Up The Coast : GOINGS ON SANTA BARBARA : Acorns to You : The director of the city’s botanic garden will teach visitors about edible and useful plants.

There’s a reason that Sally Isaacson is assistant director of education at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. After all, how many people can identify, off the top of their heads, which local plant American Indians used for stupefying fish?

It’s the California horse chestnut, which Isaacson will be sure to explain during “The Edible and Useful Plant Collection” tour she will lead Monday afternoon at the garden.

As the name of the tour implies, Isaacson will also point out some of the plants that the Indians commonly used for food, including various oaks and acorns.

“I’ve cooked with acorns myself, but I’ve done it in a modern way, using a blender, a sieve and pliers,” Isaacson said.

Isaacson said one of the more useful and fascinating plants she’ll show participants is the amole, or soap plant. “It’s used for many different things,” she said. “The bulb was used for a soapy material, and the fibers around the bulb were used for making little brushes. Some Indians roasted the bulb in a fire, which destroyed the soapy chemicals and made them fit to eat.”

The tour will run from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. so people can go during their lunch hour. From Ventura County, you may have to stretch it to a two-hour lunch. Admission is free. For information, call 682-4726.

“Maybe it was last year’s fire,” spokeswoman Pat Kistler said in explaining why the Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department has forgone the usual fireworks display for tonight’s Fourth of July celebration. “We just took stock in what was important to spend our money on.”

And what’s important, she said, is family fun. Even without the explosives, there will be plenty of all-American entertainment. Here is a rundown of the day’s and night’s activities:

10 a.m.: Great American Family Picnic at Alameda Park, featuring children’s games, clowns, the Sky King Western Band, alternative fireworks that pop and fizzle, food booths and the 12th annual chili cook-off.

Noon: Parade down State Street from Micheltorena Street to De La Guerra Plaza, starring children, bicycles, wagons and dogs.

1 p.m.: Pony rides and ice cream free at the Main Library.

4 p.m.: Chili cook-off awards ceremony at Alameda Park.

5 p.m.: Free pops concert by the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Courthouse Sunken Gardens.

6:30 p.m.: Big band music and a swing dance competition at the Courthouse Sunken Gardens.

8 p.m.: “Celebrate America” laser light show, featuring the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera and an Air Force color guard, in the La Cumbre Plaza parking lot.

Here’s some good news for those of you with solar eclipses and planetary alignments on your minds. The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is offering a guided look at the July sky through the various telescopes at the Palmer Observatory each Tuesday this month from 9 to 10 p.m. The museum and observatory are at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road. For information, call 682-3224.

A series of cultural events at Santa Barbara’s Oak Park continues with a Thai Festival this weekend. For information, call 564-5419.