ENC and the California Native Horticultural Foundation are partnering to expand native plant education at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary. Planting the Seeds for Something Special The Environmental Nature Center is excited to announce a new partnership with the California Native Horticultural Foundation (CNHF), creating new opportunities for education, conservation, and community engagement centered around California native plants. Through this collaboration, CNHF will establish its first home at ENC Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary in Modjeska Canyon, where the two organizations will work together to develop educational programs, volunteer opportunities, professional development, workforce development initiatives, and other experiences that inspire people to connect with California’s remarkable native landscapes. The partnership brings together two organizations whose missions naturally complement one another. For more than five decades, the Environmental Nature Center…
Archives
What I Want My Daughters to Learn
I’d like to introduce you to my daughters. If you’ve spent any time around the ENC, you’ve probably seen children like them. Mud on their shoes. Sticks in their pockets. Completely convinced that a few acres of nature can become an entire world. My youngest, Evie, loves passing out flyers. Not because she fully understands city planning or development proposals. She’s four. But she understands that the ENC is special. She loves stopping strangers and telling them to come help. She feels proud to be part of something bigger than herself. My oldest, Emma, sat through a 2.5-hour City Council meeting last year and listened to person after person stand up and talk about why the ENC matters. She was completely transfixed. The “Protect ENC”…
Navigating the Land
By: Angelica Camacho, ENC Communications Intern Our ancestors lived in harmony with the landscape of earth and skies. They navigated using the sun and stars. Over time, many humans have lost these skills in exchange for easy and convenient tools like navigation apps that tell us exactly where to go, turn by turn. These conveniences though have let us to forget the ways of our ancestors, disconnecting us from Nature, and leaving us dependent on technology powerless to the whim of the wilderness. The Primitive Skills Society, led by Bo Glover, Executive Director of the ENC, seeks to revive the methods of our ancestors and teach us how to survive using both nature and human made tools. Glover hopes to instill the passion that exists…
On A Magical Do Nothing Day
by Amelia Kimberlin, ENC Communications Intern Join us on June 24 for another installment of the Environmental Nature Center’s Reading in the Redwoods program. This program is a great way for children and parents to appreciate a great book together while relaxing under the canopy of our beautiful towering Redwood trees! In this edition of Reading in the Redwoods, ENC Naturalist Valerie Bain will read aloud Beatrice Alemagna’s “On A Magical Do Nothing Day,” a vividly illustrated tale of the wonders of a woodland world. The picture book is centered around a young child who, upon losing their video game device, discovers just how captivating and engaging nature can be. Themes from this book correspond to the objectives of Reading in the Redwoods program, reinforcing…
Photography on the Trail
by Jorge Serrato, ENC Communications Intern Have you ever wanted to go hiking and capture the moments? Well now you can, by joining us here at the ENC where we will teach you everything you need to know about hiking on the wild trails of beautiful Orange County. Throughout the year we have monthly opportunities for you to learn and understand the wonderful outdoor hiking experience. March 19th marks our Photography on the Trail hike which will be lead by our amazing Outreach Coordinator Mindy Schwartz for a fun filled 3-mile hike. You will have many opportunities to capture nature through your own lens and explore the beauty of the wildlife throughout the trail. Mindy will inform you of what you might encounter throughout the…
Lakers Community Champion Award presented to ENC Executive Director Bo Glover
The Environmental Nature Center’s Executive Director Bo Glover was the recipient of the Community Champion of the Month award at the Lakers game on Friday, December 29. The award was presented by the Lakers and LG Solar to recognize him for his work at the Environmental Nature Center, where he provides quality education through hands-on experience with Nature along with his awesome staff. Bo was presented the award on the Lakers court at STAPLES Center at halftime by Geoff Tomlinson, CEO at Vaha Sustainable Energy, Warren Nishikawa, Key Account Manager at LG Solar USA, and Mathew Makovec, Director of Community Relations for the Los Angeles Lakers. Under Bo’s leadership, the Environmental Nature Center (ENC) provides educational programming to over 27,000 people each year by serving as the communities’…
Primitive Skills Society seeks members!
