Project Highlight: The Randall Davey Audubon Center and Sanctuary

By: Chris DurlakSince 2003 the Santa Fe Master Gardener Association has worked with the Randall Davey Audubon Center to promote locally sustainable gardening and to demonstrate the use of native and xeric plants, which attract birds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects by providing food and shelter.This year six co-leaders worked close to 500 hours with about 70 Master Gardeners and interns to develop and maintain the gardens at Randall Davey. The gardens served as teaching venues for a Let’s Grow class on native bees; a SNaPP class on selecting native plants, lead by Cullen Hallmark; three compost workshops; and a pruning workshop, lead by county extension agent Tom Dominguez.One of the things that makes the Audubon project special is that we serve children, and we have a great time doing so! Over the course of five weeks co-leaders Anne Farber and I, along with other Master Gardeners and interns, worked with a total of about 85 Audubon day campers for an hour-plus a week. The campers range in age from 5 to 10. Each summer project leaders meet with the day-camp director to ensure that what we cover in our time with the children connects with what they learn in their classes.Among the topics this year were “super plants” and “nature sprouts,” which lent themselves very easily to visits to the Pollinator Garden and the Native Plant perennial bed. Our other activities included making bee baths and seed balls as well as playing “pollinator bingo” and using magnifying glasses to get up-close and personal with pollinators. Our Master Gardener interns (what would we do without you?) especially enjoyed helping the day campers plant small plants in decorated pots to take home.Visitors to the Audubon Center, including birders, painters, and photographers, frequently express their appreciation for the gardens. Many have questions about the wildlife, the plantings, and even the children. Two visitors that not all of us had the pleasure of seeing were a mother bear and her cub—wonder what they liked best?The project at Randall Davey is a varied and beautiful place to accumulate our service hours, but, most importantly, it is a site filled with hard work, exuberance, and commitment to its mission to educate, to learn, and to appreciate the natural world.Project leaders: Ann Caudell, Chris Durlak, Anne Farber, Martá Gyeviki, Joy Mandelbaum, and Susie Sonflieth