OJAI “OUTDOOR SURVIVAL SKILLS” WORKSHOP

SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Join Ojai author Lanny Kaufer and famed author-forager Christopher Nyerges on Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Ojai for an “Outdoor Survival Skills” workshop based on the book of the same name by legendary survival expert Larry Dean Olsen. Nyerges edited the recent 7th Edition of this classic.

The workshop will begin with a morning plant walk led by Nyerges and Kaufer at Euterpe Farms, overlooking the Ventura River Preserve. The afternoon workshop will take place under an oak tree. Everyone will have a chance to participate in all activities.

Participants will learn to identify edible, medicinal and otherwise useful plants of the season, practice making cordage and soap from yucca leaves, observe the most basic primitive fire-starting methods (the hand drill and bow drill), prepare a cooked prickly-pear cactus salad using the primitive fire, and learn principles of finding and purifying water, especially in dry areas.

Attendees will have the opportunity to try starting a primitive fire with expert supervision. There may be other activities, depending on seasonal foods and supplies available. Nyerges will have copies of his books for sale and signing. Kaufer will have his book, Medicinal Herbs of California, available as well.

Nyerges writes of Olsen: “Larry was perhaps the most visible person teaching and sharing the extreme art of living off the land. It is not an overstatement to say that everyone today teaching these skills has some lineage, direct or indirect, that leads back to Larry Dean Olsen.”

This workshop will go on RAIN OR SHINE with the exception of a heavy downpour in the morning and/or a 100% chance of heavy rain that day. No dogs (other than service dogs) and no smoking, please.

Paid registrants will receive a confirmation email with all necessary info, including weather forecast and parking directions, a few days prior to the workshop.  They also will receive a follow-up email afterwards with a list of all plants identified, recipes, valuable links and more.

The cost for the workshop, including all materials, is $85 for adults and $45 for children under 18, one child per adult. For more information and to register, please visit HerbWalks.com or call (805) 646-6281.