plants, including:

We’ll also identify Poison Oak.

 

My 2021 book, Medicinal Herbs of California, will be available at the trailhead for sale and signing.

 

Paid registrants will receive a confirmation email a few days prior to the event with all necessary info, including what to bring, weather forecast, and directions to the trailhead. Afterwards, they also will receive a follow-up email with a list of all plants and wildlife seen.

 

Adult tickets are $35, tickets for students 13-17 or adult full-time students are $25. Children 12-and-under may attend for free, one per adult, with advance notice and approval. Please note: one supervising adult must accompany each child 12 years old or younger. Senior discount is available by request.

 

Please click on the photo above or this link to learn more and register.

Fall Equinox Nature Hike
on Pine Mountain

On Saturday, September 26, I will lead my 13th annual Fall Equinox Nature Hike in the peaceful Mixed Conifer Forest on the “sky island” known as Pine Mountain (elevation: 7000 feet). I promise that first time visitors to this area will be surprised and delighted to find a thick forest of pine, fir and incense-cedar so close to the Ventura coast. If we’re lucky, pine nuts will be falling as we walk.

 

Weather and marine layer permitting, we will have panoramic views of the Cuyama Valley to the north and the Channel Islands to the south. According to Craig Carey, author of  Hiking and Backpacking Santa Barbara and Ventura, the Reyes Peak Trail along the northern slope of the peak is “quite simply one of the most beautiful stretches in the southern Los Padres.”

 

Biogeographers include Pine Mountain in a select group of “sky islands,” defined as isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. We can expect to see several high-altitude plants and trees like White Fir, Sugar Pine, Sierra Gooseberry, Mountain Pink Currant, and White Bark Raspberry that are more commonly found in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

Click on the photo above or this link or continue reading the article below to learn more and sign up,

Botany Field Course for Herbalists

Now accepting applicants for 2027 and 1 mid-year space for 2026

In January of 2025, a longtime friend and Herb Walks attendee asked if she could study plant identification with me to supplement her college class in Ecological Restoration. After we brainstormed how that might look, she created a draft of a course description, including duration, goals, cost of program, and a cost breakdown per student for 6 students. The course became a reality for 6 students on 24 Monday mornings from January into November. Those students signed on for a second-year advanced course in 2026 and I started a new beginning course on Tuesdays.

 

I’m now accepting inquiries from those interested in joining one of those two courses in 2027. They will continue to run on Monday and Tuesday mornings from January to November. The opening classes are on Monday and Tuesday, January 11 and January 12, 2027.

 

I'm also interested in hearing from interested students who may want to fill a space that opened up in this year's beginning Field Course 1. If you might be that student, please continue reading.

 

No previous knowledge is required for the beginning course. Some foraging experience or previous plant study is required for the advanced course. My use here of the words “for herbalists” in the course title is broad, along the lines of Merriam-Webster’s definition #2 of an herbalist: “a person who collects or grows herbs.” Most likely you already fit that definition. If so, click on this link or the photo above to learn more and schedule an interview.

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. This feature enables you to easily visit any of the web sources linked to the 350 citations in the book.