Upcoming events
Stay tuned for events, workshops, and volunteer opportunities. We are moving slowly and allowing the earth to respond before jumping into action, but initial volunteer opportunities will be posted soon, and will likely involve bioremediation, seed processing, seed cleaning, and germination.
UCLA Clarkia Festival
This annual event is more than just a festival; it represents a significant step toward fostering community spirit, celebrating nature, and supporting local organizations. With engaging activities for all ages, the festival is a powerful platform to connect participants with the environment, share knowledge about sustainability, and create lasting memories.
CNPS Seed Collection at Santa Fe Dam
Join me in practicing seed collection! We’ll learn about common techniques and collection ethics.
RSVP link coming soon.
Milkweed Planting and Seed Swap
Stay tuned for more details on this event, it’s still emergent. But also, save your seeds for the swap :)
Pérez Silverman Symposium
I’ll be joining a panel of incredible guests for Panel 2: Seed Libraries and Indigenous Recovery: Land Memory, Loss, and Renewal. I don’t think there’s a registration link yet but I’ll add it to the website when I have it!
Monthly volunteering
Join me in the garden to process and package donated seeds for distribution at little free seed library outposts. Light snacks provided.
LA Review of Books 15th Anniversary Launch Party
Celebrate 15 years of LARB with the launch of our latest LARB Quarterly, 15th Anniversary Anthology! Years in the making, the anthology highlights work which has defined LARB as a publication, both online and in print. We hope you’ll join us as we toast to 15 years of platforming criticism and accessibility in the literary arts. The celebrations will include readings from Melissa Chadburn, Kate Durbin, and Michelle Tea, with a special activation from the Altadena Seed Library and Nina Raj.
We’ve combed through the archive to bring you something truly special. With countless staff meetings, group texts, email chains, and late-night conversations, the making of this anthology necessitated both rigor and reflection, collaboration and curiosity. The result? A page-turning, no-skip collection of some of the very best work LARB has published over the past 15 years.
Now, we can’t wait to celebrate with the literary community which has supported us through it all. The launch party will be an evening of readings and drinks, bringing readers, contributors, and community members all under one roof.
Join us on April 11 at the Marian Goodman Gallery in Hollywood for the special anniversary celebration.
The event is free and open to the public. RSVP here!
Seed to Supper Advanced Cohort
This advanced course focuses on edible landscaping scaled for limited spaces that regenerate themselves year after year. This series is ideal for and established gardener curious about elevating their soil health, seed saving, fruit trees, companion planting, and natural pest management.
This class will be taught online via City of Hope.
From Ashes to Action
Let’s prepare for a resilient future together. At this community conversation about the new Landscape Recovery Center at Eaton Canyon, you’ll learn how native seed conservation and seed banking are guiding the next phase of restoration and helping to prepare us for a more resilient future. Our panelists will be:
Kim Bosell, LA County Parks and Recreation
Nina Raj, Altadena Seed
Samantha Johnson, San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians Gabrieleno Tongva
Joshua Ramirez, Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates
Dan Thorman, LA Climate Week
CalBG Native Plant Festival
Explore, learn, and connect at the Native Plant Festival at California Botanic Garden! CalBG and Sustainable Claremont invite you to come to the largest native plant garden in California to learn about the beauty, variety, and resiliency of our state’s native ecosystems. This free, family-friendly event celebrates California’s incredible biodiversity and demonstrates how we can all make a difference to protect and enhance the landscapes around us. Join dozens of regional nonprofits, landscapers, and agencies for info on native plant landscaping and wildlands conservation and restoration, plus crafts, music, storytime, food, and more.
More information on CalBG’s website
Phytoremediation Workday
Fire, Soil, & Seed is a collaborative project between SoilWise, Altadena Seed Library, and Club Gay Gardens. We bring together local soil and seed experts to lead educational bioremediation workdays and support the growing network of community scientists addressing contaminated soils in Los Angeles.
Light snacks provided
RSVP Required for materials
Activities:
Review progress on the Remediation Area led by SoilWise
Lesson in Phytoremediation with Dr. Daisy Rosas and Do Kyung Lee from SoilWise
Planting phytoremediator plants in the Remediation Area
Painting some educational plant labels and seed packaging for the garden's brand new seed library!
Native Seed Collection
Explore the world of native seeds! During this interactive session, you’ll learn how to identify, collect, and care for seeds in ways that support healthy local habitats.
