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✨ We're thrilled to have Brendan officially on t

✨ We're thrilled to have Brendan officially on the Quail Springs team this year! His wealth of knowledge and love of the land is expressed through the passions with which he lives his life, and we are so lucky to have him here. 💫 Brendan (he/him) is a fisherman, hunter, naturalist, chef, craftsman, builder, and agriculturalist. He has dedicated his life to deepening human connection to the natural world, guided by a profound respect for the land and animals. A lifelong Californian, Brendan has spent the last seven years in Cuyama, working closely with the region’s unique landscapes and communities. Over the years, Brendan has worn many hats at Quail Springs—from facilitating on-site programs and leading youth initiatives in Cuyama, to caring for the natural buildings and stewarding the farm. Brendan’s hands-on, skilled approach defines everything he does. His extensive knowledge of ancestral and wilderness skills, combined with his practical expertise, shapes his unique contributions to conservation and environmental justice work. Motivated by a deep connection to nature, Brendan is passionate about bridging the divide between farmlands and wild lands, recognizing the need for sustainable agriculture alongside habitat preservation. As a member of the American Connection Corps through his work in Field Operations at Quail Springs, Brendan leads the organization’s land-based initiatives. His current focus is on native plant installations and greywater systems in Cuyama, addressing the environmental and social challenges that sit at the intersection of resource management and community wellbeing. Committed to building resilient systems that honor both people and land, Brendan continues to foster deeper connections between nature and those who call this region home. When he’s not crafting, fixing, or building, you can find Brendan spending time with his pet lamb. #quailsprings #quailspringspermaculture
#americanconnectioncorps #cuyamavalley

We are excited to welcome Amy on the team with us,

We are excited to welcome Amy on the team with us, they have been a wonderful addition to Quail Springs alongside their sweet pup Alpha! Amy (they/them) has been working with California native plants in different pathways since attending university at Cal State Northridge. Working passionately for the natural world began with a love for animals in childhood and turned into exploring interest in gardening, environmental politics, and finally a synergy into ecology. Born and raised mostly in Southern California – Luiseño/Payómkawichum, Cahuilla territories, Amy has been in the search for “home” as a mixed ethnicity person of settler descending families. Learning about ecology and understanding the importance of native plants to the success of a place also taught them about the truth of indigeneity and the effects of colonization on people, animals, plants, and overall the land and water. Finding Quail Springs and becoming a part of their community and work team is a vital part in this story of being in service towards healing these wounds, both as an individual and as a community member. As the Land Stewardship Director at Quail Springs, Amy uses their knowledge of pieces of a whole to guide project aspects such as grant management, seed collection processes, propagation of local native plants, and educational development. All of these functions serve to bring greater awareness to the local community, as well as the audience Quail Springs reaches. In their personal life, Amy enjoys multiple creative outlets, such as writing, coloring, and sewing, as well as tending to gardens. They love to spend time with their dog and adventure together, along with other humans at times! #quailsprings #landstewardship #cuyamavalley

This year, we’re asking you to help us raise $10

This year, we’re asking you to help us raise $100K for an Emergency Relief Fund. The recent wildfire evacuation and the losses we incurred to livestock and land highlight the urgent need for savings to cover unexpected costs and support our dedicated team. Now, our work is more important than ever as we address critical issues of water, food, and energy scarcity. We’re partnering with neighbors, nonprofits, local businesses, farmers, ranchers, and government agencies to build climate and economic resilience in the Cuyama Valley. But the impact of our efforts extends far beyond this high desert. By actively sharing our successes regionally, nationally, and globally, we are co-creating a sustainable future for all. For two decades, you’ve been an essential part of Quail Springs. You have helped us discover what’s possible when we collaborate with the land to build regenerative systems. Please donate today to help strengthen our mission and safeguard our future - you can find our donation link in our 🔗 Link in Bio 🔗 Here’s to another 20 years!
#givingtuesday

🐤🐈It's been the season for babies here at Qu

✨A special announcement ✨ First, our worktrade

✨A special announcement ✨ First, our worktrade program is resting for the winter season ~ We will be tucking away into the hibernation cave to dream and vision into ripe possibilities and intentions for our worktrade program. Keep your eyes out here and on our website for updates in the late winter. We wrapped up our last worktrade season with a bittersweet ending of bidding farewell, see-you-later to our beloved Mama and child duo: Aya and Oliver. In the story of Quail Springs, there's been but a handful of children who have had the privilege to be raised by these lands, and this generation of Quail community was lucky enough to live alongside these two darling beans. Aya, a student from our now dormant online Permaculture Design Course, applied for the work-trade program 5 months ago seeking community where she could learn and practice decolonizing parenting and education. In her 4 months here, Aya found camaraderie and refuge in the aunties and community who dream, pray, and step into the brave ways that we can better become stronger, softer, and more deeply woven with the struggles of our co-liberation. We fell deeply in love with Aya’s gentle mothering and playful, sincere spirit; with Oli’s fantastic imagination and creativity. Ask him how many pistils evening primrose has, this 6 year old knows! A brilliant plant nerd, comet devotee, and fierce protector of life, Oli’s deeply compassionate and loving heart became potent medicine that our community didn’t know we needed. We cherish your generosity and care, and we’re so excited to see where your journeys take you! #quailsprings #worktrade #communityliving

