The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, Bostrom and Associates Landscape Architecture, Don and Sheila Cluff and the City of Ojai will co-host a hands-on native plant gardening series at Cluff Vista Park this fall.   Here’s your chance to gain insight into the care and stewardship of a native plant garden while helping care for an Ojai community treasure.  

Tom Bostrom, landscape architect and arborist, provides volunteer oversight for the gardens at Cluff Vista.  He will share his knowledge and passion for native landscapes as the series facilitator and will actively assist at volunteer work days, helping volunteers improve their knowledge and skills with native plant and tree care.  Three Saturday morning sessions will be held at Cluff Vista Park in September and October, with a final planting session on a Sunday afternoon in November. 

The only cost to participate is that we ask for a commitment to helping out with the ongoing stewardship of the Cluff Vista Park gardens by attending at least 3 volunteer work days which will be held once a month on Saturday mornings beginning in January and continuing throughout 2011.

Program as follows:

Laying the groundwork – Saturday, September 11^th from 8 – 11:30am    This workshop will begin with a brief recap of the history of the park, followed by a period of walking observation and identification of problems in the various theme gardens. This will form the basis for the following workshops.   Work will include weeding and spreading mulch where it is compatible with the garden’s plants. Some tools will be available, but feel free to bring your own favorite weeding tools, shovels or garden forks for mulching. Extra wheelbarrows will be welcome.

 Natural pruning and reduction – Saturday, September 25^th from 8 – 11:30am    This session will begin with a walking tour of the various theme gardens of the park, evaluating their growth and relative success based on the original design intent.  Areas where plants have wandered out of bounds or interfere with important sightlines will be identified and corrected.  This will include a demonstration of natural pruning practices.   Unlike other types of ornamental landscapes, native plants need very little pruning. We’ll discuss the reasons for pruning and reduction as part of the management of this unique urban park.  Some tools will be available, please bring gloves, hand pruners and loppers, if you have them, for this session.  No need for shears or tree saws!

 Planning & design workshop  – Saturday, October 30^th from 8 – 11:30am     Based on the work accomplished in previous sessions, we will look at and discuss each theme garden, to determine where additional planting or modification of gardens will augment the original design intent.   A list of plants and recommendations for implementation will be synthesized.  This will be the basis for ongoing care of the park in 2011. Topics will include:  what native plants work well together;   how much space they need; how are they best arranged for height and density; how much water do they need (or not need); what is their expected life span.  Learn to plan well for a great native plant garden.  Bring gloves and your notepad for this session. 

 Planting for the Rain – Sunday, November 14^th from 1 – 4pm     One of the best time to plant natives is just as the rainy season begins.  At this session we’ll plant some of the natives we planned during the previous session.  Proper planting methods will be demonstrated, and we’ll include discussion of how to care for natives during their establishment.  Some tools will be available; bring shovels and hand trowels if you have them.

 Come Join Us!     Limited spaces are available for this series, participants must register in advance, and should be available to attend all four sessions. Call the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy at 805 649-6852 ext. 2 or email info@ovlc.org to register.

For all sessions participants should bring gloves, drinking water and snacks, sun protection and wear sturdy closed toed shoes.  All tools should be marked with your name and phone number in case we need to return them to you.

We’re excited to welcome Deborah Whorf to our board of directors.  Deborah is a converted transplant from the east coast who has happily adapted and totally immersed herself in the Ojai community and culture.

She came to Ojai in 1998 to assist with the completion of the Ojai Valley Inn’s new spa and went on to become the Project Coordinator for the Inn’s vast $90M Renovation.  Deborah is currently the Engineering Manager overseeing the activities of the Engineering Department including general maintenance, processes and projects at the Inn. 

You can spot her on most weekends enjoying her horse, Winston, riding throughout the Ventura River Preserve.  In addition, Deborah and her husband, Bill, enjoy traveling throughout California whenever they can find free time as well as an occasional visit back to the east coast to visit family.

If you’ll be at Ventura Hillsides annual fundraising concert on Sept. 25th, stop by our booth to say hi!  We’ll be there in support of land conservation county-wide, as will Emmylou Harris and friends.  See you there!  To learn more, visit  http://www.venturahillsides.org/ 

Feather and Bone – A Celebration of Song and Spirit

Tickets on sale now for $30.  Call Darcy Gamble at 805 649-6852 ext 6 or email darcy@ovlc.org to purchase your tickets today.

On September 25^th at 7:30 pm Amanda McBroom will present to Ojai the talented Ms. Laurel Massé.  Ms. Massé is the one of the founding members of  Manhattan Transfer and she will be performing an evening of unaccompanied songs that are sure to delight her guests.  Learn more about this rare talent from her website www.laurelmasse.com.  Concert details forthcoming.

Amanda McBroom showcased her wonderful Chanson CD at last year’s concert and the CD’s sold out at the concert.  If you missed that chance to own a Chanson CD you can buy Amanda McBroom’s Chanson CD and others at www.amcbroom.com.

This year’s concert will take place again at Ojai’s Historic Presbyterian Church located at 304 N Foothill Rd in Ojai, CA 93023.  Save the date and if you do not receive emails from the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy and want to make sure to get the ticket sales announcement, email darcy@ovlc.org with your contact information.

PLEASE NOTE:  Tickets are offered through the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy and will be mailed to the purchaser’s home in advance.  Last year reservations were taken in advance of the concert and tickets were paid for onsite before the concert.  This year to keep things simple for concert goers you will need a ticket to get into the concert.   If there are tickets available the day of the performance, they will be sold onsite thirty minutes prior to show time.