The Environmental Nature Center (ENC) will be hosting the first meeting of the Primitive Skills Society on December 2, 2017 from 4:30 – 7:30PM. During each monthly meeting participants will gather to learn and work on different primitive skills, led by ENC Executive Director Bo Glover. Afterwards, the group will cook a light meal over the campfire. “I started this group because I genuinely enjoy teaching and practicing primitive skills like fire making and tracking,” said ENC Executive Director Bo Glover. “It’s also a great way to meet and develop friendships with great like-minded people.” Throughout the year, Primitive Skills Society members will learn skills including building primitive shelters, collecting, purifying, transporting and storing water, finding food, making fire from friction, building a proper fire,…
GREAT Native Butterfly Plants for your Orange County Garden
If you’d like a butterfly plant to enjoy in your garden year round, read on! There are plenty of butterflies to feed that are NOT monarchs, but monarchs will enjoy the nectar provided by these as well. Sages are very good for attracting adult butterflies to your garden. White Sage (Salvia apiana) and Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea) will be available this Sunday. Epilobium canum, California Fuchsia, is used as a nectar source for butterflies, a larval source for White-lined Sphinx Moth. False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) is the host plant for the Southern Dog Face butterfly. It’s larvae use the leaves of this plant for food. Plant in a part shaded spot that is cool. They like soil that doesn’t dry out, but is not wet….
Goin’ where the wind blows at the ENC
Ever wonder what it would be like to go wherever the wind blows? Lois Ehlert explores just that with her whimsical children’s book “Leaf Man”. Use your imagination and join Leaf Man as he embarks on his unknown adventure. Find out whether the wind takes Leaf Man east towards the ducks and geese or ventures west to the spotted cows at our Reading in the Redwoods event on Sunday, September 24 from 9:30am-11:00am. Naturalist Valerie Bain will lead a group hike to the Redwood Forest where families can relax under the trees and enjoy the reading of “Leaf Man”. Afterwards children and their adults will go on a leaf collecting hike, make leaf rubbings, create their own leaf man, and meet a decomposer who recycles…
Fall Faire & Pumpkin Patch is right around the corner!
As the weather cools and the leaves fall there’s no better way to celebrate the season than with the ENC’s 42nd annual Fall Faire and Pumpkin Patch. Stop by and pick the perfect pumpkin at our pumpkin patch where pumpkins of all shapes and sizes will be available to take home just in time to carve into spooky jack-o-lanterns. Come with an empty stomach because local food vendors will be in attendance for our Savor OC Restaurant Showcase. Grab a delectable treat from Sensitive Sweets, a slice of yum from Pizza Bakery, a gourmet cookie from 17th Street Deli, and clam chowder from Bluewater Grill. Saltwater Catering will be on hand for the first time this year, and we can’t wait to see what they will bring! If the kids…
Join us for an Evening Inspired by Nature
You are cordially invited to the Environmental Nature Center’s 4th annual Summer Soirée on Saturday, June 10. Don’t worry about donning your best suit or gown for this event, we encourage you to dress casually and comfortably. Remember to leave your dress shoes at home, trail-friendly shoes are ideal for this evening inspired by nature. A cocktail hour will kick off the night at 5:30 pm to welcome guests to our beautiful Soirée. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served streamside for guests to enjoy with a full service bar provided by our sponsors About Town Bartending. Guests will make their way to dinner under the stars, served by White House Catering, at 7:00 pm. The gourmet dinner will start off with a Contemporary Green’s…
ENC introduces community to local species through birdwatching basics workshop
By Lola Olvera, ENC Communications Intern Native plants attract native birds and the Environmental Nature Center is home to 3.5 acres of Orange County’s flora, and, consequently, its fauna. Native birds are in abundance at the ENC. Well over a hundred different types of birds have been spotted by our eagle-eyed visitors, including egrets, falcons, goldfinches, hawks, hummingbirds, sparrows, warblers and woodpeckers. Visitors are encouraged to document their sightings and share them with the ENC, a la citizen science. Not a bird expert? You can be. On Saturday, May 27 from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., ENC Naturalist Chris Holland will introduce a small group of aspiring birdwatchers to the art of observing birds. Holland will demonstrate how to properly use binoculars and how to…