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Last call! Our Fall Work Trade applications are cl Last call! Our Fall Work Trade applications are closing tomorrow, July 10th. Get your applications in by the end of the day, we'd love to hear from you! Application in our link in bio 😘 1. The Eastern Staple Garden (ESG) at the beginning of spring planting season 2. Amy leads a native plant tour on the land 3. Kristy holding up abundant carrot harvest 4. Find Blaine amongst the sunflowers! 5. Abundance in the big greenhouse Photos 1 + 3 from @iamkristykwong
🪏 Calling in devoted and curious people who are hu 🪏 Calling in devoted and curious people who are hungry to learn and create beauty together through disciplined and responsible work, humility, and creativity. 🪄 The Work Trade program is an opportunity for folks to tend relations 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. Work traders learn the confidence to care for goat and chicken systems, build soil and compost, care for plants from seed to harvest and seed again, process dairy and vegetable products, and learn the basics of gravity fed surface water systems, solar systems, and sustainable waste management. In addition to these practical skills, this program offers an introduction to the community skills necessary to collaborate with a rural collective who lives, plays, works, and faces challenges together. Participant contribution includes daily farm chores, weekly farm team work parties, and community care including dinner cooking/cleanups and commons chores. Work traders share in the abundance of the food on site including a plethora of dry staples, farm fresh goods(eggs, dairy, produce, meat), and other communal groceries. Accommodations include spacious personal canvas tents with a mattress and light storage. As a collective, we are guided by the ethics of earth care, people care, and fair share (or surplus redistribution). We explore what it means to work and walk by these values; to be in service to life and deepen our resistance to systemic and ecological violence that pulls our attention and energy away from each other and our more-than-human relations. As we witness and experience climate collapse and the violent injustices in our communities, we practice to remember how our attention is a portal for deeper healing and magic with our roles in the ecosystem of life and death. What can our reclaimed attention liberate for our nervous systems, and how can our settled, attuned, and attentive bodies become vessels for the music of liberation? Application and info in our 🔗 Link in Bio 🔗
🌿 Applications for the fall work trade program are 🌿 Applications for the fall work trade program are now OPEN! They close July 10 -- submit the earlier the better! Move in to Quail Springs is September 6, and ends December 20. 3-4 spaces available Interviews following application submission. Folks will be aware of an invitation to the program by the end of July at the latest. Apply and read the program description at our link in bio or at https://www.quailsprings.org/about-us/opportunities/work-trade/ Questions? email kasia@quailsprings.org
We’re so excited to share news of the evolution of We’re so excited to share news of the evolution of our team! River, our previous Director of Operations, stepped into the role of Executive Director of People and Systems last fall, supporting our staff to continue thriving in our unique ecosystem. They are the earth and mountain grounding us as we grow amidst the changing landscape. Jess transitioned into the role of Director of Food Systems, feeding her true passion: finding alternatives to the dominant food paradigm through systems change. With sharp focus and attention to detail, Jess is slowly and consistently spinning the webs and networks to fortify a sustainable future. You can read more about them on our website team page. P.S. Swipe right for photos of Jess and River with their hardworking assistants
