damn do we love debbie roos. She is an extension agent down in North carolina  and a hero in that role. When we talk about 'service providers' for farmers she is one who exemplifies that.
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Come join the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension and the Chatham County Beekeepers' Association for our 5th Annual Pollinator Day Celebration on Saturday, May 14, from 10:00 am til 2:00 pm on the lawn at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro. The purpose of Pollinator Day is to raise public awareness of the importance of the bees and other pollinators that are needed to produce 80 percent of our flowering plants and one third of our food crops.
We have a great program planned for folks of all ages: you can hear presentations about beekeeping and learn all about what it takes to produce the delicious local honey available at Chatham Marketplace. We will have beekeeping equipment and products from the hive for "show and tell".
Tour Cooperative Extension's Pollinator Garden at Chatham Mills and learn how to attract and protect bees and other pollinators. Local native plant nursery Mellow Marsh Farm will have pollinator plants for sale at the Chatham Mills Farmers' Market in honor of Pollinator Day!
We will also be giving away gift certificates donated by local nursery Niche Gardens!
Watch expert beekeepers work an actual hive inside a bee cage, see honey bees up close and personal, and get your burning beekeeping questions answered.
Ever tried honey wine? Co-sponsors Starrlight Mead will be doing mead tastings and a mead making demonstration. Visitors can also visit the meadery where they produce their award-winning honey wines on the Chatham Mills property!
We'll have lots of activities for kids including a plant-a-pollinator-plant, beeswax candle making, face painting, balloon pollinators, Chatham County pollinator coloring books, and more! Watch "Bee TV" - park yourself in front of an observation hive and watch the worker bees tending to the queen. It's mesmerizing!
Many thanks to Starrlight Mead, Country Farm & Home Supply, Mellow Marsh Farm, Niche Gardens, and Big Bloomers for their support of this event!
All Pollinator Week Events are free and open to the public. This event will be held rain or shine.
For more information and a schedule of events go to http://bit.ly/f0caPE
For more information on pollinator conservation, visit the Growing Small Farms website at www.protectpollinators.org.
To get you in the mood for Pollinator Day, take a look at this stunning video taken by award-winning cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg from his film "Wings of Life": http://bit.ly/jJr7kK (it starts after the talking)
I hope to see you Saturday, rain or shine!
Debbie
Debbie Roos
Agricultural Extension Agent
Chatham County Center
North Carolina Cooperative Extension
919.542.8202
[email protected]
www.growingsmallfarms.org
www.facebook.com/debbie.roos.nc
www.twitter.com/GrowSmallFarms