Give back to Mother Earth
Apr. 19—You can't pet the stars of the show. Earth Day at the Railyard will feature a fleet of working goats and sheep who will be chowing down on Santa Fe grasses, and Izzy Barr, executive director of the Railyard Park Conservancy, wants people to know they can totally look at the animals. But they can't touch them.
"It's absolutely not a petting zoo," she says. "We have electrified fencing."
Barr says that the living lawn mowers will be on hand thanks to a local company called Horned Locust Goatscaping and a grant from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. They'll be eating a triangle of native grassland in the Railyard adjacent to the rest of the day's activities, and Barr says the goats and sheep have proven to be a big draw. Hundreds of people, in fact, have shown up to witness previous iterations of their Graze Days event.
"It's one of the most popular things we do," Barr says. "It's really good for the soil. The hoof action and the poop and the mowing they do. We've been doing it for three or four years now."
There will be live music for the Earth Day celebration, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 20.
details
* Earth Day 2024
* 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20
* Railyard Park
* 740 Cerrillos Road
* Free
* 505-316-3596; railyardpark.org
The Randall Davey Audubon Center will host a session on seed-ball making, and there will be composting demos by the New Mexico Healthy Soils Working Group.
Visitors to the Earth Day event can also watch the Albuquerque-based Herstory Printmaking Collective install a mural dedicated to women who contributed to the development of the railroads. Barr says the hope is that the mural will stay up through the International Folk Art Market in mid-July.
Additionally, SITE Santa Fe will host a Dog Day event in conjunction with the Earth Day party, and visitors can take a free photo with their favorite pooch.
"Everyone should know you don't need a dog to get your photo taken," Barr says.
The Railyard Park Conservancy was formed in 2010 under the original name Railyard Stewards with the mission to manage public art installations and horticultural care for the gardens and landscapes of the 11-acre Railyard Park.
The organization is staffed by volunteers who perform a number of roles including gardening, watering plants, and cleaning up trash. "Gardening is not for everybody," Barr says. "But there are plenty of ways to be involved."