🔥Ventura County Prescribed Burn Association (VCPBA 🔥Ventura County Prescribed Burn Association (VCPBA) will be conducting pile burning at Quail Springs in Cuyama, between February 9-12, 2026. 🔥 Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) are community based, mutual aid networks that help private landowners put “good fire” back on the land. PBAs across California have increased the capacity for communities to do more prescribed fire for ecological, cultural, and safety reasons. The primary goal for this pile burn is to burn deadwood left over from a dozer line from the 2024 Apache Fire to protect the Pinyon/oak forests for future generations and to increase the fire-safety for nearby communities. Depending on the specific weather conditions that day, residents in the area may see smoke in Cuyama South of Ventucopa. Smoke may be seen in East of Hwy 33; however, PBA fire resources will be on scene to conduct the burn, monitor its progress, and provide oversight of all activities. Ventura Cunty Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) staff have reviewed the Smoke Management Plans for these burns and provided conditions to minimize smoke impacts in Ventura County. Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) has approved a burn permit for this burning. VCAPCD and VCFD are both the agencies permitting these burns. For additional information please call VCRCD
2026 has not had an easy start, with continued hea 2026 has not had an easy start, with continued heartbreaks both close at home and across oceans. The land, however, reminds us that just as they, our bodies and spirits move in cycles and winter is time for us to slow down and reflect. At Quail Springs, we have a yearly tradition of Nurturing Week, a time of connection, care, and reciprocity. Nurturing Week looks a little bit different from year to year, but the goal is always the same: to feed our spirits, minds, and bodies in a world that moves in rapidly unsustainable paces. During this past Nurturing Week in early January, we took time away from organizational work, to tend the land collectively, to foster a deeper sense of connection to place, with each other, with ourselves. Some of us harvested bounty from land and sea to create decadent meals for the community, others ran with goats as if part of the herd. Game nights and long rests ensued. One of our traditions (an official Quail Springs holiday) of a Secret Special Friend gift exchange cradled the week, a labor of love where many spent hours creating crafts by hand with the receiver in mind. For the week, we can just be, and remember a quintessential aspect of being human in the world. We hold this week of nurturance sacred so that we can recharge to continue the work of building the world that we wish to see.
💧Groundwater is our only source of water in the Cu 💧Groundwater is our only source of water in the Cuyama Valley, and how it’s managed affects all of us. Right now, our basin is in an ongoing groundwater adjudication. This is a court process that determines how groundwater rights are defined and managed. It’s complex, and it especially impacts small farmers, ranchers, and rural organizations. Quail Springs has been showing up in this process alongside other minor water users. A lot of the work happens quietly behind the scenes, from coordinating information to responding to legal correspondence. It takes time, care, and capacity. As we close out the year, we’re raising $30,000 to help sustain this work into 2026 and protect long term water access in Cuyama. If you’re able to donate, it truly helps. If not, sharing this message makes a real difference. We are also opening up a volunteer interest form for future opportunities. Please fill out in our link in bio, alongside the donation link. Thank you for being a part of our community 💧 #quailsprings #cuyamavalley #wateradvocacy #landstewardship #groundwater
Amongst the many gifts the site at Quail Springs h Amongst the many gifts the site at Quail Springs has to offer to the community, the Worktrade program is a critical pillar of our work and values, and serves as a cornerstone pathway into hands-on learning, ecological literacy, and a way of life rooted in reciprocity. ❤️‍🔥🫀 For many, it’s the most accessible entry point into land-based education: living close to the farm, tending soil and water, learning through the seasons, and becoming part of an interdependent community. The worktrade program continues to be one of our strongest avenues for making land access and ecological learning available to more people of more diverse backgrounds and stories. As a program that is sustained by our general operating budget, we are raising funds to fortify the foundation that allows cornerstone programming like the worktrade to thrive and continue. Expanding the operational budget grows our capacity to continue our devoted work of evolving the program by deepening the learning curriculum onsite, weaving in fairly compensated community teachers and neighbors into the teachings, and investing in more comfortable and accessible accommodations for the team.  Your contribution helps keep land-based education rooted, resilient, and open to all who feel called to learn. Donate through the link in our bio.
