We had a wonderful time at our native plant sale with all of you plant lovers! Between the online sale and in-person sale, we had over 50 orders and sold nearly 300 native plants! This means more natives planted to support our local wildlife. We couldn’t do this without all of you and cannot wait to see you at the sale next year.

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is one of the most spectacular parks in all of San Diego County. Tourists come from all over the world to enjoy it - and yet, many local inland residents have never had the opportunity to experience this wonderland before. This month, we brought families from Magnolia Elementary on a guided tour of the park, where they sniffed the maple syrup-y aroma of California Everlasting, spotted soaring Ospreys, marveled at the park’s titular pine trees, and enjoyed stunning views of the Pacific Ocean.

This trip was made possible by Parks California’s Route to Parks grant, which has funded several of our trips to Torrey Pines, Carlsbad State Park, Crestridge, and the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge - making all of these locations more accessible to East County residents!

In honor of our beloved Tuesday Volunteer, Jeff Saar, we’ve dedicated a garden bench to him at our Milkweed Farm. Jeff is sorely missed and we feel his absence every Tuesday. This bench serves as a place for us to sit and reflect, and reminds us how precious life is and how fortunate we were to know and love Jeff.

October marks 2 years since Ida joined EDI as Conservation Director, and she has already contributed so much! In her short tenure, Ida has restored and created habitat vital to the recovery of endangered species like the Coastal Cactus Wren, Western Monarch Butterfly, and Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat. Her deep commitment to her work, incredible work ethic, and ability to successfully manage multiple projects (and personalities) with aplomb have made her invaluable, and we are so very fortunate to have her. To many more years together, Ida, protecting and restoring San Diego’s wild places!

- Sarah Maisonneuve, Executive Director

We want to wish a very happy two-year workiversary to Dana Alagha, Ashley Ersepke, and Grace Schmalz, and a happy one-year workiversary to Erin Francisco! We’re also excited and delighted to welcome newly hired EDI Field Instructors this school year, including Adamari Martinez and LaDaryn Lockett who will be supporting every school field trip, along with our new substitute field instructor, Cypress Hansen!

Our Education Dream Team is truly amazing. Each member brings their own unique experience, knowledge, and skills to every field trip, elevating outings for students and fellow instructors alike! If you’d like to learn more about these folks and the rest of our team, check out our Staff page - they’re truly an inspiring bunch!

We are thrilled to welcome Veronica, our new Conservation Technician, to the EDI team, and more specifically, the Conservation Dream Team! In her first month with EDI, she has touched on nearly every habitat restoration and conservation project and already proven how lucky we are to have her on our team. She is on a roll and we can’t wait to watch her grow!

We hosted booths at the California Native Plant Sale and the San Diego Natural History Museum’s Big Birthday Block Party! Between chatting with native plant enthusiasts at the plant sale and celebrating 150 years of the NAT at Balboa Park, we are full of gratitude for being part of this wonderful community.

A new season of school field trips has begun! We are in the midst of exploring Crestridge Ecological Reserve, and starting in winter/spring, students will experience the coast at the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge. We anticipate 52 school field trips this year, and this does not include our recreational Family Day trips OR additional school-based programming!

We hosted our first-ever (and free!) outdoor family movie night at Crestridge Ecological Reserve! Families joined us on a guided tour of our newest Storybook hike: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Then, we treated everyone to free pizza (Long Island Mike’s Pizza) and popcorn as they settled in and watched the Lorax on a giant pop-up screen under the oaks. The Lorax has a strong message about the importance of nature, so at the end of the event, in the spirit of speaking for the trees, everyone was given seedballs containing native wildflowers to take home and plant!

We are thrilled to offer opportunities like this as part of our Education Through Recreation program. This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.

We had an epic adventure during our family day hike at the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve! El Cajon families leap-frogged across Escondido Creek, hiked the Botanical Trail, compared their wingspan to native birds, had a leaf race competition, played totem tag, and explored the marvels of the Elfin Forest Interpretive Center. After, we gifted each family a free backpack to equip them for their next adventure, wherever it may be!

EDI is thrilled to offer opportunities like this as part of our Education Through Recreation program. This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.