Pollinator Day 2026
The last Saturday in April, our local agricultural university extension hosts an event called Pollinator Day which includes crafts and activities for kids and families, educational talks, booths, and (my favorite) a native plant sale. I missed it last year, so I was extra hyped for this year!
My Protogrove friend and co-Druid, Valerie, had the idea to make the day an Official Beargrass Protogrove event, with a meet-up to wander the event together, followed by a potluck picnic. I hope this becomes a Beargrass Protogrove tradition because it was a lot of fun!
Left to right: co-Druid Valerie, me, my wife Lynn
My long-term goal is to turn the yard at Birdsong Hearth into a tiny suburban nature sanctuary. I can't do much about the fields around my neighborhood being turned into unnecessary gas stations, heavy sigh, but I can provide a little patch of habitat for our local wildlife where I do have some control. It's a big project, and sometimes it feels is overwhelming, but I am trying to take it one step at a time.
My wife, Lynn, is not any kind of Pagan, but she's remarkably supportive of my crazy ambitious plans - and she shares my love of our wild neighbors, especially the squirrels! We came home from Pollinator Day with a (free!!) White Pine sapling and three plants: bee balm, beauty berry, and coneflower. Project Birdsong Hearth Nature Sanctuary continues, one native plant at a time! 💪🏻
I tried to plant a tree a couple years ago as part of my AODA work, buuuuut that little sapling didn't make it. Probably because I didn't plant it fast enough. 😭 Being a Druid and accidentally killing a tree was not good for my self-esteem or Pagan Street Cred. The lady at the sapling booth assured us that white pines are "survivors", so with any luck this tree will survive my tree-related ineptitude.
White Pine's ability to survive and thrive notwithstanding, I was determined to get the tree in the ground ASAP! As soon as we got home, we started plotting on the best planting spot. Lynn waited patiently while I prayed to the Earth Mother and helped me dig did most of the digging of a hole.
Our beautiful little White Pine sapling.
And the next day, to my complete surprise, Lynn texted me and said she had started the process of covering the grass around our central bird feeder. This gives our native plants a great chance, and it's the real start of the Future Meadow!
Site of Future Nature Sanctuary.
Let me tell you, this is the most romantic text I've ever received. SWOON! She sure does know how to get into this Druid's pants heart. 🥰
You can see in the photo, it's a small patch in the middle of a big yard... but it feels like a big step in the direction we want to go!
I'm grateful to the folks who host Pollinator Day for all their hard work on the event, to my Protogrove friends who also get excited about pollinators, and to my wife for doing much of the manual labor involved in making my Druid dreams come true. 💛