Harvesting Seed in Mason Regional Park

How appropriate that on the day after the August Full Moon - the Grain Moon - we took a few hours to collect seed at Mason Regional Park in preparation for our Service Learning restoration project that will begin in September.

Harvesting buckwheat seed, just as the Tongva and Acjachemen did for throusands of years before the Europeans arrived. I wonder if they had any better luck finding the seeds?
Encelia seeds

harvesting deerweed
Prickly Pear Cactus

California Fuchsia

August Full Moon Walk in Crystal Cove State Park - the Grain Moon

The August Full Moon was called the Corn Moon, Barley Moon or Grain Moon by ancient peoples. August is a time for harvesting. Each culture had its staple grain, so that grain was celebrated as a symbol of life. As we hike through CCSP on the evening of the Grain Moon, we took a look at some of the plants the native people would have harvested at this time of year, and tasted cherries, currants, poppy seed and chia seed.