@quail_springs Natural Building Director Sasha Rab

@quail_springs Natural Building Director Sasha Rabin ( @earthenshelter ) has two Natural Building workshops coming up in Potter Valley, CA. Natural Plasters - September 14th - 16th (with a weekend option for those who can’t stay Monday). Join Sasha and Yoshi Makino (@yetimachine ) for a 3 day deep dive into learning about natural plasters and finishes. They will cover plasters that are appropriate for earthen building, and plasters that can go over sheetrock walls. From earthen base coats to fine finishes, they will cover a wide range of techniques. Just a few spaces remaining in this course. Rocket Stove Cooker - October 4th - 6th Kirk “Donkey” Mobert (@sundogbuilders ) will join Sasha to teach this workshop, building a Rocket Cook Stove. This version uses similar technology as a Rocket Mass Heater (RMH), but specifically designed for cooking rather than heating. Students will build this one with earthen building techniques, learning both cob and adobe. @quail_springs followers can get $50 off either of these workshops if they register by September 1st. Just mention Quail Springs when you fill out your registration. You’ll find the link in our stories or on EarthenShelter.Com. You can also ask any questions in the comments below. #rocketstove #rocketstovecooking #rocketmassheater #woodfired #cookingwithfire #masonryheater #naturalbuilding #permaculture
#cleanburning #designscience #alternativeenergy #earthdoesntburn #woodstove #woodstovecooking #offgrid #rocketstoveworkshop #masonrystove #earthenplaster #clayplaster #claywallfinish #clayplasterfinishes #naturalbuilding #earthenbuilding #naturalplaster
#naturalbuildingworkshop #clay #clayart #plaster #sgraffito #naturalpigment

Blaine Morris (she/her) is making a splash at Quai

Blaine Morris (she/her) is making a splash at Quail Springs as our new Program co-Director!💦 We're thrilled to welcome Blaine, whose rich background as a Creative & Full Spectrum Doula is a fluid yet refreshing addition to our community. Her holistic practice, which ripples across global clinical and community settings, is rooted in culturally grounded care and a decolonized praxis. 🌊 Blaine's journey reflects her deep experience in creation, advocacy, and eco-feminism. She began her path on the cold northeast coast of Turtle Island, nurtured by vibrant arts, culture, a close-knit family, and an expansive community that extends to the ancestral tropical waters and mangroves of Honduras. In 2022, she founded @sanasana_wellness, a monastic maternal health nonprofit steadily being structured and gaining momentum, driven by her commitment to learning in community. This was intentionally deepened through her service in two @wfpsolidaritycollective delegations and her ongoing role as a NY Leadership Circle member of @latinainstitute for Reproductive Justice, before Quail Springs’ mission brought her ashore on Chumash land. We’re excited to see the waves Blaine will create as she steers our programs, including the CalEPA Coalition of Water Stewards grant, into transformative new waters. Her vision and passion will undoubtedly deepen our impact and nourish our community. Welcome, Blaine! 💧

This past June, the Cuyama Valley Community Associ

This past June, the Cuyama Valley Community Association(CVCA) organized a crucial Listening Session attended by key officials and leaders to discuss the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and the ongoing groundwater adjudication lawsuit initiated by major basin pumpers. The session provided an opportunity to reflect on how SGMA is being carried out on the ground, the community's involvement, the adjudication, and the real-life impacts of both SGMA and adjudication on local residents. Attendees included:
● Senator Monique Limón
● Assemblymember Gregg Hart
● Senator Melissa Hurtado
● Michelle Sevilla from Assemblymember Steve Bennett's office
● Kara Woodruff from Senator John Laird's office
● Das Williams, First District Supervisor Santa Barbara County
● Paul Gosselin, Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources These officials were invited to listen to the real-life experiences of the combination of SGMA and Adjudication. Local small farmers, ranchers, fieldworkers, and property owners told their stories of the unintended consequences of this well-intended legislation that attempts to sustainable regulates groundwater but that is disproportionately benefiting the biggest pumpers who also files the lawsuit. Thank you to Melinda Burns and Ian James from LA Times for covering the important groundwater issues facing the Cuyama Valley. Read the articles in our press highlights. Please sign the petition to save the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin (link in bio) #quailsprings #standwithcuyama #wateradvocacy #cuyamavalley #groundwater

