You’re Invited!
To The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Community Book Club
How do we connect with the living world?
You are invited to join The Serviceberry Book Club!
In Person Oct 8, 15, 22 - Thursdays | 6:00-8:00pm
The World Beat Center | 2100 Park Blvd, SD 92101
A Free Community Gathering
Together we will read The Serviceberry Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This beautiful compact book is like a seed. A seed carries within itself everything necessary to live and transform into something utterly unrecognizable. Within a seed's compact outer coating lies the entirety of the plant being the seed will become. So it is with The Serviceberry, contained within the beautiful cover of the book lies everything the dominant culture in our world needs to entirely transform.
Together over 3 weeks we will read the book and discuss and explore three key topics:
Week 1: Relationship
Week 2: Extraction
Week 3: Reciprocity.
The purpose of this community book club is to come together and ask ourselves at this powerful moment in human history: How to we learn to love the natural world? How do we give back? What does it mean to live in right relationship to ourselves, each other and all of the living beings of the earth?
The Serviceberry is a tiny book, but it contains within it the seeds of a world ready to be sprouted.
Come join us!
About: The Serviceberry Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”
Facilitators:
Carla Quimson, ecological horticulturist, native habitat landscape designer, and community cultivator
Cindy Saylor, EverydayPlant Magic, herbalist, holistic health guide, nature connector
Location: World Beat Center, 2100 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101
Dates & Time: Thursday’s Oct 8, 15, 22, 2026 | 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Cost: Free
Where to buy the book? Support our local economy and choose an independent book store in San Diego! If they don’t have the book in stock they can often order it for you.
Local San Diego Book Stores:
BlueStockings Books (Hillcrest) | Verbatim Books (North Park) | La Playa Books (Point Loma) |
Online: Bookshop.org | Used copies Abe Books
About the Facilitators
Carla Quimson
Carla Quimson is an ecological horticulturist, native habitat landscape designer, and community cultivator whose work centers on native plants, biodiversity, and reconnecting people with the natural world. She is the founding horticulturist of The Nature Trail at the San Diego Natural History Museum, where she has shaped the garden’s ecological stewardship, community, and educational life. As a native landscape designer, Carla focuses on urban environments where ecological value has been stripped away, bringing nature back into the places where people live and gather, creating opportunities for people and the natural world to thrive alongside one another.
Cindy Saylor
Cindy is a certified vitalist herbalist, nutritionist and community educator in San Diego, CA (un-ceded lands of the Kumeyaay). She sees clients 1-1 privately and regularly teaches herbalism classes. She believes plants and herbs provide a green path for all of us to explore and renew our connection to the earth. Allowing us to joyfully connect with the green kingdom, ourselves and the vital force that lives in all beings. The practices she shares with her community are time honored traditions that support us in caring for ourselves, our loved ones and the earth.
Cindy is a native Californian and has lived in San Diego for most of her life. She loves to spend time in nature, garden, cook, travel, explore art and hang out with her human, animal and plant families.
Book Club Registration Form