CreekSpeak — Putah Creek Council’s six-month series of community talks about the nature, culture and history of our region — continues on Thursday, Sept. 21, with a presentation examining the Cache Creek Tending & Gathering Garden with Nancy Ullrey and James Mizoguchi of the Cache Creek Conservancy.

Ethnobotanical traditions — how people historically used and continue to use plants — often rely on particular plant species. These plants can be hard to find, grow or harvest, which makes maintaining traditions difficult.

Enter the Cache Creek Tending & Gathering Garden, a cooperative project between local tribal partners and the Cache Creek Conservancy — and the perfect place to learn about the native plants that show up in baskets, textiles, foods, medicines and more.

The presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Margaret Parsons Room at the Winters Community Library, 708 Railroad Ave. in Winters. Ullrey, executive director of the Cache Creek Conservancy, and Mizoguchi, habitat restoration manager, will discuss the conservancy’s role in this project.

The event will include an overview of the partnerships, goals and management behind the Tending & Gathering Garden, as well as opportunity for discussion about ethnobotany and tending native plants.

CreekSpeak events take place at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month and alternate between the Stephens Branch Library in Davis and the Winters Community Library. The talks are free to Putah Creek Council members and open to the public. A $5 donation is requested from those who have not yet joined the council.

The 2017 CreekSpeak series wraps up on Thursday, Oct. 19, with “Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation on Serpentine Soils,” with Susan Harrison.

More information about these presentations is available at www.putahcreekcouncil.org, or by calling the Putah Creek Council office at 530-795-3006.