Herbal Mixology

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Join Proper, the multi-awarded craft cocktail habitat in Fort Worth, to discuss how the herbs in your backyard can bring you joy in some "herb-tastic" cocktails. You’ll learn many ways to use herbs and how they are used in making a multitude of spirits - some well-known and some obscure. Sample cocktails will be imbibed, and a take home kit provided. This class takes place outdoors. 

Instructor: Lisa Little-Adams is co-owner of Proper. Her cocktails are classic and made to perfection. 

Wednesday, October 21, 2020 (6 – 7 pm)

Registration Deadline: October 19        

$45/$40 member

Location: BRIT*

*This class will take place outdoors with space for 6' between participants. Class size will be capped at 18. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available; participants are encouraged to wear a mask for the duration of the class, unless sampling cocktails. 

The Botanical Research Institute of Texas is proud to announce the recipients of our 2020 International Award of Excellence in Conservation: Cristina Mittermeier, international photographer, conservationist, and founder of the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers; and Russell Mittermeier, Global Wildlife Conservation’s Chief Conservation Officer and a world leader in the field of biodiversity and tropical forest conservation.

Both Mittermeiers have devoted their lives to protecting Earth’s natural habitat and informing and influencing people as to the delicate balance between nature and traditional cultures and both have made significant impacts on preserving the variety of plant and animal life on Earth and protecting its ecosystems.

Join us at our annual gala on October 22, 2020 at the Palmwood Event & Conference, Frost Tower Fort Worth for an inspiring evening of conversation with two of the world's greatest conservation adventurers as we recognize their impactful achievements.

Banner photo by Cristina Mittermeier.

THIS CLASS IS SOLD OUT. A second class is open on Wednesday, November 18 from 10 am - noon. 

The term bokeh comes from the Japanese and refers to the aesthetic quality of the blur created in out-of-focus parts of photograph. Join professional photographer and educator, Edgar Miller of Edgar Miller Images, as you learn to include this technique into your photographic repertoire, all amidst the carefully composed beauty of the Japanese Garden. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing the elements that make a strong photograph, such as selective framing, focus, and exposure. You will take away connections with fellow-photographers and your own “zen of bokeh” to be used in all your images. Bring your cameras, lenses, and tripods to create lasting memories. This workshop is outdoors; comfortable clothes are recommended.

Instructor: Edgar Miller is a commercial and fine art photographer and educator, having earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He has taught photography and art for the last 20 years and is always looking for new ways to help his clients learn. His work has been shown and awarded in several Texas and national exhibitions, and he is a member of the Texas Photographic Society and the Texas Artists Coalition. Influenced by his late father and his college photography professor, Edgar continues to find interesting light on interesting subjects.  

Saturday, October 31, 2020 (10 am – 12 pm)

Registration Deadline: October 29    

$35/$30 member

Location: FWBG, Japanese Garden*

*This class will take place outdoors with space for 6' between participants. Class size will be capped at 15. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available if desired. 

Supplies: Bring your cameras, lenses, and tripods. 

Self-Guided Explorations provide the freedom to explore the Fort Worth Botanic Garden at your own pace. GROW Educators will not be present during this experience. 

Available: Year-Round,  Monday - Friday 9 am - 3 pm 

$6 /participant (students & registered adults)

Minimum of 20 participants to qualify. 

Any unregistered adult joining on the day of a Self-Guided Exploration will pay the regular garden admission of $12.

Self-Guided Exploration pricing is available for schools, homeschool groups, and after-school programs for children Pre-K-12th grade only. If you want to register a college class or an adult group to visit the garden, please contact Stephanie Sellers for group rates: stephanie.sellers@fortworthtexas.gov

Fill out our quick inquiry form to request a date for your exploration!

Please contact Michelle Schmidlkofer at mschmidlkofer@brit.org with any questions or concerns about Self-Guided Explorations. 

Going back to school looks different this year and so do GROW Field Study Trips!

Registration is currently open for Virtual Field Study Trips for Kindergarten - 5th Grade. 

Registration for middle/high school Virtual Field Study Trips will open in October. 

All Virtual Field Trips are priced for a single class with a maximum of 35 students. Payment must be completed before any materials can be shared.

