September's Program - Native Plants for a Cactus-Friendly Garden by Lanny Kaufer
Lanny Kaufer is celebrating 50 years of leading herb walks, nature hikes, and foraging workshops in Southern California and beyond. He has educated thousands of residents and visitors on the edible and medicinal flora of California since 1976. He holds a biology degree from UC Santa Cruz with independent studies in naturopathic medicine and is the author of Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants (Falcon Guides, 2021). Lanny hosted the Ojai Herbal Symposium and the Ojai Herbal Retreat from 2018 to 2026. He is on the faculty of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University, Channel Islands, and serves as consultant on medicinal plants for the Chumash Garden at the Ojai Valley Museum and Swimmer Medicinal Garden in Playa Vista, CA. Lanny shares his events and knowledge online through his website at HerbWalks.com.
Lanny specializes in making learning about edible and medicinal plants accessible and fun for people of all ages. He acquired much of his plant knowledge in field study with well-known herbalists and ethnobotanists, including in the 1970s with the late herbalist William LeSassier and the late Chumash plant expert Juanita Centeno. He has co-led workshops, field classes and expeditions with noted experts such as the late herbalist and author Michael Moore, author-herbalist Michael Tierra, author-herbalist Amanda McQuade Crawford, author-Professor Emeritus James Adams of USC School of Pharmacy, author-survivalist Christopher Nyerges, and Chumash educators and siblings Julie Tumamait-Stenslie and Patrick Tumamait, among others.