On Tuesday, July 23, the Apache Fire ignited from

On Tuesday, July 23, the Apache Fire ignited from sparks cast into the highly flammable roadside vegetation by a truck driving south on Hwy 33 dragging towing chains. That night Apache Canyon residents were evacuated as the fire rapidly expanded and threatened homes and farming infrastructure. Two days later as the fire continued to move through the high levels of fuel load, Quail Springs residents watched the smoke plumes and rising flames 2 miles away and coming toward our canyon over the southern ridges. Mandatory evacuations went into place for Quail Springs/Burges Canyon on Thursday, July 25. Quail Springs residents put their emergency plan into action and within minutes of the mandatory evacuation order, farm animals were being loaded, and we were on the road toward safety and shelter. We have huge gratitude for our Cuyama Valley neighbors and extended communities who offered us critical support. This has been an eye opening experience about the power of community and the knowledge that our safety comes not only from our preparedness, but even more from our interconnectedness. We are indebted to the firefighters, and Ventura County law enforcement who worked around the clock to keep us safe. The respect, care, intelligence, vigilance and high level of coordinated effort/labor they devoted to protecting us and our beloved home went above and beyond the call of duty. We are so grateful. We were able to return Saturday July 27 to continue tending to the land and our homes. Photos:
1, 2, 4, 5: Smoke and fire visible over the canyon from Quail Springs
3: Fire suppressing tankers fly over the sky as we prepare to evacuate with the animals
6: Oaks and junipers that had to be cleared for protective firebreak along the south side of Quail Springs
7: Aftermath of the fire in neighboring Apache Canyon Read more in our Quail Springs newsletter linked in our bio #Apachefire #quailsprings #wildfireseason

We're so excited to welcome River (they/them) as O

We're so excited to welcome River (they/them) as Operations Director! They are such a blessing as an addition to the team, with their easy-going attitude, sharp wit, and attunement to support the shifting needs of Quail Springs as an organization and community. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Growing up in the Pennsylvania woods, River began to understand connection with the soil under your feet. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in Cognitive Science focusing on consciousness, they worked as a researcher, web and software developer, and educator on lands known as Canada, South Africa, and the US. River has spent most of the last decade building and running workforce development programs, advocating for underserved young people, and fostering technical skill, curiosity and delight in their students. They are humbled and awed to have the opportunity to nurture land and community at Quail Springs. River specializes in accessibility, is a certified mental health first responder, and loves to dream up solutions to difficult problems. As Operations Director, River’s core goals are to reinforce organizational memory, increase capacity and ease, and build imaginative and helpful structures that don’t replicate restrictive colonial systems. Outside of work, their interests include natural dyeing, clothing design, backpacking, text-based games, vegetarian cooking, music production, cell biology, contemporary art, poetry, radical abolition, and illustration. They love to make complicated information understandable, and turn messy ideas into intuitive systems. #quailsprings #cuyamavalley #quailspringspermaculture

Our dear community at Spirit Pine are in urgent ne

Our dear community at Spirit Pine are in urgent need for funds to get their Spring Water System back up and running again! Please donate if you can, and share this widely! Over the last 25 years, Spirit Pine Sanctuary has served thousands of private and public school groups, aikido students, natural building students from around the world, and people from all walks of life who are exploring sustainable ways of living. A place of education, inspiration, spiritual renewal, and community hub offering an invaluable lens on how to live in right relationship with the earth. This is our opportunity to hold Spirit Pine and all its inhabitants the way they have held us throughout the years and provide community support in a time of need. Find the donation link in our link in bio #lakefire #naturalbuilding

It’s inspiring to witness where our students bre

It’s inspiring to witness where our students breathe life into the fire of their creativity — the spaces where visions for dismantling the systems that harm us come alive while creating community based and resilient futures. One of our online natural building students, Amanda, built a portable earthen oven on a hitch trailer alongside her community in so-called Los Angeles. Amanda co-conspires with her community in Tongvaland to build bridges between housed and unhoused neighbors. She started a group called Echo Park Mutual Aid to facilitate a space for neighbors most impacted by the volatility of displacement and gentrification. Twice a month they gather to break bread, share resources, learn together and cook in the oven. If you have resource, consider contributing to their patreon in support of these webs of connection, community, and care @e_p_m_a_ 🔥

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