Tree Level - $80 - Includes 1 Self-guided Activity with:

• Teacher's single-page activity sheet

• Pre-activity video

• Post-activity video

Grove Level - $120 - Includes 3 Self-guided Activities with:

• Teacher's single-page activity sheet

• Pre-activity video

• Post-activity video

• Supplemental Documents

• One 30-45 minute live video session with GROW Girl

Forest Level - $140 - Includes 6 Self-guided Activities with:

• Teacher's single-page activity sheet

• Pre-activity video

• Post-activity video

• Supplemental Documents

• Your choice of one or two 30-45 minute live video sessions with GROW Girl!

Click here to download the PDF guide to K-2 Virtual Field Study Trips.
Click here to download the PDF guide to 3-5 Virtual Field Study Trips.

Or click here to submit a request form now!

During these uncertain times, we are proud to offer Private Homeschool Days which allow small groups to experience our outdoor classrooms at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and BRIT with an exclusive gathering of your favorite learners. This unique program invites students from PreK - 10th grade who learn at home or in a small group setting to make science and literacy connections through the guidance of our trained education staff while maintaining social distancing.

Available Monday-Friday 10:00 am - 12:00 PM

Minimum of 15 participants 

Maximum of 40 participants 

Price: $10 attendees and parents (4 and under free)

Payment is due in full 2 weeks before the date of visit. Requests should be submitted at least 3 weeks in advance of your proposed visit.

Click here to learn about our Fall Experiences!

Click here to request your date now!

Elementary students will experience the season and learn about Autumn’s unique characteristics by planting, harvesting, and exploring in the Backyard Veggie Garden. Students in grades 6-10 will be fascinated by exploration stations in the Japanese Garden.  The hands-on experience fosters individual learning for older students exploring Asian culture.

Date/Time: November 3, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: FWBG - Backyard Veggie Garden, Japanese Garden

Ages: Pre-K – 10th Grade

Price: $10/student

Registration Deadline: October 29

Register Here

The commonness of rarity —evolution and endemism in South American clubmosses

A Brown Bag Lecture by Dr. Weston Testo

A conspicuous feature of Earth’s biological diversity is that some species are widespread and common, whereas others are extremely rare and narrowly distributed. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain this pattern, but data are sparse and taxonomically biased. In this talk, Dr. Testo will explore the commonness of rarity in clubmosses (Lycopodiaceae), focusing on the group’s successful diversification in the mountains of South America and corresponding patterns of endemism in these habitats. 

Twitter: @westo_fernnerd

Website: www.westontesto.com

This lecture will broadcast live on YouTube at https://youtu.be/xoR_Ncbz6Vo. Watchers can use the YouTube chat for Q&A with the speaker.

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FREE Virtual Story Time on Zoom!

Tune in each month to Bella's Virtual Book and Nature Club to discuss nature, read a story, sing and move, plus a family nature challenge! GROW member families will receive a follow-up email with additional activities and ideas. 

FREE! – Please register to receive your Zoom link and password. 
Date: Wednesday, November 4th
Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, November 3rd
Location: Online program through Zoom Meetings. Please register to receive your Zoom link and password.

This virtual and interactive class focuses on warming fall beverages using spices and herbs that boost everyday wellness. You will learn how to incorporate autumnal flavors into two different warming drinks. Culinary Dietitian Dixya Bhattarai will share how to choose spices and herbs for the cooler season, how to store them properly, and how to pair these special warming beverages with food. 

Instructor: Dixya Bhattarai, MS, RD, LD, is a Fort Worth-based Registered Dietitian & Food and Nutrition Expert. She graduated with a major in dietetics and a minor in Biology from Idaho State University in 2010 before she received a Master of Science in Nutrition in 2016 from Texas Woman’s University. Dixya didn't grow up cooking, but being far from home she craved Nepalese dumplings and her mom's cauliflower curry, which forced her to learn and recreate them in her American kitchen. When she's not working at the hospital, she's probably at a dumpling pop-up, teaching cooking classes, or developing recipes for her website Food, Pleasure, and Health. 

Saturday, November 7 (10 – 11:30 am)

Registration Deadline: November 5

$30/$25 member 

Location: This is an online class; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

Materials: Participants will receive a workshop packet, including recipes and a grocery shopping list for the class, upon registration. Groceries will average $8 - $10 and many ingredients will last for multiple batches. 

Meeting the first Saturday of most months, our Mindfulness Meditation classes invite you to slow down, release the stresses of everyday life, and tune in to the serenity of the natural world. Learn mindfulness practices and techniques from meditation instructor Lisa November, M.A. Ed. Lisa leads her students in unique, hour-long mindfulness meditations, always attuned to the surrounding natural world. When onsite, classes often take place outdoors, weather permitting. During times of social distancing classes take place virtually. 

