A Day Camp for Women : Rustic Calabasas workshop allows women to leave behind the cares of home and job : to commune with nature and each other.

It’s the same old story: Women are so busy juggling demands of job, home and family that they neglect their own needs.

“We try to do it all,” Sheri Locher said. “Women with children, professional women--we take care of everyone but ourselves. A lot of women don’t even have time to go outdoors.”

Locher, 31, a horticulturist, and Tree O’Toole-Williams, 38, a landscaper, saw the symptoms in friends and acquaintances and were disturbed to see themselves falling into the familiar pattern.

The pair came up with the idea of setting aside a day for women to escape everyday responsibilities, commune with nature, spend time with each other and get in touch with themselves.

Locher and O’Toole-Williams named their brainchild the Artemis Women’s Workshop in honor of the Greek goddess of the moon and wildlife, and they scheduled the event to coincide with a full moon. They planned a schedule of classes, including gardening, ceramics, herbology, cooking, composting, flower arranging, photography, drawing, baking, basketry, survival skills, women’s health and yoga.

They consulted with artistic friends and searched the Women’s Yellow Pages to recruit instructors and class leaders. They mailed hundreds of flyers promoting the event to friends and acquaintances.

“We figured that women who would attend a program like this would share our concerns for the earth, the environment, nature and women’s communities,” O’Toole-Williams said.

Twenty-seven women showed up for the first workshop in June at O’Toole-Williams’ woodsy and rustic 1 1/2-acre Calabasas estate in the Santa Monica Mountains. Participants paid a $100 registration fee, which included breakfast, lunch, snacks and their choice of up to five hourlong classes. Instructors were paid $25 per class.

“A lot of creative women never have time to try fun, outdoor activities,” Locher said. “This gave them the chance to sample a lot of things, and women have such a neat energy together.”

A few men (including O’Toole-Williams’ husband) wanted to sign up, too. They were politely turned away. “This was just for women,” O’Toole-Williams explained. “We were dealing with women’s issues and women’s health. We wanted this to be a safe atmosphere for learning.”

The first workshop on a sunny Sunday began with a breakfast of freshly baked muffins, fruit, juices and cappuccino. After getting acquainted through ice-breaking exercises, the women broke into groups, weaving baskets, preparing organic meals, walking rural roads, relaxing in a Jacuzzi and indulging in massages and manicures under the trees.

“It was rewarding. It was enriching,” said Audrey Ralston, 36, a Calabasas free-lance makeup artist and mother of two. She spent the day digging in clay for the ceramics class, learning to take nature photographs, connecting her mind and body through yoga and taking a brisk two-mile nature walk.

“And I made some new friends, which is really hard to do in the day-to-day back and forth,” she said. “That was special.”

The gardening class spent the morning digging in soil, planting neat rows of vegetable seedlings and picking harvest-ready lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, snap peas and squash.

Another class created flower arrangements. Holding pruning shears and tin buckets, the group traipsed down a trail, keeping their eyes open for the perfect blossom. They rummaged through masses of blooms, sampled a few tender, edible petals, admired bushy brown weeds and filled their pails with wildflowers.

Participants said the workshop provided a physical and mental escape from workaday worries and chores. “It was hours and hours before I thought about my kids,” Ralston said. “And it was really nice having someone else cooking the entire day. I didn’t even have to clean up!”

“It was nice getting away,” added Francine Hurst, 37, a Granada Hills mother of two who took classes in herbology, composting and survival skills. “I am with my kids a lot, and I don’t get time for myself. The atmosphere was relaxed and the people were down to earth. The day was perfect. I didn’t want to leave.”

WHERE TO GO

What: Artemis Women’s Workshop with classes on silk painting, autumn crafts, storytelling, creative and journal writing, papermaking, cooking, baking, earthquake preparedness, self-defense, cardiovascular walking and women’s health.

When: Sept. 20; other workshops planned for women, men and couples for winter and spring.

Price: $100.

Call: (818) 591-7949 and leave a message.