One of our greatest blessings this year has been w One of our greatest blessings this year has been working with Vanessa, our Community Outreach Coordinator! Vanessa has been living in New Cuyama for a little over a year now and has fully dug her hands into the clay-filled soil of this valley and its community; she is the treasurer of the Cuyama Emergency Response Team (CERT), is mentoring with the Groundwater Sustainability Advisory Council, works with the Cuyama Valley Community Library, is an active member of the Jardines Victorias program, and on top of all of that, is a gardener, parent to a goat, plus many ducks, chickens, cats, and dogs. Vanessa’s dedication to community, sustainability, and all forms of life has allowed her to flourish in Cuyama and is a natural at connecting with everyone she meets. At 24 years old, she teaches us so much about what it means to be rooted in community. Her role has allowed Quail Springs to deepen our connections with our neighbors in New Cuyama, and we couldn’t be more grateful! We love you Vanessa! #cuyamavalley #quailsprings #sustainableeducation #cert #wateradvocacy #homegardener
2025 was a year of deep tending, restoration, and 2025 was a year of deep tending, restoration, and community connection across the Cuyama Valley. In a time of many pivots and changes, our team and community showed remarkable resilience—continuing to adapt, transform and dedicate ourselves to this important work. From critical water advocacy and native plant propagation to youth mentorship and hands-on land stewardship, every highlight you see here was made possible by our dedicated staff and our long-term commitment to the mission and vision of Quail Springs. As we look toward 2026, we’re calling in our community to help sustain and grow this ecosystem of learning, land care, and water justice. Our year-end goal is $150,000, and your gift directly supports our staff, our programs, and the land-based learning that is at the core of everything we do. If Quail Springs has touched you, inspired you, awakened or helped sustain your desire to connect with this work … this is your invitation to give. Make a donation today — link in bio. Together, we tend the future. #cuyamavalley #quailsprings #environmentaleducation #wateradvocacy #landstewardship
[*contains image of carcass processing) There exis [*contains image of carcass processing) There exists a place in the high desert where we listen to the needs of the water and the cottonwoods roots, where humans remember their songs of belonging by the crackling fire; where goats heal broken hearts, and our hands remind us of the holy spiral of life and death. The work trade program at Quail Springs is a portal for folks to step into another rhythm of being, one where we can begin to understand the profundity and power of our attention and relationships in a world that attempts to keep us severed from each other and the land. In this 4 month immersion, work traders step into a collective that is upheld by a non-profit braided with a land-based community. Quail Springs is inspired and devoted to offering a place to share skills, contemplations, conversations, and collaboration in a shared vision: to cultivate ecological resilience through land stewardship, environmental education, and community advocacy. Our current work trade cohort blends folks from diverse stories: here are some of their words. Application for Spring 2026 is OPEN! Closes December 15. Find it in our bio, or on our website at www.quailsprings.org #worktrade #quailsprings #permaculture #highdesert #sustainableeducation
When most people hear that there is an actual spri When most people hear that there is an actual spring at Quail Springs, they imagine a deep swimming hole tucked into the high desert canyons. In fact, our spring is a gentle winding stream through our wash. Our spring might look like a humble trickle, but it carries a story of resilience, recovery, and the history of the Cuyama Valley. Through funding from the California EPA’s Building Cuyama Valley’s Coalition of Water Stewards program, we have been hosting process based restoration workshops for families and community members. Together, we practice analog beavering, building simple structures that guide water, increase soil retention, and support long term groundwater recharge. This season, we installed native sedge mats, sandbags, and miniature dams designed to slow and sink water into the earth, nourishing the spring and all the life that depends on it. We have also spent time walking the riparian corridor with our neighbors and reconnecting with cottonwoods, cattails, dragonfly larvae, and the beauty of wetland habitat that once shaped this valley. Your support strengthens our water advocacy work and help protect this spring for future generations. Every donation helps us continue restoration efforts, community education, and the long term tending of this watershed. You can support this work by donating using the link in bio. Thank you for supporting the voice of the spring 💧 #QuailSprings #CuyamaValley #WaterAdvocacy #WaterStewardship #SpringRestoration #ProcessBasedRestoration #BeaverInspired #ClimateResilience #GroundwaterRecharge #CommunityEducation #EcologicalRestoration #HighDesert #CaliforniaEPA #NonprofitLife #SupportOurWork #FundOurFuture #givingtuesday
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registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Tax ID: 38-3692928
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