Instructor: Lisa November is a meditation teacher based in Fort Worth. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in history and communication from the University of Northern Iowa in 1982 and her Master of Arts in Special Education-Moderate Needs from the University of Northern Colorado in 1992. She is a life-long teacher and learner and has been practicing mindfulness based meditation since 1996. Most recently, she has received the 14 Mindfulness Trainings in the Order of Interbeing, Tiep Hien, Ordained Students of Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh in August of 2019. She is also a student of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a proven heath and wellness program from the Oasis Center at the University of Massachusetts.

Saturday, November 7, 2020 (2 pm – 3 pm)

Registration Deadline: November 5        

$10/$8 member

Location: This class will take place online; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

The Loom Botanical is a special showing of new handwoven pieces by members of the Fort Worth Weavers Guild. Guild members' handwoven pieces that are not only inspired by nature, but also include many botanic elements incorporated directly into the woven textiles. The works included in the exhibition utilize plant weaving materials and the use of plant-derived dyes.

The Fort Worth Weavers Guild was organized in 1955 and promotes the interest of weaving and encourages the highest standards of craftsmanship. All facets of weaving are explored, including different weave structures on the loom, dye processes, using varied equipment, and studying contemporary and historic weavers. Woven pieces created by members are widely varied and express many functions – from practical textiles to wall art.

A Best in Show award and two additional awards will be announced upon the opening of the exhibition. Given the realities of the pandemic, it is undetermined if an opening reception will be held.

THIS IS AN ONSITE CLASS. 

Join artist Tuba Öztekin Köymen for an morning, outdoor photography workshop during the peak of fall color. Learn the best camera settings and dozens of tips for taking great outdoor photos with your smartphone amidst the colorful beauty of the Fuller Garden. After class visit more of the Botanic Garden's hot spots for great fall color, including the Japanese Garden. 

Instructor: Tuba Öztekin Köymen is an artist, educator, and designer who lives and works in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. She was born in Turkey and graduated in 1995 from the Department of Graphic Design at Bilkent University. In 1999, she was awarded an MFA in Photography and Digital imaging by the Maryland Institute College of Art. Köymen’s art calls attention to human nature by offering candid scenes of everyday life through the media of photography, mixed media, and photo based installations. Working across the gamut of photographic processes — from alternative to digital — Köymen centers on issues arising from place, culture, and social interaction. 

Saturday, November 14, 2020 (10 am – 12 pm)

Registration Deadline: November 12  

$35/$30 member

Location: FWBG Fuller Garden*

*This class will take place outdoors with space for 6' between participants. Class size will be capped at 15. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available if desired. 

Materials: smartphone (iPhone or Android)

THIS IS AN ONSITE CLASS. 

In this class you will learn different techniques for drawing foliage, texture, and value, all while sketching the splendor of the Japanese Garden. Artist Erika Duque Scully will demonstrate how to achieve these techniques and will share examples of other artists’ works for further inspiration. You will be encouraged to draw loosely, sketching balanced and interesting compositions of trees and other plants with confidence. Supplies are not provided (see below for a supply list).

Instructor: Erika Duque Scully is a landscape and nature-based painter who lives and works in Fort Worth, TX. Scully received her BFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA in painting at Texas Christian University. She has been featured in over thirty solo and group shows throughout the Metroplex. In 2017, Scully was nominated by Ro2 Gallery for Rising Star Fundraiser at the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts. She is currently represented by Fort Works Art Gallery in Fort Worth.

Saturday, November 14, 2020 (11 am – 1 pm)

Registration Deadline: November 12        

$35/$30 member

Location: FWBG, Japanese Garden*

*This class will take place outdoors with space for 6' between participants. Class size will be capped at 18. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available if desired. 

Supplies: Click here for the supply list. 

Forcing bulbs indoors is easy to do and yields a beautiful product to brighten your holidays. Join the Tarrant County Master Gardeners for this virtual class and learn how growing bulbs indoors lets you enjoy the colors and fragrance of spring when it is still months away!

Instructor: Tarrant County Master Gardeners are an integral part of BRIT / FWBG educational classes for adults. Their generous sharing of their gardening and horticultural expertise enriches the lives of class participants.  

Saturday, November 14, 2020 (1 – 2:30 pm)

Registration Deadline: November 12        

$15/$12 member

Location: This is an online class; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password.

