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This year, we’re fundraising for an Emergency Fund that will help Quail Springs weather the increasing effects of climate change which threaten the land we steward and love.
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Plant With Purpose: Conservation Outreach in the Cuyama Valley

Quail Springs is partnering with Santa Barbara Botanic Garden to bring native habitat restoration and hands-on conservation education to local farms, schools, and community spaces in the Cuyama Valley.
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Groundwater in the Cuyama Valley

Learn about the history of groundwater in the Cuyama Valley and our valley’s grassroots effort to protect it.
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We’re thrilled to be one of the grantees of @the We’re thrilled to be one of the grantees of @thefundforsantabarbara 2025 Movement Building Grant, alongside other organizations doing impactful work.  For the past two decades, Quail Springs has worked continuously to address critical environmental issues to a rapidly changing climate, through education and with community. With the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act enacted in 2014 much of our energy shifted to water access and stewardship in the Cuyama Valley, as an ethos that water is a human right, and everybody in this valley deserves their voices to be heard, regardless of background.  The Cuyama Basin, the region’s sole water source, is critically over drafted, leading to severe consequences for the community. Depleting groundwater reserves threaten access to clean drinking water, increase reliance on costly water hauling, and impact small farmers and ranchers. Despite being disproportionately affected, many community members remain underrepresented in local governance, limiting their ability to advocate for equitable water policies. Quail Springs is in service as a bridge to build a coalition of water stewards to work towards influencing policy decisions to protect the valley’s future.  As part of a multi-year project, we’re installing laundry-to-landscape greywater systems and backyard composting at no cost for up to twelve residents of our beloved valley, including public workshops on residential water use, food waste reduction, and soil health. Additionally, we’re holding a paid training program on greywater installation providing upskilling opportunities for residents, made possible by the FUND’s 2023 Spring Cycle grant.  None of this work can be achieved without being in collaboration with other residents of the Cuyama Valley and partners whose lives these issues deeply impact. We are grateful for all the groundwork that has been done before and alongside us so that we can continue to expand our programming, education, and advocacy. As we work to address these issues of water and the environment essential to not only our own, but also the lives of our neighbors, friends, and extended community, we know we cannot do this work alone.
🌞We are so happy to announce that Blaine Morris 🌞We are so happy to announce that Blaine Morris has stepped into the role of Executive Director! She’ll be leading our fundraising efforts, strengthening partnerships, and helping guide our next chapter of community-rooted growth.  Blaine brings a diverse and dynamic background of experience shaped by cross-cultural organizing, eco-feminist praxis, and a commitment to culturally grounded care. Her approach draws on a deep understanding of the connection between body, land, and community—informing how she now leads development efforts with both strategy and heart. Read more about Blaine’s extensive background on our website!  And a heartfelt thank you to Ashwin Manthripragada, who played a pivotal role in expanding Quail Springs’ capacity and partnerships. He now continues the good work for environmental and community justice as Development Director at the @environmentaldefensecenter, and we’re lucky to still have him on our Advisory Board.  We’re excited for what’s on the horizon, as Blaine steps into this role with deep reverence for all that’s already been seeded—and a commitment to nurturing the next chapter in our community. 🌚 Thank you for walking this path with us. We’re growing something beautiful—rooted in place, shaped by relationship, and sustained by care. ✨
Words from our former worktraders….if you’re c Words from our former worktraders….if you’re curious to join, don’t sleep on this opportunity! Application open thru the 19th of July! Link in bio!! ✨🤲  #worktrade #permaculture #permaculturefarm #highdesert #community #offgrid
🍃Fall worktrade is now welcoming applications! 🍃Fall worktrade is now welcoming applications! 🍂The worktrade program at Quail Springs invites folks to step into a story nested in the practice of attunement, collective stewardship, and systems of mutual care, guided by the rhythms of the land.
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We seek to offer an opportunity for folks to deepen their connection to their own heart’s callings through tending relation to the land and waterways, food webs, and intimate off-grid community, while collaborating with us in caring for our plant, animal, facilities/infrastructure, and social systems. 
