Thankfully, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s Ventura River Preserve was spared by the Thomas Fire, at least the part on the east side of the river. Please join me there Sunday, January 21, for a Native Plant Herb Walk as part of their ongoing “All About Ojai” Environmental Learning Series. The walk is Part 2 of a weekend event that includes a talk on Saturday by Chumash elder Julie Tumamait-Stenslie.

Read more and sign up at this link.

Whether or not you plan to attend the workshop with Rick Halsey, this is the book you must read to be able to make informed decisions going forward. Read more and order your copy at this link.

We are pleased to present Jess Starwood, clinical herbalist and forager of wild medicine, in her first Ojai workshop. Jess is the owner of SunRaven Apothecary in Moorpark where she can be found brewing up herbal elixirs, teas and tonics, or leading group hikes, workshops and nature adventures.

With her lifelong passion for nature and plants, Jess has studied natural health and herbal medicine for over 10 years and has a Masters of Science degree in Herbal Medicine from the American College of Healthcare Sciences in Portland, Oregon.

Everyone will make and take home their own hand-crafted product.

Read more and sign up at this link.

For poet, painter and naturalist Obi Kaufmann, California is a magic network of living systems that connect in a grand, quilted array of ecology and beauty.

Obi's lavishly illustrated, 550-page California Field Atlas takes readers off the beaten path and outside normal conceptions of California, revealing its myriad ecologies, topographies, and histories with hundreds of exquisite hand-painted maps and trail paintings.

I'm fortunate to have arranged for Obi to take some time from his book tour for an intimate event in Ojai on Saturday, February 10. This unique workshop will be of great interest to naturalists and artists alike. Obi will take us on a nature walk in the morning and then share the process of creating his epic book in an afternoon slideshow discussion.

Read more and sign up at this link.

Please join me and renowned fire ecology expert and author Richard Halsey for a timely workshop on how to create resilient gardens and homes in Southern California as we go forward in the post-Thomas Fire era.

Richard W. Halsey is a writer, photographer, and the director of the California Chaparral Institute. The second edition of his book, Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California, was published in 2008.

Read more and sign up at this link.

Saturday, January 20: Julie Tumamait --
The History, Culture and Plant Knowledge of the Chumash People

I drove out Matilija Canyon Road and up Highway 33 on December 31, 2017, three weeks after the start of the Thomas Fire.

Although the Matiilija Wilderness and Rose Valley appear to be almost entirely burned, you can see from the photo above that the Thomas Fire was stopped before it could spread into the Sespe Creek watershed on the north side of Dry Lakes Ridge.

Here is a link to the photo album.