"Bud Moore's The Lochsa Story is epic. It's an autobiography, a history, and a manifesto; a massive work of nonfiction incorporating folklore and ecology." --Zach Dundas, Missoula Independent

This story chronicles the history of the Bitterroot Mountains, the preservation of forest landscapes, early Native Americans, the Lewis and Clark Trail, and Bud Moore's life as the last of the mountain men to live there and join the U.S. Forest Service. He became Head Ranger of Powell Ranger District, Chief of the Forest Service Region in Missoula, Montana, the leading authority on fire management and smoke-jumpers of the northwestern forests and the system of fire lookouts and fire suppression.   Moore is profoundly dedicated to the forest and all of the natural elements, including people, that make it whole. He believes anyone who works with the land must have a feel for it. "When in doubt, go slow," he advises. "Be humble. Learn from your mistakes."

FREE Virtual Story Time on Zoom!

Tune in each month to Little Sprouts Virtual Book & Garden Club to discuss nature, read a story, sing and move, plus a family nature challenge! GROW member families will receive a follow-up email with additional activities and ideas.

FREE! – Please register to receive your Zoom link and password. 
Date: Tuesday, November 17th
Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM 
Registration Deadline: Monday, November 16th
Location: Online program through Zoom Meetings. Please register to receive your Zoom link and password.

In November, we are reading Winter Lullaby by Barbara Seuling. We can’t wait to see you!

The term bokeh comes from the Japanese and refers to the aesthetic quality of the blur created in out-of-focus parts of photograph. Join professional photographer and educator, Edgar Miller of Edgar Miller Images, as you learn to include this technique into your photographic repertoire, all amidst the carefully composed beauty of the Japanese Garden. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing the elements that make a strong photograph, such as selective framing, focus, and exposure. You will take away connections with fellow-photographers and your own “zen of bokeh” to be used in all your images. Bring your cameras, lenses, and tripods to create lasting memories. This workshop is outdoors; comfortable clothes are recommended.

Instructor: Edgar Miller is a commercial and fine art photographer and educator, having earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He has taught photography and art for the last 20 years and is always looking for new ways to help his clients learn. His work has been shown and awarded in several Texas and national exhibitions, and he is a member of the Texas Photographic Society and the Texas Artists Coalition. Influenced by his late father and his college photography professor, Edgar continues to find interesting light on interesting subjects.  

Wednesday, November 18, 2020 (10 am – 12 pm)

Registration Deadline: November 16    

$35/$30 member

Location: FWBG, Japanese Garden*

*This class will take place outdoors with space for 6' between participants. Class size will be capped at 15. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available if desired. 

Supplies: Bring your cameras, lenses, and tripods. 

Textiles from Trees: Ugandan Bark Cloth

A Brown Bag Lecture by Lesli Robertson

For centuries and into today, bark from a specific tree is stripped, beaten, and used by the people of Uganda. The tree, with its bark removed, does not die, but grows its outer covering back to be used again and again, year after year.

Lubugo, or Ugandan barkcloth, has a diverse history from clothing kings to finding its way onto fashion runways in Europe. Lesli Robertson has been traveling to Uganda since 2005, where she first saw this rust colored cloth folded up in a roadside stall. Since, she has worked with artists, researchers, and community leaders in Uganda to assist in promoting and preserving this cloth.

In this lecture, Lesli will give a behind the scenes glimpse into her work and what she has learned from array of stakeholders who love this material, from fashion designers to 9th generation bark cloth makers. Look for her upcoming Maker to Maker: Ugandan Barkcloth hands-on virtual workshop at BRIT in January. Also, visit her studio, www.mekekadesigns.com, to learn more about her current work.

BIO:

Lesli Robertson is an interdisciplinary textile consultant and project developer who partners with local and international organizations to develop impactful engagement through interactive programs. She has recently worked on projects supported by USAID, the Smithsonian Institution, and Fulbright Specialist program, taking her to countries as diverse as Kuwait, Armenia, Uganda, and Ghana. She launched Mekeka Designs in 2018, creating bespoke textile collections with artisans in Uganda. As a former faculty at the University of North Texas, she spent more than a decade teaching textile and visual arts approaches while developing national and international community programs and opportunities.

Instructions on how to connect are forthcoming. Please check back soon!

Brandy Watts will discuss her book The Field Photographs of Alain H. Liogier: Plants of Hispaniola, Dominican Republic, 1968-1969. This volume presents a selection of 116 Kodachrome photographs taken by renowned botanist and former BRIT Research Associate Alain H. Liogier while he conducted research in the Caribbean region over a 15 month period in the late 60’s. Focus will also be given to discussing the value of field photographs in botany research.

