|
July-August 2025 HerbWalks & OjaiHerbal Newsletter
Just one newsletter to serve two summer months 
|
July-August 2025 HerbWalks & OjaiHerbal Newsletter |
|
|---|
|
|
 |
Full Moon Sunset Nature Hike
Wednesday, July 9
Many of you have already experienced the unique and special opportunity we have in Ojai for viewing the sunset and full moonrise amidst a natural garden of native plants, not to mention the Ojai Valley spread out east-west below us as day turns to night. if you haven't yet, or want to enjoy it again at a different time of year, please read on.
On Wednesday evening, July 9, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m., my wife Rondia and I will lead a Full Moon Sunset Nature Hike to a vista point above the Ojai Valley where we can watch the sunset afterglow and the rising of the full moon.
From the trailhead we’ll gradually walk about 1.5 miles on a well used dirt road with gradual elevation gain to the vista point, stopping along the way to meet some valuable edible and medicinal plants including, among others:
Blue Elderberry
Black Sage and Purple Sage
Chia Sage
Coastal Sagebrush
Passion Fruit
Yucca and
Prickly-Pear
After witnessing the sunset and moonrise, we’ll walk back by remaining daylight, moonlight, and flashlight, returning to the trailhead at about 8:30. Registrants will receive instructions beforehand on where to park, what to bring, etc. Afterwards, they’ll get an email with a plant list and other notes. To learn more, click here or on the
photo of the full moon over Sulphur Mountain by Roshelle Castillo.
|
|
|
|
|
Herbal Skin Care with Emily Watson
Saturday, July 12
Join Emily Watson of Artemisia Academy and me on Saturday, July 12, in Ojai to learn about herbal remedies for natural skin care and make your own mini facial kit. During this class, we will go on a 2-hour herb walk with Lanny and Emily at the Chumash Garden to learn about local and native plants for skin care. Then join Emily at Nutmeg’s Ojai House to make remedies for acne, oily skin, dry skin, sunburn, exfoliation, rejuvenation, lightening spots & wrinkles. At the end of the class, you will have a complete facial kit to take home with you: face scrub, face mask, & herbal face serum. Click here or on the image above for more. |
|
|
|
|
Ocean's Edge Trail Herb Walk
Sunday, July 27
Join me on Sunday, July 27, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to discover the variety of useful plants that live in the interface between land and sea on the Ocean's Edge Trail in the Seaside Wilderness Park in Ventura. Feel the sea breeze while you enjoy the views and the plants. See the article below for more info or click here or on the photo to sign up now. |
|
|
|
|
There are no August events because that is my month to take off work and get some summer rest, relaxation, and recreation with Rondia. To be completely honest, I'll still be doing some work behind the scenes because life goes on and I have commitments (like the International Herb Symposium in September in Cincinnati -- see below). But I'm not scheduling any public events. Please reply to this newsletter email if you're interested in a private walk or class.
|
|
|---|
|
17th International Herb Symposium in Cincinnati, OH, and Online
September 12-14
I'll be presenting Saturday, September 13, at this renowned conference founded by Rosemary Gladstar and produced by United Plant Savers. My slideshow lecture topic is "The Twisted History of Herbal Medicine in America." Notable presenters this year include Christopher Hobbs, Rosemary Gladstar, David Winston, Matthew Wood, and our own Emily Watson of Artemisia Academy in Santa Barbara. In-person and online info and registration are available at this link or by clicking on the image above. |
|
|
|
|
Fall Equinox Nature Hike
on Pine Mountain
Sunday, September 21
On Sunday, September 21, I will lead my 12th 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 pines, fir and incense-cedar so close to the Ventura coast. If we’re lucky, pine nuts will be falling as we walk and we'll have a view of Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands, as seen here in this photo by Erika Klohe. Click here or on the photo to learn more. |
|
|
|
|
Here's where you can find my book when you're out supporting local businesses
My website is the best place to buy my book, including the option to request a signed copy. If you're out and about at any of these outstanding businesses (and please do support them!), you can find my book on the shelf: in Ojai at Farmer & the Cook, Krotona Quest Bookshop, Ojai Cannabis Company, Ojai Valley Brewery, Ojai Valley Museum, Rainbow Bridge, Sespe Creek Collective, Westridge Market Midtown, and Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center; in Ventura at Ema's Herbs, Green Thumb Nursery, Timbre Books, and Ventura Spirits; in Sun Valley at Theodore Payne Foundation; in Goleta at Island Seed & Feed; and, among many other booksellers, at REI and Barnes & Noble locations throughout California. (All local store names above are listed in alphabetical order within each city.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free and fun resources hidden on my website: |
|
|---|
|
Last newsletter I used this column to share free online articles and resources from the Resources page at HerbWalks.com. This month, I'll direct you to some fun resources quietly waiting for you elsewhere on my website.
