Mushrooms of Southern California with Jess Starwood
in Ojai on Saturday, February 18
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, 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!.
Starwood will join Kaufer, author of Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants, at a diverse Ojai habitat that is home to several species of fungi and native plants. Of course, they can’t guarantee which mushrooms they’ll find as that is unpredictable, dependent on rainfall, weather, and other factors. In any case, Starwood will bring dried samples from her pantry to fill in the gaps.
The workshop will start out at 9 a.m. at the Ojai Meadows Preserve for some plant ID and mushroom foraging. At 12 noon the group will move indoors to Fisher Hall at St. Andrews Episcopal Church for a wild food lunch demonstration, followed by more learning in the afternoon. At 3 pm. Kaufer’s mobile bookshop will be open for purchasing either title and many more. The authors will sign their respective books.
This will be Starwood’s only Ojai workshop during mushroom season this year. All three of her 2022 mushroom workshops sold out so those interested are encouraged to act soon if they want to be able to participate in this very special event.
The cost for the workshop, including all materials, is $145. Registration and more information can be found at HerbWalks.com or by calling 805-646-6281. This workshop will go on rain or shine with a change of morning venue in case of a heavy downpour.
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 south
of the border. She is a regular contributor to Edible Ojai and Ventura County magazine.
Starwood 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. Her 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 hundreds 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 founder and director of the Ojai Herbal Symposium, to be held in November this
year.
Kaufer holds a degree in Biology from UC Santa Cruz and is the author of Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants (Falcon Guides, 2021). His website is at HerbWalks.com. He can be found on Facebook as HerbWalks and on Instagram @OjaiHerbal.