Instructor: Brandy Watts, BRIT Librarian

Saturday, December 3, 2020 (12 – 1 pm)

Registration Deadline: December 1    

$12/$10 member

Location: Zoom online class; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

This two-day virtual workshop focuses on the richness of winter botanicals to celebrate the season. Students will complete 1-2 projects (time allowing) inspired by the plants that thrive in the wintertime landscape, using a limited palette. Created for those with some experience in watercolor, this workshop includes a brief review of materials and basic techniques in watercolor.  Students will engage in an ongoing discussion of the unique qualities of this luminous, serendipitous medium. Students will provide their own materials and have their palette set up prior to the workshop. A materials list will be emailed upon registration.

Instructor: Brenda Ciardiello is a Mexican-American artist who paints contemporary landscapes, botanicals, and abstract art that deal with themes of personal connection to nature around the world, as inspired by her travels.  Almost all of her work focuses on using the unpredictable nature of water to depict the unique interplay of color, light and texture in otherwise fleeting elements: water, clouds, and flora. Brenda is heavily influenced by her bicultural and international experience of the world. Born in Mexico City but raised in Texas, she has also lived / studied in Mexico, Italy, the U.K., New York City, New England, the Rocky Mountains and the Middle East. As part of her process she travels whenever possible to capture original source imagery for her work.

Saturday, December 5 & Sunday, December 6 (10 am – 12 pm)

Registration Deadline: December 3

$75/$65 member

Location: This is an online class; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

Materials: A full list of necessary materials will be emailed upon registration; the basic materials include:

• 1 pad or block of 9 x 12 140 lb cold-pressed watercolor paper (Arches)
• 3-4 round watercolor paintbrushes (suggested sizes: 4, 6, 10 and 1” wash brush)
• paints in a palette (Winsor Newton or Daniel Smith primary colors in cool / warm options, at least
• pencil & kneaded eraser
• painter’s Tape (if using loose paper) & particle board to mount paper on
• 2 clear water containers & paper towels

A groovy partnership between the Fort Worth Garden Club, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, and the Botanical Research Institute of Texas provides an opportunity for girls to complete badge work and enjoy nature-based activities together. Join us for some educational fun this year! 

• Time: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
• Audience: 2nd - 10th grade
• Price per session: $10 /participant per session

Sessions:

• October 10th: Groovy Plants - completed
• December 5th: Zen Power
• January 23rd: Heading to the Beach
• February 27th: Neato, Flower!
• March 27th: Havin' a Blast with Butterflies
• April 10th: Far Out, Wellness

Click here to register! 

Meeting the first Saturday of most months, our Mindfulness Meditation classes invite you to slow down, release the stresses of everyday life, and tune in to the serenity of the natural world. Learn mindfulness practices and techniques from meditation instructor Lisa November, M.A. Ed. Lisa leads her students in unique, hour-long mindfulness meditations, always attuned to the surrounding natural world. When onsite, classes often take place outdoors, weather permitting. During times of social distancing classes take place virtually. 

Instructor: Lisa November is a meditation teacher based in Fort Worth. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in history and communication from the University of Northern Iowa in 1982 and her Master of Arts in Special Education-Moderate Needs from the University of Northern Colorado in 1992. She is a life-long teacher and learner and has been practicing mindfulness based meditation since 1996. Most recently, she has received the 14 Mindfulness Trainings in the Order of Interbeing, Tiep Hien, Ordained Students of Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh in August of 2019. She is also a student of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a proven heath and wellness program from the Oasis Center at the University of Massachusetts.

Saturday, December 5, 2020 (2 pm – 3 pm)

Registration Deadline: December 3        

$10/$8 member

Location: This class will take place online; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

Join textile artist Lesli Robertson and licensed trauma counselor Tiffany Reves to learn healthy ways to manage the stress of a changing world. Using their Self-Care Kits, which began as a conversation between friends and evolved into a textiles-based toolkit for emotional wellness, Robertson and Reves will offer you tactile and therapeutic techniques to deal with the anxiety and stress resulting from COVID-19. Self-Care Kits include instructions for therapy techniques: box breathing, positive self-talk, and grounding techniques. These techniques will be directly tied to a textile based activity using plants, where students create their own grounding objects through natural dye techniques and sensory engagement. Participants will be introduced to the intersection of textiles and therapy, expanding the reach and definition of craft and enhancing well-being and groundedness.