Click on the link above for an enlightening experience. You'll start by viewing the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move quickly through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, you'll begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.
I’m sharing this older blog post as the timing for it is perfect right now. Ripe Elderberries can be found at various elevations from the ocean to the mountains. Fresh Elderberry juice is one of Nature’s most delicious and healing rewards for our foraging efforts. This post is a photographic recipe covering all the steps of processing the berries. The juice can be used fresh or cooked down with sugar to make a syrup or seedless preserve.
On this page you will find — resurrected from 1988 editions of the now-defunct Ojai Valley Voice newspaper — a comic strip collaboration by humorist Lanny Kaufer (concept/content) and artist Eric Gottesman (drawings) under the pseudonyms ELKE and EGGE. The Ojai Valley Voice was published by the late Jeffrey W. San Marchi until his untimely demise on December 23, 2007.
There are 9 separate strips. Just click on each strip to enlarge it.
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
Emily Watson, founder and director of Artemisia Academy in Santa Barbara |
|
|
|
|
Emily Watson is bringing her Herbal Skincare workshop to Ojai! |
|
|---|
|
Join me and Emily Watson of Artemisia Academy on Saturday, July 12, in Ojai to learn about herbal remedies for natural skin care and make your own mini facial kit. During this class,you'll go on a 2-hour herb walk with me and Emily at the Chumash Garden to learn about local and native plants for skin care.
Then join Emily on the outdoor patio at Nutmeg’s Ojai House to make remedies for acne, oily skin, dry skin, sunburn, exfoliation, rejuvenation, lightening spots & wrinkles. At the end of the class, you will have a complete facial kit to take home with you: face scrub, face mask, & herbal face serum.
What you’ll learn/get:
- Guided 2-hour herb walk to identify local and native plants used for skin care
- Insight into herbal remedies for acne, oily skin, dry skin, sunburn, exfoliation, and rejuvenation
- Hands-on instruction to make your own natural face scrub, mask, and herbal face serum
- Learn how to lighten dark spots and reduce the appearance of wrinkles using herbal ingredients
- A complete, custom mini facial kit to take home and use in your own self-care routine
To learn more and register, click this link.
|
|
|---|
|
June-July 2025 issue of Condor Call, the journal of the Sierra Club's Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter |
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
Click above to enlarge the sign for the Ocean's Edge Trail |
|
|
|
|
It's time for a summer stroll on the Ocean's Edge Trail |
|
|---|
|
Join me on Sunday, July 27, in the perfect summer climate for an herb walk. We'll park free streetside on West Main St. just outside Ventura and walk into the Emma Wood Group Camp (AKA Seaside Wilderness Park) to start the herb walk on the ocean side of the park.
We’ll meet a variety of edible and medicinal plants, both native and non-native, identifying and learning about them with all of our senses. Then we’ll complete the loop on the Ocean’s Edge Trail in the sand dunes on the beach.
All along the way, we will be discussing and demonstrating uses of the plants of the Riparian Woodland, Coastal Sage Scrub, and Coastal Strand plant communities. The total walking distance is 1.3 miles.
Please click here to learn more and register. |
|
|---|
|
|
The Matilija Wilderness remains off-limits as the trails and the way in on Matilija Canyon Road are still undergoing repairs due to storm damage from last year. A Forest Closure Order for that area expires on July 18 but I expect a new one to take its place. The 4-wheel drive road from Rose Valley to Nordhoff Ridge also is closed due to repair work. Everything else, including Pine Mountain Road, is open.
Seasonal fire restrictions are back in place as of June 18 and will be in effect into January. You can read all the details at this webpage.
NEW HOURS: The Ojai Ranger District office is now open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone: (805) 646-4348. Please tell them I sent you! |
|
|---|
|
|
|
|---|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|  |
|
|
|
|
 |
Votes: 0
Voting..
|
|
|
|
|