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Mushrooms of Southern California & Wild Food Lunch with Jess Starwood
February 18, 2023 @ 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
$145
Please be sure to use the REGISTER link below or at the bottom of the page before clicking on the PayPal button to complete payment and secure your space. Note: Online payment includes a PayPal fee of $4.34. If you prefer, when you register you can request instructions for mailing a payment of $145/person.
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Cancellation policy: I will refund your payment if you notify me up to 96 hours (4 days) before the start of the event. After that I will make every effort to fill your space (and I’m usually successful) but cannot guarantee.
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As you walk the meadows, mountains, and valleys of Southern California, do you find yourself wishing you knew more about the elusive mushrooms you encounter? Turn your wishing into learning on Saturday, February 18, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. when Herb Walks with Lanny Kaufer hosts a workshop in Ojai with acclaimed forager/chef Jess Starwood, author of Mushroom Wanderland: A Forager’s Guide to Finding, Identifying, and Using More Than 25 Wild Fungi!. (Just click on that link to order the book now.) We’ll visit a diverse Ojai habitat that is home to several species of fungi and native plants. Of course, we can’t guarantee which mushrooms we’ll find as that is unpredictable, dependent on rainfall, weather, and other factors. Not to worry, though. Jess will bring dried samples from her pantry to fill in the gaps.
We’ll start out at 9 a.m. at the Ojai Meadows Preserve for some plant ID and mushroom foraging. At 12 noon we’ll move indoors to Fisher Hall at St. Andrews Episcopal Church for a wild food lunch demonstration, followed by more learning and hands-on activities in the afternoon. At 3 pm. my mobile bookshop will be open for purchasing either title and many more. Jess and I will be on hand to sign our respective books.
Please note: This will be Jess’s only Ojai workshop during mushroom season this year and it’s filling up fast. All three of her 2022 mushroom workshops sold out so don’t delay if you want to be able to participate in this very special event.
ABOUT JESS STARWOOD:
Jess Starwood is a forager, plant-based chef, and herbalist. She is the author and photographer of Mushroom Wanderland: A Forager’s Guide to Finding, Identifying, and Using 25 Wild Fungi! and leads wild food and herbalism classes, workshops, and immersive wild food adventures all across the country and in Mexico. She has a Master of Science degree in Herbal Medicine from the American College of Healthcare Sciences and has worked as a forager and consultant with several Michelin-starred restaurants in Los Angeles.
Jess’s website is at www.jstarwood.com. She can be found on Instagram @jess.starwood. She hosts events at Cat+Raven Collective in Thousand Oaks.
ABOUT LANNY KAUFER:
Lanny Kaufer has been leading Herb Walks in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties since 1976, educating scores of locals and visitors on the flora of the area with a focus on herbs that can be used for food and medicine. As an herbal educator, Lanny also leads workshops and presentations throughout the Ojai-Ventura-Santa Barbara area on the edible and medicinal uses of California plants. He is the author of Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants, published by Falcon Guides in December 2021.
Lanny earned a biology degree at the University of California where he completed independent studies in naturopathic medicine under physiology professor Dr. Henry Hilgard. Lanny is a faculty member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University, Channel Islands. He served as chief consultant on medicinal plants for the redesign of the Swimmer Medicinal Garden in Playa Vista.