AUSTIN: Mushrooms, Worms, and Birds! A Roots & Wings Event
AUSTIN: Mushrooms, Worms, and Birds! A Roots & Wings Event
WHEN: Saturday, November 4th, 10am-2pm
WHERE: Willie Mae Kirk Branch, Austin Public Library
COST: Free with Registration
Join us for a day celebrating mushrooms, worms, and birds for the Roots & Wings Festival! We will host a community scarecrow mushroom building and bucket-tek workshop. Registration is required for the bucket-tek workshop and bring your own container. See examples.
Also, enjoy a presentation by the Travis Audubon Society to learn which native plants attract birds to your yard along with a fun craft activity to take home. Then discover how red wiggler worms help the soil while composting with hands-on activities presented by Keep Austin Beautiful throughout the event.
10am – Central Texas Mycological Society
Mushroom Scarecrow Workshop
Join us for a workshop that combines a bunch of spooktacular things we love about fungi! First, fun with fungi while learning basics of mycoremediation growing mushrooms outdoors to showing you how to create a scarecrow to protect your garden. Since it’s okay to decay, we will be building scarecrow together that will decompose over the fall and winter with the help of recycled oyster mushroom blocks.
11am – Travis Audubon Society
Gardening for Birds with Native Plants
Do you want to attract more birds to your yard or neighborhood greenbelt? In this talk you will find out how native plants help birds and get acquainted with several easy to grow native plants that appeal to birds and other wildlife.
10am-2pm – Keep Austin Beautiful
Wormy Composting
We will bring our vermi-compost bin and everyone will have the opportunity to explore the wonders of our red wiggler worms!
12pm - Central Texas Mycological Society
Mushroom Cultivation Workshop
Learn how to recycle mushroom blocks to build healthy soil, sequester carbon, increase water retention, and divert organic matter from the waste stream. Bring your own container.
EXAMPLES OF CONTAINERS
What to Bring:
Folding Chair or Blanket, Cordless power drill and step drill bit (if you have one), Bring your own container such as a 5 gallon containers: planter pot, bucket, laundry basket, milk crate, or crate for vegetables, wire mesh container like a bird house, strawberry pot. Don't buy anything new. Let's recycle. Any container with holes in it will work including a cardboard box. If your container doesn’t have holes in the side, use a power drive with a 1 “ bit and drill holes in a diamond pattern 4” apart on the sides of the bucket. DO NOT drill holes on the bottom. If there are already holes on the bottom, line it with cardboard.
ABOUT THE ROOTS & WINGS FESTIVAL
The Roots & Wings Festival is Austin’s annual combined celebration of Arbor Day and Monarch Appreciation Day. We use this time to celebrate trees, butterflies, bees, and all creatures! Nature is soothing and healing in so many ways. We are as much a part of nature as it is a part of our lives. Nature is, and has always been, here for you.