A Honey of a Weekend in Santa Fe

The City Different will be buzzing this weekend, with two events scheduled for the Santa Fe Railyard on Saturday and Sunday. Let me start backwards by highlighting Honey Fest 2015, starting at  6:00 p.m., on Sunday.

The event will celebrate music, honey, bees and beekeepers. And there will even be a contest for the best bee costume.

Those of us who are gardeners (or have at least dabbled in gardening) know how important bees to the process of  growing food on a small and large-scale basis. There are many reports that bees are dwindling in numbers (Read report about a research project by New Mexico State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture ).

Come out and celebrate New Mexico bees on Sunday--not just honey bees, but all members of the bee family that help us put food on our tables.

Speaking of bees and gardening, a free workshop entitled Gardening for Pollinators will be offered tomorrow, Saturday, May 30, at the Railyard Park from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.

In this design workshop, Loretta McGrath, top-bar beekeeper and Director of the Pollinator Partners Program at Farm to Table, will offer strategies for planting pollinator forage for a range of pollinators. Participants will learn about specific plants that attract pollinators as well as how to integrate plants into a garden that produces successful blooms through the seasons.

The workshop includes a tour of the pollinator gardens in the Railyard Park and a discussion of specific plants that attract a range of pollinators from hummingbirds, bats and butterflies to honeybees and native bees of the Southwest. Come discover what habitats you can create to increase the beauty and bounty of the spaces you share with these essential pollinators.

Meet at the Community Room in the Railyard Park. Admission is free. For more information contact Loretta McGrath (loremcgrath@gmail.com)