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This invitation is a 4 month commitment (September 6 through Winter Solstice (december 21)) with space available for 3-4 worktraders. Worktraders devote 20-25 hours/week to the farm and commons.  Application closes JULY 19! Details on our website, link in bio!🏹🌀💧  #quailsprings #worktrade #permaculture #communalliving #farming #offgrid
Registration now open for our rescheduled Natural Registration now open for our rescheduled Natural Building & Farm Tour on May 31st! We have limited spots, so go over to our 🔗 link in bio 🔗 for more info and sign up today!  ~~~~~~~~~
With a surge of interest in natural building recently, we are inviting those who are curious about the potentials of natural building to visit our demonstration farm site for a walking tour of various building types, a delicious farm-to-table meal harvested from our permaculture farm, and a collaborative discussion with Quail Springs community to go even deeper into the world of natural building, with all of its simplicities and complexities. This conversation will include the dynamics of legality around natural building, using Quail Springs progress towards compliance with county building codes as a case study.  This opportunity will give you a much more specific insight into the stories of each building, their construction process, and styles of building.  #quailsprings #naturalbuilding #fireresilience #firesafehousing #cobbuilding #buildwithearth
With bated breath, we welcome Teddie to our team!   👩‍🔧 As Quail Spring's Site Director, Teddie Kelly (she/her) maintains and develops  our physical infrastructure with the goal to help everyone who comes onto the land work and build our skills together. Nothing feels more empowering than learning how to help solve problems, whether it's being able to bandage a wound or fix a doorknob. She believes everyone, when equipped with the right tools and the right training, has an essential role to play in their community.  Outside of her role at Quail, Teddie is a writer and political organizer. For more than ten years she's worked alongside incarcerated people to expose and eliminate toxic conditions inside U.S. prisons, jails and detention centers.  She's also a transgender woman with a deep voice and a loud laugh. If you've ever spoken to Teddie, you'll already know that Philly is her hometown. But she'll remind you anyway. ⚒️  Teddie will be the first to jump onboard for emergency support, and will probably win in any history trivia 📜 we appreciate your big heart and care for community!
We are thrilled to welcome Vanessa to our team as We are thrilled to welcome Vanessa to our team as Community Outreach Coordinator! Learn more about her below: 🌞  🐥🦆🐣🐈🐕🐟🪡🌿  My name is Vanessa and I live in the Cuyama Valley, in New Cuyama. I am the new community liaison for Quail Springs. I was born and raised in San Diego, so you can imagine what a big change this must've been, from living in a big city to now living in a small town surrounded by mountains.  I moved into Cuyama out of pure coincidence. I am a true believer that you will be guided to where you are meant to be. And this completely seems like one of those cases, my passion is being able to work with people of all ages and spending as much of my time outdoors. I really enjoy talking and getting to know people of all backgrounds. I like being able to help others in any way possible whether that is with my knowledge or helping guide them to someone that can help them. I love spending time outdoors and I absolutely love animals. I currently own chickens, ducks, cats, dogs and koi fish. My love for animals and the outdoors have guided me towards starting my own garden, learning about medicinal plants and composting.  Prior to moving into the valley I was working as a nurse assistant with people from 18-94 yrs old. It was always interesting to make connections and hearing people's stories and seeing how similar we can all be.  I began to develop a passion for advocating and talking to people when I was in high school, I took a job on a youth advisory board group. We created and implemented surveys throughout our community in order to see how we could help our youth in whatever they needed more resources to. We planned events and hosted them, went out speaking to the public giving out surveys, it was truly a significant turning point in my career. I don't have much professional ecological experience, but I am always willing to learn more. I am a friendly person and I really enjoy talking to others and getting to know them.  My hobbies include gardening, taking care of my animals and cuddling them, painting, sewing, making jewelry, making herbal medicine, crocheting and dragging my husband with me to everything.
A lot of energy continues in the realm of earthen A lot of energy continues in the realm of earthen building in the Los Angeles area, and we are feeling hopeful some longer term benefits will come from this attention it is getting.   Thanks to everyone who came to our webinar, what an amazing turn out! Over 175 people joined us. If you want to watch it you can find it on our YouTube channel 🔗link in bio 🔗   Our Natural Building team has also been working on supporting a Natural Building database, so people can find professionals in this field.  If you are a Natural Builder, please sign up at www.earth.dev !  We have had a surge of people reaching out and and asking for support in building a cob sheds, so we are creating a design that can be shared by anyone who wants to build a fire-resistant, seismically stable 120 sq foot cob shed. While this is not the end goal of housing, building beautiful, safe, legal buildings are a great place to start. The design will be incorporating in the latest engineering data and using that to create a stock plan that anyone can follow. More on that project will be forthcoming!  #firesafehousing #cobbuilding #naturalbuilding #buildwithearth #nontoxic #fireresistant  #earthenshelter #quailsprings #earthdoesntburn
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registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Tax ID: 38-3692928
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