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April 2023 HerbWalks & OjaiHerbal Newsletter |
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SAVE THE DATE! The Ojai Herbal Symposium is back November 11-12. Watch for all the details in the May newsletter. |
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Hopefully, you will receive this newsletter in time to join us for the Full Pink Moon Nature Hike on Wednesday, April 5. If you do, click on the image above of the phlox-flowered moon to sign up. If not, not to worry. The next one is the May Full Moon Sunset Nature Hike on Thursday, May 4. Click on that hyperlink in the previous sentence to learn more. |
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I'm blessed to be invited to lead monthly Natural History Walks during the winter, spring and fall at Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve. Click on the graphic to read more and join. |
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I know he won't like me using this description of him but living legend Christopher Nyerges will return to Ojai on Saturday, April 15, for an Outdoor Survival Skills workshop based on the Larry Dean Olsen book of the same name. Click on the photo to learn more. |
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Something new! Please join me and Rondia for our first Earth Week Wild Food Experience on Sunday, April 23, the day after Earth Day. Click on the photo to learn more. |
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I shot this photo of a part of the main pool at the most recent Wetland Walk on the Ojai Meadows Preserve while there was still snow on the Topa Topa Bluffs. I'll be surprised to see that sight at the next Wetland Walk on Sunday, April 30, but I know there will be plenty of water and the accompanying waterfowl and water plants like the tules shown here. Just click on the photo to read more and sign up for this easy 2-hour walk with me and Rondia. |
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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 or click on the following link about the free hyperlinked bibliography I created to save you the hassle of copying URLs from the printed page to the web journal sources cited in the book.
Don't have a copy yet? 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 personal touch is something not available when purchasing on Amazon. Plus you can support my authorship financially by buying directly from me. Thank you!
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 Goleta at Island Seed & Feed; in Solvang at The Book Loft; and at Barnes & Noble in Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Calabasas and Valencia.
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Legendary author and survival instructor Christopher Nyerges |
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Outdoor Survival Skills Workshop with Christopher Nyerges on Saturday, April 15 |
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Renowned author-forager-survivalist Christopher Nyerges will be in Ojai on Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for an Outdoor Survival Skills workshop based on the book of the same name (linked above) by legendary survival expert Larry Dean Olsen. Christopher edited the recent 7th Edition of this classic.
The workshop will begin with a morning plant walk at Euterpe Farms, overlooking the Ventura River Preserve. The afternoon workshop will take place under an oak tree. Everyone will have a chance to participate in all activities.
Participants will:
- learn to identify edible, medicinal and other survival plants
- practice making cordage and soap from yucca leaves
- observe the most basic primitive fire-starting methods: the hand drill and bow drill
- prepare a cooked prickly-pear cactus salad using the primitive fire
- learn principles of finding and purifying water, especially in dry areas
To read more and sign up, please visit this link.
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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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Have you seen this column before? Good! That means you're reading the newsletter. I like to know that. And if you own a copy of my book,
Medicinal Herbs of California, or are thinking of buying one, even better! If you do, I hope you'll check out the free hyperlinked bibliography I created to save you from having to transfer URLs from the printed page to a web browser. |
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Click on the logo above or the link below to read the latest (April 3) Trail 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. Or please consider joining their "$100,000 Give or Get Muddy Challenge"
The boulder-strewn riverbed to the right of me in the photo was an easy trail to a seasonal pool before the January flood.
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Valley oak acorns (
Quercus lobata) shelled and ready to process. |
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Earth Week Wild Food Experience on Sunday, April 23 |
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Please join me and my wife Rondia on Sunday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to continue the Earth Day weekend celebration with an Earth Week Wild Food Experience. The event will begin with a morning plant walk on the grounds of Euterpe Farms' outdoor study area overlooking the Ventura River Preserve.
After the walk, hands-on food processing activities will take place under an oak tree to prepare a vegetarian community meal. Everyone will have a chance to participate in all activities.
Participants will:
- learn to identify and collect edible, medicinal and otherwise useful plants of the season
- make a salad or vegetable dish with wild greens collected on the property
- process acorns for pancake batter
- prepare elderflower fritters and acorn pancakes
- process wild black walnuts to top off the meal
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Selected online articles that might interest you |
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Every once in a while I'll use this column in the newsletter to share some of the volume of great information that comes my way related to edible and medicinal plants, nature, gardening, outdoor recreation and other related topics. So here we go:
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The Journal of Plant Medicines)
The Garden Tower Project (a compact, vertical gardening solution for growing herbs in a small space. Thanks to Kris H. for sharing )
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Northbound Highway 33 into the Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) from Ojai is still closed due to rockslides and significant damage to the road. The Forest Service released a revised 60-day forest closure order from March 10 to May 9. Most frontcountry trails are reopened but all other trails on the Ojai Ranger District remain closed. All campgrounds off Highway 33 are also closed.
The Los Padres Forest Association website has a good summary of the closure situation throughout the LPNF at this page.
For the latest info on road closures, trails, campgrounds, and more, click on the USFS logo above or the hyperlink below to visit the Ojai Ranger District webpage.
Santa Barbara and the other district pages can be accessed from that page, too. |
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Jim Adams teaching plant medicine on the trail |
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Spring Medicinal Plant Workshop with Jim Adams on Saturday, May 6 |
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Special guest Professor Emeritus Jim Adams of USC School of Pharmacy will lead a Spring Medicinal Plant Workshop in Ojai on Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dr. Adams has been a frequent and popular contributor to my events for the past ten years. Now that he has moved to the Bay Area he will be making less frequent visits to Ojai, probably just once or twice a year. So I encourage you to be sure to register before it fills up.
Read more and sign up at this link.
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Find my article by clicking on the cover and swiping to page 70. |
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My 15 minutes of fame this week |
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In 1968, Andy Warhol famously said, "In the future everybody will be world-famous for fifteen minutes." Most of us, including me, can't claim that yet but I am having quite a synchronicity of PR this week. Apparently, when it rains, it PouRs. You can click on the magazine cover above or the article title below to read my article on "Edible and Medicinal Herbs of the Southern California Coast."
Also, through this Wednesday you can still grab a newsstand copy of the March 30 "Great Outdoors" issue of the Ventura County Reporter. If you miss it, editor Nancy Lackey Shaffer's interview with me, "Talking wild herbs and more with Lanny Kaufer," is on page 19 at the linked article title above.
I also was honored by an article in the Taft Gardens & Nature Preserve April newsletter. You can read it at the following link under the title "Explore Nature’s Teachable Moments." The article jumps down to continue under the heading "A Doorway into Nature." |
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Click on the photo of Rondia and me to see my Google album of labeled plant and animal photos from our trip to Palm Springs. |
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