Foraged Language and Plant Identification

What's the name of that plant? Why do they call it fleabane or shepherd's purse or ambrosia?

Knowing the names of the plants and the places we are moving through can make that feeling of connection and confidence deeper. It can also give us a better way to remember what we've learned about the uses of plants. And a lot of the stories are fascinating.

Join us as local language activist and writer Michael Collins Gallaspy and the regular crew lead a plant walk focused on the names and language that connect us to place. We'll start at Trolley Barn Park and work our way down Adams Ave. stopping at some notable gardens. Learn some of the ways we identify and name plants when we're out and about, and what the plant names can tell us about their history, their uses and where they come from.

Michael will help us extend that same approach to the other names around us. What can we learn about the history and uses of the places around us from street names, and the language of signs and store fronts?

Along the way we'll learn the names of local plants in English, Kumeyaay, Spanish and other languages -- and we'll learn something about the history of how languages and plants follow each other around the globe, carried by the same people.

Should be a good time! Hope to see you there!