Native Seed Starting
Get your hands dirty with a workshop all about native seed sowing with Altadena Seed Library. Learn about the unique pretreatment requirements of various native seeds through this dynamic workshop. Participants will learn about light requirements, depth of planting, soil types, container specifications, heat needs, moisture conditions, stratification, and scarification. Demonstrations will include leeching, hot water scarification, sand paper, smoke scarification, and more!
Fire, Soil, and Seed: Seeds and Phytoremediation
Join us for a lesson in seed ecology and phytoremediation. We’ll be sowing phytoremediator seeds in the garden, seed sorting, and decorating a seed library for the Altadena Community Garden. Attendees will go home with their own phytoremediator seedlings.
Sunflower Seed Processing Workshop
Drawing on artist Agnes Denes’s environmental art about our role in ecological stewardship, Altadena Seed Library and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture invite you to a seed processing workshop at the Schindler House. Join Nina Raj, founder of the Altadena Seed Library, with sorting and cleaning locally collected seeds in a meditative workshop. Tea from native plants will be served. Space is limited and the workshop is included in the price of admission at the Schindler House.
Community Planting Day Festival
Altadena Seed Library will be tabling in support of this lovely community planting day - all to celebrate the Monarch Butterfly. Guided by Master Gardeners, participants will help install 100 native pollinator plants from the Xerces Habitat Kit, enjoy educational exhibitions, and grab free milkweed and other CA native plant giveaways!
Spotlight Exhibitors:
Master Gardener Pollinator Team – hands on activities spotlighting monarch butterfly and bumble bee projects
Master Gardener Climate Resilient Garden Team – healthy soil demonstrations
UCLA and TreePeople – soil test consultations
Pasadena Water & Power - Waterwise gardening advice
Pasadena Public Library - launch of pollinator STEAM community science kits. Decorate a monarch butterfly for a public art exhibition
301 Organics post-fire soil remediation advice
Sowing California Native Seeds
Come enjoy some seasonal planting with us on a Friday morning!
Join Arlington Garden, Altadena Seed Library, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Horticulture Team for a free hands-on germination workshop focused on CA native seeds.
Learn about cold stratification, hot water scarification, and smoke-stimulated germination, as well as techniques to sow your wildflowers in-ground - as well as a short plant stroll in Arlington Garden!
You will leave with a seedling of your own and an experience of how wildflower seeds germinate through natural processes found in California climates.
Germination Workshop at Loma Alta Library
Get your hands dirty at our Seed Processing Workshop on Wednesday (12/3) from 4–5:30pm at #AltadenaLibrary at Loma Alta Park.
Join us for a hands-on lesson in seed processing. All ages welcome!
Pro tip: We’ll be working with soil, so wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty!
LA Art and Book Fair
In partnership with Living Earth, Altadena Seed Library will host a stage at the LA Art and Book Fair, presented by Printed Matter.
Huntington Gardens Founders’ Day 2025 | Sowing Community: Living with Octavia E. Butler’s “Parables”
Join a special guest panel of community leaders and expert scholars for a conversation on Octavia E. Butler’s novels “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents,” which focus on themes of resilience, community, and social change.
Reserve free tickets here.
Reimaging urban landscapes for climate and fire resilience
Altadena Seed Library Founder Nina Raj will be in conversation with Benifo Olamendi (Permaculture Practitioner, Elemental Designs), and Pauline Allen (Executive Director, Santa Monica Mountains Fire Safe Council) at the Surfrider Foundation’s chapter meeting.
Register here
Bioremediating with plants: Seed ball workshop
Join Altadena Seed Library, SoilWise, and Pot Studio for an afternoon of free seed ball creation using phytoremediator plants.
Club Gay Gardens Plantasia
$12PRE $15DOS | All Ages | Come for a celebration of Plantasia, but Pisces edition! Night will be filled with music acts, California native plant resources, soil painting, and so much more! Come talk about why plants fill your heart with joy!
COVID-19 vaccinations are highly recommended to attend events at Junior High. Learn more here. This event will be indoors.
Purchase tickets here.
Germinating Native Seeds for Restoration
Want to get your hands dirty germinating native plant seeds? Help the Restoration Team sow the seeds of Eaton Canyon’s future as we germinate hyperlocal native seeds.
Seed Storing for Conservation
Join the Restoration Team at Eaton Canyon for a morning of seed processing. Learn methods for seed cleaning, seed drying, and proper storage techniques as we establish Eaton Canyon’s very first Seed Bank.
Seed Collecting for Restoration
You are invited to a special seed collection morning at Eaton Canyon. Help us restore at-risk stands in the canyon by collecting the seeds that will be grown for restoration.