Several fish rescues have taken place on the Ventura River Preserve this summer.   Responsible agencies get together annually – and with the assistance of Rick Bisaccia OVLC’s Preserve Manager – they rescue Steelhead when the swim holes and other parts of the river dry out.  The decision to move fish to safe locations up or down stream takes place on a case-by-case basis.

This book, authored by our own witty Conservation Director Brian Stark, is practical, humorous, and welcome. This guide has been a long time coming in the Ojai Valley where the Giant Reed has all but consumed parts of San Antonio Creek. The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy has four major areas of focus and one of them is San Antonio Creek. San Antonio Creek follows Creek Road and runs by and through many of our backyards. In a better world this creek would be healthy and full of native fish. The restoration community in the State of California is greatful to Brian for his good work in creating a funny and accessible (not terribly technical) guide to restoring bird (riparian) habitats. Thank you.

Mr. Stark’s book is called Restoration Field Guide: A User-Friendly Guide For Restoration Techniques In Riparian Habitats and will most likely be found online at some point in the near future.

Have you ever wished you could explore the Ventura River Preserve with someone who knows the trails and what there is to see? Or learn more about the Ojai Meadows Preserve wetlands restoration?  Now you can join us for a guided walk the first Saturday of every month starting Aug 7th. 

Walks will be held at 8:30am on the first Saturday of each month on the Ventura River Preserve and the Ojai Meadows Preserve.  Trained docents will help you to gain a better understanding of the preserves.  They will present some of the history of the land, its ecological significance, plant and wildlife information, watershed information, restoration activities, a bit about the trails, preserve use and safety guidelines. 

For a great chance to get to know your local nature preserves, come meet our awesome volunteer docents, and take a walk. 

For the Ventura River Preserve tour, meet at 8:30am at the Riverview Trailhead on Rice Road just south of El Roblar.  This hour and a half walk is on flat land, but wear sturdy shoes, as terrain is uneven. 

For the Ojai Meadows Preserve tour, meet at 8:30am on Maricopa Highway in front of the preserve at the pullout.  This one hour walk is on flat, easy terrain.  This is a great walk for birders too.

For more information, or to inquire about a private tour for your group of 6 or more, call 805 649-6852 ext. 2.

Here is a photo of our first successful transplants at the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s Ojai Meadows Preserve nursery. These plants have spent the last 3-4 weeks in their rooting trays and have now graduated to soil! We are so proud of our little ones.

We still need a few more volunteers for the nursery.

The formal request follows:
The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy wants you to help in our nursery for a few hours each week. We have about 10 trays of plant cuttings (live stems of a native plant) that need to be transferred to potting soil. We also need assistance gathering more cuttings and seeds from plants on the preserve. Anyone interested in working with plants and learning about nurseries is encouraged to contact OVLC’s nursery coordinator Allegra Roth at arroth@ucdavis.edu. Allegra will arrange a time to meet you for training and orientation. If you are interested please email Allegra to coordinate a training and orientation time.

Back to E-Newsletter (Summer 2010)  

Special thanks to Doug & Leanne Campbell, Tom Esensten, Mimi  Gottlieb, Mike Gourley, Kay Martin and Rob Youngan additional 2.5 miles of trails for a connection to a new Ventura River Preserve trailhead. Currently the Riverview and Oso trailheads provide access to the northern and central areas of the preserve. The new trailhead will provide a third connection to the Ventura River Preserve’s twenty miles of trails just off Hwy 150 at Old Baldwin Road.

The new trailhead is funded by a Proposition 50 grant from the California River Parkways program, so that Ojai Valley residents and visitors may enjoy additional access to hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, and wheelchair access to recreational trails along the southern part of the Preserve. New signs, maps and trail markers are currently under development. In addition to general and horse trailer  parking, two designated ADA parking spaces and an adjoining 1,600 foot-long wheelchair accessible trail will make it possible for more people to enjoy the area.

The Ventura County Watershed Protection District in partnership with the OVLC will enhance recreational opportunities by building the new trailhead and amenities. OVLC will maintain the trailhead. 

By Brian Stark                                                                                                                     Back to E-Newsletter (Summer 2010)

Visitors to the Ojai Meadows Preserve may notice some new activity near the Highway 33 trailheads.  The OVLC is starting a new phase of restoration along the floodway chan that runs through the site to drain water from Maricopa Highway. The project involves planting an additional 500 trees and shrubs to help shade the water, keeping it cool for aquatic creatures. They will also be homes for birds and other wildlife adapted to streamside habitats. Weed removal has been done and the area is ready to plant.  Because we are planting in the warmer…ok…hotter part of the year, we need some extra water. We have built an irrigation system capable of carrying high volumes of water to nurture the plants through their first summer. On the upside, the plants will grow rapidly in the warm months and reduce the area available for weeds to grow next spring.  Later this year, we’ll plant over 1,000 native plants on the channel downstream from the wetland.

Want to get involved?

We need some hardy volunteers to help with the planting and maintenance of these plants through the summer. Volunteering on this project will be a great way to get out in the sunshine with other OVLC-friendly people and make a big difference in the success of our work.  Another fun volunteer activity is helping at the OVLC Nursery at the Meadows Preserve. After lying dormant for a year, the Ojai Meadows Restoration project greenhouse has been re-started with the help of intern Allegra Roth. At the nursery we grow native plants from local cuttings and seeds that will eventually be planted on our preserves.  Restoration work has long been part of the OVLC mission and we have so much to show from our efforts over the last few years. Please contact the office if you would like to be involved, it really does take a community to make these projects successful.