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February 2023 HerbWalks & OjaiHerbal Newsletter |
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I've been invited to continue my 2022 series of monthly Natural History Walks at Taft Nature Preserve. The February 11 walk is full but there may still be spaces for Saturday, February 25. Just click on the photo above to go straight to the February 25 event listing page at HerbWalks.com. If that walk is sold out, too, by the time you read this, please contact taftgardensvisitors@gmail.com to sign up for March 11, April 8 or May 20. |
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The one and only Jess Starwood, author of
Mushroom Wanderland, will be our special guest for a workshop in Ojai on Saturday, February 18. Click on the photo above or see the article below to learn more and register before it fills up. |
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The San Antonio Creek trail out of Tucker's Grove in Goleta is the site of two Presidents' Day Herb Walks on Monday, February 20. See the article below or click on this photo to learn more and sign up.
Photo: sboutdoors.com |
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Here's another reminder for those of you who own my book or are considering it. Please see the article below about the free hyperlinked bibliography I created to save you the hassle of following links from the printed page to web journal sources cited in the book.
You can order the book on my website by visiting this link or clicking on the book cover image above. Use the “Order notes (optional)” field at checkout to request a simple autograph or a book signed to you. This is something not available when purchasing on Amazon. Plus you can support my authorship by buying directly from me. Thank you!
If you don't care about a signed copy, you also can find them locally on the shelf in Ojai at Bart's Books, Crystal Corner, Farmer & the Cook, Ojai Valley Brewery, Ojai Valley Museum, Rainbow Bridge, Sespe Creek Collective, Shangri-La Care Cooperative, and Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center; in Ventura at Ema's Herbs, Green Thumb Nursery, Timbre Books, and Ventura Spirits; in Oxnard at REI; in Calabasas at Santa Monica Mountains Visitor Center Store; in Santa Barbara at Chaucer's Books and The Book Den; in Solvang at The Book Loft; and at Barnes & Noble in Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Calabasas and Valencia.
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February
Herb Walks Events |
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LOOKING AHEAD:
SAVE THE DATE: Author Interview of Lanny Kaufer by Kit Stolz at Ojai Art Center: Saturday afternoon, March 25
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View of Taft Nature Preserve from on high.
Photo: Nathan Whitman |
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More Natural History Walks in 2023 at Taft Nature Preserve
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Please join me for a Natural History Walk at Taft Nature Preserve on Saturday, February 25, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., meeting at 12:45 pm. We will explore trails through the wild parts of the property, identify and discuss native plants, observe the continuing regrowth of the property since the 2017 Thomas Fire, and look for birds and animal tracks in the context of local ecology.
If this walk is sold out by the time you read this, please contact taftgardensvisitors@gmail.com
to sign up for March 11, April 8 or May 20.
Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve is an amazing place! According to the Los Angeles Times (November, 2021), "This garden is SoCal’s hidden treasure."
To read more and sign up, visit this link.
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Click on the logo above or the link below to read the latest (January 31) Trails Update for the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy preserves. Some that were damaged by the flooding are already open again! Volunteer help is needed to open more. |
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Author Jess Starwood pictured here with her fungal friends |
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February 18 is your only chance this year to attend a Mushroom Workshop in Ojai with Jess Starwood |
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Click on the photo above or this link to sign up.
PLEASE NOTE: All 3 of Jess's 2022 Ojai mushroom workshops sold out. This is her only one this year in Ojai. |
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A lot has changed in the Los Padres National Forest since my January newsletter! Click on the USFS logo above or the hyperlink below to visit the Ojai Ranger District (ORD) webpage for the latest info on trails, fire conditions, campgrounds, road closures and more.
Current state of Highway 33 looking south toward Ojai from just above the first tunnel. Yikes!
The Forest Service issued a Forest Closure Order on January 16 that reads as follows:
Date: Jan 16, 2023
A 60-day closure order for four ranger districts (Monterey, Santa Lucia, Santa Barbara and Ojai) has been issued in response to the extreme winter storm that delivered heavy rain and wind across the Forest last week. This Order is effective January 13, 2023 through March 14, 2023 at 12:00 pm.
The closure order will be superseded or terminated when conditions and recreational access improves. Forest employees will be assessing the extent of the damage over the coming weeks and months and will scale back the closure based on improving conditions.
Over the last month, Los Padres received more than 100 percent of its annual rainfall along with extremely damaging wind events. Weather events have caused flooding, debris flows, slope failures, bridge, road and trail failures, and serious impacts to administrative and recreation facilities.
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Just over a year ago, I switched my domains and web hosting from GoDaddy to Nixihost. I'm so glad I did! The customer service is great, their webmail is first-rate, and I've saved a TON of money. If you're unhappy with your hosting and tired of paying all those extra fees for everything, click on their logo above to learn more. I predict that, like me, you'll wish you'd discovered Nixihost years ago. |
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San Antonio Creek in Goleta.
Photo: James Wapotich |
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Join me on Presidents' Day for a morning or afternoon herb walk. |
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Please join me on Presidents’ Day morning, February 20, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for an Herb Walk on San Antonio Creek Trail in Goleta. An afternoon walk of the same description is also available that day from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m if that is a better time for you.
Scheduled on a Monday for the weekend warriors, these affordable, family-friendly walks will include identifying, demonstrating and discussing the many uses of wild plants by foragers, herbalists, and naturalists seeking them out for food, herbal medicine, first aid, home remedies, survival, crafts, ceremony and more.
This time of year we can expect to find California Bay, Miner’s Lettuce, Mugwort, California Blackberry, Hummingbird Sage, Black Sage, and Chickweed, among others. Toxic plants such as Poison Oak and Poison Hemlock will also be identified.
Click on this link or either photo above to learn more and register.
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Book signing at Bart's Books in June.
Photo by Eliane White |
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Hyperlinked bibliography for
Medicinal Herbs of California |
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Do you own a copy of my book,
Medicinal Herbs of California? Did you know it has over 350 citations requiring 176 entries in the Bibilography for the books and online journal articles to back them up?
So I created a free hyperlinked bibliography to save you from having to transfer URLs from the printed page to a web browser. You can find it on my website at this link. |
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