Stay tuned for 2021 Self-Care Workshop dates!

Instructors: Lesli Robertson is an interdisciplinary textile artist and project developer who partners with local and international organizations to develop impactful engagement through interactive programs. She has developed numerous educationally-based trainings and outreach events with the goal of encouraging others to find new perspectives and value on a range of cultural and social topics. These have taken place in countries as diverse at Ghana, Kuwait, Scotland, Uganda, and Armenia. 

Tiffany Reves, MA, LPC-S, NCC is a Licensed Professional Counselor – Supervisor and the proprietor and clinical director of R&AC. She has worked in the mental health field since 2006, in her own private practice as well as a group practice, a mental health hospital, and non-profit social services. Tiffany is trained in EMDR and has specialty training in evidenced based practices for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She specializes in working with veterans and individuals who have experienced trauma. In addition, she served 6 years as the Clinical Consultant for the Denton County Veteran's Treatment Court and continues to provide counseling services to individuals in the program. 

Saturday, December 12 (10 am – 12 pm)

Registration Deadline: December 4

$65/$55 member 

Location: This is an online class; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

Materials: A self-care kit is included in the price of registration and are available for pickup at BRIT. If you need your kit mailed, we are happy to do so for a $10 postal fee. 

Winner of a 2019 Southwest Book Award (BRLA)

In his latest book, Mesquite, Gary Paul Nabhan employs humor and contemplative reflection to convince readers that they have never really glimpsed the essence of what he calls “arboreality.”

As a Franciscan brother and ethnobotanist who has often mixed mirth with earth, laughter with landscape, food with frolic, Nabhan now takes on a large, many-branched question: What does it means to be a tree, or, accordingly, to be in a deep and intimate relationship with one?

To answer this question, Nabhan does not disappear into a forest but exposes himself to some of the most austere hyper-arid terrain on the planet―the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts along the US/Mexico border―where even the most ancient perennial plants are not tall and thin, but stunted and squat.

There, in desert regions that cover more than a third of our continent, mesquite trees have become the staff of life, not just for indigenous cultures, but for myriad creatures, many of which respond to these “nurse plants” in wildly intelligent and symbiotic ways.

In this landscape, where Nabhan claims that nearly every surviving being either sticks, stinks, stings, or sings, he finds more lives thriving than you could ever shake a stick at. As he weaves his arid yarns, we suddenly realize that our normal view of the world has been turned on its head: where we once saw scarcity, there is abundance; where we once perceived severity, there is whimsy. Desert cultures that we once assumed lived in “food deserts” are secretly savoring a most delicious world.

Drawing on his half-century of immersion in desert ethnobotany, ecology, linguistics, agroforestry, and eco-gastronomy, Nabhan opens up for us a hidden world that we had never glimpsed before. Along the way, he explores the sensuous reality surrounding this most useful and generous tree.

Mesquite is a book that will delight mystics and foresters, naturalists and foodies. It combines cutting-edge science with a generous sprinkling of humor and folk wisdom, even including traditional recipes for cooking with mesquite.

Join Culinary Dietitian Dixya Bhattarai, MS, RD, LD for this virtual & interactive workshop focused on gut health and how it impacts overall health and well-being. The class will focus on improving gut microflora using an ancient preservation technique, fermentation. Dixya will share how to incorporate various probiotic and prebiotic-rich food into your diet. This class is a mix of brief lecture and hands-on activity where each participant will learn how to make both kimchi and lacto-fermented hummus. 

Instructor: Dixya Bhattarai, MS, RD, LD is a Fort Worth-based Registered Dietitian & Food and Nutrition Expert. She graduated with a major in dietetics and a minor in Biology from Idaho State University in 2010 before she received a Master of Science in Nutrition in 2016 from Texas Woman’s University. Dixya didn't grow up cooking, but being far from home she craved Nepalese dumplings and her mom's cauliflower curry, which forced her to learn and recreate them in her American kitchen. When she's not working at the hospital, she's probably at a dumpling pop-up, teaching cooking classes, or developing recipes for her website Food, Pleasure, and Health. 

Saturday, January 9 (1 – 3 pm)

Registration Deadline: January 7

$28/$25 member 

Location: This is an online class; you will receive an email the day prior to class with the Zoom class code and password. 

Materials: Participants will receive a workshop packet, including recipes and a grocery shopping list for the class, upon registration. Groceries will average $15 - $20 and many ingredients will last for multiple batches.