Lindsay Kolasa

A great (and beautiful) example of xeriscaping (needing little to no irrigation) in Ojai, CA

In April, my small family moved to Santa Barbara, CA for my husband’s work.  Thankfully, my work with plants and people is pretty portable (another p-word please?).  Considering that my work with plants really began in CA, it feels good to bring it back home after about 9 years in Appalachia and the Deep South.

One champion oak that is fighting to recover from oak root rot…

Since my little one is fond of napping on the go, I strap her on to me in an Ergo carrier and explore.  Although I’m used to walking under a canopy of trees to protect me from on-going sun exposure, like I did in the mountains of Appalachia and the red hills of the Deep South, I am renewing my appreciation for this coastal bioregion with its hillsides dappled with oaks and aromatic and resinous plants…with an umbrella in hand.

It’s raining sunlight, y’all.

It seems that Santa Barbara is nestled right between the Central Coast and Desert bioregions.  If you don’t know about bioregionalism, check out this article.

One version of CA’s bioregions

A quote from the article I linked to above:

“More generally, a bioregion is a place that has commonalities of soil, surface water source, landforms, wildlife, climate and culture. The bioregionalism movement, which is still active today, calls for defining areas based not on ecologically meaningless political boundaries but instead on natural geographic boundaries and characteristics. The border between California and Oregon, for example, is a straight line that cuts straight across watersheds. A bioregional boundary would meander, tracing the dividing line between watersheds.”

Since living in San Francisco in the 2000’s, where I learned of this term (and where it was coined), I’ve always thought that grouping areas by natural features and ecosystems made more sense than the disconnected political boundaries that have been drawn.  If you think about it, it’s a very practical way to group areas AND have political representation based on your bioregion.

Anywho…

I’ve been admiring many plants since I’ve been here.  I found this website of flowering plants and it has been useful for my recent walks in Ojai.

Another thing that I just forgot about California is the many fruit and nut trees that adorn gardens and yards.  So then, I’m going to share pictures below of native, invasive, naturalized, and cultivated plants and trees.

As you may know, I closed my beloved apothecary this past year and am a practicing herbalist.  I am eager to begin making medicine again, but I need to make relationships with land-owners and farmers so that I can harvest plants.  It will take time.

As well, I need to form a relationship with the land here before taking from it.  I think I’ll start making medicine again later on this year or early next year.  We’ll see…

For the time being, I’ll continue to teach and write…well, and grow this very special little plant of mine…my daughter.  Enjoy the plant ponderings below (scroll over images to read the common name if you already don’t know it)!

—

Here are some great herbal allies that I see on a walk I go on almost every day.  Vervain is a favorite plant of mine.  I used an invasive Brazilian Vervain while in Mississippi where it grew readily and wild (I love when invasives can be used as medicine…a great way to cull them back and, oddly enough, appreciate their presence).  I plan to use Western Vervain in a similar way:  relaxing nervine, lowers blood pressure, bitter digestive, menstrual tension/pain, cold/flu season herb, etc.

Horehound was interesting to find…an invasive that looks like it has naturalized quite well.  It’s commonly used to expectorate lodged, hardened phlegm in the lungs…a common herb used in lozenges (and cough syrups).

Violets can be used similarly anywhere you find them, a gentle lymphagogue with an affinity for the breast tissue.  Generally, the leaves make a moistening and rejuvenating spring tonic (fresh leaves, brewed as a tea or infusion).

western vervain

elder in bloom

sticky monkey flower

common horehound

california golden violet

california sagebrush

It was great to see plenty of wild oats.  I use the green, fresh seed heads (see pic) to make a restorative preparation for a person with a worn-out nervous system.  Milky oats are great to nourish the nerves and buffer from further stress damage.  Read more about milky oats here.

wild oats, sticky latex from green seeds

wild oats

And then, there’s the amazing fruit and nut crops adorning the landscape.  If it’s not fruiting right now, it is preparing to…  Even with the drought conditions in this area right now, the trees still offer up their bounty.  Amazing.

I’ve been seeing a lot of fruit on the ground, as well.  This reminds me of my years in the mountains of western NC where there were acres and acres of abandoned, old apple trees, folded in forgotten hollers, with tasty apples lying all around them on the ground.  We have yet create an elegant and effective system of getting food to people and giving people time in their life to prepare food.

Supermarkets make you feel there is a limited supply of food.  There is not.  Check out the documentary Dive! if you haven’t seen it.

orange blossom

avocado in bloom

last year’s persimmon (cap) with new growth in background

apples

almond growing

apricot bloom

pomegranate sepals

apricot baby

almond in hull from last year

orange tree

famed Ojai pixie

almond flower

pomegranate bloom